I’ve been a fan of The Cos since I was a child. I used to stay up late listening to the Sunday Night Funnies on CHUM FM. George Carlin, Lily Tomlin, Cheech and Chong, Bob Newhart, Eddie Murphy, Monty Python, The Frantics and Richard Pryor were the rock stars of my youth. But none had a greater place in my heart than Bill Cosby.  Cosby’s humor had an appeal that spanned all ages, genders and races. It’s a secret formula that I don’t think anyone has ever been able to duplicate. Sure, there were racier, riskier, louder comics out there, but Cosby’s stories all centered around universal truth. They were things that we all knew or would know as human beings: growing up, being married, having kids, going to the dentist. Surely, these are time-worn topics, but The Cos made them seem fresh every one of the thousand times I heard these stories on the radio or on the cassette tapes I listened to in my Walkman. I was thrilled when Laura gave me two tickets to Cosby’s show in Hamilton for Christmas. They were cleverly taped to a giant ceramic brick, which was then enveloped in a cardboard and wrapping paper disguise that made the whole package look like a bedazzled battleship.

The show was last night. I’m pleased to report that at 71, The Cos still has It. He seems frailer and slower now. But, there was an unpretentious charm about how he unceremoniously entered stage left without any introduction, ultra-casual in his baggy UMASS sweatshirt and baseball cap. He dawdled across the stage, and settled himself into a comfy chair. But, where time may have greyed his appearance, the truth still shines through his routine. It’s like sitting down with an old friend who’s telling you what’s been happening in his life in the past couple of months. His rubbery facial expressions with an acrobatic voice to match make everything funny, even his first story about having an abscess in his face.  He got his first big laugh of the night by just saying, “I’m going to die.” During that story, he rambled and tangented, and allowed himself to be sidetracked by the audience. Being a brilliant storyteller, however, he never lost sight of his destination. Half an hour later, after so much bobbing and weaving, so many diversions and side-stories I lost count, he tied it all the way back to his very first sentence in a few phrases that hit so fast and so hard that I never saw them coming. It reminded me strongly of the Bassprov workshop I took a couple of years ago. Mark Sutton and Joe Bill likened an improv set to a road trip: you can take all kinds of interesting side trips, but never forget where you’re going.

The bulk of Cosby’s routine has grown along with him. The universal truths have followed him into senior citizenship. The middle portion of his routine was about aging, about seeing doctors, getting a colonoscopy, about being a grandparent, and about being elderly and married. Yet somehow, it’s still funny! During his story about enduring his grandson’s first birthday party, followed quickly by a tangent story about his elderly friend who suffered a chain of side effects from different medications, I laughed so hard I almost broke a rib.

Cosby ended the night with his classic dentist bit. It was like driving home, reaching familiar territory. It’s a bit that I could nearly lip sync, because I’d heard it so many times before. He slipped into it as easily as a pair of old sneakers, and suddenly he was young again. His timing and delivery were of his earlier era. When he finished with the classic, “Look! A rainbow!” he brought the house down. As he waved and left the stage, he got a well-deserved standing ovation. Personally, when I stood for his ovation, I cheered his entire career and the influence he’s had on me as a human being and a student of comedy. Just as I felt honored to have seen Oscar Peterson play jazz piano like no one has every played before, I feel extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to see this giant of the comedy world.

Here’s an interesting speech by Elizabeth Gilbert, who wrote Eat, Pray, Love. She brings up some interesting points about creativity and how western society’s attitudes towards it have changed in the last few thousand years. She contemplates the difficulty that arises when we realize that it’s possible that our best creative moments are behind us.

I do appreciate some of the concepts she brings out, because I have sometimes felt, both in photography and in improv, that there was something else speaking through me that allowed me to rise to new levels. Sometimes it feels as though I’m just channeling something, because afterward, I wonder, “Where did that come from?” At the same time, it runs against the grain of my natural tendency to insist on full accountability for everything we do. I think that both things can be reconciled though. She insists that we have to keep “showing up for work” in order to catch the inspiration as it is handed to us. And in the same way that I accept that I can not control the weather, I can accept this too.

In any case, watch the video. She’s a wonderful speaker, and her ideas are worth your consideration. Laura sent this out to her mailing list on the weekend, and I’ve seen it a few times since then, so I think it’s catching on…

I feel like I’ve reached a new level in my improv lately. The past two Big in Japan shows have been great, and I’ve been feeling really good about them. The difference has been that I’ve been working on my emotional commitment to scenes. Teaching the 401 class for the ITC has helped me with this. I’ve been encouraging my students to let go of their inhibitions and self-consciousness, and just give in to the moment of the scene. I have been calling them out if I see that they’re pulling back or judging themselves from the outside. I can see it in their eyes when they think that they look silly. Consequently, I’m forced to practice what I preach. So, for two weeks in a row I’ve been completely letting go of emotional self-control in scenes. The resulting torrent of emotion has been very satisfying. It is fun to be and to watch someone being a complete emotional disaster on stage. Although it is exhausting, I end the set feeling like I couldn’t have possibly given more. That’s a good feeling.

Things are always interesting around here. To me, anyway. I got a call from a casting agency, because one of my friends had recommended me and several other improvisers to audition for a new TV commercial. I personally have no aspirations to become an actor, but I thought this would be a fun and fascinating experience anyway. So, I whipped up a headshot for myself, using the handy-dandy photo studio that I live in. Then I headed off to the casting facility in Toronto this morning for the audition.

It did turn out to be quite interesting. I was paired up with a female actor, who was auditioning for the part of my wife. She was an experienced actor, and had been in lots of commercials before. She thought this might be a good one though, because there were actual lines, and even an opportunity to act a little. Before we went in to audition, the director explained what he wanted to see in terms of character and emotion. Then we were called in in pairs to read through the scripts. There were two different commercials, for which I’d received the scripts in advance. It seemed to go very, very fast, probably because I was feeling a bit nervous about the whole thing. But, it was fun, and everyone was very friendly and supportive.

I doubt very much that I’ll get this part, nor do I really want it. However, I think this was a very valuable experience for me. I want to be able to understand my photography clients as well as possible, so having gone through the process of having my headshots taken, getting them printed, learning the lines, and then auditioning got me a bit closer to that goal. It was also cool to get to see more of this giant industry of which I am just a tiny part.

It turns out that I didn’t need the headshots, since they’re probably most useful for actually getting the audition. But, I felt it was good to be prepared, and added to my experience anyway.

I seem to leave big gaps between blog entries, especially when lots of stuff is happening. And lots of stuff seems to have happened since my last entry, which makes it even more difficult to write a quality entry. I’m sure I won’t be giving any of the things that happened adequate quality coverage.

Anyway, when I got back from New York, I had two days to get myself together for a trip to Toronto. I was renting my place to a TV production company to film a few scenes for an upcoming late-night sci-fi program that will air on HBO and The Movie Network. Fortunately, the place wasn’t too messy, so I got it cleaned up and prepared for strangers to be here. I didn’t want to be here at all while the filming was happening. I’d probably have a heart attack seeing how 40 strangers hauling heavy gear treat my stuff and my home. So, I just make sure that all delicate things were put away, and that things were generally clean and tidy.

I headed out to Toronto on Wednesday afternoon. I checked into the Travelodge at King and Bathurst, which would be my base of operations for the next few days. This place defines clean and sensible business accommodations. There’s nothing fancy about it, but it’s a good place to sleep at night, and you can’t beat the location. The room had a small fridge so I could buy some food for breakfast and snacks. It also had decent free wireless Internet so I could stay in touch.

That night, I got to see and perform in Project Project, which was a lot of fun. It happens every Wednesday at the Comedy Bar, and is a great place to experience some experimental improv forms. That night, they had two guest beat poets who read some highly entertaining poems, which were then used to inform a montage of scenes. It was kind of like a poetic Armando.

Thursday night, I was at the Comedy Bar again for the Toronto Improv Festival. I was shooting photos of the acts. Before the show, the stormy and unsettled weather had turned the sky a sort of surreal orange and pink.

I also performed a set with James as Raging 180. We did a grounded monoscene set in our loose form, which involves a rant a la Bassprov. Our characters were roommates, and we just showed a slice of their lives. We haven’t performed together in ages, but I still felt comfortable on stage with James. I would have liked our rant segment to be more intense, but it was still enjoyable to do, and I think interesting to watch.

Friday I did a lot of shopping. I bought shirts, jeans, a jacket and socks. Sometimes I find it hard to buy clothes, and sometimes I find it too easy. Since I was kind of on holiday still, I was in “easy” mode.

That night, I was at the Bad Dog, shooting and performing with Big in Japan. There was a good crowd there, and we put up a decent set too, based on the suggestion “Righteous.”

I checked out of the Travelodge on Saturday, and went home to Hamilton. I had to see what was up with my place after the TV people left. Actually, it wasn’t terrible. It was a bit dirty, and they had left all my lights on and air conditioner cranked, but overall, it wasn’t a disaster. I discovered later that all my food in my fridge had gone bad because they’d unplugged the fridge to record dialogue scenes, and had forgotten to plug it in again. No big deal. They’re reimbursing me for the cleaning, the food in the fridge, and the dents and scratches on the walls. I talked to my neighbours, and apparently this was quite a big deal. They had blocked off serveral blocks around my place, and there were dozens of trailers, equipment vans and generators filling the streets. There were about 40 people tromping in and out of here at all hours. I’m hoping my neighbours weren’t too put off by all the commotion. I’m looking forward to seeing how this all turns out.

Since I’ve been back, I’ve been booking a lot of shoots. It’s mostly headshots, but some model portfolio and glamour stuff too. I’ve got two shoots next week at restaurants in Burlington for that magazine I mentioned earlier.

Studio-wise, I made a couple of purchases. My background support system finally arrived. I’d ordered it in June, but it was out of stock, and took forever to get here. Manyk was kind enough to lend me a hand in helping me pick up the rolls of black and white paper, and getting the thing securely installed on the wall.

It’s supposed to hold three rolls, but one of the pieces is broken and needs to be replaced. They’re sending me a new part by UPS. It’s not a big deal right now, since I only have two rolls of paper anyway. I’ll use the third roller set to hold a bar from which I can hang fabric or other backdrops with clamps. I’m loving this new background system. Because the rolls are continuous paper, I can curve them out onto the floor and have nice seamless backgrounds. It makes it so much easier to do full-body photos than before. Here are some of my photos from yesterday that I took with the new background. Oh, and there are a couple I included just because I like them.