Poetry & Blindfolds

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/2106524

Follow that link to see the first of one 1-hour show broadcast from UStream.  Marguerita-fueled as it is, it is an attempt to talk for sixty minutes.  I was successful on that score; whether or not it can be passed off as entertainment is another story altogether…

“The Vincent Truman Show” is another part of my Flailing Tour ’09, a series of attempts to amuse myself and others in a way I haven’t done yet.  Over the last 10 years, I have been in a band, been a band for an improvisational musical, coached a few improv comedy troupes, co-founded a sketch comedy group and produced ten shows in five years, did a couple of musical CDs, wrote two books and three plays.  So now what?

There’s a few things on various burners, being heated by various flames.  There’s a musical project I’d like to do with a few of my internetastic friends Carman, Aaron, Susie, Wiliam and Kristin.  Basically, how that would work is someone records a track of guitar and emails the mp3 to the next person.  That person adds a bass or something, passes it along.  The sixth person in the chain adds vocals or whatever they like.  So the concept is a world-wide band.

I’ve written what I think to be a pretty good treatment for a television pilot, which I hope to film with a fellow I’ve been trying to work with for a few years now.  To dip our toes in the water, I’ve suggested we rent a space and do some improv as and with our characters, interacting with various friends we invite to the thing.  We’d film that and then see if we could generate some interest on those pesky networking sites that are all the rage now.  A note on that: I do find it frighteningly ironic that I have more friends now than I ever have, yet I see less friends than I ever have.  I wonder where this little adventure will lead?  A million friends and a shack in the middle of Wisconsin?  That would be the logical line…

And then there’s live broadcasting. ‘The Vincent Truman Show.’  Stupidest name for anything I’ve ever come up with.  And I’m still debating what I want to do with that little electronic waste of bandwidth.  Characters?  Serious discussion?  Just comedic noodling?   All of these intrigue me, but I’ve never seen a show that combines those elements successfully.  Oh sure, I could be a pioneer of the comedy-dramaty video podcast, but I’m not sure that sounds appealing.  Rather like being a pioneer of foot fungus.  Yes, you’re a pioneer, but it’s foot fungus.  Come on.

In the above episode, the best bit was a story about 5-Hour Energy Drink, sex, headaches and the emergency room.  I’d try and find that if I were you.  I hold up the 5-Hour Energy Drink for about 20 minutes at one point, so it should be easy to find if you scroll through it.

So now what, I wonder.