I I am a person who believes in laughter. I work in the live arts. My primary medium is performance. In my art making I respect the heritage of border crossers, rebellious sexuality, witches and scoundrels. I am known as a sex clown and I am proud to make people laugh.
The best laughter comes from the absurd. It explodes and it spreads. It rumbles and it mutters. It invades rigid, rational, top-down thinking. It mysteriously appears even when you think you shouldn’t. My grandmother Betty used to tell my brother and me, “You’re laughing now, and soon you’ll be crying!” We need tears and hope. I wouldn’t laugh so much if it weren’t for something so serious.
1. Solid Gold Dancer Workout
I grew up watching my mom teach aerobics classes; it’s in my blood. As part of my artistic endeavors, I teach “Grumble Boogie,” a mentally stimulating dance class with a very nerdy ethos. I’ve even taught a 24-hour boogie.
I love this Solid Gold Dancer workout and I encourage you to give it a try, adapt it to your body, and move it. Just look at those outfits and those faces! (I’m obsessed with Darcel.) Dance and laugh, laugh and dance. Today is a healthy day. Thank you, body.
2. Linda Gibson, Judith Lucey, Denise Scott
In this flashback to the 2000 Melbourne International Comedy Festival, three legendary women in comedy show us how they prepare before taking to the stage: Judith Lucey, Denise Scott and the late Linda Gibson (my beloved auntie).
When I was about 15, my mom asked me, “What do you want to do when you grow up?” I said, “I want to act.” She said, “Whatever you do, have fun doing it.”“ Linda performs here despite having ovarian cancer. She’s funny, strong, defiant, and authentic. A golden gibbo.
3. Flutterby catches fire
A classic. I had this device as a kid too. It’s so pure to see your parent scream “Oh noooo” at the end. We must return to the cleansing fire one day. Fairies are real.
4. Take full control
Lockdown has taken hold of us. During the pandemic, I was living in the legendary Queer House in a stationary caravan in my backyard. In one of the windows where we could gather, a group I was part of called Working Bitches, I made the track with my gay uncle Paul Mac and Johnny Seymour (aka Stereogamus), and it’s so much fun to see the scenes in the music video of my friends, mentors and fellow artists dancing in my backyard.
5. Sacred David
This is the perfect video to refresh your mind. I’ve been lucky enough to see David Hoyle live on stage a few times in London. I love their stream of consciousness. Their charm. Their simmering, intense and welcoming intelligence. You can binge watch their other videos too. Please do! It’s just divine.
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6. Rest Therapy
I’ve been very careful with my use of social media because I know it can feel like gambling. I feel how it changes my brain. But there are some things like Recess Therapy that give me real hope. Kids get it. Kids are having a great impact on my brain.
7. Dog in the water
You know who else gets it? Dogs. Dogs in wigs, dancing dogs, tricky dogs, laughing dogs – picking just one dog video was hard. I don’t anthropomorphize dogs, in fact, they bring me back to who I am and I’m grateful for that. Dog memes are constantly being passed around among my closest friends. Dogs are gods.
8. Young people dancing to Vogue
Just like the aerobics class, you can imitate their movements, invent your own movements, and enjoy the dramatic developments. Ecstatic dance helps us. The gaze in this girl’s eyes gives me energy.
9. Sammy Obeid
Some of the best laughter I’ve experienced has been produced by people who have overcome some of the most difficult times in their lives. Joy in the face of oppression is a powerful antidote to the pain of domination. Laughter can be a weapon. It can build solidarity and dismantle power.
10. Sparks
Source: www.theguardian.com
