I have a tendency to write FAR too much in my responses to messages on social media. Why write one sentence when a whole essay would do!? Anyway, I just replied to a teacher friend’s comment on Facebook asking about negative feedback from their students. And I found it useful to write, so I’ll share
How being a skilled performer is like surfing (maybe)
I’ve had this metaphor bubbling away for a little while as I’ve been here studying at Gaulier. It relates performing to surfing the waves. It’s about that “leap of faith” you take when you’re on stage that can take your performance from mundane to spectacular. Is it a good metaphor? I don’t know yet. How
The subtle games you play in conversations (and why I suck at them)
Life is full of games. Social games. Conversational games. It turns out, I’m rather shit at understanding the rules of social games. I am, I think, an awkward person to talk to most of the time. One of the key foundations here at the Gaulier “clown/acting school” is that games are everywhere. We spend a
Introducing… The Social Hangover
Today, I don’t have a hangover. By which I mean… I do have a hangover. But not a normal hangover. Today, I have a bit of a Social Hangover. I like to think that I came up with the idea of The Social Hangover… because I like to think that I’m more original than I
You are boring Part 2
Back when I was here last summer – here being the Philippe Gaulier clown/theatre school, because why should you know where I am right now? – I wrote a couple of posts about being boring and the fears of social rejection. If you want to read those 2 posts, go find them for yourself! You’re
Is Gaulier “Mean and Insulting” or Charming and Lovable?
It’s Thursday, the start of the 4th day of my 6 month stint at Ecole Philippe Gaulier… and I’m now into 2 courses at once: Melodrama and Masked Play. I have things to say about both courses already, but this morning I was mulling over something else. A particular perception of Gauiler that often comes
Gauiler — Round 2
Well, there’s nothing like an external kick up the ass to get you started with something… So, thanks to Will for asking me if I’m going blog about my experiences this time round. If he hadn’t asked me that yesterday – let’s be honest to myself – the idea would probably have gone into the
An ill-informed announcement
So… this is a bit of a weird blog post. The thing is, it might be that I’m doing exactly what I do all the time. No, I d0n’t mean wandering around in circles trying to remember what I was doing. I mean to announce something that I am “going to do” but that I
A simple question
A simple question to recalibrate your current situation: “Aside from my thoughts, am I okay?” (I read this in James Clear’s newsletter)
It’s easier to feel pleasure when you’re not being insulted
It’s been over a week since I got back from Gaulier. And I haven’t done a summary of the final Clown course… but fuck it. My basic summary is “I missed most of it due to having Covid” But what have I learned from being at famously most brutal clowning and acting school in the