Shanghai Surprise

Theatre Review:

Cirque Shanghai: Bai Xi

Executive Produced by
Michael Wilson, ISA & Haiping Ge

Creative Collaboration by
John Steenhoven

Directed by Andrew Park

Pepsi Skyline Stage at Navy Pier













"Bsi Xi" is Chinese for "100 stunning acts." I didn't keep count, but they certainly are in the high end. I wasn't sure what to expect beyond my limited experience of Chinese acrobatics on TV variety shows and talk shows. I wasn't sure how they were going to sustain such high energy entertainment over a full show. Pleased to report that they do.

There are death-defying aerial stunts, but just as jaw-dropping and nail-biting is watching someone on a tall unicycle trying to flip a spoon from their toes into a cup on the top of their head. And I never thought plate-spinning could be so mesmerising.

What's refreshingly different about this Cirque versus that other more famous Cirque is that they wear their themes lightly. This really is about the physical dexterity and daring stunts. There's even some live music and magic, but the main thrust of this show is, really, just showing us what really cool things they can do.

The show runs an hour and a half, which is just right. The seats at the Skyline stage are a torturous hard plastic. Any longer, and I would have given in and confessed to my Falun Gong infractions. I recommend getting a seat in the middle of the house to near the front. We were eight rows back. Any closer, and it would have been difficult to enjoy some of the overhead stuff. At the end of the show, exit house left to meet some of the cast.

If there's a fault to the show, there's no host to set a context for the evening or to even tell us we can meet the cast. We just happened to stumble upon the area. The other is that the music was too loud at points, the pre-recorded soundtrack almost drowning out the two live musicians on stage.

But definitely go see this. It's only here through September 3rd. Apparently, this is part of a cultural exchange where we have also sent shows to China. Wondering what brilliant American talent we sent them? Pole strippers and a guy who can belch the alphabet? Nope. Close. A Harlem Globetrotters rip off called America's Harlem Wizards. We win.

Saturday Morning Cartoons!

Scrub Me Mama (1943)



In my Harlem in the 1920's: Black Art and Literature class we learned about the many pervasive black stereotypes in entertainment - entertainment geared towards white audiences. They are all classic and you've seen them all before. There's the big bosomed mammy, the Uncle Tom, the light-skinned mulatto jezebel, the lazy sambo, the unkempt pickaninny children. All are represented in this morning's cartoon, including the ravenous consumption of watermelon and picking cotton. The only stereotypes missing are are the zip coon, urban coon and black buck. Those guys were probably too threatening for the fun-loving boogie-woogie tone of this piece. It all seems in fun, but you have to realize that this cartoon was almost 100 years after the Civil War and black people still couldn't get a break in how they were represented in the media. And it's a cartoon! It's directed at children. So, for white children with little or no exposure to black people, this the image that got installed in their minds. For black children without role models, this also got installed as possible identities to emulate.



Cartoons like this used to run all the time on TV until the late 60's and early 70's until pressure from parental groups forced the producers to self-impose a ban on questionable material for kids. Unfortunately, they went overboard and banned a lot stuff because of violence, too. As a kid, all it takes is stepping on a rake and getting smacked in the bean ONCE to get the difference between the physics of life versus cartoons (I know this from experience, by the way). All the cartoons that have been banned do show up on DVD's and on cable, usually late at night and with a disclaimer.



This is a Dave Fleischer cartoon. Fleischer directed many classic Superman and Popeye cartoons. The animation is excellent, it's a catchy tune, and I did chuckle a few times in spite of the racism.

History of the Concession Stand

http://www.slate.com/id/2169127

The Bee and the Butterfly

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U17m802fm4c

The Talking Magpies

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HK2i4qL7KM

Keeping It Simple

My RoboWriters evenings are probably the most fun I have all week. There's a lot of laughing involved. It's a silly world that I live in. I spend a lot of time sitting around tables reading scenes and laughing my ass off. I'm often quick to diminish the value of what I do. I'm not solving world hunger, I'm not curing cancer. At the very least, work is supposed to be hard. There is a service I am providing. Comedy is an industry. People want to laugh. They spend a lot of money on it. People want to make people laugh. They spend a lot of money in pursuit of this, too. I'm just the middle-man. I guess I'm sort of a drug dealer who also gets to sample all his wares.



Last night, the common theme that emerged among the writers was to trust what's at the heart of your scene. A few scenes started out with interesting characters, relationships and premises only to quickly devolve into "anything for a laugh," which usually results in zero laughs and the sense that the writer is trying to punch his way out of the scene rather than have it resolve organically. The lesson the writers learned is to take your time with your characters - explore their wants and desires, delve more deeply into their issues and emotional life. Give them some respect. Thanks to the magic of computers, you can always go back and edit out the stuff that doesn't move the story forward. You're likely to discover the stuff that really makes you laugh from deep down in your gut. A few of the writers successfully did this through rewrites retooled to focus on characters and relationships.



ROBOWRITER ASSIGNMENT - Next week, write a silent scene.

Literally, a "show, don't tell" scenario.



Things to keep in mind in writing a silent scene...



- The characters are silent because they choose to be. Not because someone suddenly turned the volume off or the characters were struck dumb.



- Keep it simple. The audience should be able to quickly grasp the who, what and where.



- Explore how people communicate non-verbally -from eye-rolling to throat clearing to foot tapping to eye contact to actively ignoring.



- maybe have an instrumental piece of music in mind that would accompany the scene. The scene should be able to play without it and would only be enhanced by it.



- keep it real. They are not mimes. Allow the characters to take their time and let tension build. Don't have them over-exaggerate their wants and needs through over-the-top actions just for the sake of making sure the audience gets it. Audience are smart!


Above all. Keep it simple.

High Crimes and Misdemeanors

White House and Cheney Subpoenaed!













Well, it's about f--king time!

Please, please, please, P-L-E-A-S-E, Congress, don't wuss out on this.

Don't buckle because it makes George get all snippy.












Don't fold like a dime store pup tent when Cheney gives you that glare.

You know, the evil one.



















This is the road to impeachment. Let's get these assholes out of there by the end of summer.

Keep in mind, though, that impeachment isn't enough. There needs to be a conviction. Both Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton were impeached, but not convicted. Both impeachments were highly politically motivated, though, so that's a good thing. The House of Representatives needs to impeach and the Senate needs to convict to remove someone from high office.

Many people mistakenly believe Nixon was impeached. He was not. Nixon was on the road to impeachment, but resigned before it could happen. He most certainly would have been convicted. Here's what he was accused of; illegal wiretapping, misuse of the CIA, perjury, bribery, obstruction of justice, and other abuses of executive power.

Sound familiar?

Congress, do your job!


ROBOWRITERS TONIGHT!!!!

RoboWriters is tonight at 6:30pm at the Uptown Writer's Space. Its only five bucks. It's like an improv open mic, but with sketch writers and playwrights. And the audience is the other writers in the room. Stop on by!