Wrap it up in Jell-O

 Writing a post after all the excitement is over can be easily forgotten, as I move on to the first Saturday Market and whatever else I've been setting aside. Had to print quite a few bags and hats this week and have more to do next week. The Jell-O afterglow lasted a day.

We had a good show, though. Indi as Queen Elizabeth cracked me up and her costume goes down as one of the most perfectly detailed ever. She really went all out and her accent and delivery were impeccable. It is very fun to trade lines with her and the rest of our comedic troupe. What seemed like a smaller group trimmed down the process a bit and though we still filled the stage, we remained flexible and were able to add lines and business at the last minute that all worked. Saying yes at all stages is a challenge but I try to remember that a lot of it is improv and the audience likes whatever we do. The corgis were a favorite prop and are now my pets.

I did feel that we resorted to a lot of low humor, that is, too many fart jokes, but I always get outvoted when it comes to that, even though I point out that there are no 8-year old boys in our audience. Not sure when our focus moved from the kitchen to the bathroom but it was probably well before the Golden Commode year. I like the more subtle literary or obscure musical references like our little Paul Simon exchange (calling Queen E my role model and her saying "You can call me Betty," which initially was more connected to our narrative but ended up being a bit of an artifact.) I know only a few people will get most of our jokes but I believe that those few people are in our audience, chuckling. But we write the script and act in a collaborative way so what gets in is not up to me. The Golden Commode was my idea as I recall and so maybe it is all my fault. 

We were not the only performers. This is I think the fifth time a friend has done up her hair, most spectacularly this time. She bonded with one of the many Old Queens who attended and to whom I promised custom fascinators, so I will have some gelatin projects ongoing.

I missed having a more elaborate set but I did like the props and I had no extra time in which I would have made more set pieces, so it worked out. We had planned to destroy the balloon in the collision but I still have it and am not sure what to do with it now. I have an attic full of aging set pieces that need to be thrown out along with a lot of other things up there. I'll get to it at some point I suppose.

 

There were not many entries in the show...I spread my things out over a lot of pedestals but we did get at least three first-time artists, including a team of brothers. I wanted to take a photo of them with their art but I never saw them. I missed a lot of people...I had a mask on during parts and maybe didn't recognize others in masks. It was hard, as always, to get everything done and still have time to get some makeup on and change into my stage outfit. I tried out purple lipstick and as always felt like a clown and wished I had asked someone to make me up more skillfully. There's never time on the day of the show.

A real Jell-O professional came down from Portland, Cassie. She is active on Instagram where all the action really is anyway. Her piece was edible and jiggly and extremely detailed. I would have loved to take it apart. There was even a companion piece that was drier, a lily pad sandwich kind of, on the right. She was delightful and her traveling companion (I think maybe they were sisters) runs a place in Portland called the Peculiarium which is a destination now. They even have a Jelleau Fest in May which will be very cool I expect.

 On insta she is @yesyoucaneatthat so go look her up. She has lots of Jell-O Art followers too, so I will try to spend more time there looking at what is happening in the rest of the Jell-O art world. More than you would think!

David's upcycled piece was spectacular and he held court and talked about technique and I suppose told stories...it's always fun to watch. He gave away most of the arrangement. 

Two of our troupe also always make Jell-O and their pieces deserved more of my time, but I do have photos. I admire anyone who works in jiggly since you can't start it more than a few days before the show, and it so easily can slide itself to pieces on the way. That happened to one new artist who has come to many shows but not submitted a piece before. Hers had some lovely detail that was a bit hidden. It jiggled well. There was a delightful videographer from the Oregonian who took SO much video and she jiggled every piece.

And lastly, I did end up getting three crowns finished and was able to wear each of them for a time. They were bigger than was practical and not that different from my fascinators, but at least I had something new besides my bitter piece about the fiery death of idealism. 

It went by fast, in retrospect. I treasured it more now that we had three years of less-than. It was terrific to be back on stage. We all felt fantastic about supporting two younger members taking bigger roles, a third generation of Radar Angels in fact, as their parents and grandparents have performed as well. They were a wonderful addition and a renewal of commitment. Nurturing ourselves and others to be who we want to be is a big part of Radar Angel ethos...an essential part. It is worth the effort even when people leave for bigger stages or retirement or other, less wonderful reasons.

As I repaired it to put it away I realized that mounting it on some shingles from my booth roof was a perfect presentation, though it was just on a plate for the show. Artists have to process their emotions through art and sometimes it helps.

And although we didn't mention it, our show this year was dedicated to two incredible women we lost, named Rita, one former performer and one my Mom. I don't think Mom ever came to a show because if she did, I would have wanted her to sing with us, but I know she was proud of me and kind of understood what it is all about. Anyway she called me her "artist daughter" (one step up from "hippie daughter" over the years) and I would not be an artist without her support. There is a lot of support needed and provided and a big thanks to all the volunteers, and our lovely audience who came and threw their money into the jar. Next year bring Jell-O! 

Oh, we had the return of Tacky Food! This was quite delicious.The pickle-flavored peanuts were quite edible as well. I did not find anything else edible, personally, though maybe I would have if no one had been watching.