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The dedication on the back of the program for That's What We're Here For notes that the show is dedicated to "the loving memory of Mr. Frank Zappa (1940-1993) for "Brown Shoes Don't Make It" and so much more, and Mr. Harvey Kurtzman (1924-1993) for the MAD comic book, 1952-1955."
I suppose I could have added Ernie Kovacs, as well, or maybe even Forrest J Ackerman -- other childhood/teenage influences that have created the outlook on life that led to TWWHF, but they're more "social" influences, not "political." Kovacs and Ackerman helped form an outlook on life and Art that has stayed with me to the present day. Zappa and Kurtzman extended that outlook to the wider world, in particular business and politics.
In the end, most of what Zappa, in his early records, and Kurtzman, in the early MAD, were saying can be boiled down to a rather simple philosophy -- "Don't trust anybody on any side. Everybody's trying to sell you something. And if they say they really know what's going on, they're really trying to sell you something you don't want, don't need, and shouldn't have to have." Easy enough. Pretty obvious, right?
But the WAY they said it . . .
It's impossible to describe their work, and why it can hit a young boy so hard and knock him so far off track. If you don't know their stuff, read about them through the links -- maybe pick up Zappa's Freak Out, Absolutely Free, or We're Only In It For The Money, or try and find a collection of Kurtzman's MAD material -- I think there's some in MAD About the Fifties, if that's still in print. I was lucky enough to get the giant hardcover-and-slipcased 4-volume set of all the early MAD comics back in the mid-80s when a small publisher put it out, but that's LONG out of print, unfortunately.
However, I was thinking about all of this as a result of reading the text this morning of a multimedia lecture given by David Thomas, of the great rock & roll band Pere Ubu. Thomas discusses the influence of early-60s local Cleveland horror movie host Ghoulardi on a generation of Clevelanders, and the waves and ripples produced by just three years of silly anti-authority jokes from a guy hosting a Friday night Z-picture horror show.
Where are the Ghoulardis, the Zappas, the Kurtzmans, etc. of today? Well, I'm trying to produce one at The Brick theatre in Williamsburg, but I don't think it's quite the same thing.
All in my mind this morning as I get ready for three more shows this weekend. After spending almost two days with horrible pain in my left knee, wondering how I was going to get through another show, and what if I REALLY damaged myself on stage next time, and couldn't finish the show, I finally icepacked the damned thing last night and it's much MUCH better now. I'll have no trouble getting through the show, and I'm not eyeing the leftover Vicodin I still have in the medicine cabinet from my recent dental surgery anymore. Well, not too much.
Please let us have a good house.
So, time off in Maine soon to regroup mentally and physically. And as for an August run . . ? Well, The Brick has said yes, but now it's dependent on the actors' schedules. I have conflicts from all but four of the actors now, and there are 20 potential performance times left in the month after eliminating their problem times. Not sure I want to do it if I get less than 12 performances, but I'm not sure if The Brick can even do that -- there are six shows extending. Well, just have to get the rest of the conflicts in, give the possibilities to The Brick, and see.
Today is Berit's 30th birthday. After the show (a matinee, today), I intend to take her out for a nice Thai meal up the block from the theatre. Ain't love grand?
"Stay sick and turn blue!"
I suppose I could have added Ernie Kovacs, as well, or maybe even Forrest J Ackerman -- other childhood/teenage influences that have created the outlook on life that led to TWWHF, but they're more "social" influences, not "political." Kovacs and Ackerman helped form an outlook on life and Art that has stayed with me to the present day. Zappa and Kurtzman extended that outlook to the wider world, in particular business and politics.
In the end, most of what Zappa, in his early records, and Kurtzman, in the early MAD, were saying can be boiled down to a rather simple philosophy -- "Don't trust anybody on any side. Everybody's trying to sell you something. And if they say they really know what's going on, they're really trying to sell you something you don't want, don't need, and shouldn't have to have." Easy enough. Pretty obvious, right?
But the WAY they said it . . .
It's impossible to describe their work, and why it can hit a young boy so hard and knock him so far off track. If you don't know their stuff, read about them through the links -- maybe pick up Zappa's Freak Out, Absolutely Free, or We're Only In It For The Money, or try and find a collection of Kurtzman's MAD material -- I think there's some in MAD About the Fifties, if that's still in print. I was lucky enough to get the giant hardcover-and-slipcased 4-volume set of all the early MAD comics back in the mid-80s when a small publisher put it out, but that's LONG out of print, unfortunately.
However, I was thinking about all of this as a result of reading the text this morning of a multimedia lecture given by David Thomas, of the great rock & roll band Pere Ubu. Thomas discusses the influence of early-60s local Cleveland horror movie host Ghoulardi on a generation of Clevelanders, and the waves and ripples produced by just three years of silly anti-authority jokes from a guy hosting a Friday night Z-picture horror show.
Where are the Ghoulardis, the Zappas, the Kurtzmans, etc. of today? Well, I'm trying to produce one at The Brick theatre in Williamsburg, but I don't think it's quite the same thing.
All in my mind this morning as I get ready for three more shows this weekend. After spending almost two days with horrible pain in my left knee, wondering how I was going to get through another show, and what if I REALLY damaged myself on stage next time, and couldn't finish the show, I finally icepacked the damned thing last night and it's much MUCH better now. I'll have no trouble getting through the show, and I'm not eyeing the leftover Vicodin I still have in the medicine cabinet from my recent dental surgery anymore. Well, not too much.
Please let us have a good house.
So, time off in Maine soon to regroup mentally and physically. And as for an August run . . ? Well, The Brick has said yes, but now it's dependent on the actors' schedules. I have conflicts from all but four of the actors now, and there are 20 potential performance times left in the month after eliminating their problem times. Not sure I want to do it if I get less than 12 performances, but I'm not sure if The Brick can even do that -- there are six shows extending. Well, just have to get the rest of the conflicts in, give the possibilities to The Brick, and see.
Today is Berit's 30th birthday. After the show (a matinee, today), I intend to take her out for a nice Thai meal up the block from the theatre. Ain't love grand?
"Stay sick and turn blue!"
