Do you know where Gretna, Manitoba is — without checking an atlas? You remember atlases right? Those wonderful maps travelers used before mapquest and GPS’s? The woman in the post office didn’t know and before I visited, I wasn’t exactly sure. It is literally a few hundred yards from the North Dakota border, a small [...]
A cover. So the cliché is not true. You can, in fact, judge a book by its cover. Or that’s what I’m being told. I’ve had some say they couldn’t buy the book, or a distributor wouldn’t carry it, because of the cover. I wrote a book which was published last year. This is the cover: [...]
This hat…it’s called a toboggan in certain parts of North America…a woolen hat with ear flaps. We bought them in Ontario for the show DoveTale, written with Ingrid De Sanctis in 1997. They are more common now across the US, but in 97, especially in the lower states, not so much. Something happens to me [...]
Our newest show, Laughter Is Sacred Space, sold out its premier shows in Harrisonburg on Sept 14 and 15. Of course, like most premiers, there was anxiety. But when it’s an original work there are questions you don’t find with other shows, mostly around the script—is it sharp enough? Is it too long? Does it tell [...]
Laughter has always been a huge part of my working career, working as a writer and actor in comedic theater. Most etymologists, those who study where words come from, believe that the word humor is derived from the same root as in the word human, humility and — my favorite — humus, meaning “of the [...]
In the fall of 2012 I am kicking off a tour of Laughter is Sacred Space, a multi media show based on my relationship with Lee Eshleman, my creative partner of 20 years. It reflects the joy of discovering comedic soul mates, illustrates the struggles and euphoria of creating a career together, and explores the [...]
In 1986 while living in Pennsylvania, Jessie Glick, member of Plains Mennonite church where Sue and I were attending, handed me a VHS tape. It was The Cotton Patch Gospels written by Tom Key and Russell Treyz with music by Harry Chapin. The musical which played off-Broadway was based on the writings of Clarence Jordan- The [...]
Baseball has been a constant presence in my life for the last 50 years. It marks the seasons, enriches spring, symbolizes the death of summer and as the days shorten, a growing cold of the autumn. I grew up playing with my brother, following the Giants and St. Willie Mays. Then there were the home [...]
If you have seen a recent “I’d Like to Buy an Enemy” show with myself and Tim Reubke, you know the sketch “Cut-Outs.” Originally done by Ted & Lee, we hold briefcases in our laps, wearing bowler hats, cutting out increasingly larger and more ominous weapons out of poster board and threatening the other until [...]
Documentary film is an art form that distills events into images, movements and highlights and let’s us feel as if perhaps we can engage in an event. The first Peace Pies and Prophets tour of 2012 in Eastern Pa was a three day event in three cities, Akron, Philadelphia and Souderton. Okay, one city, a [...]
