Paul Headlines the NY Times Arts Section
While your editor has been on a moving-across-the-country hiatus, our friend and actor Paul Eenhoorn has been in the ‘buzz’. We’re a little late on the uptake due to the hiatus, but here he is landing ontop the NY Times Arts Section for a second time, with a half-page featured article inside.
Read all about it!
Photos from NY Times courtesy of Townsend Canon
One of the hardest things when preparing your home for sale – beyond the enormous amount of work involved – is scrubbing the place of your personality. We like to believe we’ve added something. It’s a very special place and first, of course, we found it. Homeowners, before they are anything else, are like happy, ruddy-faced beachcombers returning with a ‘found object’. Perhaps it’s a conglomerate with a bit of barnacle, aggregated gravel, some seaweed and a seagull feather stuck hard to it – all with a greenish, slippery touch that doesn’t immediately suggest itself as a paperweight. But this is what the realtor is for – for making this connection; for painting this realization! Because then, after finding our home, we realized its potential. Initially, it wasn’t that paperweight you see resting on my desk today. Oh no, no, no, no… A lot of effort, dare I say talent for this sort of thing, and money went into creating what you just saw. Our place, though small, is a jewel, with tremendous sparkle in a one of a kind location which should provoke a quick sale at a high price. All we really hope is that we can find the person for it that will appreciate it properly. And all the realtor really has to do is to show it! We smile and nod emphatically.
The realtor often doesn’t quite see it as we do. Their excitement level may not be ours. They might make a few suggestions, besides asking open-ended questions such as, “What kind of person do you see as buying a place like this?” ‘Well,’ we supposed, ‘individuals much like us!’ (We smile and nod emphatically again.)
Or, they might not be suggestions. “Those cat silhouettes (hanging on the window and inner door frames) should go. Lots of people don’t like cats.” “That moss on the patio stones should be pressure washed away.” – “But moss is beautiful. It’s a romantic detail that defines a patio bower and fits it within the community of the other vegetation.” The realtor shakes their head. “It’s moss.” – “But I like moss.” Deadly pause. We walk back into the home. “The chandelier needs to go. And everything in the kitchen should be packed away, except maybe for two canisters and a bottle of wine.” “No personal pictures.” “Think empty. Space is better.” “And, of course, it all needs re-painting. But I wouldn’t bother about that. The buyer can handle that after the sale.” “And are we far enough out that they could cut down that cedar, or what are the rules here on that? ” He asks, staring out the picture window. – “Don’t cut that cedar.” “It’s in the view.” – “But the view is more than some stiff scene way in the distance which could be replaced by a painting. It’s also trees and vegetation, and things closer by, that move!” – “The buyer is not going to care about that.” – “Well, you might tell him that it can get real hot here in the summer on this hillside and if he cuts down that cedar he can figure on paying about $150/month more for watering.” – “I’m not going to tell him that.”
“You don’t like moss. You don’t like trees. You don’t like cats. I can’t see us bonding,” I tell the realtor halfway through our stroll. He doesn’t respond; just looks at me.
“But,” I continue, “I don’t suppose that doesn’t mean we can’t work together.”
“It’s not what I like, or don’t like,” the realtor explains. “As a professional, it’s my job to tell you the things which will help you to realize a quick and profitable sale. And what I have been mentioning are those things.”
I nod my head. “I guess my personality isn’t worth much.”
No one says anything, and we continue on.
In the days that pass, what I can’t stuff into a carton for transfer to our new home, I farm out like a foster child, or trash. For quite some time it will feel like we’re living in a motel. My office has even developed an echo. And I’m about ready to leave.
Photo by Carl Nelson
My son asked me if I planned to continue participating in live theater after we moved to Ohio. And I said that I wasn’t sure. But that I’d probably “continue writing my serial fiction, because I enjoy making up stuff.”
And he said, “What’s the point of writing stuff, if people don’t read it?”
This gave me pause. “You’re the Devil,” I replied.
What is the role of failure? Success seems all important. People kill themselves for lack of success. It’s the all too common reason for suicide. Why is success so important! Why does it badger us so? Failure seems a particularly human affliction. It is hard to imagine a squirrel hanging itself, because it feels like a ‘loser’ – or a bird, or an ant, or a worm for that matter doing themselves in. Lemmings run off of cliff sides. But does an actual feeling of despair initially sweep across their community beforehand, so that they lose all bearings?
And if success is so important, where does that leave mediocrity?
Very few of us are successful. Fewer still are wildly successful. And even the wildly successful often remain ambitious – or even moreso. And history has shown us (in quite lurid detail) that ambition is insatiable, and probably makes us – even more suicidal!
Yet statistically, the vast majority of us must be mediocre. There is no logical way around this conundrum. So what is the role of failure?
More than anything, we tend to react to failure as if it were the Devil’s pronged fork. We distance ourselves from the pointy end as much as possible! “I’m not a failure. I’m successfully earning a living.” “I’m on my way to success.” “I am learning the ropes.” “I am supporting my family of five, all of whom are way above normal.” “I am helping the less fortunate.” “I’m in an internship! J” “I could be more successful, if that’s what I really wanted.” “No one is a failure who has friends.” “I feel I’m already a success.” Or, perhaps the most desperate, “I’m a good person!”
Sorry. You are nearly all ‘losers’. You are not ‘dying with all the toys’. And you are not ‘the winner’. The good news is that this is only sounds harsh if you think it does. Otherwise, it’s a source of wry humor… which, (to my way of thinking), is God smiling.
But where does this leave the artistically inclined? Most artists will become, like most others, mediocre. Even most successful artists earn a living with difficulty. Artists must push an enormous burden to raise a family. And, their activities are more often than not, self-centered. It is very hard for an artist to distance him/herself from the prongs of failure.
So, to get back to the issue raised by my son, ““What’s the point of writing stuff, if people don’t read it?”
Well, you know, (my son), the cup is always half full. Very few of the solutions, and most of the problems of my artistic life have come from the people who have ‘read it’. An audience can be a burden – even a hex. If you don’t believe this, just attend any artistic ‘talk back’. There is usually a moderator present to protect the creative type – both from the ‘haters’ and the ‘lovers’. Once you have raised an audience, there are packs of hungry egos out there to both want it / and to demean it.
As for money… Once people pay for something, there is this feeling that they own it. And people pay an artist, because they want more of the same thing. But, if you’re not paid a cent, no one owns you. And no one tells you what to do.
But, even acknowledging all of this, if you’re mediocre, people might ask, what is the point of producing more work? That is, if your art accomplishes nothing, what’s the point in making it?
In responding to this, I think back on a Sunday morning brunch my wife and I enjoyed years ago in a Portland Café. It was upscale and sunny. And we were visiting with my wife’s Uncle, a retired architect. And somehow the conversation turned to religion and he suggested that wasn’t going to church a waste of time? He pointed out that couldn’t the time be much better spent in doing some social work that would actually help someone? His eyes showed concern.
‘And that’s what we’re doing now?’ I laughed to myself, as I enjoyed the fresh coffee.
“What do the people who aren’t attending Church do with their Sunday mornings?” I might have asked, sharing his concern. “Do they consume a big breakfast? Do they sleep in? Do they visit friends? Do they go duck hunting and blast a couple birds? Or maybe snag a fish and smack them on the head? Do they watch the pregame festivities on TV? Maybe work in the yard, or catch up on some home repairs? Or maybe they read the New York Times? Or maybe they are still up drinking beers?”
But the larger – more serious – point my wife’s Uncle was dancing around was “what in the world does going to Church on Sunday morning actually accomplish? How does this make us more successful? How does this make other people’s lives more rich and meaningful? Does God listen? Will it change anything even if He does? Isn’t it possible that this whole ‘God’ thing is just one big shame and that they are all just wasting their Sunday mornings over there blowing smoke?
People without faith can’t understand that the foundation of faith is doubt. Attacking the faithful only makes them stronger. People like my wife’s Uncle are actually the shoulders that the religious stand on. (Look at me. Here I am!)
Because doing things to no purpose is actually a spiritual activity. And the Devil just hates this sort of thing.
Photo by Carl Nelson
In the book, Fascism versus Capitalism, Llwellyn Rockwell Jr. mentions the Harvard philosopher, Santayana’s observation “that ideas aren’t usually abandoned because they have been refuted; they are abandoned when they become unfashionable.” Most people reading this who have tried to introduce an unfashionable notion probably have suffered this observation. You either find yourself socially isolated. Or you are made to feel as if you are speaking in a foreign tongue, as if, as a woman at a theater rehearsal once told me (regarding my thoughts): “I feel as if I am talking to someone from the moon.” Thoughts judged to be unfashionable are simply left to die alone while conversing to the backs and sides of heads, and thence to float away, detached and withered, into the cold outer reaches.
The most dramatic example I’ve run across of this phenomenon is from the same book as mentioned above. Henry Hazlitt was an editorial writer for the New York Times from 1934 till 1945 who backed a return to the gold standard. He was finally sacked for his editorials in opposition to the Breton Woods agreement of 1945 establishing the World Bank. Hazlitt wrote: “it would be difficult to think of a more serious threat to world stability and full production than the continual prospect of a uniform world inflation to which the politicians of every country would be so easily tempted.” Throughout his tenure, no one, as far as can be seen, joined him in his warnings. He could not even generate a credible opposition. His opposition around the Breton Woods agreement ignored him, claiming a world catastrophe if the measure were not passed.
History has proved Henry Hazlitt correct. And millions of lives perhaps need not have been lost to the devastations of WWII if the advent of rampant inflation had not been there to fuel the rise of fascist philosophies. But no matter. WWII did occur. The Times has never apologized. (Don’t hold your breath!) And Henry Hazlitt lost his job. John Maynard Keynes ideas appeared to be new. Henry Hazlitt’s appeared to be old. To be included in a current conversation you must be perceived to be ‘new’ – otherwise, the argument goes, why have one? Though there was no factual basis of incompetence for firing Henry Hazlitt, by 1945 the Times publisher, Arthur Sulzberger, “had had enough.” “When 43 governments sign an agreement, I don’t see how the Times can any longer combat this,” he said.
“How important is sound money? The whole of civilization depends on it,” says Llewellyn Rockwell. Nevertheless, fashion trumps it.
If these anecdotes don’t arouse you, then I give up. I can’t reach you with a sharp pin.
But fashion itself is a fascinating topic. It seems to move and change on its own timeline, without regard for events. (Which, I would suppose is as we should expect, given its impervious nature.) In my younger years I lived in a home I’d purchased on the cheap in the Rainier Valley area of Seattle. This section of Seattle contained (and still does) the most diversified population in terms of race and ethnicity of any area in King County. While I lived there, gang violence was endemic. I still remember my neighbor arguing loudly in the middle of our street with his son not to join the gang which was waiting for him on the corner. I had passed the years watching this decent kid grow from a toddler, to the middle school aged youngster who now apparently had been judged old enough to join the gang. I also remember a neighborhood friend relating the tale of going to pick up her son at school and having to hug the floor of her car outside of the school to escape the exchange of bullets passing overhead. Our community and the city government tried this and they tried that. Then, after it seemed I had given up hope and had moved on anyway, it just ended. No more violence. No more gangs on the corner. And yet everything else was the same. Same people. Same laws. Same police. Same homes. Same everything. Only the people who did that sort of thing, didn’t do it anymore. As near as I could tell, it just passed out of fashion.
Photo is Lady Gaga from Google Images
“Good things CAN happen.”
“Eclectic Theater Company is now caught up on the rent of Odd Duck Studio! :)” Rik Deskin posted yesterday on Facebook. To the landslide of congratulatory comments that were posted, Rik said: “All I did is receive the check. Kudos go out to the person who made it happen. :)” The editor could only add to this: “Cudos from The Seattle Celebrity News! too.”
Photo by Carl Nelson of professional actor.
Given the World as it Is.
Okay. So I’m nearing retirement age and still just figuring out how things work. One of the things I’m not going to like about dying is not knowing how the story ends… and then not stopping off for coffee afterwards, with a smart and insightful companion, to sort out how it all fit together. But enough of that.
I was in a bar years ago talking with a new acquaintance – who was a bit of a hothead. A fellow next to him interrupted us, hoping, I suppose, to be included in the conversation. My acquaintance told him to butt out. The fellow, being I suppose a little miffed and a little drunk, made a retort. My acquaintance took him by both shoulders and tossed him off his stool where he lit on the floor and went sliding. The bartender jumped the counter in a blink and hussled the guy out the front door before anyone had a chance to say much of anything… except for the guy who was shouting his indignation the whole way.
I was puzzled at the time, because it seemed that my acquaintance was the person who did the violence and so I had expected him to be the one tossed out of the bar. The moral I drew at the time was that it is easier to toss out the loser than the winner, of a fight. But as time has passed I’ve considered that there was probably more at play: the bartender had probably been hoping to remove this bothersome patron from his bar, and my acquaintance’s behavior gave this bartender his opportunity.
This principle shows itself in the workplace. Someone does something to you that is absolutely wrong. No question. But before you create a stink, and rally the others to the justice of your crusade, you’d best ask yourself… who does the boss like better? Or rather, who fits in around here better? You may be an exemplary employee, but if you’re the Odd Duck – usually it’s best to keep your mouth shut, retain your low profile, and proceed to plan B.
This is probably the thinking of a lot of illegal immigrants… and Poets, too – if you could knock a practical thought into their heads. – The Editor
Photo by Carl Nelson
“Guys and Gals,
Eclectic Theater Company and Odd Duck Studio are not closing down because of a 3-day pay or vacate notice. We’ve made a payment and are making another payment today and have communicated with the property management, letting them know that we intend to be caught up by the end of the month.
This is not a hopeless situation. It’s an opportunity to get back on track. With fiscal sponsorship from the Shunpike, our IndieGoGo Campaign, Box Office from future shows and anticipated production rental revenue, we will get caught up and stabilized.
So do not hesitate to make a monetary donation of any amount you can muster either through our Click and Pledge button on our website athttp://www.eclectictheatercompany.org/ or via a contribution to our IndieGoGo Campaign here: http://igg.me/p/168795?a=64586” – Rik Deskin
Photos by Carl Nelson
Editor’s note: Rik Deskin gives us good insight as to just how the numbers pencil out when running an under 99 seat black box theater… and the travails from running any live theater venue.
Rik tries to manage a plethora of theater and live comedy and keep it all in the black.
By Rik Deskin
Earlier today, I got word from my monthly renter of one of the three studios that make up the Odd Duck Studio that we had received a 3 day pay or vacate notice from the property management. The amount due now is $5050.69.
This is not a surprise as we have been two-three months behind in the rent for several months now. A very large rental and a few smaller rentals canceled their shows at the last minute in May and June. An actual worse repeat of what occurred last summer due to the size of one of the rentals being a 3 month-long booking.
I of course had no other recourse but to solicit other companies/groups looking for space. No one was looking that late in the year. So I put together a summer series of comedy shows to help fill the weeks partially. None of them has sold more than half capacity (yet as we have one more tomorrow night) and three did not even make the rent for the evening. And one had a performer oblivious to the policy I had put into place that rent must be paid before performers in a box office split, demanding reimbursement of their expenses or face small claims court, putting us behind by an additional $85. Because being the nice, easy-going person that I am, I wrote them that check even though we could not afford to. That was the last vestige of fiscal irresponsibility that I will allow.
In May we instituted the policy of shows that are co-productions, resulting in a box office split, the first $125 that comes through the door per night, always goes to the rental of the theater. The next $125 goes to the performers/co-producer. After that, it’s a 50/50 split. This reduces Eclectic Theater Company’s risk, still makes performance space accessible to groups that cannot afford a rental, and puts the onus on the co-producer to sell tickets. This has been an occasional problem in the past because some co-producers failed to make much effort in promoting their shows, resulting in reduced attendance.
We also now have a new invoicing software so that we can efficiently manage rental productions and are enforcing the 25% deposit and no cancellations less than 30 days before, otherwise if you cancel in less than 30, you are responsible for still paying the rental. We refuse to be put in this economic situation again so will be stringent on this policy.
Eclectic Theater Company, out of a desire to give back to the theatre artists, used to give space credit as a form of compensation. That is no longer economically viable. We will always strive to give a stipend based on box office after rental costs are met. That is all we can do for now.
The fiscal reality is that we have monthly rent, electricity and insurance to pay. That does not go away.
Because we are being as fiscally responsible as we can be with less revenue than we actually need to run the place, we’ve fallen behind again.
Live Comedy: Tossing wadded balls of money at them, or anything valuable, is generally appreciated
Add to that a lapse in Eclectic Theater Company’s ability to fundraise through a revocation of our non-profit status right before we were about to receive a gift of $5000 in May, we were injured by not being able to accept that gift a few months ago.
Because we’re trying to be fiscally responsible with no paid staff and only a few volunteers, we applied to the Shunpike’s Associate Artist Program. They excel in fiscal responsibility and the business of art. And they are now Eclectic Theater Company’s fiscal sponsor and will be doing the back office work that being a volunteer, I never had the time to focus on because as an unemployed actor, my first priority is seeking employment.
We’ve also taken on a partner, in House of Cards Theatre Company, who are paying $200 a month in order to regularly produce three shows throughout the year and help to upgrade and beautify the interior and exterior of Odd Duck Studio.
This weekend members from House of Cards Theatre Company, The Schoolyard, and The Confrontational Theater Project are teaming up to replace the theater seating with newer seating.
The ecology at Odd Duck Studio is and has always been very fragile. Our monthly rent is $1500. We have Alleged Tattoo that leases a space monthly from us paying a third of the rent ($500). We have WARP which nearly always rents Tuesday night from us which is another $108-$135 a month. The rest has to be made up via box office revenue or additional rentals. Most months there are an abundance of performances that help us make ends meet. I like to stack the deck and hope that some shows sell even when some don’t. And hope that concessions sales contribute.
Today after posting the initial announcement of being sponsored by Shunpike and my renewed plea to donors, I received a reply asking why we need to raise money for rent again when we just did that last year, raising $2075. This person questioned our fiscal responsibility.
This is what I need and ask from the community:
1. If you have booked a rental, please pay your 25% deposits now. If you can pay the full rental booked, even better. Current tally of invoiced rental revenue that is outstanding is $9978.50. 25% of that is $2494.62. That deposit amount alone gets us nearly half way to being caught up.
2. If you have rented space and have not paid yet, please do so now.
3. If you are a producer and have a show you want to rent space for, we will bump Eclectic Theater Company’s shows in favor of the rental revenue. As long as we are not already in production.
4. If you are a producer that can’t afford to rent but have a show or shows that you know you can sell tickets for, we’ll consider continuing the co-production box office split scenario based on the policies noted above in paragraph four. The key to this being successful is that you must market and promote your show. Be responsible.
5. If you can buy tickets to shows, that’s always good.
6. If you have loaned us money in the past that we have been unable to pay back, please consider letting that be a donation for which we will request a retroactive donation receipt from Shunpike (if that is even possible). Or continue to be lenient with us paying you back. We will eventually.
7. Donate to our cause. We are an important facilitator and incubator in Seattle for Theatre, Improv, Stand-Up and Sketch Comedy, Screenplays, Independent Films and have a great history and legacy of moving theatre and film artists forward in their professional careers.
8. If you cannot give financial gifts, consider volunteering in some capacity. We want to build the company into a stable organization that can actually pay artists and staff. We can only do that with people engaged in helping to set Eclectic Theater Company up for success.
Thank you for your belief, faith and support in the work that we do at Odd Duck Studio.
“And while I’m at it, how about a Celebrity Drink?”
Photos by Carl Nelson
Creativity and Sales
Posture is Everything
SELLING
Selling is a great teacher. And one thing selling has taught me is that in order for people to part with their money, they have to feel certain. People must feel certain that what you are offering is what they need. And people must feel certain that you can provide what you are offering. After that, you are dickering over cost.
Of course, each of these factors bleed into one another. But, what they all have in common is this feeling of certainty.
This presents problems for the marketing of Art. Because Art is full of questionables, imponderables, unnamables, inscrutables, immeasurables, unfathomables… the list is long. But all have one thing in common: ‘uncertainty’.
Now whether people are buying something or giving money away, they still want this sense of certainty that their assets are not being wasted. So how does one go about selling Art?
Well, the only thing more uncertain than Art might be people. And traditionally people are sold by dressing them up in certainties. You dress successful; you act successful; you speak successful; you move successful; you associate with success – you appear successful… and you stand your best chance of being purchased successfully, because you have made people most certain of your success.
Art is sold in much the same way. What is absolutely undefinable, unfathomable and inscrutable is dressed up in the certainties. Let’s see how this applies to the theater.
Your average regional theater purchases successful produced plays to present; it uses successful authors; it hires successful directors and actors and set, sound and lighting people. Its productions take place in up to date venues located in the better part of town. It struggles to become the most prominent (successful) theater in town. The more successful the theater appears, the more money it is given. And the more money it has, the less risk it can afford to take. Because, the rule is, you only spend your money with certainty.
CREATIVITY
The creative artist creates. They are not re-iterative. They lack production tools, marketing brio… Everything is a prototype. Nothing goes into production. Once something has been produced, then the artist’s job is done.
The creative artist tends to spurn the trappings of success, because trappings are hindering, because they are already known quantities, because they are certain. The artist’s job is to pursue what is uncertain, ineffable, unknowable and caste it in the certain. For example, we cannot wholly know a person – but we can write their speech. We can record how they act. We can illuminate and give insight. We can create the feeling of certainty. “They feel so real,” an observer might say, or even, “I knew that person.” From immanence (pagan) or transcendence (Judeo-Christian), but more likely from some of both such certainties are sculpted. The creative artist sculpts certainty from risk. And because money is shy of risk; money necessarily skirts the creative. It is a very great artist indeed who can create the certain as a naked thing, and just walk them out of the sea. Even the best often must dress them in some fashionable garb or another.
So, okay. I’ll cut right to the chase and say, yes, money is good for Selling; but it’s bad for Creativity. So the next time your hear your local Arts organizations lamenting the fact of there being no money out there for the Arts… just think: Maybe bad for them, but good for us!
Photo by Carl Nelson
Editor’s Note: You’ve noticed, if you follow the content of this blog, that we are concerned with the difficulty Artists have in supporting themselves financially. So, from time to time, when we run across what seems like a good way to pick up some quick scratch – we try to mention it here on Schn00dles Blog.
When Margaret DeMarie fell asleep watching the late show two years ago, she awoke to see a job opportunity staring her in the face.
“There it was,” she says, “just sitting there on the screen: an 800 number with the words, ‘earn money from home’. It was eerie. The station had already gone off. It felt as if God had spoken. So I called.”
“To make a long story short, it involved watching TV for money! And I could do it while ironing, cooking, or even knitting or watching my grandchildren. They didn’t care. Or maybe, they didn’t know. But what mattered was whether I had an eye for anything ‘suspicious’. When something caught my eye, (and we were trained a bit with a special video as to what to look for) I was to hone in on it by enlarging the screen, and if it panned out, to pin-point the coordinates and hit ‘send’ on the special flipper these two men – who installed a special black box on my TV – gave me. A military contractor then analyzes it and forwards what they find – onto the military, if it was ‘so warranted’, for ‘engagement’. We make more or less money, depending upon the strategic value of the intel we have forwarded. “
“At first I wasn’t making more than a couple dollars a week. But then, the second month in I happened onto what we call a ‘hot target’. Just last month I bought a dishwasher with what I was paid! It was installed during the day, so it was a week or so before my husband, Phil, even noticed.”
“Isn’t this a new dishwasher?” Phil asked one evening.
I nodded.
“However did you get the money to buy that?”
“Pin money, dear,” I told him. “Pin money.”
Photo is of a professional model, taken by Carl Nelson
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