- Joined
- Feb 27, 2019
Here's another (long) story.
This is probably going to sound gay to most of the Kiwis on here because it isn't vidya or some shit but theatre is my thing, or acting specifically but theatre is the medium. Knowing this is necessary for the bedrock of the story.
So I went to this acting workshop about two years ago this September. It was a four-ish hour long one where we talked about the history of acting, theories, etc and did some other things. It was being hosted at a community theatre about two hours from where I live. Pretty fun.
It was being conducted/taught by a guy who isn't a fancy "rich cheesecake" as they say, but he also isn't fucking around and has done his own traveling show and whatnot. He's highly educated and runs a publishing outlet.
So there were about 10 (12 at the most) people attending the workshop not including the teacher, who I'll call Mr. R. I was the youngest there. Most were in their late 30s, early 50s. Some of them I knew from shows I had seen there and others were new faces.
One new face gave me a weird feeling from the first millisecond. He was maybe 5'10", mid-thirties at the oldest (could be wrong, IDK), skinny but not gaunt, kind of had some upper arm muscle, and had short cropped black hair and a bushy but not super long beard. Trying to remember but he may or may not have had the typical millennial fade or pompadour. I think he wore a hat for the longest that masked it. He also had those mini gages in his ears.
So obviously he looks like he has a verified symbol on his Twitter. We'll call this guy Fred because for the life of me I can't remember his name (even though we had to introduce ourselves AA style). Fred I heard, from what little he spoke, talked in a low, not monotone but almost, voice. Propper, but not pompous.
So you can gather that, even in a group of actual diverse folks, he kind of stuck out (or to me he did). And I had to sit next to him (seat between us but we were beside each other.)
Fred sort of had a weird air from the start, like I said. He had no expressions. I don't remember seeing him crack a half smile. I found myself sort of staring at him in my peripherals because of how...intrigued, or concerned, I guess I was (that's why I remember so much about his appearance.) I don't operate on instinct and superstition alone but I do pay attention to my gut and..."auras" I guess (I'm not of that religion but you know what I mean).
So one ot the first things we did, and I know this is gay in theory, was pretend to be animals. We each took a turn pretending to be an animal and the others had to guess. Mr. R made a point with this but of course I don't remember. It wasn't as gay in practice.
So when we got done, Mr. R made his point, and asked for questions or comments. Fred raised his hand and said something like, "or our choice of animals could be an outward manifestation of our inner desires and emotions." There was an older gentleman in the group who sat across from me who legitimately became uncomfortable at this and who I noticed started to watch this guy like I had been. Others sort of shuffled or raised eyebrows as well. Mr. R was like, "or, yeah, haha." He probably was weirded out.
So later on he went through and asked us who our favorite actors were. I said Peter Lorre. There were some Robin Williams, Depps, Lucille Balls, etc. Now it's motherfucking Fred's turn. Mr. R asks him. He pauses for like five seconds before saying an incredibly autistic sentence.
"Well, to tell you the truth, probably the greatest (?) actor I have seen in recent times is Donald Trump." Flat tone, or sort of. Weird.
Nobody says anything. Now, you would imagine that because we're all theatre people and theatre/arts people are seen as regressives by default (and I can't argue with that, although you'd be surprised at how many actually aren't of that persuasion, especially in community theatre), that everyone would erupt as this amazing progressive Drumpf statement. But no. Nobody said anything.
Mr. R is an educated theatre man from a blue state. He didn't say anything either. You know what he did? Nervously chuckle and kinda be like "uh...huh...heh...???".
I fucking knew it. I felt this coming. I read Fred like a book. Everybody else apparently did as well.
Fred went back to being his closed off, dead eyed self for the rest of the time.
I bet that he's a "male feminist" that guilt trips women into sending nudes so he can then blackmail them. I will never forget Fred.
So I went to this acting workshop about two years ago this September. It was a four-ish hour long one where we talked about the history of acting, theories, etc and did some other things. It was being hosted at a community theatre about two hours from where I live. Pretty fun.
It was being conducted/taught by a guy who isn't a fancy "rich cheesecake" as they say, but he also isn't fucking around and has done his own traveling show and whatnot. He's highly educated and runs a publishing outlet.
So there were about 10 (12 at the most) people attending the workshop not including the teacher, who I'll call Mr. R. I was the youngest there. Most were in their late 30s, early 50s. Some of them I knew from shows I had seen there and others were new faces.
One new face gave me a weird feeling from the first millisecond. He was maybe 5'10", mid-thirties at the oldest (could be wrong, IDK), skinny but not gaunt, kind of had some upper arm muscle, and had short cropped black hair and a bushy but not super long beard. Trying to remember but he may or may not have had the typical millennial fade or pompadour. I think he wore a hat for the longest that masked it. He also had those mini gages in his ears.
So obviously he looks like he has a verified symbol on his Twitter. We'll call this guy Fred because for the life of me I can't remember his name (even though we had to introduce ourselves AA style). Fred I heard, from what little he spoke, talked in a low, not monotone but almost, voice. Propper, but not pompous.
So you can gather that, even in a group of actual diverse folks, he kind of stuck out (or to me he did). And I had to sit next to him (seat between us but we were beside each other.)
Fred sort of had a weird air from the start, like I said. He had no expressions. I don't remember seeing him crack a half smile. I found myself sort of staring at him in my peripherals because of how...intrigued, or concerned, I guess I was (that's why I remember so much about his appearance.) I don't operate on instinct and superstition alone but I do pay attention to my gut and..."auras" I guess (I'm not of that religion but you know what I mean).
So one ot the first things we did, and I know this is gay in theory, was pretend to be animals. We each took a turn pretending to be an animal and the others had to guess. Mr. R made a point with this but of course I don't remember. It wasn't as gay in practice.
So when we got done, Mr. R made his point, and asked for questions or comments. Fred raised his hand and said something like, "or our choice of animals could be an outward manifestation of our inner desires and emotions." There was an older gentleman in the group who sat across from me who legitimately became uncomfortable at this and who I noticed started to watch this guy like I had been. Others sort of shuffled or raised eyebrows as well. Mr. R was like, "or, yeah, haha." He probably was weirded out.
So later on he went through and asked us who our favorite actors were. I said Peter Lorre. There were some Robin Williams, Depps, Lucille Balls, etc. Now it's motherfucking Fred's turn. Mr. R asks him. He pauses for like five seconds before saying an incredibly autistic sentence.
"Well, to tell you the truth, probably the greatest (?) actor I have seen in recent times is Donald Trump." Flat tone, or sort of. Weird.
Nobody says anything. Now, you would imagine that because we're all theatre people and theatre/arts people are seen as regressives by default (and I can't argue with that, although you'd be surprised at how many actually aren't of that persuasion, especially in community theatre), that everyone would erupt as this amazing progressive Drumpf statement. But no. Nobody said anything.
Mr. R is an educated theatre man from a blue state. He didn't say anything either. You know what he did? Nervously chuckle and kinda be like "uh...huh...heh...???".
I fucking knew it. I felt this coming. I read Fred like a book. Everybody else apparently did as well.
Fred went back to being his closed off, dead eyed self for the rest of the time.
I bet that he's a "male feminist" that guilt trips women into sending nudes so he can then blackmail them. I will never forget Fred.
(Sure, there's always a risk that he was lying, but I'm more inclined to believe his version than Jessica's)
