The Comic Book Theater Festival
June 2 – 25, 2011
The influence of comics on our culture continues to grow. From the pop fantasias of Hollywood blockbusters to the rawness and refinement of intimate memoirs—and everything in between—it’s impossible to deny the wide appeal of comics’ words and images. The theater, of course, is no less immune to its spell. This summer, The Brick will invite one of history’s newest art forms to meet one of its oldest—and, through collaborations between visual and dramatic artists, the form and content of comics will collide with the content and form of theater to create strange new hybrids across both media.
MANIFESTO
“Murmurs of anticipation. Tension grow, and grows, and grows…
GO!!GO!!GO!!
and suddenly excitement lets go–applause, cheers; the crowd undulates, advances; faces illuminated by joy and–from a hundred eyes–a look that says…
CHANCE!”
–The Eccentric Manifesto (1922)
The Eccentrics were a revolutionary Russian arts movement that advocated transporting elements of popular American entertainment into the arts: circus, vaudeville, jazz, cartoons, and the silent comedies of Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd. Their Eccentric Manifesto calls for the abandonment of the illusion of emotional “realism” in theatre for these arts of direct experience who had one thing in common; skill, danger and chance.
The best example of their work is the film Chemi Bebia (1929), the story of a paper-pushing drone of the state weaving his way trough a slapstick constructivist wasteland of bureaucracy. It had one showing before being censored by the stalinist regime for fifty years. (Link to trailer)
New Vaudeville was a theatrical movement that sprung from an explosion of street performing in the mid 70’s, which included the founders of Cirque du Soleil, Bill Irwin, The Flying Karamazov Brothers, Penn and Teller and Avner the Eccentric. These groups utilized the power of traditional circus and vaudeville skills to arrest the attention of a street crowd, which allowed them to experiment with extremes of comedy and improvisation that electrified their audiences with the breathless magic of chance. These groups also shared a post-modern recognition that the relationship the performer builds with the audience is paramount to crating this tension, not the inherent difficulty of the skills performed.
The New Eccentrics have garnered a reputation for doing some of the most daring and experimental cabaret performance on the West Coast. Their signature pieces include use of pop-up puppetry and illusion, live projected model sets, structured improvisational interactive narrative, extreme fashion design and the exposure of scare tactics used in “danger” vaudeville.
Manifesto is a literal journey through a pop-up book manifesto, which follows a silent comedy-style hero, (Jan Damm) and his journey to outrun an malicious constructivist city (Jasper Patterson). Along the way he is assisted by an eccentric scientist and a mixed media kitty (Sarah Al-Kassab).
The content of the manifesto is divided into four sections that narrate the basic structure of the hero’s myth. As the manifesto unfolds and becomes the city/set of the show, it exposes the techniques of how audiences are manipulated into investing emotionally into character and plot. The sections of the manifesto take the form of a variety show. The structure of the manifesto calls for certain elements to be culled from the audience, so through the show the hero is assisted by a character cast from the house (by popular vote), props, suggestions, and even live twitter posts. This results in a show structured to elegantly incorporate chaos, creating a slightly different and unique performance each night.
The New Eccentrics’ shows include the ongoing Splenduh Salon (2008-present) an experimental vaudeville salon, and Breaking and Entering (2010).
Jasper Patterson (Artistic Director) grew up during the height of the “Vaudeville-Nouveau” movement, the son of a prominent entertainer. He studied with director Joanne Akalaitis, ground breaking puppeteer Basil Twist, and physical theater master teachers Avner Eisenberg and Jim Calder. During this time he was awarded a scholarship with teachers from the NY Metropolitan Opera, which included soloing with the National Symphony. Jasper toured Canada along with Jan Damm (below) performing the show Eccentric Attraction; a two-man vaudeville show, melding science and traditional danger stunts. After a stint in at Joe’s Pub, NY as a musical clown performing with Janine Garafalo and Josh Lucas, he became a cast member of the Flying Karamazov Brothers. Currently he makes a living as a freelance performer and writing original material for the underground cabaret scene.
Sarah “Styles” Al-Kassab (Production Designer) is a one woman powerhouse of art, beauty, magic and performance. With a mixed-culture and mixed-religion background, along with a bi-coastal up bringing, Sarah spent most of her time studying the symbols of history, art and popular culture to answer the question, “What exactly is the -ism of style? ”
Drawing on her extreme experiences and the -isms of the past; her understanding that style is what one makes of it; the realization that archetypal symbols are the universal language; and that magic is made everywhere, she, along with her partner Jasper Patterson, created The New Eccentrics. She was raised in belly dance and trained in: ballet, freestyle roller-skating, fashion and costume design, and traditional theatre. Her goal is to illuminate strengths and mood through performance, theme and costume. Sarah Styles brings this eclectic background to the visual aesthetic and movement of The New Eccentrics.
Jan Damm is a multi-talented performer and circus artist based in Montreal, specializing in Rolla Bolla and Diablo. He has studied clowning with reputable leaders in the field including Avner Eisenberg, Julie Goell, Jeff Raz, John Gilkey, and Master Lu Yi. Jan is a graduate of the San Francisco Clown Conservatory and has worked with TrapezeWorld, LA Circus in Japan, Circus Zoppe, The New Pickle Circus, and Cirque Magnifique in Houston. Jan recently traveled to Seattle for the renowned ‘Moisture Festival Variete’, and to Haiti for three weeks to work on a performance and outreach project. He is thrilled to create and perform with the New Eccentrics, a collaboration stretching back, under various names, to 2004.
“Manifesto” consists of the following acts, which have been performed separately and together. Our current goal is to increase the atmosphere and deepen the world of the manifesto.
–The World’s ONLY! Pop-up Book Musical (8min)
–Analog Overhead Projection: graphic novel with audience interaction (5min).
–Pop-up book with audience volunteer protagonist (12 min)
- “Danger” act (10min): Rolla Bolla, Acrobalance, Knife and/or Torch Juggling/Passing
“THE NEW ECCENTRICS BLEW ME AWAY…MAKING MY EYES WATER WITH LAUGHTER AND AMAZEMENT.” –NBC BAYAREA
“THE MOST CREATIVE STORYTELLING DISPLAYS IN TOWN” –FUNCHEAP SF
