Matthew Dicks's Blog, page 409
March 27, 2014
Speak Up storyteller: Kathy Binder
Speak Up is Saturday, March 29th at Real Art Ways in Hartford. Doors open at 7:00 PM. The show begins promptly at 8:00 PM.
We are sold out! There may be some standing room tickets available, but that’s it!
This week we introduce the storytellers who you will be hearing from on Saturday night. Hope to see you there!
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Kathy Binder makes her storytelling debut at Speak Up. Kathy left the corporate world in NYC to raise her three wonderful children in West Hartford by way of Providence, RI. When not volunteering for a number of organizations locally, she likes to challenge herself with new ventures. Having recently completed Matthew’s Dicks Speak Up storytelling workshop, taking the stage was a logical next step.
She believes that if you are not occasionally doing something that makes you nervous, you are not taking enough risks in your life. Eddie, her husband of 25 years, is her soul mate and greatest support while her three children, Evan, Aaron and Celia provide an endless supply of great story material.
March 26, 2014
Television is so much better today
My daughter heard me mention Asperger’s Syndrome to my wife.
She turned to me and said, “Daddy, that’s when someone has a hard time with unfamiliar situations.”
Credit PBS and Arthur for that bit of vocabulary awareness.
Television today is unbelievable. The vocabulary that my daughter has learned thanks to PBS is astounding.
I spent my childhood watching reruns of Star Blazers (I can sing the different theme songs to the first and second seasons), Tom and Jerry and The Brady Bunch.
The Brady Bunch may have offered some ham-fisted lessons on morality, but none of these shows taught me a fraction of what my daughter has learned in such a short time.
None of these shows taught me much of anything.
Sometimes I think it’s a miracle that people from my generation aren’t already being replaced by ten year-olds.
Speak Up storyteller: Lynelle Abel
Our next Speak Up storytelling event is on Saturday, March 29th at Real Art Ways in Hartford. Doors open at 7:00 PM. The show begins promptly at 8:00 PM.
There are still some tickets available, though we are expecting a sell out, so purchase them now before it’s too late. Tickets available here.
This week we introduce the storytellers who you will be hearing from on Saturday night. Hope to see you there!
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Lynelle Abel is a blue collar girl at heart and finds that her best stories come from her small town roots. She credits her keen interest in storytelling to her mother and her 7 brothers and sisters. They are the consummate story tellers – and have shaped Lynelle’s life in indescribable ways through their stories of resilience and humor in the face of incredible hardships.
Lynelle is proud of her not so picture perfect childhood – and while she and her husband went through great lengths to provide a more wholesome life for their two sons – she secretly hopes they are creating their own life stories filled with interesting people, happenings and experiences they’ve had along their journey through life. She can’t wait to hear some of their law and order stories when they are ready to disclose them…
Lynelle holds a master’s degree in Industrial and Organizational psychology and in her now adult white collar world; works as the director of Volunteer Services for Yale-New Haven Hospital and feels genuinely blessed to witness daily the extraordinary acts of kindness from ordinary people.
March 25, 2014
The Moth: Sit ups
The following is a story that I told at a Moth StorySLAM at Housing Works in New York City last summer.
The theme of the night was Sweat. I told a story about a cruel physical education teacher and my shameful response to him.
I finished in first place.
Speak Up storyteller: Robert Fiedler
Our next Speak Up storytelling event is on Saturday, March 29th at Real Art Ways in Hartford.
Doors open at 7:00 PM. The show begins promptly at 8:00 PM.
There are still some tickets available, though we are expecting a sell out, so purchase them now before it’s too late. Tickets available here.
This week we introduce the storytellers who you will be hearing from on Saturday night.
Hope to see you there!
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Robert Fiedler is a New York raised, Connecticut educated attorney (family law, real estate and criminal law in addition to the assorted odds and ends).
He is the husband to one and father to three. Self-employed, Robert celebrates waking up in the morning and going to sleep at night. He enjoys music, sports, theater, and embarrassing his daughter whenever possible.
Speak Up storyteller: Phil Woods
Our next Speak Up storytelling event is on Saturday, March 29th at Real Art Ways in Hartford.
Doors open at 7:00 PM. The show begins promptly at 8:00 PM.
There are still some tickets available, though we are expecting a sell out, so purchase them now before it’s too late. Tickets available here.
This week we introduce the storytellers who you will be hearing from on Saturday night.
Hope to see you there!
_______________________________
Phil Woods was born and raised in NJ. He has six brothers and seven sisters (this honed his survival instincts). He spent three years in the Air Force in North Dakota before being kicked out. He graduated from the University of Washington in Seattle with a degree in chemical engineering.
He is married to Liz Woods, and they have three children. Since he was not fit to work with others, he started and ran Woods Restoration 20 years ago. He’s only been in jail three times. He is currently unemployed, waiting for next offer.
March 24, 2014
Thoughts on The Book of Mormon
I saw The Book of Mormon last night. I loved the show.
A few thoughts (no spoilers):
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Having now written two musicals (the latest, written for tweens, will be produced at a summer camp in July), it’s impossible to watch a musical and fully immerse myself in the story. While I loved the show, I spent the whole time analyzing its construction: the balance between song and book, the development of characters, the way in which set and scene were used to move the story forward, the opening and closing numbers of each act and much more.
At one point I was even counting time between songs.
Writing musicals has ruined me.
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As much as I loved the show, the payoff at the end was not satisfying.
Endings are hard. As someone who can’t actually decide on the end of the musical I just finished writing, I know. But the solution to the problem in The Book of Mormon (how to defeat the warlord general) almost didn’t happen. It was practically an afterthought. If you looked away for three seconds, you would’ve missed it entirely.
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Throughout the entire show, I kept thinking:
If Matt Stone, Trey Parker ad Robert Lopez they can get away with writing this flagrant, unrelenting, politically incorrect assault on The Mormon Church, just imagine what I could do if I can convince my writing partner to write the required music.
There are plenty of revered institutions that I would love to attack in song and dance.
Does the success of The Book of Mormon mean I can?
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While I’m sure that The Mormon Church isn’t thrilled by the existence of this show, an interesting message emerged at the end of the show:
It doesn’t matter if we invent or change the details of religion as long as we are able to find faith and comfort in it.
I kind of love this message. Maybe the Mormon Church does to?
It’s difficult to understand anyone who believes in a literal interpretation of The Bible (the world is 7,000 years old, Noah actually stuffed two of every animal on Earth in his boat, you should kill anyone who works on Sunday), and the Mormon creation story not only embraces these beliefs but adds a layer that was clearly fabricated by a not-so-creative con man.
But I know many religious people who quickly abandon the specifics of their holy texts and acknowledge that they are full of fiction (and much of it regrettable) but still find faith and comfort in their religion regardless.
I admire these people.
As a person who yearns for faith but is unable to find it, the idea that a Mormon or any other religious person could acknowledge the insanity of their primary source document but still find faith in the underlying religion is a hopeful thing for me.
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Kudos to The Mormon Church for having a sense of humor and not allowing anger and hate get in the way of opportunity. I was both shocked and pleased to find The Mormon Church advertising the actual Book of Mormon in the playbill with full page ads like this:
Speak Up storyteller: Robin Gelfenbien
Our next Speak Up storytelling event is on Saturday, March 29th at Real Art Ways in Hartford.
Doors open at 7:00 PM. The show begins promptly at 8:00 PM.
There are still some tickets available, though we are expecting a sell out, so purchase them now before it’s too late. Tickets available here.
This week we introduce the storytellers who you will be hearing from on Saturday night.
Hope to see you there!
_______________________________
Robin Gelfenbien has written jokes for emcee Rosie O’Donnell at The Matrix Awards where featured presenters included Martha Stewart, Rupert Murdoch and Hillary Rodham Clinton. Her original comedy songs have played on Sirius Satellite Radio and The Wiseguy Show hosted by Vinny “Big Pussy” Pastore. She’s been on VH1’s “Awesomely Badder Videos,” AMC’s “Liza Life Coach” with Cheri O’Teri, and she starred in a commercial directed by Spike Lee.
Her critically-acclaimed solo show, “My Salvation Has a First Name (A Wienermobile Journey)” premiered at the New York International Fringe Festival. As a storyteller, Robin has performed at The Moth, RISK!, Mortified, and she is the creator of the monthly storytelling series, “Yum’s the Word,” that features her homemade ice cream cakes. She also created the web series “Auntie, Do Tell” with her 72 year-old aunt, she’s been featured in Marie Claire magazine, and she writes for Huffington Post Comedy. www.robingelfenbien.com. @robingelfenbien
March 23, 2014
Car seats begone!
I often tell my daughter to stop growing up, and I mean it. If I could freeze my children at this point in time, I think I would keep them this way forever.
Five years old and 22 months old are pretty great ages.
Clara repeatedly reminds me that it’s her job to grow up and to stop being silly.
She’s apparently a fan of reality.
But the one thing I yearn for in terms of the future is the day when I can say, “Everyone in the car!” and the kids just pile in on their own, without any straps and three-point harnesses and enormous, plastic contraptions that double as hiding places for wandering Cheerios and the occasional toy.
When we can actually leave the house without the requisite five minutes of strapping down and buckling in our children, that will be a happy day for me.
