More Tales of Best Friends: Religious Connections
This post is devoted to The Rev. Schuyler Rhodes who is one of my lifelong best friends and a PK. (Preacher’s kid for those secular Jewish agnostics)I fancied myself a cynical Jewish agnostic during my teen years. Why not? I felt alienated and knew the only person who could relate to me was Holden Caulfield, […]
I’m Good Enough, I’m Smart Enough and Doggone It… Stuart Smalley is Funny!
Al Franken struck a nerve and made Stuart Smalley’s quotable catch phrases all the rage on Saturday Night Live in the 1990’s. Remember these? I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it, people like me.” “That’s just stinkin’ thinkin!” “You’re should-ing all over yourself.” “I know I’m not perfect…and that’s…okay.” “You’re only as sick […]
The Self-Doubt Monologues (dialogue)
It’s time. You’re up next. It’s either a speech, or at bat, or an oral exam and you have to perform. Scary, huh? I’m reprinting a blog from another site. http://www.improv-odyssey.com/?p=2497 to because it reminded me of a passage from my book, The King of Average, where our little boy must be examined by the council […]
Overcoming Self-Pity through Immersive Action
One thing I know for sure, the more you feel sorry for yourself, the less energy you have to for anything else (except drugs, alcohol, TV and other escapes). I learned this lesson in an Improv class years ago and I reprint it here. Self-pity is the last floor before Rock-Bottom and many people get […]
Inescapable Donald Trump Parallels in my Book The King of Average
I hate to say it, and am not truly comfortable making a parallel between the Republican front-runner Donald Trump and a character in my novel, The King of Average, but after hearing Trump boast his awesome prowess as the leader of the most powerful country on earth, I can’t stand by without comment. Ironically, I […]
Helping Find the Positive in a Less-Than-Ideal Childhood
According to various studies* low self-esteem in children tends to be related to either physical punishment and/or withholding of love and affection by parents and only receive positive attention from authority figures (such as parents) when they act in a certain way. This reinforces to the child that they are only a person of value […]
Why I Ran Away and Joined the Invisible Circus
Schenectady New York, 1964 It was a real chore, going to Hebrew school after ‘regular school’, trying to learn just enough Hebrew to get by on the “Big Day” – the day we would become ‘men’. On this particular day, I was hanging out in the parking lot of Temple Beth Israel Hebrew School on […]
Fun for Now
Fun means full mind/body involvement. Fun is the life force from which all action flows in performance. Fun frees the individual from the drudgery of drill, repetition, and stale ritual. It contains within it discipline, involvement and commitment to an action without judgment. It is doing for its own sake, thus giving the individual total […]
The Most Memorable Grammar Lesson I Ever Had
All the rocks and highball glasses were clean and draining on the sink board behind my bar as five o’clock rolled around. Friday Happy Hour; it was two for one drinks and I was prepared for a rush. Me as an aspiring actor, fresh from New York 1972 I landed the job at the Spice […]
Donald Trump: King of Accusia
Is The Donald King of Accusia? Parallels with my book and why you can’t vote for a King. Our Onerous Choice for President. I’ve been watching with growing horror and rage the rise of Donald Trump who bears a striking resemblance to a character in my book, The King of Average. My hero, a boy who […]
