The Kraken Turns Off the Snooze Alarm

And I'm back in the room.  It's been a while and I can tell you've missed me.  Well, from Wednesday I will be six and a half projects down out of the ten of the year.  That will see the last episode of Lost Tribe of the Trolls release and the writing of recording of the final story of The Trolls Trilogy for release over the next few months.  That leaves three projects.  But what are they going to be?

Well, here the Seldom Plan hits again (see past posts ad nausem) - there be changes afoot.  I'm still going to be presenting the oft mentioned Historic Crimes in October - this will be a live streamed radio drama, tickets for the recording will be available from the Quay Theatre box office.

Otherwise, the last two projects are going to be more internet based and have no specific timetable.  I have already started one.  It is called The Museum of Tat - and it has a blog all of its very own.
http://themuseumoftat.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/welcome-to-museum-of-tat.html
This will be an evolving project, but in the short term it will mostly be made of photography and video pieces - which will be published online.

Then there is another work in progress I'm calling Just Say Yes (no affiliation to a rather dull Snow Patrol song, youth empowerment companies or fascist organisations etc)- which will be created at the Quay Theatre (probably) on the fifteenth of September.  Or not.  It will be a one-to-one piece, but later a video work.  Or not.  More later.

Otherwise, two of my other projects are still alive and well.  The Shakespeare Delusion is performing again in London in October, as will the very popular The Juliet Inquiry, which I might be able to stream live (details to follow.)  So, this is very much the year of my Shakespeare Trilogy - which Historic Crimes will complete - all three pieces performing in close succession.

Looking at Watching

Well, Project Two is now officially underway.  What with Project One (Trolls) each week and the

unexpectedly early arrival of Project Seven (Squirrels - see previous post) I think I'm allowed to say we're cooking with gas.
Project Two: You Have Been Watching (YHBW) has started to crystallise.  Today was the first open rehearsal, which was more an open chat really as I pitched the basic idea to a nascent cast - if you're interested in being involved, next Sunday at 1pm at the Quay Theatre is your last opportunity.  And then we just tossed ideas back and forth, and I made lots of notes.  I now know what the show will broadly look like, who will be in it and what shape it will now need to be.  My original plan featured three areas of activity - though I have now jettisoned one of these as unrealistic.  So there is the pre-show element and then the main feature, which I can now start to write material for.
What I now know is that it will definitely not be straight theatre - it will feed off a performance art tradition as threatened in previous blogs.  How far I will break up my natural instinct of storytelling we will find out in rehearsal.  For now, it's eyes down to the laptop and the creation of material.  Though it maybe something that happens late in the night as time pressures take over more.  Tomorrow (Monday) is the day I set aside to write the next episode of Project One for record and editing on Tuesday for release on Wednesday.  Then there are the various performances I do of old and new storytelling material.
The last week has been really rather fun, doing home storytelling for people.  I did some readings on Sunday and on Friday gave the world premiere of Attack of the Christmas Squirrels.  Which, for a first bash, gave out rather well - though there's a lot of work still to do on it.  The great thing about telling stories in peoples homes is that they are so up for the activity.  It's such a novelty they want to listen.  And the heckling is much easier to cope with.
Me:  Now, is everyone comfortable?
Audience Member:  We make a living.
Always nice to see an old joke given a good home.
And then I'm performing an old story The Wheel of Shame on Tuesday for a branch of the WI - so have rehearsals for that to fit in over tomorrows writing period.
What I'm rather clumsily saying is that for me, when it comes to being creative, everything tends to come at once, in a jumble, without much sense of order or narrative.  I sometimes wish I could sit down and work on one project at a time, working in a less picaresque fashion.  But, really, this is just who I am.  I'm working actively on three Projects, and passively on another two, and it's all slotting together rather well.  It means if I'm bored of one project one day I can always play around with another instead.
Of course, it could all turn into a seething pile of excrement in my hands - but that's the risk you take making new things.  In fact, that reminds me, I haven't spoken properly to you about the last Storyteller Saturday from last year.  Now that was a show that died on me.  I will write about that soon...

The Unexpected Early Arrival of Squirrels

One of the projects for Project 10/52 is my private home show - Attack of the Christmas Squirrels.  I'd intended to launch this show in July, making it project seven, I think.  However, I've been rather busy with home shows and other private gigs this month and so I've brought the first performance forward.  By six months.  Eek.  As a squirrel might say.
A little background - I do storytelling, I do readings, I do a lot of telling people stuff to their faces.  It's fun.  I did one, readings of classic mysteries, the other day and everyone seemed very happy.  But I planned to create a special show to tour to peoples houses, not just any old material, something created for a house setting.  You would organise a party, fill your house with people and I'll appear to entertain you.  All you have to do for my payment is pass a hat round.  So, if you'd like to have a storyteller come and visit you, I'm on call - or I'd planned to be from July.
But, since I announced the plan people got in touch and wanted something now - which is lovely.  So I said, for now it would have to be an old show as I don't really have time etc.  And then I wrote Attack of the Christmas Squirrels six months early.  Yesterday.  I'm tweaking now.  And testing the show out on Friday.  Sooooo, if it works I'll put in some midnight oil, tighten it up and offer my services from March onwards.  You read right, the July show will be available in a little over a month.
Book an evening with me, get some friends round and I'll tell you some silly stories.  Just email me contact@milkbottleproductions.co.uk or give me a call 07704 704 469.  So far this is on offer for the UK only, but I could be persuaded to travel quite far if possible.
And don't worry - if Attack of the Christmas Squirrels sounds like a Christmas show - it sooooo isn't.  It's about a chap called Reg who hates it that Christmas adverts come around earlier every year.  So, it's a sort of anti-Christmas show.
And it has squirrels in it.  Regulars on the blog will know that I have promised that this will be the last cute animal I will use in a story.  I've done cats, hamsters, badgers and various others.  So, no more animals.
Apart from Hang, which will feature a zebra.  And lots of animals.  Apart from that.
Eek!
P.S. Part Three of my online storytelling show Lost Tribe of the Trolls is available now! https://audioboo.fm/boos/1837513-lost-tribe-of-the-trolls-part-three