The Many-Dimensional Show

Post-coronation, 2012

Writing the show with the rest of the Radar Angels is so much fun I'm really sorry I didn't get into it sooner. I always had the roles of making Jell-O Art, making the t-shirts, and writing blog posts about it, but being crowned as the Queen opened up a whole universe of new roles to take on. That year the theme was Occupy Jell-O and I think now that the theme was made to distract me so I wouldn't find out about the year-long plan to do a Queen-for-a-Day skit and crown me. I had a broken heel and surgery in March so I didn't really address the theme too much either, except in the snippets Indi told me about as she tried to keep the secret and keep my percoceted mind busy so I wouldn't ask too many questions. I made a piece that turned out to be an artist's book made of sheets of gelatin and was the best piece I ever made so far. They did the skit, I was surprised and shocked and more delighted than a person ought to be but they probably didn't expect me to take it so seriously. Immediately, the next day, which was April Fools, I declared that the position was permanent and there would be no other Queen of Jell-O Art. Not that anyone else really wants the title, but hey. It's me and mine now.

Parts of the Jell-O Art Museum 2009

At first it just seemed like an honor bestowed for making so many sculptures over the years. There are only a couple of us who have done it from the beginning, every year. Others come and go, but loyalty is worth rewarding. Never mind that I have this sort of character flaw of never wanting to change anything substantial in my life. I looked to Queen Scarlett for inspiration on the queening duties, since she was an excellent Slug Queen and continues to be regal and generous in her social presentation. She taught me how to air kiss, which I discovered is done so that the precisely arranged hair, make-up and accessories won't be mussed. Don't get too close to a Queen. Doubly so if she is wearing Jell-O---that stuff is pokey.

My typical Tacky Food offerings made from candy molds

But she and Indi gradually let me in on a set of expectations that came rather happily to me, a deepening experience that is quite rewarding. A Queen is dedicated to her role as promoter and cheerleader, never forgetting that as the public face of an event and organization, she must be dependably present whenever opportunity arises. I resisted at first. My idea the first year was to hijack the Slug Queen Coronation in August by strutting up to claim equal status and a Celebrity Judge position. I was going to do it with a lot of hoopla and noise, and this was actually welcomed by the First Lady-in-Waiting of the Slug Queens and sounded like a good idea for awhile, but I chickened out. It didn't fit my personality to be too demanding and arrogant, and I wanted a long-term respectful relationship with that other set of Queens. I know a lot of them and they can get offended rather easily in their own roles, which are generally very socially-conscious and not as silly as you might think. Anyway, at the last minute I did ask to be a celebrity judge because it was a good opportunity to wear my costume, which I had by then developed. If my memory is correct this all happened in 2012, the year I was crowned.

The most beautiful Queen there...2012 

I did succeed in being a Celebrity Judge but got rather dissed (in my humble opinion) because I failed to introduce myself properly to the emcees that year and they didn't have a clue about me. They thought I was lobbying for that oh-so-ordinary position of Slug Queen. Oh well. I always think those things are mostly a problem of my expectations and failure to set myself up for success (i.e. be controlling enough to make myself clear in advance, or seize the moment to my advantage.) Anyway the experience was less than thrilling. Oh, did I mention that the poor RG reporter who had to cover the Jell-O Art Show the year I was crowned had to leave before it happened and so missed one of the biggest events ever in the history of Jell-O Art Shows? Once the article is in, trying to correct or add to it is old news, so I didn't get my 15 minutes that year.

Early retail Jell-O Art

Nevertheless, I reflected upon Queenliness and by January of 2013 I was ready to start going to meetings and join the performing wing. I wasn't sure I could do it, having told myself for decades that I had stage fright and could never sing in public like that. Silly me. I had to admit to myself that such a limiting view did not serve me or anyone else, and now I had a public and admirers. Some kind man at the Slug Queen thing had told me I was the most beautiful Queen there! (I know, he said that to all the Queens, but whatever.) Anyway I had something that no one else had in my dried Jell-O work, which was the flexibility to have Jell-O Art all year round and I started retailing flowers and hair ornaments that spring and summer with my regular screenprinted work at Saturday Market, Tuesday Market, OCF (after hours) and at the Jell-O Show. When I was crowned I had that broken heel so I sold off quite a bit of Jell-O at that show, lots of pity sales anyway. Selling the stuff was a big leap and I just went along with it. I made blogs and Facebook pages and set up a website and tried to get myself famous. I created as much of a buzz about Jell-O Art as I could and have tried to keep that up, as one of the duties of my regency.

Making the Jell-O Connection 2013

So, the Show. Getting in a big room with a dozen or so artists, actors, and musicians for a brainstorm is so fun the group has two or three of them to figure out a theme for the year and an outline for the performance. I took on the job of taking notes and tried to follow all the threads and help wrap them into a fabric. As it developed it became a little story about how Jell-O can turn a frog into a queen and I committed to sing a version of the Rainbow Connection dressed in a frog suit with my Queen outfit on underneath. Then I did it! I was astonished that I could indeed perform and that my sense of humor carried through in parts of the scripts and props.  That was the Jell-O Connection show, or i-jello, an exploration of the online world of Facebook, the contrast between virtual life and real life, and the joys of connecting. It was a great show (of course) and people loved us! It was illuminating to be onstage and feel the joy and fun we created reflecting back from the loving audience. I got how addicting performing can be and was quite high on that. Had a bumpy ride back to earth when I also realized it was highly insignificant outside of how it feels inside us. That might not be fair, because we can't really know the significance, which can develop over time. Anyway I had a little hissy fit the next day, tossing my wrinkled costumes and props on the floor in a pile and crying it out. Highs and lows that faded by the next year.

You really don't want to know so many things

The following year, 2014, we did Jell-O Jeopardy and that was an even bigger blast. I was getting to know all of the people who had been performing when I wasn't paying close attention (as you know, if you don't get up front you can't even really hear all the jokes and subtleties sometimes.) I saw how they created the magic from chaos. Just try to integrate zombie Marilyn Monroe, the ukelele wielding Wae Mest, and Shirley Temple (the young version) into a coherent skit. Somehow it all happens, rather of a mystery actually, and no one person has much influence on the final product. Even a Queen.

I knocked myself out on the props. In both of those shows I was determined to use my graphic skills to create a rich stage presentation so people would be more than delighted with the whole package. The Facebook year some of them didn't even get used as we scrambled to keep up. I learned that I would have to limit my visions to fit the space and structural limitations. Jeopardy went well that way, though I still made too many props. Fortunately Jacque joined us and helped with the logistics and started producing a slick and fabulous poster and images, and this year the poster is already done! I get to crib from it for the t-shirt design and that is a huge help. I don't have to wait until the last minute to get inspired about that.

Props from i-Jell-O 2013

I'm going to overdo the props again this year. I started sketching things out yesterday and it's hilarious fun for me to make big cardboard silly things and try to distill the important information graphically. I don't want a star role anyway, as the Queen is now a useful character who can come in for the deus-ex-machina when needed and riff off of any minor aspect she likes. Last year I sang a song saying that you don't want to know what is in Jell-O, which I just stole and took over from one of the musicians because it really worked for my character. She was supposed to do a commercial for Jell-O in the middle of the Jeopardy show, but she did that trickster thing, and it went off really well I thought. A little less ego last year, which made it a little more fun, too.

So of course I can't tell you about this year's show. Keeping it a surprise makes it a lot more fun and also allows us to change it as we go. Props, songs and characters will be inserted and thrown out over the next month and you don't really want to know everything. You want to be there for the moment and get the piece of magic that is yours to keep. It's only a three-hour show, a twenty-minute performance, and it won't be seen again (unless we get the recording of it back into place, which has been sadly missing somewhat. You can see a few snippets on youtube if you search Radar Angels and Jell-O.) It's the best when it's fresh and bright on the one night.

Now we are meeting weekly and everyone is writing their parodies, working up their costumes and character foibles, and we are well on the way to another great and original show. I thought since I already made a piece this year (the one I gave to MKAC) I would challenge myself to go back to the roots and make a jiggly one. Even though it has to be done at the last minute, I have to start now to get the right molds and be ready for the execution of the concept. It's a lot to do given that I will be going to Australia a couple of weeks later and of course Saturday Market opens the Saturday following the Show. Thank goodness it is not the same day as happens some years. I used to try to do both events, but clearly now that I am Queen the Jell-O  Art Show takes priority over making a living. Good thing I get that miniscule Social Security payment to cover my almost-paid-off mortgage.

I hope I never lose this joy and duty that makes my life so rich and fun. How else would I survive the dark winter fogs if I didn't have Jell-O Art? Now that I can sing more, I have a life focus that I always wanted but didn't think I could have. Way back when I used to sing in a garage band, I had two songs mainly, Sea Cruise and Love Potion #9. I won't be fronting the band this time, but I will tell you the secret info that we will be using Sea Cruise in this show. I cannot wait to sing the ooh wee baby again. It's going to be the best *three hour tour* ever. Save the date, March 28, and don't be late, because we will be there to pick you up at seven. Around seven. We have to make sure our aprons are tied in a nice bow and our Jell-O is on straight, and I guess the Slug Queen's benediction this year will be super special. The show starts at five. Come see the Jell-O, try some ridiculous Tacky Food, and watch some magical musical fun. Make some Jell-O Art too! It is a simple entry, makes you a real artist showing in a real gallery, and is way more fun than you might think. You can take my word for it.