One Writer's Journey

Many times over the years I’ve been asked why I write. Truth is… the answer is simple. I write to entertain. I write because I get an idea in my head, usually high concept, that some part of my DNA insists I get down on paper. 

Back in elementary school, our teacher gave us a creative writing assignment. I wrote a Scooby-Doo episode that, if given the chance, I’d love to go back in time and get my hands on. There was also a poem I wrote about a kid getting locked out of his house titled, ‘If you ever forget your key’. All I remember of that one was the first few lines:

If you ever forget your key

You could use a heavy tree

Or if you dare, you could use

Some dynamite, just light the fuse

Not Robert Frost mind you, but not bad for an eight-year-old and I’m pretty sure the teacher gave me an A.

I wrote a nice speech for my wedding but being that at the time I was too shy to publicly speak—my words were always better than my delivery—my best man read it for me. He got plenty of laughs and a round of applause.

One night we went to dinner with my wife’s family to Ben’s Delicatessen. Her mother, who turns 90 today as I write this, is a notoriously slow eater. We’d all be finished with our meals, chatting away, and she’d just be finishing the first half of her sandwich. Our game was over and she hadn’t even reached halftime yet. The moment we got home I wrote a poem titled, ‘Ode to a Slow Eater’. My mother-in-law kept that one in her archives and she’d bring it out every few years at family gatherings.

For our Fantasy Football league, which I’ve been proudly playing with the greatest group of guys for the last 24 years, I wrote a weekly newsletter to spice up the trash talking, ingeniously titled ‘Trash Talk’. Nothing better than taking the Bombers team plane logo, flipping it upside down, with a caption reading “May Day, May Day” after his team got bumped out of the playoffs.

The bottom line is I loved to write and finally decided to take a run at doing it professionally, or at least for a larger audience than teachers, family, and friends. Now, just as an aside, before I get into the bigger stuff I’ve written, the whole starving artist thing wasn’t for me. Back in college, I came to a crossroads decision. I could major in creative writing, or I could major in computer science. This was back in the days of punch card programming. Being that computers were the up-and-coming field back in the 80’s, and I had a good head for logic (if not advanced mathematics), I chose the latter. A few years out of school, not quite enjoying the programming work I’d found, I pivoted and went back to business school at USC earning an MBA in Marketing and Finance which I put to good use.

I mention this because as much as I love writing, I decided to do it on the side in favor of a safer career, a choice I often wonder about as my life would have taken a completely different path.

I had a great idea for a comic strip, totally original, and wrote 200 plus daily strips for it, without any idea of how to draw it or pitch it. I hired a very talented artist, who drew the first 36 strips for me for minimal dollars, and it came out better than I dreamed of. Unfortunately, I only knew three syndicates to pitch to, and they all passed (but if anyone reading this who loves the dailies and knows how to get this out there, please let me know because it would be awesome to get these out in the world).

I wrote two children’s picture books. One I self-published; that you might find on Amazon (at least as an e-book), but the second I held back because damn… publishing is a tough business to do on your own and paying an illustrator was money I couldn’t earn back.

Then I had a killer of a sci-fi thriller idea for a novel. I had never written anything as big as a novel at the time. I’m also a plotter and not a “pantser” as they say (referring to authors that just sit down and write their story by the seat of their pants). Nope. That’s not me. I needed to know the beginning, middle, and end before I started. I needed a chapter-by-chapter outline. I also needed to hone my skills because writing a novel requires a whole different level of detail with multiple character arcs that MUST come together at the end to make it all work. And then I had to do a ton of research to make the story as realistic as possible. An audience can buy fantastic scenarios as long as you get the down-to-earth stuff right. And for the most part I did, though it definitely wasn’t perfect.

The high concept: Imagine if Roswell happened again, only this time the UFO doesn’t crash within the United States. My ultimate What If? My answer, well… we’d go to war to get that ship. And so would others. At the very least, a covert war would start between the nations that learned of its existence. And just to add a little extra nuance, this time the alien craft held survivors. A year later, THE ROSWELL PROTOCOLS was complete. Holy shit! I wrote a novel.

A few agents toyed with it. Somehow, I got it to the editor’s desk at St. Martin’s Press on my own. In the end it came down to me and another author (I suspect I know who but can’t confirm) with a similar premise and I drew the short straw. Unable to sell it on my own, I almost gave up, but Amazon launched Book Surge (now CreateSpace) that gave underdogs like me a chance. So I went for it. Within two weeks I sold over 700 copies and received mostly positive reviews. 88 reviews at last glance. And I loved every minute of it, even smiling at the few bad reviews because damn… I had the largest audience I’ve ever had and for the most part they liked it. And even better, a few years after the initial burst died down, a reader in England discovered the book, wrote a nice review, and sales caught a second wind.

As a marketing guy, I knew I should’ve stayed in that lane and kept writing sci-fi, including an immediate sequel. Unfortunately, creativity comes from the heart and the imagination, so I decided to write a TV Pilot. Yeah… that was a wild pivot. A manager would have been good for me back then, but I wasn’t writing for the money. I was writing to get cool ideas out of my head.

I got it to a few producers, who liked it better than they thought they would (with me being an amateur), but they passed, and since I really didn’t know what to do with it next, I tossed it in a drawer and then into some contests later on, where it received a couple of accolades, for whatever that’s worth.

From there I moved on to writing a few monster novels. A decently reviewed monster hunting series I’m looking for a better way to move forward with, and one hell of a thriller of a YA novel that landed me an agent at a big agency. This was it. The big leagues. It looked like I was finally heading to the show with this one. Or at least the nearest Barnes & Noble. It went through several iterations and titles, received an offer from a publisher which then got pulled back because (we think) the publisher was having some financial difficulties at the time. Yeah… like I said, publishing is a tough biz. Ultimately, and unfortunately, the agent moved on, so instead of beginning the arduous year and a half journey all over again, I decided to release it myself as ‘HELLION’. If nothing else, I made a very cool ad.

And though that was a tough setback, I was fortunate to meet a lot of terrific writers along the way and through those connections I have gotten some short stories published by traditional publishers. My recent successes include a short story called ‘THE GRIM’ about a veteran detective investigating a series of frightening crimes in New York City, which just appeared in Flame Tree Publishing’s ‘CHILLING CRIME’ anthology. They produce beautifully bound books all of which are worth checking out. I wrote a ghost story titled, ‘THE FINAL EXPERIMENT OF EUGENE APPLETON’ which recently appeared in the “EVEN IN THE GRAVE” anthology from Espec books.

And in the pipeline, I have another novel, a whole slew of short stories (one I know is being released in 2024), a full-length screenplay, a second TV pilot, and a short film I’d love to produce. The stories I tell and the media through which I choose to tell those stories are all over the map. But it’s the way my brain works, so I just go with it. Sooner or later, one of my stories will hit big. But even if it doesn’t, that’s okay. Just having unloaded all these ideas onto paper in a well-executed manner is success enough. Because at the end of the day, the journey is truly more important than the destination.

If you love to write, do it! It’s a subjective industry so live your dream your way (assuming you don’t need to do it to pay the bills). And along the way, treat everyone you meet professionally and personally with respect, honesty, and integrity. Be proud of your accomplishments and you will prosper no matter how many dollars there are at the end of the path.

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Allan Burd writes imaginative thrillers in the YA, science fiction, and action horror genres. He also dabbles in children’s books and short stories and is a contributing author to a Bram Stoker nominated anthology. For more information on Allan, please visit www.allanburd.com

G&E In Motion does not necessarily agree with the opinions of our guest bloggers. That would be boring and counterproductive. We have simply found the author’s thoughts to be interesting, intelligent, unique, insightful, and/or important. We may not agree on the words but we surely agree on their right to express them and proudly present this platform as a means to do so.

Swagger in the Classroom

Throughout my teaching experience, I have worked with many acting students who feel unqualified in their pursuit of acting. This feeling comes from a simple question:  “Am I doing it right?” Various methodologies and pedagogies attempt to reach students in different ways, whether via games, changing the pace of class, or adapting existing plans to meet the needs of the class. I believe that giving an actor a sense of swagger is the key to becoming a great actor because it encourages a willingness to invest in training. Swagger, in this case, means having the confidence to make brave choices in a space where they feel challenged and stimulated, rather than judged and criticized. The focus on confidence needs to be put at the forefront of an actor’s formative education to promote growth. As Michael Powell stated in The Acting Bible, “Tension and our habitual responses are often caused by fear and lack of trust in ourselves.” Trust comes from familiarity and the set expectation that everyone’s boundaries and needs will be respected and adequately met.

The term brave space was first propagated by Brian Arao and Kristi Clemens in their book The Art of Effective Facilitation: Reflections from Social Justice Educators. They state that a brave space within a classroom environment contains five main elements. The first one, “controversy with civility,” defines the classroom as a place where everyone can have different opinions and have them be acknowledged. The second one is “owning intentions and impacts,” which means that students have the ability and space to recognize and discuss instances where a dialogue affects the emotional well-being of another person. The third concept is “challenge by choice,” in which the students in the classroom have an option to step in and out of challenging conversations. The next is “respect,” which needs no explanation. And lastly, “no attacks,” meaning that the students will all agree not to intentionally inflict harm on one another, whether it be physically, mentally, or emotionally. The trauma-informed practices set forth by Theatrical Intimacy Education (T.I.E.) teaches us that we as educators must teach to the most vulnerable person in the room. I believe that best way to do so is to meet students where they are, as people. Creating brave spaces promotes room for growth and grants your students permission to be creative.

Another crucial idea that builds on individual swagger is an acceptance that nobody can know everything; the beauty of learning is pursuing answers through practice. Students cling to safety in the classroom due to prior conditioning through standardized testing and strict grading practices that lead them to believe there is only one correct answer. In theatre, there are multiple ways to reach the objective and it’s important to let students know this early on. Stanford Meisner said that the foundation of acting is the reality of doing. In numerous classrooms, professors start their curriculums by having students do academic readings or immediately begin pedagogical exercises. Students may feel uneasy about immediately starting their journey into pedagogical exercises. It's a scary new experience, and without getting a sense of community, it's difficult to navigate through it with full confidence. Building trust and relationships from the beginning will better help them make brave choices and grow confidently.

Without trust, students tend to set up walls to conceal their real selves in front of the other classmates and professor. I once had a professor give us an exercise on the first day that involved telling the whole class a story about a time we remember from the year 2008. He pointed out that we had all performed instead of simply telling a real story from our lives. As human beings, we tend to perform to seem more likable or please other people. Often, this performative shield is merely an empty attempt to seem more interesting than we are due to not feeling sure about oneself. Stanislavski noted this when critiquing one of his students for delivering a performance of Othello to impress his teacher:

Say to any one of us “Play a savage, without thinking about it, right now.” I’ll wager that most people will do just what you did during the show, because prowling about, baring one’s teeth, rolling the whites of one’s eyes have been associated in our imagination since time immemorial with a false representation of a savage.

It’s important for educators to know that being insecure is not the fault of the student. For most new college students, the past thirteen years has been spent focusing on obedience and compliance at school and home. College may be the first semblance of independence. Creating a classroom dynamic that is more community-based and flexible helps them to develop emotionally and academically. Intimacy direction in the classroom helps students know that they, as human beings, come before the training and allows them to feel comfortable in their environment. 

 Once students are comfortable with an educator, and each other, the practice becomes easy as trust is in the room. To quote Meisner again, “And if you’re really concentrated on just listening to cars or looking at a person, you don’t have to worry about being a character. You have one thing to do and concentrate on.” Actors have an easier time listening to each other when they feel that they can trust each other. Furthermore, this eliminates the mystery in our craft. Acting isn’t science or mathematical, it’s art. Students tend to fear their choices because they believe that acting is a series of mysterious choices they have yet to understand. Marlon Brando called acting “the least mysterious of all crafts. Whenever we want something from somebody or when we want to hide something or pretend, we’re acting. Most people do it all day long.” Acting is simple because it is a series of actions. Every moment of every day, humans are doing something. The job of a class facilitator is to encourage students to do what they do better than anyone else: be themselves. 

The first step in this journey is to establish the relationship between the facilitator and the students. Facilitation is about establishing the brave space and setting the tone early on so that students know what to expect. As Marsha Acker said in her book, The Art & Science of Facilitation: How to Lead Effective Collaboration with Agile Teams: 

It’s about creating the space for what’s needed to help people show up as their most naturally creative selves, voice their point of view authentically, hear different perspectives, develop a shared vision for the future, and decide on a direction forward. Facilitation does not fall for impossible outcomes in unrealistic time frames. It does not stand for unequal participation. It is for creating engaging and connected spaces where all voices are heard.

This means letting students know from the beginning that the journey is about discovery at their pace and individual bar of success. It’s our job as educators to let students know that they should work to their greatest potential and consistently measure themselves to their own standard of excellence. The technique being taught isn’t about finding the ‘right’ way to act; it’s more useful to think of it as eliminating all the hundreds of less effective ways, the acquired habits and obstacles that hamper even the most talented actors. Students grow frustrated when they see their peers “mastering” the technique in a way that they cannot, when they don’t understand that the peer is most likely confident in themselves in one area of the training but very likely not so much in another. Improvement is about identifying one's individual needs at the time.

To ensure that student needs are being met, the simple fix is just to ask them what they need. As Acker said, “People have to know what they will get out of the meeting, why you’re having it, and what you need from them.” Having a solid lesson plan isn’t enough, it’s important to continuously check in with the students by asking what direction would be more helpful for them to head in. It makes the students feel like their education is more important than meeting some sort of course “check list.” Students get more out of the lesson plan when a professor allows them to maybe slow things down and invest more time in studying their given scenes through the pedagogy. This is how I combat emotional and psychological barricades that often stop the creative process: I strive to give students ownership in the classroom. Opinions, personal fears, internal conflict, collegiate stereotypes - these obstacles build a barricade of self-doubt and hinder students from fully joining into the communal experience that is theatre. Swagger comes from freedom, and although there is no way to completely erase self-consciousness, there is a way to create an environment where they are free to grow their craft.

Swagger is the fundamental piece to an acting student’s development. If a student has the confidence to give the practice their best effort, they will have maximum growth throughout the process of the course. My role as an educator is to help students reach an artistic state where they can consistently contribute to their theatre community. My teaching philosophy is to motivate, stimulate, and encourage students to follow my lead: we as a “community” must promote bravery in acting spaces. It’s in these brave spaces that students will find their swagger.

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Kaelem Camper is an actor from Philadelphia, PA who has written numerous plays, as well as directed shows as he crafts his personal consent-based pedagogy. He is an alumnus of Temple University (B.A.) and Long Island University (M.F.A.). Upon earning his Masters, he became an adjunct professor at both Five Towns College and Long Island University Post. He also has multiple certifications from Theatrical Intimacy Education (T.I.E.), which he puts into practice in his educational work, directorial work, and his intimacy coordination. 

Some Past Credits Include: Ralph D in The Motherf***** with the Hat, CB in Dog Sees God, Captain William Beatty in Fahrenheit 451, Michael in Tick, Tick, Boom, Silvius in As You Like It, Walter Beau Willie Jones/The Kid in The Colored Museum, Black Cindy in Orange is the New Musical, Rich in Lockhardt, Victor in Zooman and the Sign, Antonio/Trinculo in The Tempest, Howie Newsome in Our Town. He has directed many original plays, devised pieces, and multiple first year college showcases. Recently, he has become the co-creater of a non-profit theatrical film company called The Wonderstruck Uncut. For the company's opening season, Kaelem wrote and starred in a film titled Quandaries of the Living. He also directed a film titled Tumor.

HIS WEBSITE: kaelemvoncamper.com

HIS COMPANY: wonderstruckuncut.com

G&E In Motion does not necessarily agree with the opinions of our guest bloggers. That would be boring and counterproductive. We have simply found the author’s thoughts to be interesting, intelligent, unique, insightful, and/or important. We may not agree on the words but we surely agree on their right to express them and proudly present this platform as a means to do so.

Sweatsedo: A Journey Into Burlesque

It all started with my “sweatsedo”.  My burlesque career really started before that with some community theater and a couple of dance acts in some pole dancing shows but the “sweatsedo” feels like a great place to start.

Let me start with a little bit of background on me.  I am a retired Army CID agent.  I did 20 years in the Army, mostly as a special agent in the Criminal Investigation Division, which means I wore a shirt and tie and worked a lot of rapes.  I ended up becoming a forensic science officer and specialized in death and sexual assault investigations and got really burned o,t after a few tours in Iraq and endless suicide investigations.

I once made a joke on social media that I thought it would be funny to wear a tracksuit to a wedding and when asked about it, to be all matter of fact, I said,  “Well of course I’m wearing a tracksuit.  This is a wedding, right?” 

My old Army friend, Scott, contacted me when he was getting married and asked me to be his best man.  He insisted I get a tracksuit and shared the “sweatsedo” website with me.   There were some more low key tracksuits on there that I suggested to him because they were the cheapest and he was paying for it but he suggested I go with something fancier.  I ended up getting this beautiful purple velour tracksuit with gold fleur de lis down the sides of the sleeves and pant legs.  It also says “SWEATSEDO” in big letters across the front.  During our discussion about getting a wedding tracksuit, I also joked around about how I would turn the pants into tearaways so I could strip out of it if necessary, mostly as a joke at the time.

Olympia, Washington has this incredible artist, Elizabeth Lord, who has an annual variety show called “Lord Franzannian’s Royal Olympian Spectacular Vaudeville Show.”  Our paths crossed doing community theater and I saw that she was holding open auditions. I showed up with my tracksuit in hand and an idea.

I’m a huge hip hop head going back to the late 80’s when, as far as I’m concerned, it was some of the best music going.  I’m also a karaoke guy and have sung “Going Back to Cali” a bunch of times and at some point while singing it, I got an idea.  It has that chorus, “I’m going back to Cali, Cali, Cali.  I’m going back to Cali……hm, I don’t think so.”  It was a perfect tease line for a burlesque act.  I could play with lowering my zipper during the first part of the chorus and then raise it back up during the “I don’t think so.”  I also envisioned a handful of props (which is common; early burlesque performers use lots of props!!!).  The biggest and most important prop was the suntan lotion, which is mentioned in the final verse of the song.  I cleaned out a bottle of suntan lotion and replaced it with plain yogurt.  I would finish the act by doing some mock fellatio with the bottle and then squeeze and blast it into my face for the money shot.  I would lick it off my face and fingers while dancing and everyone would go nuts.

At the audition, I played the song and just explained my ideas.  Luckily, there was a burlesque performer, Wednesday Du Monde, at the audition who heard my idea and offered to help by sewing snap tape into the pants.  She also made me two pairs of pasties, one purple and one gold, and took a plain black g-string and sewed some fantastic purple and gold fabric to the outside of them for me.  I used the karaoke track of the song and sang/rapped the verses when I did the act.  I did the show and brought the house down with the act.  I’m a huge Missy Misdemeanor Elliott fan so at the time, I performed as Mister Meanor.

There was another burlesque performer in that show, Zsa Zsa Bordeaux, who did an incredible burlesque duo with Wednesday Du Monde dressed as a sexy Ernie and Bert stripping to a Sesame Street song.  She was part of Rock Candy Burlesque, one of the two burlesque troupes in town, and other performers from the troupe that I did not know attended the show and saw the act.  After doing the show, another burlesque troupe (Twin City Tease, now the Hub City Shimmy) from a city south of us booked me to do that act on this amazing theater stage in Centralia, WA.  When I was booked, I made the decision to change my name to Bananas Foster as it’s an insanely delicious dessert and as nothing I’ll ever do on a burlesque stage would be “mean” and so my original name did not work. I also submitted video of the act and was booked in the Oregon Burlesque Festival which, looking back, was a really big deal as they are highly competitive and hard to get into, generally speaking.

Members of the aforementioned Rock Candy Burlesque were speaking with me during this timeframe and I had another idea that I pitched to them and they booked me as a featured guest performer. 

It worked out perfectly as they were doing a show with the word “Time” in the title and my act was to do a strip tease as Doc Brown from the Back to the Future movies. I got a lab coat and some yellow scrub like pants that could pass for a nuclear suit.  I already had a ridiculous Afro so I used spray to further whiten it and put on a pair of long yellow rubber gloves that were filled with glitter and nuclear symbol pasties.  The act started with Huey Lewis and the News “Back in Time” for about a minute of high energy dancing and then changed to “Time After Time” by Cyndi Lauder where it became a sensual and self-choreographed contemporary dance piece.  My final reveal was a shiny pleather g-string that a friend helped turn into a flux capacitor with those cheap plastic glow-stick bracelets and when they brought the lights down at the end, shined bright on the stage.

Rock Candy Burlesque was awesome and booked me just based on me explaining my idea and gave me notes on my act during a dress rehearsal.  The show went great and I met guest performers and not long after, they asked me to become a member. 

I was so excited, being fully invited into the burlesque world.  We did regular meetings and did big shows about every three or four months where we would come up with new acts. 

We also began producing a monthly show called Tassel Tuesday where many of us did new or old acts and we opened up applications for in-town and out-of-town performers to submit acts.  We encouraged other types of acts to submit and perform as well so it was a full on variety show but it would usually be mostly burlesque from month to month.  Performers from Seattle and Portland would roll into town every month and do acts.  It was a lot of work and also a lot of fun.  We would put together group acts for our big shows and group choreography.  One of the members, May B. Naughty, an amazing costumer and maybe the sweetest human being I’ve ever met, would help with my costumes.  I would explain an idea and what I wanted to do and she would find the fabrics either in Good Will bins or on an annual trip to Mexico at discount prices. She would only charge me for the supplies and never the labor.

Being a cisgender heterosexual male over 40 in a burlesque troupe with seven, and at times eight, other women was an incredibly enriching experience for me.  I had spent the majority of my life, up until then, working with other males in law enforcement in the military.  The first several years, I always felt like a guest performer and not a full member of the troupe but over time, I felt completely submerged.  They were my creative artist sisters and I loved all their witchy woman magic.  I was applauded by other troupe members for never taking up too much space in the backstage area and always being respectful.  I always changed off to the side in the green room and looked away when other performers changed.  We had incredibly beautiful and creative performers both in our troupe and as guest performers every month and I got to share the stage with them.

Near the end, things got more and more challenging.  We always tried to get a consensus on decisions but with eight people, all artists, it could get absolutely maddening.  There was also some drama between troupe members that led to members leaving.  It all started off feeling like a very loving and inclusive community but once inside, there was some ugliness. 

The pandemic hit right around the time I was thinking about leaving the troupe.  It led to the closure of the Rhythm & Rye, an amazing live music venue where we had many shows, and eventually the dissolution of our burlesque troupe altogether. 

Identity politics were at an all time high during all of this and I watched one of our members get cancelled on social media and within burlesque and I was done.  Members of my own community turned on other members for incredibly petty reasons and I was happy to put that aspect in my rear- view mirror.

I don’t perform as Bananas Foster anymore.  I did 15 or more different burlesque acts over a six-year period.  I also sang a few songs in shows including an original one I did with an old punk rock friend from my teenage years.  I performed in shows from Seattle to Portland and spots in-between.  It was amazing having a stage where you could create acts and then perform them and get paid.  I did community theater in Olympia, WA and almost never made a dime but in burlesque (and vaudeville), you could actually get paid to perform as an artist.   I became way better as a listener and team member after spending a lot of time being a talker and a leader.  I turned 50 during the pandemic and still have some regret that I never got to take the stage at 50.  I feel like there might be a time at some point in the future where I change my mind and submit to a festival or return to the vaudeville stage but for now, I’m retired from burlesque or at least as a member of a burlesque troupe. 

As far as performing goes, there is no greater rush than standing near naked in front of a packed house of an audience, all screaming and clapping for you.  I definitely miss that feeling.  I still have the Sweatsedo.

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Bobby Brown is a retired US Army CID agent and current Washington State employee, originally from North Tonawanda, NY.  He lives in Olympia, WA with his wife, daughter and pugs.  In his free time, he is a karaoke host, actor, MC and bon vivant.

G&E In Motion does not necessarily agree with the opinions of our guest bloggers. That would be boring and counterproductive. We have simply found the author’s thoughts to be interesting, intelligent, unique, insightful, and/or important. We may not agree on the words but we surely agree on their right to express them and proudly present this platform as a means to do so

Music Connects

I am a voice teacher in training, an actor, a language and travel enthusiast, and a person who plays the violin. I have always engaged in varied disciplines and often rejected the notion that we’re supposed to pick just one thing. For me, this multidisciplinary lifestyle works, but spreading my time and energy in several directions sometimes makes me feel like I’m not good enough at any one thing. However, at this point in my life, I have come to terms with the fact that I won’t be the world's best violinist. I just want to keep experiencing the joy of playing music despite the nagging frustration of knowing what kind of violin player I could be, if only I committed fully to it. There have been years where I “put in the work,” thinking I might pursue it full-time professionally, while other years I put the violin down for months at a time and thought about quitting for good. 

In order to maintain a sense of balance in my life, I had to change my mindset: I learned to regard myself not as a violinist, but as a person who plays the violin. Taking away the inclination to define myself by my violin-playing has helped me release a lot of guilt and anxiety around not putting in enough time. I used to think I had to give it all or nothing; if I wasn’t the best, I didn’t deserve to keep playing. I’ve learned how to let go – how to let playing music be a source of joy that ebbs and flows in my life. In releasing the pressure, I have discovered the greatest reason to keep playing: music connects. My violin has been a constant source for connection over the years – to people around the world, to audiences, and to myself. It’s a vehicle to express my own unique voice, and serves as another way to communicate with the world around me. 

Our voices are important – important enough to me that I am working towards an MFA in the Linklater Teaching Practice and Theatre Arts, in London. The Linklater teaching practice, in short, is a methodology developed by Kristin Linklater and helps actors find freedom in expression through the voice. I want to help others find and express their true and authentic voice. I find playing the violin is an extension of my voice. The voice expresses thoughts, feelings, and emotions, all of which represent a person uniquely and intimately. In my studies I have learned that vocal communication happens when the impulse or need to communicate triggers breath intake, and the vocal folds oscillate to create sound on the way out, resonating in the bony hollows of the chest and head. We can look at playing an instrument as the same process, but instead of the sound beginning in our throat, our arms and hands and and fingers play upon strings, keys, frets, or buttons. Everything I play on my instrument traces back to me, which I have learned to value, even if it doesn’t sound perfect. 

Despite being in London to study voice, I still felt the desire to keep playing the violin. Coincidentally, there happened to be a traditional Irish music session at an Irish pub near my flat. A huge part of my violin background is in playing traditional Celtic music. Irish music sessions are typically considered open jams, welcoming any Celtic players, although they don’t always feel very welcoming. This group of warm individuals, however, welcomed me with bright smiles, hearty laughs, and many pints of Guinness. Every Sunday I took up my spot between two stellar traditional players and Irishmen: Foxy on the banjo and John on the accordion. I listened and laughed as they swapped hilarious stories of playing music in London and Ireland from before I was even born. They told stories about the very people who composed the tunes I played my whole life, providing an entirely new insight into the music I thought I knew. I began to understand how important storytelling is to the Irish – how much they value a good hook-line and sinker. I started to see the music as a means of storytelling for the Irish community, as if the music is their legacy to pass on to future generations. 

In my life, music has been a consistent thread through nearly all of my most memorable experiences. When I leave it to pursue something else, it finds a way back into my life. I have learned to release the pressure around it I used to hold, and I’m so grateful for all the people and connections it has brought into my life. I’m allowed to keep playing even if I’m not the best. Our voices are beautifully unique, and people want to hear what we have to say, in our own special way of saying it. We can let go of the need to sound perfect. I am not defined by my instrument – I am a whole human that has so much more to offer. As long as we boldly share ourselves through each of our respective art forms, letting our own unique voices come through, we invite connection wherever we go. 

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Casey McGinty is an actor, musician, and voice teacher in training. Casey is a graduate student at Rose Bruford College (London) working towards an MFA in the Linklater Teaching Practice (Voice & Theatre Arts), as well as becoming a Designated Linklater Teacher. In 2020, she directed The Vagina Monologues at ArtsQuest in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and has performed as Donna in Tony & Tina’s Wedding (Bethlehem and New Jersey productions). Casey is a Celtic fiddle player and has played regionally with PA bands including Fig for a Kiss, The Groove Merchants, and Bovine Social Club. She recently performed in London at the British Country Music Association Fan Fest. 

G&E In Motion does not necessarily agree with the opinions of our guest bloggers. That would be boring and counterproductive. We have simply found the author’s thoughts to be interesting, intelligent, unique, insightful, and/or important. We may not agree on the words but we surely agree on their right to express them and proudly present this platform as a means to do so.

Heavy Kettle!

Here is a short-list of things I have not seen until recently:

1. An attack on the CapitOl Building

2. A pandemic

3. A Ma and Pa Kettle movie

That's right, you read that correctly. In my 57-year love affair with vintage films, I have totally missed the 9 movies that followed Universal-International's THE EGG AND I.

Now, even as a youth I was not crazy about the Claudette Colbert/Fred MacMurray filmed adaptation of Betty MacDonald's 1945 memoir. In the film I was shocked to find Betty's character (portrayed by Miss Colbert) so subservient to her chicken farming obsessed husband (MacMurray) as to be a totally unbelievable caricature of the obedient housewife. This intelligent woman, who was so used to the comforts that life had to offer, follows her husband into the hardscrabble world of farm life with a smile on her lips and a heart full of devotion. It still makes me slightly ill to think about. When I did the research about the real Betty MacDonald, I was not surprised to find that her real chicken loving husband (Robert Eugene Heskett) actually was a bit of a loony and an abusive drunkard. The marriage lasted just over 3 years when Betty hightailed out of that nightmare situation pronto. Now that seems much more believable.

So, I was/am not a fan of THE EGG AND I, and this led me to be totally disinterested in the Ma and Pa Kettle series which followed in its very successful wake. To be frank, I wasn't crazy about the supporting characters of Ma and Pa Kettle in this first film. Ma was abrasive and way too loud (Marjorie Main was nominated as Best Supporting Actress for it, too!), and Pa was in no uncertain terms A BUM! His borrowing ways and extreme laziness were presented as supposedly lovable traits, but the whole thing only annoyed the heck out of me.

Well, my good pals Lon and Debra Davis had recently gotten in touch with me and asked if I would like a copy of their latest book, MA AND PA KETTLE ON FILM (so I could review it). Suddenly something inside of me clicked. I realized that I'd never given these films a chance, and with the book on the way I thought it would be a good time to order the entire series on DVD. I'm so glad I did. The subsequent films are funnier, possess more warmth, and are much more endearing than the film from whence they sprang. Of the nine films a few are really terrific, some are very good, and only a couple are just so-so. Not a bad record, to be sure.

I grew up in the New York area in the 1960's and 70's and I enjoyed watching Abbott and Costello films every Sunday at 11:30 AM. A few years before Bud and Lou took over that spot I watched the Bowery Boys every Sunday at noon. I even made time for the Blondie and Dagwood movies on Saturday mornings, and occasionally I would sit through one of the Francis the Talking Mule films (not a big favorite). But, only once do I remember a Ma and Pa Kettle movie being shown during my childhood. It was on CBS one Saturday afternoon back in the late 60's, but I didn't watch. I just wasn't interested. You have to remember that I was also inundated with TV's THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES, PETTICOAT JUNCTION, and GREEN ACRES (my favorite of the bunch), so the thought of another hillbilly comedy just wasn't at the top of my list of desired viewing.

Boy, was I wrong. After a shaky first film, simply called MA AND PA KETTLE (which was basically a rehash of what we'd encountered in THE EGG AND I) I began to get sucked into this family's warm and wacky world. I even found a new favorite Christmas movie, MA AND PA KETTLE AT HOME. Not only does it feature a very touching Christmas themed final half, but it also features one of my all-time favorite actors, Alan Mowbray, in a hilarious performance as a snooty agricultural writer. In this film the “stuffy” Brit is butted in the rear end by a goat, doused in pig's mud, pelted with eggs (among other things), and tortured by a frog named Oscar. This is the best film in the series and I can honestly say that I laughed and cried before the film's end.

As expected there are complaints from some modern audiences regarding non-PC content (it just wouldn't seem right if SOMEBODY wasn't offended!). There are two Native American characters, Geoduck and Crowbar who do ALL of Pa's work. While Pa lies in his hammock, or sits in his rocking chair, his friends do his heavy lifting. The bottom line is that these characters, despite their stereotypical way of speaking, are the Kettle's best and most loyal friends. They help Pa because they love the guy, and that's OK with me. They are usually the smartest people in the room, and their devotion to their friends is nothing short of admirable. There is also grunting about the stereotypical depiction of “mountain folk.” Yes, they dress in old-fashioned clothing, and they seem a bit out of touch with the modern world in general, but how nice it is to see these simple folk constantly outwit, or tame the dishonest or uptight city-folk.

Watching the films also made me realize that the running gags were as familiar to the fans of the series as the harassed mailman was in the Blondie movies, or Slip Mahoney's mangling of the English language was in the Bowery Boys films. Pa banging his rocking chair on the floor to turn on the radio is found in all of the films (the radio ALWAYS plays “Tiger Rag” until Pa bangs the chair again to switch the station to a more sedate melody). There is also Ma's bellowing, “COME AND GET IT!” as she calls their stampeding 15 children to the table for mealtime and the perfunctory saying of Grace by Pa always follows that, which is more of a tip of his battered derby than an actual prayer (apparently this was Kilbride's own derby given to him by New York governor, Al Smith decades before!).

As for character traits, Pa is still the laziest man in town and he still borrows everything he needs from anyone who will comply, but somehow those traits seem more forgivable in these films. Perhaps seeing the struggle of the young couple in THE EGG AND I being undercut by Pa's deadbeat ways made it somewhat tough for me to forgive. But in these films he doesn't prey on anyone who can't afford to lend a hand to the laconic layabout. He owes money to everyone in town, but it's accepted by most because it's who he is. He just wouldn't be Pa Kettle if he didn't have these foibles. Ma is also accepted as she is a loving mother and wife, in spite of her coarse and sometimes rough and tumble behavior.

Another plus is Ma and Pa's relationship. They occasionally feel romantic, but even more than that there is a benign acceptance between them of who they are and what they mean to each other. It's almost sophisticated in its depth. Ma knows full well what Pa is and accepts his behavior as his nature. Pa sees Ma as his savior, She does his work for him, raises the kids, pulls the plow, and on and on. Some might think that is unconscionable behavior from Pa, but there is almost something sweet in the unconditional love they feel for each other. Ma's workhorse ways are just the way it is, has been, and always will be. She doesn't mind so neither do we.

The children remind me of the Bowery Boys who weren't Leo Gorcey or Huntz Hall. That means they could have been played by anyone who fit the costumes. There was usually one adult child who took on the role of love interest with an outside character, but the children were mainly there for crowding purposes, If Ma occasionally forgot their names, it was okay because so did we.

So many welcome familiar faces show up in these films, and I was sure glad to see such favorites as the aforementioned Alan Mowbray, Ray Collins, Sig Ruman, Barbara Brown, Teddy Hart, Stan Ross (he of the Jackie Gleason Show, with his catchphrase, “I'm with YOU!”), Una Merkel, Emory Parnell, Ted DeCorsia, Charles McGraw, Ben Weldon, Sid Tomack, Esther Dale (as the stuffy “Birdie Hicks”), Marjorie Bennett, Elvia Alman, and so many more.

The directors and writers are like a who's who of classic comedy. Here we find Charles Barton, Charles Lamont, Eddie Sedgwick (MA AND PA KETTLE BACK ON THE FARM was the comedy veteran's final film), and Lee “Roll 'em” Sholem. Writers included Leonard Stern and Martin Ragaway (from the Abbott and Costello radio show, and The Honeymooners), Jack Henley, and Kay Lenard. But the most tantalizing name in the bunch is that of John Grant. Grant was one of the main architects of the comedy of Abbott and Costello. He was on salary so that he could effortlessly weave the reworked burlesque routines that he knew so well into the boys' films. Here he does the exact same thing for the Kettles. He was not a story man, nor was he great at structure, but he was expert at including bits like 7x13=28, or The Lemon Table bit seamlessly into a film's trajectory.

For Ma and Pa, the prolific writer included a version of 7x13, only this version was 5x14=25 (gone viral on YouTube!). He also managed to include the old Bud and Lou standby, “Loan me $50.00”. This is where Bud needs to borrow 50 dollars from Lou. When Lou tells him that he only has 40 dollars Bud accepts but adds, “Okay, give me the 40 and you'll owe me 10.” I found it fascinating after watching Bud and Lou do these routines for decades, to see these actors (who weren't comedians) performing this very familiar material. Unfortunately it doesn't work as well with Ma and Pa, but it still adds to my fascination with the films. (I've often said that if you want to know about the artistic merits of Abbott and Costello just watch somebody else try to do one of their routines. Nobody even comes close.)

As in other series films, the main characters are thrown into some unlikely situations. The Kettles win a contest and move into an ultra-modern house in MA AND PA KETTLE, they are invited on a trip to Paris, France in MA AND PA KETTLE ON VACATION, they go to Hawaii in MA AND PA KETTLE AT WAIKIKI, and even visit New York City in MA AND PA KETTLE GO TO TOWN. In most of the films they deal with swindlers, gangsters, spies, ornery neighbors, and a whole lot of various opportunists. None of them stand a chance against the homespun Kettles though.

Of course it's Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride who are the main reason for watching these low budget (but hugely profitable) programmers. It's their relationship, comic reactions, and all around innate decency that made me fall for these films. In MA AND PA KETTLE AT THE FAIR, Pa is asked to stand in for the ailing church minister. Of course I suspected some kind of comical disaster to occur, but I was totally surprised and delighted as Pa makes a heartfelt and serious sermon about tolerance, and gratitude toward things like family and friendship. And as for Ma, she is one big raucous bundle of good common sense, loving motherhood, and total support for her enormous family.

I really like these people a lot, and I eagerly looked forward to each film as I devoured them in chronological order.

The final two films of the series are the weakest. This is due to the retirement of the irreplaceable Percy Kilbride. The man was in his mid 60's and he was quite tired of playing the same role over and over again. He lived quietly on his savings and his social security before succumbing in 1964 due to the effects of being hit by a car. He was 76 years old. Marjorie Main stayed on for the two Percy-less films, but it seems that those entries suffered from Stanley Clements disease. When Leo Gorcey left the Bowery Boys series they decided to keep things going with a different partner for Huntz Hall, played by Mr. Clements. These are the least entertaining films in the series, and so it was for the Kettle films, as well. Character man Arthur Hunnicut played Pa's act-alike cousin in THE KETTLES IN THE OZARKS, and then they hired a new Pa played by Parker Fennelly (most known as New England's own Titus Moody on the Allen's Alley portion of the Fred Allen radio show). But it didn't work. Fennelly and Hunnicut were both terrific actors, but only Percy Kilbride was Pa Kettle.

And so the series came to end after 10 films (including THE EGG AND I). Miss Main, who was by all accounts a very neurotic germaphobe who often “spoke” with her dead husband, did a little television after her final Kettle film (THE KETTLES ON OLD MACDONALD'S FARM, her 85th and last film) but decided to retire to a comfortable life in her Palm Springs home. She died of cancer in 1975 at the age of 85.

As for the brand new book, MA AND PA KETTLE ON FILM (Bear Manor Media/368 pages), it is the perfect reminder for those of you who'd grown up with these films, and the perfect guide for the uninitiated. Not only does it cover each film in complete detail, but we also are treated to firsthand stories from surviving cast members, biographical information on the main and supporting players, and relevant reviews (some by the New York Times, no less). We are also treated to full cast and crew listings, running times, an index, and so much more. It is the perfect book on the subject and I am proud to include it in my library.

In closing I just want to say that a part of the joy for vintage film fans/historians is the fact that we haven't seen every film ever made. In fact, we haven't seen most films...period! But it's the joy of the chase and the satisfaction of discovering roads not yet taken that keeps the fascination and curiosity burning within us. Even something as seemingly unimportant as catching up to these delightful low budget treats is enough to make the trip a more bountiful one. Long live Ma and Pa Kettle, and with streaming, DVDs, and hopefully Blu-rays, they will live a good deal longer than anyone probably ever expected them to.

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Nick Santa Maria: A native New Yorker, he has been a walking encyclopedia of show biz history since he was in single digits. He has appeared on Broadway in GREASE!, and THE PRODUCERS. He's done TV, film, radio, and stand up. He is the co-author, lyricist/composer of the Off-Broadway show, REAL MEN, the Musical. He has done more than 250 audiobooks, and is the dumber half of Biffle and Shooster, the fake 1930's comedy team (DVD on Kino-Lorber Video). His book THE ANNOTATED ABBOTT AND COSTELLO (w/co-author, Matthew Coniam) will be published by McFarland Press in November of 2022. Check out his website: nicksantamaria.com

 G&E In Motion does not necessarily agree with the opinions of our guest bloggers. That would be boring and counterproductive. We have simply found the author’s thoughts to be interesting, intelligent, unique, insightful, and/or important. We may not agree on the words but we surely agree on their right to express them and proudly present this platform as a means to do so.