Tag Archives: solo performance

Nov17

Divulging the Material that Will Create Your Solo Show

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Divulging the Material that Will Create Your Solo Show

Writing the story of your life (or any other made up story for that matter), and then performing it for others, can be a difficult task.  A one man show or one woman show however depends on your ability to reveal the nitty gritty of your story in a way that is fascinating and entertaining, as well as perceptive and often humorous as well.

via www.creativeheartcoaching.com

Whether performing standup comedy or making a new painting, your creative process feeds on bits of truth from your subconscious. Here's how to dig inside and get the goods…

Sep27

So You Want to Write a One Person Show, Part 7 of 7

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So You Want to Write a One Person Show, Part 7 of 7

So to recap, Part 1 of "So You Want to Write a One Person Show", I spoke about discovering the Central Moment on which your show pivots.

Part 2 of "So You Want to Write a One Person Show" we looked at the moments that lead up to the Central Moment of your revelation in your solo show.  We explored possible turning points and after effects of the Central Moment, and we looked at possible through lines, the threads that sew your stories together into one cohesive piece.

Part 3, Write write write. We threw out all we "knew" and explored all possible avenues.  This is where the rubber meets the road–we took creative risks and pushed past our normal habits and ideas about who we are and what we can create.

Part 4, Take a break, play, and contact your muses. We contacted our "muses"–that something greater that guides us and shows its genius.

Part 5, Bringing it all together, editing, refining through performance.  "The difference between a standup show and a solo show is that in standup, the character knows exactly what they're talking about and exactly what they think.  And they're going to tell you.  In a solo show, the character doesn't know.  They're looking for something, they want something, and they're figuring it all out with you, on this ride, together.  The hero has a conflict."

Part 6, Kill Your Darlings.  Take some steps back, acknowledge and let go of your darlings.  What is really in your work because it stands on its own, and what is there that needs explaining?What is in this piece that sheds light on some aspect of humanity never before spoken, and what is trite or cliche?  The joy will come, not in hearing the accolades, but in being an instrument for something truly, humanly brilliant that touches people's hearts and raises the stakes in living their lives fully.

Part 7, Owning Your Story.  

It's time to own it.  Ask yourself, what did you learn?  About yourself?  About the world?  Who are you today?  Is nothing ever the same again?  Is everything actually the same as it's always been?  Are you ok with that?  Why or why not?  

It takes a lot of chutzpah to create a solo show and tell your deepest, most personal shtuff in front of complete strangers.  Let alone people you know.  What drives you?  Is it a compulsion to over-disclose?  Are you telling to much in order to push people away?  Out of a hope that if they really knew you, they'd stop liking you?  Cause it won't work.  The more we know about you, the more we like you.  

I've always loved the phrase, "Your attributes make you likable, but it's your flaws that make you lovable."  After it takes guts to tell your story in your big one person show, it takes brains.  Brains to work out the truth of your story, seeing it from your vantage point.  It's easy for us to look at a dissheveled, homeless person and see their life story.  But so much more is there than we can see.  Alternatively, it's easy for us to look at our lives and see the inside version of the story.  To actually see ourselves simultaneously from the inside out and the outside in, that takes real skill, objectivity, perceptivity, and honesty.  Of course it's going to remain subjective in many ways because it's us telling what happened with ourselves.  

So but there's an incredible amount of work that goes into being able to actually see and tell the story, and there's one final trap to avoid once we've got our script all worked out and our scenes all staged and blocked (you did do that part, right?)  Once we've got our aunt Lil's voice down pat and our sister Jessie's squeal just right.  The trap is that we can get so "clear" about the story that we forget to actually own it.  To come to a place where we re-live it anew (without re-traumatizing ourselves… and this is a whole topic for discussion) and then we come to learn something about ourselves, to experience a transformation, on stage, in public.  

The trap is that we can forget to actually be present for it.  The deep deep work we've done on the way is challenging and rocky, and that time on stage is the sweet reward.  It's the gift we receive and it's also the gift we give to the audience.  It's the gift of us arriving at this moment through telling the story of how we arrived at this moment.  It's grace.  It's power.  It's peace.  Own it.  And let it go.  

These are the qualities you may be experiencing and needing to convey to the audience as you reach the climax or conclusion of your story.  And notice how the actual story in some way begins to dissolve as these qualities emerge.  It's similar to a photo coming more and more into focus and then as the focus gets so sharp it is suddenly so close or so far away that the image dissolves into nothingness an all that's left is a sense of Violet or Cyan or Indigo that forms a kind of sunset we all watch together.  A kind of quietness, like, "Well, that happened."

So, what are you waiting for?  Go get 'em, Tiger!

~

Stay tuned for "Advanced Solo Conversation: Professionals in the World of Solo Performance."

And check out an interview with solo performer and comedian Joe Klocek here.

Jul23

So You Want to Write a One Person Show, Part 4 of 7

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So You Want to Write a One Person Show, Part 4 of 7

So to recap, Part 1 of "So You Want to Write a One Person Show", I spoke about discovering the Central Moment that your show pivots on.  You did free-writing about this pivotal moment and you held it close to your heart, a secret for yourself.  

Part 2 of "So You Want to Write a One Person Show" we looked at the moments that lead up to the Central Moment of your revelation in your solo show.  We explored possible turning points and after effects of the Central Moment, and we looked at possible through lines, the threads that sew your stories together into one cohesive piece.

Part 3, Write write write.  It can be tempting in this phase to feel as if it's time to choose a topic and stick with it.  It may feel like you're taking a new direction or things are "falling apart".  Good.  Stay committed.  Create quantity now and worry about quality later.  "It's all good in the end.  If it's not good, it's not over." 

Part 4, Take a break, play, and contact your muses.  Whether it's closer to standup comedy or closer to melodramatic tragedy (not that I think you're being melodramatic), if you're following the process diligently, you'll find you may have become a little overwhlemed by looking at your life, or this fictional version of your life so intensely.  Of course your show might not be about your life..  it's still going to be intense to sit with all the work that's come through you over the recent past.  

This is a good time to take a little space from your project.  At least three days if not a week.  A good time to nap and write down your dreams, to spend time with friends who both relax and inspire you, who you tell the truth with, to read books that have nothing to do with your project.  A good time to draw or paint something, to make an offering or gift to your muses and ask for their guidance.  Make up a ritual or a ceremony!  Light some candles!  Invite that special puzzle piece, that something more into your work that you could not possibly have come up with on your own.

See a piece of theater or hear a piece of music that is truly brilliant, truly transportive.  Unfocus your eyes, soften your ears.  Understand how this art is specific and universal at the same time.  Grok how  some part of the person who created it bowed their small self to the something greater to come through them.  Perhaps it was a deeper intelligence in their brain or perhaps it was divinity..  It was most certainly something that spoke softer and felt truer than their personality, their habitual way of being, their social conditioning.  In Hindi, the word namastasay means to bow.  Find a way to bow your small self and make way for something greater. 

Ok, now.  Keep a notepad (and pen!!) by your bed, keep one by the shower, keep one in the car.  Before you go to sleep at night, ponder your show for at least ten minutes, as the last thing you do.  When you wake up, first thing, write down your dreams or any ideas relating to your show.  Do this for at least seven days in a row.  Any moment you feel something coming through you, say yes to it.  Write it down.  Write everything down that comes, no matter how silly, how insignificant it seems. 

Alternatively, you may find it helpful to create a time each day to allow this "transmission" to come through.  In that case, chose a time and a place to write for one half hour or one hour each day.  Light a candle or some incense at the start–whatever you need to do to mark this time and space as holy and invite that extra something in.  When you complete your writing for the day, always thank your muses and "close the circle". 

If it feels like things are backwards and confusing right now, this is good.  Anyone can write from A to B.  It's called a diary.  What's happening with you now is that you are breaking some holes in the fabric of your normal understanding so the light can come in and illuminate it.  

Ok, now take each incident or character or vignette in your show and put it on a 3 x 5 card.  Mix them up.  The sequence of your life is now like Dada poetry.  Play around with it for a while.  Scramble it up.  Notice themes and threads you may not have noticed before.  You may start to find an order you like.  Make a note of it but keep scrambling.

Part 5 will be forthcoming.  BTW, I am a real human and this is really being written now, so if you have questions or comments, please write to me and I'll do my best to answer them in future blogs.  I am also a solo show coach and can help you work through blocks and bring what wants to be expressed into being.  Keep up the good work!

Alicia Dattner

Jun17

So You Want to Write a One Person Show, Part 3 of 7

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So You Want to Write a One Person Show, Part 3 of 7

So to recap, Part 1 of "So You Want to Write a One Person Show", I spoke about discovering the Central Moment that your show pivots on.  You did free-writing about this pivotal moment and you held it close to your heart, a secret for yourself.  

Part 2 of "So You Want to Write a One Person Show" we looked at the moments that lead up to the Central Moment of your revelation in your solo show.  We explored possible turning points and after effects of the Central Moment, and we looked at possible through lines, the threads that sew your stories together into one cohesive piece.

Part 3, Write write write.  It can be tempting in this phase to feel as if it's time to choose a topic and stick with it.  You may have chosen a topic for your show in your first step but something else keeps coming up.  You may want to talk about being a used car salesman and tell us about all the cars you sold and all the old ladies who bought them.  But every time you write, you write about your mother's tattoos.  Or your mother tattoo.  It can be disconcerting to find that your subconscious is steering you in a different direction than your conscious mind.  For now, don't worry if it seems like you're going in multiple directions, or if it seems difficult to focus.  It's like making a patchwork quilt.  You need a lot of patches.  At a certain point, you take all your patches, and you see which ones matches….  Lay 'em all out on the floor, see what goes where.

What you're doing right now is allowing things to bubble up from the surface that may never have been give voice or permission to speak.  I'm giving you permission right now not to know where this is all going, and I'm also giving you reassurance that if you stay committed to this process, it will go somewhere, in the end.  As my friend Avishai says, "It's all good in the end.  If it's not good, it's not over."  

In this step, ponder characters: is this show coming from the different voices in your head? Different voices in your body?  People from your childhood?  Loved ones in your life now?  People in politics?  People at work?  If it's a personal story, what's the context of the world?  If it's a worldly story, how does it affect you personally?  Show, don't tell.  

Let's try some Natalie Goldberg-esque exercises.  Do some of these or all!  Do it in pairs if you can, and read them to each other after each exercise. Don't make comments afterward, just set the timer again.

 

  • Set the timer for 10 minutes and write about the first time you tasted an artichoke.  
  • Write for 10 minutes on why you want to write and perform a one person show.
  • Write for 10 minutes on performers you're inspired by.
  • Write for 10 minutes on imagining the insecurities of the performers or artists you're inspired by.   Imagine the/your world if they decided not to create the work that's inspired you, because they didn't think anyone would care.  
  • Write for 10 min on the one thing about you that you really don't want people to know.
  • Write for 10 min on the one thing about you that you really, really don't want people to know.

 

Stay tuned for part four, and let me know how your process is going!  If you have questions or concerns, I'd love to hear and address them in my blog.  

Alicia

Jun16

Solo Performer and Comedian Joe Klocek on Secrets

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Solo Performer and Comedian Joe Klocek on Secrets

Master head shot I met Joe in 1998 when I first started doing standup.  He was about to start headlining at the Punchline then, and his comedy has grown and ripened into a fine french cheese.  It's riddled with self-deprication, wit, and charm.  He is one of the best "riffers" in San Francisco history, on and off stage.  We did his show last Sunday (I was performing a bit from my new, new show for the first time.)  I have to say the crowd was a little quiet, and that had me feeling some nervousness.  Back stage joking around with Joe was actually about three times as much fun as being on stage with the crowd.  I forgot how much fun Joe is to kid around with.  

Here's five minutes with Joe Klocek on standup, solo show/solo performance, storytelling, and comedy in general. Joe's new venture is a monthly show called Previously Secret Information, in which performers walk the line between storytelling and standup comedy.

Alicia Dattner: How long have you been doing stand up?

Joe Klockek: 17 years.

AD: But, Joe, you're like so proficient at sstand up why start telling stories that aren't all funny? Isn't what people want just the good stuff? Just the funny stuff? Like, that's the part non-comedians can't do on their own. That's why you're here, isn't it?

JK: I love stand up and will always be a stand up. I found that editing a incredible, often times life changing event in my life down to only the funny parts started to feel like I wasn't respecting those moments fully. These stories have love, loss, hope, death and faith all told honestly without over the top dramatics. A good edits an adventure down to a series of 30 second jokes. I like to think of this show as the story behind the punch lines. Its for people who want something a little more thoughtful in their comedy.

AD: What kinds of stories do you tell in this show?

JK: I tell one story about losing everything in the Utah desert after I hit a cow with my car. I have another one about taking a stuffed animal to a food court in a mall and then security tries to kick me out. The stories are funny sometimes tragic always entertaining episodes from my life.

AD: What kinds of stories do other comics tell? Who else has performed in this show?

JK: We have had a lesbian explain breast feeding an adopted child, a man tell about helping his father with a plumbing disaster and a woman tell what she wanted to say at a funeral for her mother. 

AD: Who are some of your favorite performers that walk this line that you're proposing we walk?

JK: This might be cocky sounding, but I don't know. The goal is to take elements from solo performance and stand-up comedy to get at something real where the audience doesn't feel sperated from the storyteller and the storyteller feels they are in a place where always getting a laugh isn't bad.

AD: What's the craziest thing you've ever seen?

JK: I once saw a mostly naked man get on the 38 Geary holding a jar of peanut butter, crakers and a guitar. He yelled, "Does anyone have a knife?" The bus was silent for a second then a woman reached in her purse and took out a butter knife. She handed it to him and he sat down quietly to spread peanut butter on his crakers. But that is another story.

AD: Anything else you want to share?

JK: Come see Previously Secret Information at the StageWerx theater.