I Prefer the Term "Enchanted" (Ep. 23 - Magic, Puppetry, and Mr. Rogers)

August 27, 2015 Matthew Baume

Where do you find magic in the mundane? For me, it's knitting -- there's just something enchanting about the idea that you can wrap some string around two sticks, bang them together for a while, and then suddenly there's a scarf in your lap.

My guest this week is Joe, though Minnesotans may know him as his alter ego, Girtha Rotunda. From an early age, he was obsessed with the land of make-believe, with imaginary worlds, with magic tricks and the show Bewitched.

And so as an adult, he dedicated himself to conjuring up magic wherever he went: from stages to military bases to bars to his very own private ice cream truck.

Here's a clip of Fred discussing sweaters, which sadly I can't embed here. But I can embed a little Ed Wynn!

Music:
Parisian Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

There's Something About Not Giving a F*ck (Ep. 22 - Nintendo Games & John Waters)

August 20, 2015 Matthew Baume

How do you escape from an oppressive upbringing or overbearing religion when it's all you've ever known? When rules have defined your whole life, sometimes it feels like there's simply no other way to live.

My guest this week is Austin Curtis, who grew up in a massive Mormon family surrounded by midwestern prairie. It wasn't until started to become aware of a world outside of that bubble that Austin realized there might be more to life than living up to the expectations of others.

But figuring out just what that life looked like would take some effort. Like a hero on a quest, he'd need some help. After all, it's dangerous to go alone.

Music:
Parisian Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

I'm Rooting for the Pig (Ep. 21 - The Muppet Show)

August 12, 2015 Matthew Baume

What's more chaotic than a life in the theater? Well, life in general, for one thing. Messier than any play, life has a way of hiding surprises in the wings, needing re-writes on the fly, and breaking legs. You might forget your blocking, and just become blocked. But every now and then, there are those moments of applause that keep us on stage.

My guest this week is Chicago actor, radio host, and comedian Scott Duff, who at an early age felt the lure of a theater, of a microphone, of a spotlight. If you set out to build the perfect performer, you could do no better than Scott. Not just because of the natural charisma he exuded during his childhood one-boy productions of the musical Annie -- but because he never allowed setbacks to stop him, onstage or off.

And there were plenty of opportunities to storm off to a dressing room and hide. But he didn't -- not through breakups, and suffering in closet. Not through times of tragedy, when family and friends were suddenly gone. Not even when Tennessee forced him for years to maintain the illusion that he was a heterosexual drama teacher did Scott ever give up dreaming of his next big performance.

And what he found is that even when the material's lame, the theater's falling apart, and the audience is lousy, the curtain might always go up on something better the following night. The show must go on.

It's hard for me to choose which Muppet clips I want to include here, because I would like to just watch Muppets on YouTube all day long. But here are a few that came up in this episode:

Music:
Parisian Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

I Could be Black and Gay and Also a Writer (Ep. 20 - Will & Grace and Langston Hughes)

August 6, 2015 Matthew Baume

Perfectionism -- and I say this as a recovering perfectionist myself -- is a powerfully destructive force. It can drive you to achieve great things, but it comes at a price, since it demands that you hold yourself to an impossible standard.

That's because "perfect" doesn't really exist. Nobody's perfect, because perfection is something we make up, an unachievable ideal to measure our shortcomings.

My guest this week is Zach Stafford, a writer for The Guardian. As a kid, he couldn't figure out where he fit in the world. He was the only bi-racial kid in his little Tennessee suburb, and if that didn't set him apart enough, he was also the swishiest person he knew.

And so he set out to be perfect. Get perfect grades. Work a perfect job. Be perfect in church. Look perfect. Feel perfect.

But that pressure took a heavy toll. And he discovered that as figments of the imagination go, perfectionism can be one of the most dangerous.

You can find Zach @zachstafford on Twitter, and also at TheGuardian.com. His book, Boys, is available on Amazon.

During this episode, he mentioned Giovanni's Room -- here's a link. And here's the Langston Hughes chapter, "Salvation," that I recommended at the end of this week's episode.

And speaking of Will & Grace, here is an episode that features what I think is one of Jack's best moments.

Here is a video that compiles some of Will & Grace's complex cultural attitudes:

Music:
Parisian Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

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