Mojo Magic

 

I'm waiting for the next segment in the last recording of my parts today. There will be one more session before all of the parts are recorded and then our wizard, Michael Hall, will piece them all together into one of our finest shows.

 Working with the green screen, multiple cameras, and the ability to practice on camera is a whole new dimension for us. It takes a lot of the pressure out of trying to do the live show. It's a good thing because we started so late, had such a small group, and had so much trouble settling on a plan, we had to get it together in only a couple of weeks, without a single rehearsal the way we used to do it.

Costume changes can be elaborate and there is plenty of time to switch out accessories, readjust expectations, and even rewrite lines at the last minute to tighten things up. There's no anxiety about forgetting lines, as we can do it several times until we get it polished.

We had a blast today, just a small group of us cracking each other up with extra jokes, snide remarks and little songs in between takes. I think my favorite moment was at the end of the four-hour session, when we were just recording a little bit of vocals for a number we weren't in...we all started dancing in front of the mic and it felt like we were really stars goofing around together like the oldest of coworkers.

We've been together such a long time. I've only been performing for ten years now, but they have been memorable and have filled my soul. I can't believe I could have been doing it for twenty years before that if I hadn't been living another, more reclusive life. 

I always told myself I had stage fright and couldn't sing live in front of people, though obviously I never did in chorus as a kid or with my family or friends. Telling myself limiting stories about what I could or couldn't do was a habit that provided me some kind of protection but it was a real life lesson to find out how easily a story can be disproven with a little supportive encouragement and patience from some of the lovely people I have been honored to know. It took a long time to get me on stage, and I had to be somewhat dragged, but I hope it was worth the effort. I do love it now. Having the Queen persona is liberating as well...it's me, but not really...she can do lots of things I would be reluctant to do in public. It surprises me that people don't seem to understand that. It makes me giggle that when I say I am dull and a hermit that they see that extroverted social persona and don't know which one to believe in. I mean, if I have Jell-O on my head, I'm the Queen. If I don't, I'm just working or have my nose in a book. (And this is beside the point of this essay, but I am reading Davy Rothbart's book My Heart is An Idiot and it's delightful.)

This morning I was a little resentful to give up my last free Saturday before Market starts, but I sat down early and thought I'd write a few lines for people who were planning to improvise, in case they were still unsure what they would say. I ended up writing four fake news stories in less than an hour, just naturally and without any real effort. I laughed myself. At the same time as I sent them out to the troupe I knew that most or all of it would not make it into the show, and I wasn't at all attached to that...all of our artists are free to do what they choose with little interference from the rest of the group. I just was having fun doing it. I wanted more. I feel that now, too, that familiar disappointment that it all didn't last quite long enough.

We do work together to make the creation, and writing the script is mostly an exercise for me of trying to imsgine enough of a narrative to make everyone's separate parts fit together in some kind of relationship to each other. Our brainstorming sessions are wild fun that we all treasure. The little ways we are hilarious are so endearing and adorable. Each person has their style of it...some at the beginning, coming in fully fixed on an idea or a character, some hanging back and coming in near the finish with something that puts the humor over the top. You might be able to tell that in the performance if you know some of the performers, or maybe not. I find out more of it every time we do this thing together. 

We're lucky to be in this little window of the pandemic where people who are vaxxed and careful can take a little bit of a risk and get together in the same room. This was the first time in two years I unmasked and sort of forgot about dying and killing others by breathing. I'm masked again of course, as I know what's coming and know the window is rapidly closing and will likely remain closed for several months, again. Again! It's hard to do it again, but I'm still determined not to get sick and above all, not to make someone else sick. I'm prepared to sacrifice a lot of things for that. But I'm glad we didn't sacrifice performing together for it this year.

So I'm so grateful for this fun we had. Next Saturday is the Jell-O Art Show, where we will all see the recording for the first time, surrounded by the jiggly and elaborate sculptures of other people coming hesitantly out of isolation for a moment. Let's enjoy what freedom we each feel we can claim, briefly, to feel joy and celebrate the spring. We're having another spring! We're having another Jell-O Art Show! What a wonderful world it can be.

Workshop Coming Tomorrow!

 

Happy to report we Angels got our mojo working and we have a fantastic performance planned. We'll be recording next week I think, so today is costumes, practicing lines, last-minute script revisions, and full-on Jellosity!

 I love this kind of day when I go from creative project to creative project. Practicing for my workshop tomorrow keeps the anxiety level down. Tried a zoom without an audience to see where to put my camera and that was interesting. My kitchen window makes it too bright for plan A but I have lots of plans yet. The big question is how much cluttter I will have to clear away to frame a put-together clean studio/kitchen so I can fool my fans into thinking I am a good housekeeper.

I'm not worried about the zoom participants as much as the entirety of  the YouTube universe...and posterity...this other video of me has persisted for a long time, which I enjoy. 

 As you can see I tend to overdo it and that will be everyone's benefit. I can spend a week or a month on a project trying to cover every possible scenario while also allowing that random chance and the unknown complications will mean I have very little control. I don't mind having little control when it comes to Jell-O Art.

So get over to MKAC today and register for the workshop and pick up your Box-O' -Fun! If you don't feel like you can afford the donation I will be happy to cover you...just send me an email at dmcwho@efn.org and let me know your problems or questions. We should still have a few boxes for purchase at the Jell-O Art show if you can't do it today. They contain gelatin and instructions so you can do it on your own, and after the workshop zoom there will be a YouTube at some point.

What a glorious day to be an artist!  https://www.mkartcenter.org/jello.html#jelloworkshop

 

 

Gettin' My Jell-O Mojo On

 Covid Jell-O has not been easy and the group of us has been floundering just a bit. Some of us, so eager to resume the good things in life, scheduled vacations at the time of or just before the show. It's pretty hard to put together a performance or an event with an ever-shrinking group of less-than-enthusiastic participants. And some of us are just getting old and losing our momentum. So we named the show Jell-O Mojo. We're hoping to get ours back. I actually believe we will.

 I will not give in to that ennui! I can't, because being the Queen of Jell-O Art is a monster that I don't control. I don't get to give up, or even be very lazy. It's only a few months of my life, and really only a big part during February and March, when everything is supposed to be rolling. I would say it is drifting toward the goal, and I have *high hopes* that we can pick up some speed. Picture those ants with that rubber tree. Bigger goals have been accomplished than a pandemic art show.

 Because we are still not sure what kind of a performance we can pull off, that might be a hasty miracle of some kind, though it should still be plenty of fun no matter how it turns out. I tried to watch our zoom show from last year, and it wasn't terrible. There were giggles and even a guffaw now and then.  I'll see if I can find a way to add it at the bottom of the post.  Oh wait, here's a youtube.

This year, I have a whole new idea. I'm going to have a workshop! On zoom, of course, but this will be special. I took my whole collection of dried gelatin pieces, which was divided by color into a dozen plastic tubs, and re-divided it into twelve to fifteen boxes which I am calling Jell-O Box O’ Fun. I'll include some plain gelatin and instructions and a few surprises, and people can make Jell-O Art with me on the zoom March 12, from 1-3 pm, or work on their own. It's a good assortment of colors, shapes and sizes and some sticks (because everything is always better on a stick). 

 You will have to donate to MKAC to get one, and they are limited to what I will have when I'm finished putting them together (by next week?), and I'm hoping they will encourage some buzz. It's THE QUEEN'S Jell-O! Who doesn't want a chance at that?

 I mean, there ought to be some dedicated or curious Jell-O artists who will want some. I really hope so. Maybe you?

I have not practiced this zoom yet but I will this weekend, and it may be awkward and limited because I expect I will go off camera frequently and drop things and have some technical failures. I'll have to be dressed up and in a silly mood, but I think this might succeed in Bringing the Silly Back which is our tag line. 

And we have a brand new Slug Queen, Galaxia Cosmos, who is very intriguing and who will undoubtedly have a new take on the Benediction. They're always new and different, but we don't get many from outer space so I'm up for the ride. Queen Galaxia blew the crowd away at the coronation last August and had the perfect pandemic wisdom so add Jell-O to that and you know it will be good. Go like their Facebook page and check out their good works and fantastic personality. Plus we should have some of those Old Queens at the gallery. You know they like to go to all the happening events.

So stay tuned. The show is Saturday March 26, not the Opening Day of Saturday Market, so you can all come and you can all make some Jell-O sculpture too, right?

Sadly, you will have to wait until next year for the return of the Tacky Food Buffet, but you can always put edible Jell-O on the pedestal and call it art, especially if it has celery in it. Or capers. All foods are better with capers. And olives. And mandarin oranges...that sounds good, doesn't it? Better than chocolate-covered brussels sprouts anyway. See you soon!