Mark Ravenhill in conversation (April 2020), Impro and Schaubühne

May 2, 2020 Ben Yeoh

Thomas Ostermeier, director of the Schaubühne and playwright Mark Ravenhill in conversation with Peter M. Boenisch (Aarhus University and The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama) on why the Schaubühne matters and the role it plays in the German and wider international theatre landscape.

I’ve met Mark on a handful of occasions and I think his work is required reading/seeing for playwrights today. This conversation touches on other notable works and writers such as the impact of Sarah Kane’s Blasted (another writer who is performed in Europe widely). It’s of April 2020 so touches on theatre and the world as of now.

This is Mark talking about the importance of Improvisation, and notably Keith Johnstone’s book, Impro. Impro is an important and classic text for story tellers of all sorts but theatre thinkers in particular. Keith’s book Impro here and for story tellers here.

How to Fail, Malcolm Gladwell edition, Elizabeth Day

April 18, 2020 Ben Yeoh

I find podcasts too slow. Typically, I've read transcripts as faster. I haven't found the nuance of listening has added significantly. You do lose tone and inflection but not the core messages. However podcast are so popular - and not looking to slow down any time soon - and many fail to provide transcripts. Thus I've started to dabble in them. The upside to an atypical late night sleeper child is using the enforced time to try new experiences.

I've listened to a few of Elizabeth Day's podcast, How To Fail.

This paper suggests (H/T Tyler Cowen, see end) that we don't share our failures. It appears that people fail to realise that there is enormously valuable information in failures. Arguably more than in successes. Despite efforts at school to teach FAIL = First Attempt in Learning.

Elizabeth Day has hit upon a *winning* podcast formula. She has a rather amazing host of guests coming on and discussing their failures. Or rather, of course, discussing their learnings that "failure" has revealed.

One episode already has been echoing with me all week. Malcolm Gladwell spoke of three learnings amongst other rather thoughtful matters.

Gladwell was a high performance runner aged 16. But, at that age, he already knew - or thought he knew - he wouldn't go on to be an ultra elite runner. So, he gave up running. Thinking that the point of running and races was to win and be the best. Decades later, Gladwell started running again. He found he really enjoyed running. He considered not learning that earlier as a failure. The goal of running was not winning and Gladwell missed out on an activity that would have given him much pleasure over the decades.

Gladwell is a mediocre cook. When people come to his house to eat, they don't have to worry about the food. The food will never be elite. They only have to worry about enjoying themselves.

The pressure of not having to win a race revealed a deeper truth about the activity.

Gladwell once made a major error in misquoting a controversial intellectual. This was all about race, IQ and the bell curve. The error revealed the nature of his own biases. These type of biases his work was arguing against.

Gladwell discovered a friend of his was alcoholic. But, he hasn't stood by her in a way he would have wanted. It's complex but he considers this a failure of his friendship. The observation sparked a conversation on the nature of friendships through time.

There's a bunch of nuance and other ideas you gain from this podcast. It's a recommend from me.

Ofc, easier said then done - learning from mistakes...

Study on failure to share failures…”Failure often contains useful information, yet across five studies involving 11 separate samples (N = 1238), people were reluctant to share this information with others. First, using a novel experimental paradigm, we found that participants consistently undershared failure—relative to success and a no-feedback experience—even though failure contained objectively more information than these comparison experiences. Second, this reluctance to share failure generalized to professional experiences. Teachers in the field were less likely to share information gleaned from failure than information gleaned from success, and employees were less likely to share lessons gleaned from failed versus successful attempts to concentrate at work. Why are people reluctant to share failure? Across experimental and professional failures, people did not realize that failure contained useful information. The current investigation illuminates an erroneous belief and the asymmetrical world of information it produces: one where failures are common in private, but hidden in public….”

Links to Elizabeth Day’s podcast How to Fail.

Pink was not pink, the colour as we know it. Cultural change.

April 18, 2020 Ben Yeoh

Pink was not the colour pink
Cultural Change in Taiwan

I was reminded that pink was not the pink we know:

Look up the word pink in the dictionary, and you’ll probably find a lot more definitions than you might have expected.
As well as being the name of a pale red color, a pink can be a small flat-bottomed sailing vessel, a juvenile salmon, a chaffinch, a decorative hole or eyelet, a stab with a dagger, a foppish dandy, a tiny fragment, and (thanks to Chicago’s Pinkerton detective agency) a private eye. Besides that, as a verb pink can be used to mean “to narrow” (especially the eyes), “to wink or blink,” “to make a metallic rattling noise,” “to apply rouge,” and “to attach or cut a decorative trim” (which is why scissors with jagged blades are called pinking shears).
But of all the word’s meanings, the oldest on record is one that appears in only the most comprehensive dictionaries: pink used to be yellow. Or rather, pink used to be the name of a murky yellow-green color—or, as the Oxford English Dictionary explains it: "A yellowish or greenish-yellow lake pigment made by combining a vegetable colouring matter with a white base, such as a metallic oxide."
A “lake” pigment like this is an organic dye or artist’s pigment made insoluble by combining the organic material required with a metallic compound. (In this context, lake has nothing to do with bodies of water, but instead comes from lac, a dark red resinous substance produced by certain trees.) It just so happens that the pigment the name pink was originally attached to was made from vegetable matter that created a murky greenish-yellow tinge.
In this sense, the word pink dates back to the early 1400s at least, and in fact, it wasn’t until the mid-17th century that pink came to refer to the pale reddish color it does today. But why the change in meaning? And why, for that matter, name either color pink at all?

Playwrights: Moira Buffini. Zinnie Harris. Alistair McDowall. Lucy Kirkwood. Tim Crouch.

April 18, 2020 Ben Yeoh

Playwrights in conversation about theatre, life and their plays in April 2020. Interviewed by Dan Rebellato.

Moira Buffini. Zinnie Harris. Alistair McDowall. Lucy Kirkwood. Tim Crouch.

Lucy Kirkwood.

Tim Crouch.

Alistair McDowall.

Zinnie Harris.

Tim Crouch

Moira Buffini

Steamed fish, Chinese wok style

April 4, 2020 Ben Yeoh

If you don’t have the right size chopsticks then use a wooden spoon.

-I dust off my wok to steam a fish

Steaming Fish

A wok is supremely versatile. Outside of Asia, Westerners typically only know of stir frying. A wok can stew, pot roast, smoke and steam. A Chinese home cook, making do, needs no other cooking pot.

Woks are robust. Nigh on indestructible. If like me, you don’t use it that often, you can scrub it up, oil it and re-season. A wok is low maintenance. No more trouble than non-stick pans, where you either have to try and gently care for the non-stock surface or suffer its erosion.

Finding myself back as some time chief cook of the family, I’m dusting off recipes and techniques from a time when I cooked more often. I’m still focused on swift and easy to prepare meals. It may surprise you to know that this steamed fish dish takes 15 minutes to prepare and cook.

What triggered the dish was walking past our local fishmonger. We’re making an increased effort to shop local and within walking distance where possible. This was before full lock down.

I used to love looking at fish, seafood shops and markets. The old fish market in Tokyo still remains an abiding memory from years ago. My 8 year old, O and I were walking past the fishmonger. Much like I used to with my parents. I tempted him in to look at the fish and suggested we buy one to cook. We looked for fresh, bulging, glossy eyes, bright gills and shiny skin. We ended up with a whole sea bream of a size that fits in a wok or two small sized hand spans.

The fishmonger guts and descales the fish, although it’s not too bad to do at home.

At home, we brushed off the wok. We found 4 chopsticks. We had as we almost always do, some ginger, spring onions and soy. O cut 3 slashes in the fish either side. We inserted peeled, slices of ginger and in the cavity. Prep done.

We arrange the chopsticks to form a hash tag # shape on the base of the wok, so it can raise the fish a few centimetres off the bottom where the boiling water sits. We lay the fish on the chopsticks, when the water is boiling and cover the wok. Eight minutes later, the fish is steamed.

Wok steaming reminds me of my Mum cooking, my old Malaysia family home and distinctly Chinese cooking aromas.

To finish it off with a piece of theatre, slice the spring onions over the fish and pour hot oil over.

It crackles and splutters in a fun way, while softening the scallions and slightly tightening the fish skin.

I usually take a few table spoons of the fish water, add in a two tablespoon of light soy sauce and a splash of rice wine or mirin for a light sauce.

O wanted to eat it all. I managed to persuade him to share some. Yum.

Steamed Fish, Chinese wok style

Ingredients

1 whole white fish (such as sea bream, sea bass or pomfret) cleaned with head and tail intact
Fresh ginger, peeled and sliced into eight.
Light soy sauce ( 2 table spoons or to taste)
1 tablespoon rice wine or mirin (marsala, or sherry, or can skip)
6 or so spring onions (scallions), typically white and light green parts only (but I don’t mind the darker parts), sliced into thin strips (can skip)
Flavourless oil with a high smoking point eg groundnut (can skip)

Equipment

Wok
Trivet or 4 chopsticks

(A fish steamer works if you’ve ever bought one)

Prep

Have gutted and descaled fish.
Peel and slice ginger
Make 2 to 3 slashes in the fish on either side.
Insert ginger into slashes and in gut cavity.
(I have done the dish skipping this. The ginger adds a slight spice tang, and if the fish is not super fresh also counters residual odors. The slashes helps identifying when the fish is cooked and helps the steam penetrate more fully, but the cooking is robust to this)
Lay trivet or 4 chopsticks in the bottom of wok.
Heat water until steaming.
Slice the spring onions into thin sticks

Cooking

Lay fish on trivet when water is boiling.
Cover and steam for about 8 minutes.

(You can check at 6 minutes. The fish eye will pop open and you can see the flesh is cooked through white when booked.)

Remove fish to plate
Take a ladle of residual water, add a tablespoon of mirin and two table spoons of light soya sauce to taste. You can lightly simmer for 1-2 minutes if you want to thicken the sauce.
Place spring onions over fish.
Heat two table spoons of oil, until hot but not smoking.
Pour oil over spring onions and fish at table for some theatrics. (Keep clear!)
Add soy sauce mixture.

Serve with rice and greens.

Fuschia Dunlop on woks: https://firstwefeast.com/features/2016/10/how-to-cook-with-a-wok/woks

My thoughts about chicken rice - why it’s my favourite dish and what it says about culture and migration.

Do we need more David Chappelle?

April 3, 2020 Ben Yeoh

“Jokes aren’t only about laughing” Tyler Cowen on podcast (paraphrased by me).

“I make fun of poor people because I see myself in them” David Chappelle

“When you make jokes about Trans people, doesn’t that normalise us?” Daphne (trans) as told to Chappelle

David Chappelle was offending everyone.

I was camped out in a boring Boston hotel after my own show was cancelled (due to the start of COVID distancing) and after four days of non-stop activity at a healthcare conference I thought I’d do an activity which I can’t get to at home.

No. Not watching the adult channel. Close.

Putting on offensive comedy on Netflix.

Comedians - and the stage - occupy a special place in our free speech system. I’ve arrived at the view that it must be cherished even when offensive or particularly when offensive.

Comedians are special because their role is to tell jokes... and in doing so they reveal us. If you go to a comedian on stage or Netflix, you are going to their church, their home.

That home is a sacred space to tell jokes and offend everyone and in doing so reveal all aspects of our humanity, dark and light.

That’s not to say that those jokes and views are above criticism or even condemning what might be said. To defend a comedian’s right to tell jokes is not the same as being indifferent to those jokes.

That said, Chappelle made some subtle and not so subtle arguments for himself in “Sticks and Stones” which I found fascinating.

It starts with the title - yes words can be offensive - but do they ever hurt like sticks and stones? We can argue for mental stress but Chappelle made an interesting joke (and a running theme) about how few people would actually go about shooting up a school - causing violence in real life is a league different from telling jokes.

He acknowledges the peoples he pokes. He pokes at the poor. He pokes at celebrity. He pokes at Chinese. But then, he offers a small private disclosure. His wife is Asian. She hates his Chinese impression joke. He doesn’t tell it at home. Unless they are really fighting. Another joke. Passion. Love. Humour.

He goes on to let slip

“I make fun of poor people because I see myself in them”

Chappelle was poor (or so he implies). Now he is rich and happy for it. But he does know what it is like to be poor. And in this, he is also poking fun at himself, in part.

This idea is a notion in common with David Sedaris. Perhaps a comedy writer pretty far away from David Chappelle. First name notwithstanding.

Sedaris makes fun mostly of himself, and then oft times of his family and those he meets. But mostly himself. He has written (and now spoken on “Masterclass”) about this. This self humour can dig at a deeper truth, can be funnier for its self-recognition in us all and to an extent diffuses the challenge on picking on another class of person - which might seem unfair or bullying. That Sederis does this mostly in essay form rather than stand-up (though him performing his essays comes close to stand up).

Sasha Baron-Cohen (Ali G) has achieved this very effectively in parodies. Even more so, to my mind, in a sketch where part of the joke is him speaking in hebrew. His Jewishness is both a defense and a heightened offence / joke - if you can know enough to understand the language or his own history.

Back to Chappelle. There’s an argument about words with a producer. The words or terms he can or can not use on air. Chappelle fires back but I can say “nigga” all I like! This evokes the defense of talking about yourself as more acceptable. To that possible answer, Chappelle also extends and rebuts: “But I am no nigga.”

There’s a joke about letters. LBGT letters. (He seems to have missed the Q). (It’s perhaps not super funny, nor as offensive as it could be.) There’s a joke about rape. A woman has to leave. She was raped and she can’t stay. He answers:

I am sorry you were raped. But it’s also not my fault.

This is also in his space. His comedy den. And the vibe is in danger of snuffing out. He goes on and in the middle of the audience a trans person, Daphne, keeps laughing. And laughing. And laughing. And Chappelle is nervous coming into his LGBT jokes. And Daphne keeps on laughing.

Later they drink and Daphne tells him:

“When you make jokes about Trans people, doesn’t that normalise us?”

And the way Chappelle tells the story, it comes as a revelation - I think that’s Chappelle’s technique and charisma but he uses it to good point. LGBQT+ have in some sense become mainstream, because a mainstream-ish comic can poke fun. (see end for the counter to this)

Chappelle towards the end recounts a humble-brag story. He is hanging with the great and the good. Chris Rock - from comedy legend - brings round a crowd including the Mayor and Senator Kamala Harris. This is as Obama is in the early stages running for office. Kamala tells Chapelle to speak to Obama and dials him up. The call arrives at voicemail, but Chappelle sends his advice - the same for being a black kid at a school shoot out or almost any time - crouch low and run in a zig zag pattern.

Fast forward. Chappelle is waiting, post a media event, with Obama and other runners. Obama is last and makes his way to Chappelle. Hitting him up in a hug, the way Chappelle has been acting it out all along, and whispering in his ear: “I got your message...?”

In the world of the humble brag, Chappelle has elevated himself to the highest echelons of our elite power circles.

With graft and stories and words and reflections and

I think - maybe - he deserves to be there - in our folklore - our kings and queens have had their jesters - and they can be awful people -

For jokes aren’t only about laughing

They reveal who we are to each other.

Even in a time of COVID, that’s worth remembering.

On the other side here’s a Guardian piece critical of Chappelle

And here’s Buzzzfeed’s Obaro:

“...And in a surprise epilogue to Sticks & Stones, he tells another story about Daphne, a trans woman who attended several of his sets in San Francisco and laughed hard at every joke. Afterward, according to Chappelle, they chatted at the bar and Daphne thanked him for “normalizing transgenders.” The audience at the Broadway theater, where Chappelle told this story, applauds loudly. It’s cringe-inducing — such a blatantly cynical, familiar move out of the old “I have a marginalized friend, so I can make this joke” playbook. (When Louis C.K. joked about his black friends who have stood by him, I imagine he must have been talking about Chappelle.)...” Article here.

And finally, here’s an NPR conversation on it - highlight perhaps that Chappelle is provoking us into having a conversation.

I suppose in my own thoughts, I was less concerned about whether he was funny or not - his special has 99% on rotten tomatoes for audiences (40K+ reviews vs 39% on critics [17] ) - but on whether his free speech and right to offend was worth protecting.

I think it’s worth protecting - and the 99% audience approval can perhaps speak to whether we need an awful jester of our times.

I make a relate point in my blog on whether we need more Joe Rogan?

…I listened to Billy Connelly on podcast. Amongst other insights (listened to comedians if you want to have a pulse on politics), Connelly suggested that the time of old comics and offending was past and certainly eg racism wasn’t necessary any more in comedy. I hadn’t considered how comedy has also evolved over time….

Review, Thinking Bigly online

April 3, 2020 Ben Yeoh

Laura Kressly reviews Thinking Bigly:

Between Ben Yeoh and David Finnegan, there’s an impressive array of interests, knowledge and skills. Theatre, economics and climate change are among them. Their lecture-performance amalgamates these three topics into an engaging, informative and interactive presentation that gives a wide-angle view on what we can do to save the planet.
Though normally performed on stage, their live stream version still has a lot of engagement with the audience. A live chat on the right third of the screen allows viewers to answer questions, polls, and talk amongst themselves. The left two-thirds of the screen is dominated by the graphs, images and charts of a PowerPoint presentation, with Yeoh and Finnegan each in their own box in a corner of that space. Constrained by the range of their computer cameras and microphones, they represent each of us in all of this – an individual on their own has limited impact, but together we are mighty.
Though they acknowledge that there is vast inequality, that major corporations and world leaders bear the brunt of responsibility, and every eco-friendly choice seems to not be so eco-friendly after all when you consider it more broadly, their show is one of optimism. Its core holds a reassurance that cultural change can happen remarkably quickly in the grand scheme of things, and there are absolutely things we can do to help move it along. The pair perkily employ a few examples to back themselves up, which is comforting when faced with the frighteningly steep incline of the line that logs the kilotonnes of carbon in the air.
Both informative and entertaining, it leans more towards a lecture than a performance – at least it does in this digital form, what with Yeoh and Finnegan not able to be in the same space. Though there’s plenty to look at, there isn’t much scope for staging. However, the ability to chat with other audience members without disrupting the show adds an interesting dynamic that fosters a sense of inclusion and informality. It’s a welcome change from the typical, silent rigidity expected in most British theatres.
Given the success of TED Talks in their video format, lecture-performance seems particularly suitable to on-screen viewing. On the other hand, this flexibility is more permissive of a lack of theatricality, to the extent that it provokes reflection on how much the form is or isn’t theatre

From her site here. More on Thinking Bigly here.

Thinking Bigly, On-Line show 26 March

March 19, 2020 Ben Yeoh

In isolation? Feeling lonely? Want entertainment? Ever seen me dress up?! Thinking Bigly is moving interactive online. Our in-person show is moving virtual. 6.45pm for 7pm start - UK time, Thurs 26 March.

Theatre Deli is going to be hit hard. Please consider a donation for watching us. Local small business, freelance artists and many are being hit hard. Do consider them.

Register for the show here: https://event.webinarjam.com/register/1/yyy5kaq

This is experimental. It will be a blast learning with you. Polls. Interactive questions. Video. Dressing up. We will try it all. Join us!

Thinking Bigly: A guide to save the world. Bigly is an anti-TED talk. Think you know the colour pink, koalas and interest rates? Find out why second order thinking plus cultural changes should give you hope on climate. The world is better than in the past; the world is still awful. We can do better.

Trailer in this post.

Latest Winner: ThenDoBetter Grant, Mia Hague for Greyling Post

March 5, 2020 Ben Yeoh

Latest grants winner: Mia Hague of Greyling Post for a eco greetings card business that also donates to care homes. Mia writes:

“…we were awarded our first grant, from ‘Then Do Better Grants’.

Ben Yeoh set this initiative up and gives ten grants a year to ideas that could make a meaningful impact to ones self, the community, or the world.

We told Ben about the motivation behind Greyling Post and our ideas for growing the company. Explaining all that we’d like to happen in order for us to move forward was a useful exercise in itself, and now that we have the money we can’t wait to get started improving and extending our work.

Greyling Post is an eco friendly greetings card company, using designs and illustrations from our small collective of artists. We made a 'Cards to Care Homes' scheme where for every card bought either by the public or wholesale, we match the amount of cards and donate them to a residential care home. The feedback so far is wonderful. Sitting down to write inspires the residents to remember and connect with people during the days when they see few visitors. It helps those who can't get out to the shops and don't feel comfortable shopping online, and they're happy that they don't have to use their pensions to purchase cards for their friends and family.

First things first, I’m going to change our website to one which offers a better user experience as a shop to make it easier for customers and wholesalers to choose and buy cards. This is the fuel for all the cards we donate to support people living in residential care homes so we need to get it right.

Secondly, we’re trademarking ‘Cards to Care homes’. We’re the first company to do this on a large scale (so my research has shown) and it will help to promote the initiative and spread it far and wide.

And finally – for now – we’re stocking up on our cards. There’s been a few favourites sold out for a while so we can get them back online, also some new ones that have been sitting dormant. We’d also like a bit more promotion on the go.

It’s such a positive start to the year for us. Thank you for seeing and believing in our cause, Ben.”

Grants open here: ThenDoBetter Grants and link to Greyling Post here.

mia-hague-hinstock-manor-Cards-to-care-homes-Greyling-Post7.png

OMG first used in 1917 in a letter to Winston Churchill

February 22, 2020 Ben Yeoh

OMG was used in a letter in Winston Churchill in 1917. 🤯

John “Jacky” Fisher was an admiral and naval innovator, who began World War I as First Sea Lord but resigned in 1915.

“…During his time as Second Sea Lord (1902-3) Fisher began putting into practice his reforms for the navy; his major achievement at this time was the Selbourne Scheme of entry and training for officers in 1902, which was a common entry and training for all naval officers, and to ensure that in the age of mechanisation all officers would have a familiarity with engines. In 1903-4 Fisher was Commander-in-Chief at Portsmouth, from which position he could superintend the establishment of the Royal Naval College at Osborne, where new Cadets received their initial naval training. He also served on the Esher Committee, whose recommendations, accepted by the Cabinet, called for a reorganisation of the War Office, and Committee of Imperial Defence.

On the 21st October 1904, at the age of 63, Fisher became First Sea Lord. His main preoccupation was to prepare for the coming of the war with Germany, and developing a more powerful fleet He was responsible for the launch of the first ‘all big gun’ fast battleship, using the new turbine engines. HMS Dreadnought was launched in Portsmouth in 1906, combining great speed with immensely increased gun power. It rendered most of the fleet obsolete at one stroke. Fisher also oversaw the developments of the submarine with its torpedo weapons. The rapidly changing face of the navy brought hostile criticism from conservative parties both within the navy and without. His greatest rival, Lord Charles Beresford, appointed Commander in Chief of the Channel Fleet, became more and more estranged with Fisher and at odds with the Admiralty. Finally, when his command was terminated in 1909, he made public his criticisms of Fisher and his reforms. Fisher remained in office until January 1910 but was succeeded by Sir Arthur Wilson, who was sympathetic to his reforms. During his period in office, he was awarded with the Order of Merit in 1904, appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO) in 1908 and in 1909, was raised to the peerage with the title of Baron Fisher of Kilverstone, a Norfolk estate.

In 1912 he became chairman of the Royal Commission on Oil Fuel. This had been another of his interests during his term in office and resulted in the adoption of using oil fuel in all new ships being constructed. In October 1914, he returned to the Admiralty as First Sea Lord, in which time he was involved in ship construction. He became at odds with the First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill over the proposed Dardenelles campaign. Fisher believed that the persistence in attacking the Dardanelles would jeopardise the success of the major naval strategy of the war, but was forced to concede and allow the campaign to take place. As the campaign unfolded and became clear that it was a hopeless one, he became more and more discontented and resigned his office in 1915. …”