The Tales Of Mikey Wiseman

Minneapolis is turning out to be like NYC pretty much. Grass and hay wraps are the menu of choice. Water is 5 bucks a bottle. (Yeah, from the spigot ain't bad these days, and it's free). Walked into the grocery store today, and was shocked that I had to walk all the way to the back to get to the dollar, super-fattening, unhealthy, frozen pizzas! Everything else was organic, healthy, vegan, and no less than 6 bucks for a frozen entree smaller than a Healthy Choice snack. Oh well! Ended up with a Margherita pizza (ok, ok, I do kinda like those a bit), as well a coupla pizzas that'll do. Ok, so again I fell into the healthy line, I got a nice supply of V-8 spicy as well.

Ah crap, I'm rambling.

So, yeah, something weighing on my mind that needs to be spoken. Listen up, all you readers who live for theatre!

So having watched quite a few shows, been a part of many of them as well, I have come to a conclusion. It seems there are sooo many who think they are great actors due to how many laughs they get. What? Did I just come out and say it? Yeah. I did.

It seems that more and more as I work, I see way to many actors and actresses who are hell-bent on getting a laugh, and they feel accomplished the more laughs they get. The result? Scene stealing, over-acting, non-realism, beyond caricature, basically, utter ridiculousness. I mean really peeps, is that what we want to see and pay for in these economic times?

Now, I must say before I go too far, yes this activity has its place. DUMB AND DUMBER, GREATER TUNA, CLUE to name a few. But you know what? Even in these movies and plays, there is still an element of honesty to all the characters involved. So with that in mind...

I speak of people who play for the comedy, not the character. I give you this thought: Which is more funny? Someone is walking along a road, accidentally trips, falls into an orange cart and all the oranges fall upon them? Or someone who PURPOSELY trips, makes it an event on the fall, tips over the orange cart, and then practically jumps up afterwards and says 'TA-DAAA!' Food for thought.

Yes that is a bit extreme as an example, but it proves my point. When we go see a show, unless it is labeled as a farce or simply a good time, we expect a little bit of reality. Wait, I think HUMANITY is a better word. To me, 'incidents' are sooo much funnier when I can identify with the character being portrayed, rather than a character who just comes in, does a stunt, or something outrageous a few times. I mean, for crying out loud, even the circuses of the world are giving their clowns a character story line for their acts of bravado and comedy these days!

Dang, I use a lot of commas. Anyways...

The point being: Fellow actors and actresses of the world, sure, you can get laughs by doing outrageous things, you can steal a scene by doing little things, yeah, you can even get some minor applause for some of the crap (let's face it, it truly is crap) you decide to pull, but when it comes down to it, what does an audience really remember? 'Oh my it was so funny when this small moment happened', point being, do they remember your name? Do they remember specifically what happened? NO. They remember honesty, they remember characters who grow throughout a show. They remember performances that move them, not just make them laugh.

Wanna make a bet? Check out the reviews of local theatre shows. And then go see them. More often than not, the peeps that get a nod or mention are the characters who have DEVELOPMENT and audiences can actually feel for. Wait...what? Oh that might be that honesty thing I was talking about!

Sure you can create all kinds of laughs by doing crazy things, but is it truly what your character would do? Is it REALLY in the vein of forwarding the show? So you get bored having done the show a few times and want to create more excitement....well...in doing so, you violate the author's intent, you violate the scene itself, and you violate your fellow onstage actors' right to perform the scene. EVIL! When do you begin to realize a show is not just about you, but everyone as a whole? I don't care what your experience or name is! A show is a show. 'Props' should go to everyone in the cast and crew and production, NOT just YOU.

Let us all remember that theatre is for everyone, not just for one!

In other words, evil-doers, they remember not a circus act, or a side show comedy routine. No, they remember, through time, how they felt and identified with certain characters, which lasts much longer than a laugh.

So, to conclude this rant, I say this to all fellow actors and actresses: Play the honesty and the intention - the laughs you get will be far more memorable and worthwhile. To be remembered right after the show is fun, but to be remembered years later is even better.

I say this being a character actor who does not oft get the lead for a show, and yes, should I play it that way, could steal a scene, or a show (depending on direction of course). I am never bitter, just simply saddened by the antics of others in what I call 'the ruination' of a show. I say this as someone who observes this ridiculo-sity (add it to your dictionaries folks), that goes on and sees people getting robbed of the respect they truly deserve.

Hello out there! I know it's been awhile since I've been on a rant, or as I like to call it, a 'speechifyin' moment. What can I say? I have been a little busy...but no excuses. So here's the latest. K 'G' C? Kentucky GRILLED Chicken?

First I say, simply wow. WOW. To use the lingo of the younger, more computer-savvy gen...WTF? This is an establishment and empire, mind you, that has been in its own right since the 1950's! Yes, I know he started way before then, but he really didn't start getting his recognition until the 1950's. And it was built on FRIED chicken. The secret recipe that has stood for years as the 'penultimate' stantion for fried chicken. So now they cater to the health conscious with grilled chicken? I am beside myself on this issue.

I mean, yeah it is truly great to be healthy wih food choices and such, but every once in a while it is nice to have a little fried something every now and then. I know, I know, you nay-sayers you, that yeah they still offer their traditional menu, but c'mon! That's like McDs offering a choice between a choice salad (which still has waay to many preservatives in it to be truly healthy) and a Big Mac! Which would you choose? Sure, say salad, ass, to 'present' yourself as healthy. We all know what the real choice would be. C'mon, BMac versus a salad? Really?

All I am saying is this: I understand offering a 'healthy' alternative for things, but I did a small experiment as far as money goes. For what I paid for two breasts, two wings, and two legs (grilled at the K 'G' C), I found I could pay less than half that amount for a grilled whole chicken at my local grocery, and got twice the meat! And better than that, it tasted the same! The only difference I found was that the sodium content was almost twice for K 'G' C than the grocery! YIKES people....YIKES!

Just thought I'd mention it is all. Yes I am a fast food kinda guy. But, when I am looking for health and the like, Sometimes it's the bottom line what really matters. Upon taste, K 'G' C was no better than the local grocer, and well, I'd prefer to buy once and have three meals as opposed to buy once and have less than two.

What have we come to in the fast food industry? It never claimed to have been super healthy before, and well it always boils down to choices (yeah, damn us for having free will).

I say, quit blaming the industry, they're making a buck just like the rest of us. I say, don't fall for their new healthy attire - it's still fast food! I mean, what truly is the difference between that and that age old snickers, or pack of fire fries from the vending machine? Risk and choice are what we are faced with. Belief is what you choose it to be.

BTW, I chose to have extra crisp K 'F' C this eve. Yeah, I'm feeling my heart slow, and my faculties are a bit on the 'What the hell?' side, But I made my choice. I'm not pissed or upset. I mean, bottom line....It tasted amazing!

My younger brother John and his girlfriend Karen came to visit me. I took them to the beach. It wasn't a very pretty day, but who really cares when it's the beach?!

Just call me Rodney. No, not as in my daddy. As in Dangerfield. I get no respect. That's me in the big, lion headdress costume. Notice I am listed as Jayar Garcia as Tumnus. WTF!!!! Oh well. At least it is listed somehow. Can't win for living, eh?

Eyeborgs eyeballing Winston-Salem premiere during RiverRun
By Mark Burger

Okay, you can stop asking: Eyeborgs is coming.

At long last, the film will be screened — as a work-in-progress — at the RiverRun International Film Festival in Winston- Salem next month.

The film is scheduled to be shown April 27 in the Main Theatre of the ACE Exhibition Complex, located on the UNC School of the Arts campus in Winston-Salem — and nobody’s happier about it than the people who made it. “We’re very thrilled and very excited,” says producer and co-star John S. Rushton, “and we think people will be pleased.”

“I’d like for people to be surprised by what we’ve achieved,” says co-writer/ producer/director Richard Clabaugh. “First and foremost, it’s a piece of entertainment. It’s meant to be fun. And if we can surprise people with the political themes, even better.”

Filmed entirely in Winston-Salem and set in a not-too-distant future — one in which the political structure is leaning toward fascism — Eyeborgs marks the debut feature from Crimson Wolf Productions, which is headquartered in Lewisville.

It’s a home-grown effort from top to bottom. “I’ve known Richard for years and I’ve known about Eyeborgs since I got to town,” says Andrew Rodgers, executive director of the festival. “I finally got to see some of it and it’s got some incredible optical effects and CGI. It’s the kind of film that Winston-Salem audiences will be excited about, having heard so much about it. They may wonder where a film with such highquality special effects came from — and it came from right here in Winston- Salem.”

Clabaugh and Company like to joke that Eyeborgs is a killer-robot movie — which it is — but in conceiving the story, Richard and Fran Clabaugh (co-screenwriters as well as husband and wife) wanted to incorporate some relevant observations amidst the action.

As a life-long science-fiction and fantasy buff, Clabaugh particularly reveres those films which worked on an allegorical level, like The Day the Earth Stood Still and Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and wanted to make one of his own. And he wanted to make it here. Raising the necessary funding from independent sources, most of which are from the Piedmont Triad area, was a lengthy, but ultimately successful, process. Then there was the matter of a leading man. Clabaugh had written the pivotal role of heroic Department of Homeland Security agent RJ “Gunner” Reynolds (a nod to Winston-Salem’s history) with actor Adrian Paul in mind. The problem was that Paul was in the midst of filming a political thriller titled The Heavy… which was shooting in London simultaneously. As a result, the actor had to pull double-duty for a number of weeks — flying back and forth to shoot The Heavy there and Eyeborgs here. “He arrived ready to rock,” praises Rushton, who plays Reynolds‘ DHS partner, Bradley.

And there’s plenty of onscreen rocking in Eyeborgs, as Reynolds finally throws down the gauntlet and goes “mano-a-machino” against the mechanized monstrosities.

Others in the cast include Luke Eberl, as a rebellious punk rocker who happens to be the nephew of the president; Megan Blake as a TV reporter who smells a story and Juan-Carlos Guzman as her tenacious photographer; Dale Girard (who also served as the film’s stunt coordinator) as Sankur, a suspected terrorist; and cult icon Danny Trejo as “G-Man,” a reclusive political dissident.

And then there are the Eyeborgs themselves. Devious devices of surveillance — and, lest we forget, defense — that come in all shapes and sizes, watching and waiting… programmed to protect the populace from terrorist threats. But, as befits classic sciencefiction (think Westworld or even The Terminator), what happens when technology runs amuck? With the exception of actors Paul, Eberl and Trejo, the cast and crew of Eyeborgs all hail from the region. The majority of crew members are graduates of the UNCSA School of Filmmaking, where Clabaugh taught cinematography from 1998 until last year. “One of our goals was to establish a ‘calling card’ for our first movie,” observes Fran Clabaugh, also the film’s principal editor, “and I think we’ve done that.” The makers of Eyeborgs admit that postproduction, particularly when it came to the visual effects, took longer than expected.

“It’s been a three-year process in producing a highly effective sciencefiction thriller with as many special effects as The Dark Knight and Transformers,” Rushton says. “I think we’re going to surprise everybody.”

Unlike The Dark Knight and Transformers, Eyeborgs didn’t have the backing of a major studio or the budget of a major studio film. The eventual budget for the film is somewhere south of $5 million — or about 30 times less than Transformers cost. “It was an ambitious project with limited resources,” says Clabaugh. “We wanted to show people that we’re capable here of making something comparable to the bigger-budgeted blockbusters being made today.”

Unforeseen delays aside, the makers of Eyeborgs are proud of their killer-robot movie. For one thing, being independent allowed them to make the film their way. For another, it was an opportunity to showcase the filmmaking talent that exists right here in the region. Eyeborgs is only the first Crimson Wolf production, they say, and it won’t be the last. For a sneak peek at the official Eyeborgs trailer, visit www.eyeborgs.com.

And, remember… they’re watching you.