tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31177646576952894532008-09-14T10:35:17.489-07:00Visual Comedy and Creativity blog for performers and artistic problem solvers. There is an art to foolery and foolery in all the arts.Drew Richardsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04012433892731872419noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3117764657695289453.post-38345657000805287052008-08-07T18:28:00.000-07:002008-08-07T18:57:08.871-07:00

I made this as a kind of sequel to my very first silent short, "The Guy Who Lived on a Chair", which ended with the Guy escaping from the chair onto stairs (available as a special feature on my DVD.) But since no one who was going to see this short had seen the original, I did not really connect the two movies, and made this to stand on its own. Another seed for this idea came many years ago in

Drew Richardsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04012433892731872419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3117764657695289453.post-61469552747021242712008-04-14T16:03:00.000-07:002008-04-14T16:40:21.261-07:00

Besides watching myself in daily life, I have learned quite a bit about thinking foolishly from the folk hero/clown/trickster/fool Mulla Nasrudin. I was first introduced to some of the stories 25 years ago in a psychology book by Robert Ornstein, who used these jokes to help explain how the mind works. He had gotten them from Idries Shah, who published collections of Nasrudin tales. This was

Drew Richardsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04012433892731872419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3117764657695289453.post-68178979992855651102008-03-21T16:18:00.000-07:002008-03-21T16:52:27.657-07:00

In my last post I mentioned the problem solving prowess of MacGyver. But I have to admit that I've never seen an episode of the show MacGyver. And the actor who played him, Richard Dean Anderson, studied theater at Ohio University just like I did, which the professors there were always reminding us. Now I don't have to watch it because I found a great Wikipedia entry called List of problems

Drew Richardsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04012433892731872419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3117764657695289453.post-79361877935492853092008-03-04T08:34:00.000-08:002008-03-04T13:09:44.113-08:00

Harpo Marx has his coat and Batman has his utility belt. Last week in rehearsal, I gave myself the exercise of assembling a foolish problem solving kit—a Fool's Aid Kit that would make MacGyver proud. I wanted the kit to be made up of ordinary objects that could be used in a multitude of ways and fit inside a briefcase, bag, box, or small suitcase. The objects I picked were: string, scissors,

Drew Richardsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04012433892731872419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3117764657695289453.post-2305028521879949602008-03-02T19:59:00.000-08:002008-03-02T20:04:16.538-08:00

My third and most recent Theatre Etiquette movie, "How to Quiet a Screaming Child"

Drew Richardsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04012433892731872419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3117764657695289453.post-38100837399204300722008-02-24T17:16:00.001-08:002008-02-24T17:26:25.453-08:00

Here is a clip from the Dana Carvey show of Steve Carell trying to solve the problem of practicing being a hockey goalie when alone. Foolish question: How can you do something by yourself that usually takes other people (something besides sex)?

Drew Richardsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04012433892731872419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3117764657695289453.post-66293511826544140232008-02-06T06:21:00.001-08:002008-02-06T07:00:38.888-08:00

I’ve always intended for this blog to be not just about visual comedy, but to use what I’ve learned as a professional fool to inspire creative people and to share resources that have been helpful to me. Today we have an interview with creativity coach and author Eric Maisel who is visiting Think Foolishly on his blog tour to spread the word about his book, The Van Gogh Blues:The Creative Person’s

Drew Richardsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04012433892731872419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3117764657695289453.post-48599761343095771702008-02-05T14:45:00.000-08:002008-02-05T18:14:00.668-08:00

I will be interviewing creativity coach and author Eric Maisel tomorrow. Dr. Maisel is doing a blog tour in support of his book, The Van Gogh Blues: The Creative Person's Path through Depression. Besides giving an overview of the book, he will also be answering some questions that should be of interest to the foolish thinkers who read this blog. For more information about Eric Maisel, go to

Drew Richardsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04012433892731872419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3117764657695289453.post-1441259784406949462008-01-30T18:30:00.000-08:002008-01-31T19:55:05.517-08:00

Here's a list I used for a workshop I taught at QuestFest two weeks ago. I'm still developing these concepts, subtracting some and adding more. I'll explain each one in more detail over the coming months, but feel free to guess what each one means and then try to apply some to a problem or creation. Get Caught-up in the MomentMake ProblemsImagine the WorstRepeat the Same TacticUse More Effort

Drew Richardsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04012433892731872419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3117764657695289453.post-70716157393118186922008-01-06T12:57:00.001-08:002008-01-06T13:02:30.978-08:00

This morning, I was working on the beginning of my show, where I enter through the curtain opening and get my thumb and then hand tangled in the curtain. I am trying to get on stage so that I can put signs on an easel and start the show. In past performances, I tried different tactics to get untangled until I have found one that works. Then I went to the easel and put the signs on, causing the

Drew Richardsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04012433892731872419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3117764657695289453.post-84021635867516987922007-12-07T07:29:00.000-08:002007-12-07T08:55:35.854-08:00

This was the first of my short silent comedies shown before major motion pictures around the U.S. I had been contacted by Wit's End Productions, asking if I had any one-minute silent movies ( I had made a longer silent movie for their comedy film and video festival). I said yes, but give me two weeks. I then madly started work on this demo movie. I built it around a routine/gag I do in my stage

Drew Richardsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04012433892731872419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3117764657695289453.post-69874500620652690872007-11-25T09:02:00.001-08:002007-11-25T11:34:25.063-08:00

"'What kind of man are you?' he asked. 'I am a clown,' I said, 'and I collect moments.'" —from The Clown by Heinrich Böll What's really happening? When I played with the "fools notice what others overlook" game from the previous entries on "Inventing Theatre Games and Exercises" (read parts one and two before you read this post), I ran through the activity of entering, juggling plungers, and

Drew Richardsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04012433892731872419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3117764657695289453.post-46081699884450962002007-11-12T05:10:00.000-08:002007-11-12T07:33:53.087-08:00

So, I start with the question from the first part of inventing games and exercises to jump-start my drained battery: What problem would you like to work on, what goal do you have, or what concept would you like to play with? In the spirit of this blog, let's say I want to practice thinking foolishly. To be more specific, I'll pick one of Roger Von Oech's tools (as listed in the previous entry,

Drew Richardsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04012433892731872419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3117764657695289453.post-72210263927467635872007-11-03T12:56:00.000-07:002007-11-03T09:59:12.391-07:00

As a solo performer, I'm constantly facing the problem of how to keep working creatively on a daily basis when I'm not out touring. The answer seems to be to rehearse daily, but it can be intimidating to fill the void of both time and space in an empty rehearsal studio. What I often do to get restarted is invent a theatre game or exercise. I'll share some of these in upcoming entries, but I

Drew Richardsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04012433892731872419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3117764657695289453.post-48572025928373140302007-10-26T12:33:00.000-07:002007-11-03T05:07:48.399-07:00

Photo by Heather Mull One of the inspirations for this blog is a book by Roger Von Oech titled A Whack on the Side of the Head in which he has a chapter called Don't Be Foolish. He summarizes some of this chapter in his blog post, Think Like a Fool. Ironically, I find that many clowns and physical comedians could improve their acts by thinking foolishly more often. It's also a rich creativity

Drew Richardsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04012433892731872419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3117764657695289453.post-6618742454886863392007-10-17T16:34:00.000-07:002007-10-18T16:12:40.548-07:00

I watched Dog Day Afternoon last week for the first time in many years and had forgotten how much slapstick comedy underlies its 70s style realism. The theme of squished expectations structures this movie, many clown acts, and quite a few silent comedies. It starts when a character or characters have a great idea, "I know, I'll do a juggling act," but have their faces rubbed into the fact, "

Drew Richardsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04012433892731872419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3117764657695289453.post-12654596321122509982007-10-09T18:06:00.000-07:002007-10-09T18:11:55.141-07:00

"Looking back, my life seems like one long obstacle race, with me as its chief obstacle."—Jack Parr Our house is trashed. Travels to various gigs and conferences, a yard sale, half-completed projects, and pieces of paper that seem to breed while I sleep, have all contributed to a mess that makes past states of disarray seem like the "good old days". Answering the phone is now an athletic event

Drew Richardsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04012433892731872419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3117764657695289453.post-86911680084562388092006-12-13T18:02:00.000-08:002007-10-09T18:30:13.666-07:00

Recently I was sitting on my front porch when a tow-truck passed by towing another tow-truck. Written on the second tow -truck was, "Not a tow-truck. Not for hire." What surreal moments can you find in your life, your show, or other creative endeavors?

Drew Richardsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04012433892731872419noreply@blogger.com