Thoughts by Lori Dungey
Well here I am at home on a sunny Friday morning. Coffee at my fingertips, porridge steaming, still in my pajamas, National Radio burbling on about the state of our Hospital Emergency departments in the background. I’m blogging! My partner wryly points out as he leaves for work, “No, you’re blobbing.” I’ve never blogged before so it’s a bit of a blank canvas. My understanding is you’re supposed to ramble on with what’s been going on in your life. Well I can do that, anyone can. Whether or not anyone wants to read it is another matter.
Well, it’s been a funny old week. What with the down turn in the economy our business has certainly dropped. Everyone has put a padlock on their training, their conferences and their entertainment spend, which boils down to extra time on my hands. Having said that, it seems like all the work I DO have for the entire month has been crammed into this one bloody week. Why can’t you people organize yourselves!
I did an all-day Curtains Up training session with for a leading Hair Care product company, for their young, up and coming presenters. As I perused the room before I began and thought, “Good God, they all looked like contestants from American Idol” – young, funky and fabulous hair! I led them through their paces in the morning – it was all about getting theatrical and treating every public presentation like a production of “Cats”. Without the costume, makeup or songs. Then in the afternoon it was dress-up time. They had to create, write, costume and produce their own 15 minute theatrical production. I had set up tables with props, hats, glasses (nothing defines a character like a good pair of comedy glasses) arts & crafts stuff and racks of clothing. I even had a cowboy campfire that had a ring of stones around it and red cello paper amongst the sticks, which made it look like an authentic glowing campfire. The participants were magnificent and they left empowered with the magic of their presentation skills. Then I had to pack up all the crap I’d brought and fill every last inch of my car with boxes and boxes and boxes. Then of course it all had to come out of the car and be put away. That may take a week or two.
Tonight I am playing both a bride and a jilted love somewhere in Matakana at the boss’s house, for 12 people. Yipes. Apparently the boss has a special, soft floor so we can’t wear any heels. Fine by me, I’ve got my comedy slippers packed. They’re slip on ones with sequined cherries on the toe and the words, “Feeling Fruity.” Hysterical, who needs a costume! Do you know how bloody hard it is to find a wedding dress that doesn’t have a billion of those little pearl buttons at the back? How the hell am I supposed to make a quick change into the other slapper character if I’m fiddling with all those damn buttons? That’s the sort of thing we performers have to deal with.
The only other thing of interest that happened this week it that I went to a free seminar for an organization called Landmark Education. I have a friend who swore it was transforming and was soooo persistent about me seeing the light, that after the 563rd request, I agreed. One advantage in the downturn in the economy is that I now have time to go to the gym and attend such enlightening events. It’s all about self improvement and finding your own inner power. “There’s always room for improvement,” is a phrase my mother is fond of so I couldn’t disagree with much of what they said. It was a bit like a revival meeting. At the beginning past attendees shouted out enthusiastically how this experience had changed their lives, “I started a business. I fixed my marriage. I began to feel again. I got my life back.” All enormously valid things but the cost for the weekend course of $675.00 held me back. What I’ve decided to do is read all the self help books we have at home on the shelf. We seem to have accumulated a few over the years. That won’t cost me anything except for the coffee beans.
Well, that’s my week in a nutshell. Next week’s going to be frantic. Performance aplenty! Our Comedy Festival show “Austen Found: The Undiscovered Musicals of Jane Austen” begins on the same weekend as the 48 Hour Film Challenge. I have promised myself to Director Campbell Cooley, except when I’m starring in “Austen”. I’m also co-producing our other Comedy Fest show, “Sex, Lies & Improvise”. Last Monday we had a rehearsal and I haven’t laughed so much in ages. It’s going to be very naughty but deliciously fun. Look, if you’re not going to hire us the least you can do is buy a ticket to our show “Sex, Lies & Improvise”.
Lori Dungey is an Actor and Creative Director with ConArtists