Well, it’s been a tough time getting everything ready, but today Monkswell Manor is finally ready to open it’s doors as a guest house. Do come on by, we’d love to have you. Although I have it on good authority that we’ll be quite busy for the next four weeks, I’m sure we’ll be able to find space for you.
So come by and help us figure out the secret of the Culver Street Murderer.
Hello one and all. This last month has had me terribly busy. Well, not terribly, aside from that sinus cold. This month has been full of much good, including going to see the very topic of this dossier.
I’m sad I didn’t get around to interviewing this group at the beginning of the month because it’s been running every Monday this month. I saw the second instalment, had a great time, talked to John and, well, here we are. Unfortunately with my rehearsal schedule, I’ve been a bit out of commission, and sadly didn’t get this up before last night’s show. Happily, however, I’ve been informed that they SOLD OUT last night!
So, with that said, if you were ever interested in checking out how an old-fashioned radio show would have been recorded, go to Black Swan Comedy on the Danforth, next Monday evening to check out the final instalment of April With RADIO PROJECT X!
dossier #11:
Who are we talking with?
I’m John Fleming, one of the producers of, and core performers in, Radio Project X. Last year, when we did a brand new show each month. I used to just act with the group but when two of the three producers had to move on to other exciting ventures I jumped on to help put together this year’s shows. The main man to mention is Neil Jones, head producer and comedy writer, and Peter Church, producer, performer, and radio aficionado.
When did you realize you were not only good at playing with your voice but you could potentially do this as a profession?
I dialect coach for actors and productions as well as perform myself (www.johnfleming.ca). When I was at York for acting, I discovered a real strength with accents and dialects, which likely came from speaking in funny voices a good amount as a child. It was after I had graduated, when a friend of mine suggested I take some voice-over lessons that I realised I had a knack for that as well. For me, it all fits under the same big umbrella.
Why RADIO PROJECT X?
This group is actually an amalgamation of two different projects. Peter Church and Sean Wayne Doyle worked together to produce studio-recorded shows (with me as an actor) under the moniker Radio’s Revenge (check out the great recordings available here: www.radiosrevenge.com), and Neil Jones had a live sketch-comedy radio group called Radio Vault. The two groups came together to create these live podcasts with a mix of comedy, drama, and adaptations of old stories now in the public domain. While I wasn’t at the group-naming meeting, I like to think the name conjures images of radio bandits, identities unknown, keeping sound entertainment alive through any means necessary.
What is so appealing to you about recording a podcast in front of a live audience?
The format of our shows is just like how they used to record radio plays: scripts in hands, standing at microphones. I’ve had a lot of people tell me after a show that they had never thought about how radio shows were produced before then. Knowing about the production of old radio, from foley tricks (crinkling cellophane for the sound of fire, etc.) to microphone technique, really brings the medium alive for people used to staring at screens and not exercising their imaginations. This live format allows for a bit of imagination, but still has visible performers to watch; a bit of both worlds. Of course, the laughter and applause always sounds great in a recording. And while the shows don’t make too much profit, the live audience gives us a bit of money to play with, allowing us to keep our website up, and let’s us eat snacks at our rehearsals.
What kinds of things can we expect from RADIO PROJECT X?
Every RPX show is sure to contain a number of ‘olde tyme’ commercials for products such as “Mail-Order Toupees,” “Special Paper Pants” or the revolutionary new skin cream “Your-Skin’s-A-Mess,” dramatic adaptations from fiction writers like Philip K Dick and Theodore Sturgeon, and new versions of classic radio plays like Arch Oboler’s The Dark (which some people may recognise from one of The Simpsons’ Treehouse of Horrors). My favourite pieces, though, are the longer (about a half hour) original comedy serials such as “I Smell a Mystery” and “The Adventures of Kurt Richardson, Geo-Seismologist.” Neil and Peter write some hilarious stories in the style of the 1950s radio serials which both use and poke fun at the old radio conventions. We always have a musical guest as well, to break up the stories with musical interludes.
What is your favourite memory from a past RADIO PROJECT X?
Last year, we had 8 shows, one a month, at the Black Swan Tavern, and we sold out more than a couple times. I think the Christmas holiday-themed show and the Hallowe’en show were especially strong. I, personally, quite liked playing The King of the Cheese Men (an invading alien horde), and Half Pint, the four foot tall evil defender of the Imperial System, foiled in an episode of The Mighty Metric Men. It’s radio; anyone can be anyone.
Describe RADIO PROJECT X in three adjectives or a phrase.
An old medium refreshed for the new century.
Do you have anything you want to share with us? A story? A photo? A song? A video?
Well, certainly listen to some of our podcasts at www.radioprojectx.com. There are some fascinating old stories and hilarious new ones there. Radio Project X is also on Facebook, where you can find updates and links to other radio goodies. Our final show of this month – Crime, Corruption & Murder (and that’s the nice side of town) – is at The Black Swan on the 29th of April, so come and share that with us!
Last year, my friend Nicole Ratjen asked me to do a staged reading with her at an event I’d never heard of. It was of her play, a work-in-progress about two polar bears set adrift on an ever-shrinking ice-floe in the middle of the ocean. As the polar bears contemplated their fate, and hunger, they would be ravaged by storms. We’d done this reading before, at a different event, and were curious how it would go over at this one.
This is when I met Eric and Julia. We asked if Eric would be interested in reading our stage directions. Of course. Nicole told him about the audience participation, that he was to cue the storms and the audience would be involved with making it come alive. No problem. And this is where the real test came in; Are you both cool with us arming the audience with pin-pong balls that they can throw at us when you cue the storm? Not even a hesitation. Eric even helped by throwing the ping-pong balls back into the audience to restock them. That’s the kind of event SEA CHANGE is. And that’s the spirit that Eric and Julia bring to this; they are so excited to see artists try new things and for their nights to be as varied and unique as possible.
I’m excited to have this next dossier focus on such a fun event. The next SEA CHANGE is happening on April 5th, and, along with Haylee McGee, Joel Battle, The Templeton Philharmonic and Freddie Rivas, I’ll be performing some new writing of mine.
Here we go, dossier #10:
Who are we talking with?
Eric Double, Artistic Director of Theatre Caravel. I am an actor, director, and mask maker.
Julia Nish-Lapidus, Artistic Producer of Theatre Caravel. I’m an actor and producer.
Theatre Caravel strives to create theatre that is changeable, innovative by necessity, and important by default.
What is it about theatre that really gets you going?
Eric: I think I was drawn to the theatre because it’s such an immediate art form. When a piece of theatre works there is a palpable energy around the performance and it becomes otherworldly in a sense. I love that feeling of connection between an audience and a performance, which is both personally intimate and communal at the same time.
Julia: Theatre is alive. That’s always really excited me. It’s never the same twice, so the actors and the audience in that room are the only people who will be able to share that specific experience.
How did you two meet?
Eric: We met through university, but became friends because we were neighbours in our residence. Julia had a mouse problem and was afraid to clean the traps, so she asked me to come over and clean up dead mice. I meet all my best friends cleaning up dead animals.
Julia: It’s true. Dead mice are gross. After university we talked over (a few) drinks and realized that we were both looking for similar experiences and challenges and decided to join forces and bring our voice to the theatre community.
What is the earliest memory you have of wanting, or needing to do this?
Eric: Well, according to my mother I was quoted as saying “I want to be a clown because I want to make everyone laugh” when I was 4, but my actual memory comes from high school. I remember getting hooked on performing when I landed a part in the play in high school and since then there was never any question about what I would be doing. It wasn’t really a need or a want, just a feeling that nothing else was important to me other than being involved in theatre – I never felt more at home than when I was in or involved in the theatre.
Julia: What inspired me to get into theatre is not exactly what people expect, considering the type of work I now do… It was CATS, the musical. When I was four, the touring production came to Halifax (where I was living) and I saw commercials on TV with singing and dancing cats, and I begged my parents to take me for my birthday. What four year old girl wouldn’t? Barely halfway through the show, I turned to my mom and whispered “I want to do that.” And I meant it. The next day I hassled my parents until I was signed up for every dance, voice, and acting class we could find. And I haven’t stopped since then. It was never something I thought about. Being in theatre was just the way life was for me.
Why Sea Change?
Sea Change is a phrase that means “a profound or notable transformation” and was coined by Shakespeare in the Tempest. Our event is about encouraging new works from artists of all types and creating a community around that. It gives artists a chance to experiment and try something different in a really unique mix of like minded people and the audience gets a chance to be a part of a fresh new artistic landscape that is unfolding right in front of their eyes.
What kinds of things can we expect from Sea Change?
Sea Change is a curated event and we’re always accepting submissions from all different types of artists. We’ve had poets, playwrights, puppeteers, and painters; musicians, mask makers, clowns, storytellers and more. We’ve also had a bunch of artists who want to try something different than what they normally practice. So, for example, it’s always a great joy to us when an actor wants to put up their visual art, or when a playwright wants to try out some poetry. Providing a community for artists to push their boundaries is really what Sea Change is about.
Also, there are free baked goods. And we’re talking home-baked yumminess. People come for the art, but stay for the brownies.
What is your favourite memory from a past Sea Change?
Eric: Probably Teodoro Dragonieri performing in masks made from cut-up laundry detergent bottles. I remember the audience didn’t see it coming and he had everyone on the edge of their seats trying to figure out how he brought inanimate objects to life.
Julia: There was one time when a performer needed a bit of extra time to set up, so he told a joke while he was getting ready, but then he still needed more time, so the whole crowd got into it. Eric and I told bad jokes and audience members just kept yelling out more jokes. The performer was ready to go after only a couple of jokes, but everyone was having so much fun, we kept going for a while. That’s what Sea Change is like. It’s not rehearsed and the audience is a part of it. It’s a great community feel and that’s what I love the most.
Describe Sea Change in three adjectives or a phrase.
Supa-fresh – electric – baked goods
Do you have anything you want to share with us? A story? A photo? A song? A video?
Our first Sea Change took place in a very small cafe space, where people were crammed in on top of one another. It was raining that night and everyone was dripping wet. The thunder and lightning cracked just as we were getting started and one of our performers, David Calderisi, let us know that in some eastern traditions thunder is a omen for great creativity and we can remember feeling like there was a certain electricity and excitement in the air. That thunder really set the tone for that night, and three years later we still think about it before every new edition of Sea Change gets started.
This past March Break, I was lucky enough to have participated in a Sherlock Holmes-themed event at my local place of business, Black Creek Pioneer Village. For seven days I got to play a Dr. John Watson, cane and all, while recruiting and helping the recruited to solve a village-wide mystery of the missing clockmaker. As any good detective knows, especially world-famous ones, in order to get the truth, one usually has to go undercover. So, over the course of 9 days, 7 of which I worked, not only did I get to dress up, but I also got to wear a silly moustache to… blend in with the locals.
The following is the evolution of my moustaches over those seven days.
a field of crowns 