Okay, I admit it - I get these fleeting fixations on subjects that will preoccupy my mind for weeks sometimes and then slip from the top of my consciousness. I will always love these subjects but they only possess my mind in it's entirety for a bit. Take the Muppets - I LOVE the Muppets, I will watch their movies or shows all day, if allowed, and am currently working on an amazing Muppet movie script with some of the most awesome people ever (I hope the new movie does well so the audience is there). However, it will never take over my whole world as it did when I was getting the show on netflix. I watched endless hours of interviews and special footage, I read large chunks of the muppetwiki site, I even looked into how hard it would be to get a job at the Creature Shop in London (very, very, exceedingly hard by the way). But after that three week period, I only think about them in spurts. Same thing has happened to me with Ardal O'Hanlon (why oh why did I watch every episode of Father Ted?), Hyperbole and a Half (a blog), Precious Metal Clay, Knitting (although I sustain this one better), and many other subjects that I have vast knowledge of for no real reason).
Today I will admit it's Magic. I don't think I'd seen a magic show in around 5 years. That's a long time for someone who's mother does magic and who was a clown and a member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians. The reason, or catalyst, for this recent fixation is Piff the Magic Dragon. It was like the 1st or 2nd flyer I got up here on the first day of the festival and I knew I had to see it. I mentioned in last blog about the serious awesomeness of his act. Looked into him as a person, inside dragon costume, and found he's also a proper legit magician (not that he didn't do real magic in his show - loved how he worked in cigarette magic which seems to be a dying art) by the name of John Van Der Put (not sure if it all is capitalized or not) and winner of magic awards and inventor of magic effects (check out VDP). This has sparked the magic bug again. I will be seeing a further 4 magic shows this week and I've been trying to catch up with what's happening in magic these days since I haven't paid too much attention since I stopped spot light op-ing magic shows around eight years ago. It also is a great reminder that straight theatre is not the only job opportunity for a stage manager.
I will say this for my seemingly random fixations - I learn a lot of truly interesting information and it leads to interest in surrounding topics that I would not normally have looked into. And I never really move away from the subjects, I love them all, and I look forward to greeting them like old friends. I'd totally see Piff or Ardal again, and I can't wait to have time to make jewellery again and the Muppets are always with me - long live the fixations!
As the chief cohort for the Muppet script, I support that particular fixation.
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