Surreal

An earthquake hit my home town destroying our central business district, destroying people's homes and killing people. I'm lucky, my house seems ok and I didn't have to go too long without power or water. I'm boiling all the water and using my backyard as a toilet. Yesterday I heard them fixing the rails near my house. The road near my house is a main vein and usually you can hear the constant hum of cars. On Tuesday when it hit all you could hear was the traffic as both lanes were stuck in gridlock traffic as everyone tried to get home. These last few days you can't hear anything. It is a bit too quiet. The news tells me to stay at home, but I wish I could do more, but what can I do? You get the feeling that everyone is in a state of unknown. A lot of people are thinking of leaving. If there are no jobs from them why would you stay. The fact that the city in which I walk around everyday is now, well, gone, is strange. The fact that people are dead confuses me more. I want to reach out and help and make people feel better. Can you really do that through art? Maybe. I want to stick around and start creating things to offset all the destruction, I want to bring more joy into a city that has been my home for the last 19 years, in a region I've lived my entire life. But right now that seems futile. Will it ever really help? Peoples reactions seem to vary to it. Some people left, some people just stayed not knowing what to do, I saw people lining up at petrol stations that were closed, I saw a woman pile up a supermarket trolly with all the bread she could at 11am, while another just brought three packs of cigarets, I saw a woman close to tears just walking around at night. What is Christchurch going to be now? I go to Auckland tomorrow to do a fringe show, and then to Dunedin soon after that coming back to Christchurch in between. Feel guilty for leaving. After that I want to help Christchurch rebuild and recover. But how? What is it that I can do? I guess I will find out soon. I hope I can do something. Anything.

Please Come!

Nelson:6:17am

McDonald's has free wireless and is open 24 hours in Nelson. Crazy. Feel like a bit of a yuppie wearing my suit jacket and tapping away at a laptop while sipping on my cheap coffee, but hey, maybe I am.

The Boss is playing. Makes me think of J.Phillips and the fact I promised him a cover and never delivered. Although I'm not sure if I did promise. I have rethought how to do the film that will star him. Should be better. Simplifying my ideas.

Nelson was fun, Lisa and Dan and all the Body and Space guys looked after me as well as my family up here. Very spoiled. The show seems to have been successful. An estimated 400 - 500 people attending the last show and they were kind enough to give us a standing ovation. Felt weird to receive for prancing around.

Now its time to get my fringe show as perfect as I can. I think it will be surprising and I think its cheap enough that people will take a risk on it. I hope so. Me and Eli really just want to make something we are proud of. Sure hope we do. Otherwise it will be a long walk of shame. I believe in it.

Should be on the up-coming bit of my blog soon, or now even.

Really sad I missed out on Johnny and Abby's wedding though. Think I will bake for them. I never bake, but I will for them.

The New Year

So I haven't typed on here in a few weeks or so, I guess my hordes of fans are probably wondering if I'm dead in a gutter somewhere,  the skin of my face lost of all moisture and muscle now stuck to my dry skull while my dead eyes bulge out of it just staring at the dark grimy wall in front of me. My stomach bloated and cut open with my half eaten guts just spilled on the alleyway wall where my competitors just left me to be eaten by the skinny starving dogs, their owners long dead, their bellies now full of what used to be my digestive system.

But I'm not. So fear not fan base. And by fan base I mean my loyal friend who checks here now and again.

I'm in Nelson, about to start performances of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged). If you want to know more details click on the upcoming performances or go down and click on the Dan Allen and Lisa Norriss button.

It was written the same year I was born. It is written by improvisers. So I should be ok at it yeah?

Here is a picture of one of the animals I get to hang out at my uncle and aunties place. It is really nice, out in Motueka, on top of a hill with the mountains behind you and the sea off in the distance. Its really the life. Very hot.

I also have my very own show to promote soon, but I will dedicate a whole post to that.

2010, laterz

What did I do this year?

Buffoons Birthday - Wellington Fringe Festivals
LoyHoggFilms - Re-Urinal V48hours Film
Scared Scriptless: Death Match - Dunedin Fringe Festival
There Is No Gold Here - Short film directed by Edward Turnbell
A Paint Box of Clowns - The Court Theatre
Attended the Summer School at the Loose Moose Theatre in Calgary Canada
Counting Sheep - Edinburgh Fringe Festival
Went to New York
Co-directed Man Alone with Madeline Ellerm
Started rehearsals for The Complete Works of Shakespeare Abridged
Devised a show with Eli Matthewson to be performed at the Wellington and Auckland Fringe Festivals next year.
Booked something else.
Started filming two projects.
And created a draw full of other things to do.

And more and more and I saw some things.

What will I do next year?

Probs go on the dole.

Kill My Kid. #2

Martin & Fluffy

I'm about to revise these characters, in a much more sinister way. Stay tuned. I did this mid 2007. I hope you can enjoy it.


Martin & Fluffy from Hamish Parkinson on Vimeo.