Solo Performance – Jodie Connolly 2017

Next i wanted to introduce the characters within the office… so, obviously i wrote a rap to do this.

What i picture is two desks either side of mine in the centre. Dead flowers on their desks and living colourful ones on mine. I will have two mannequins dressed in suits. When the spoken word song ends, a spotlight on one mannequin and i will talk about the life of the Manequins- who of which i have named ‘Poppy’ and ‘Greg’

Greg’s middle aged 2 kids and a wife

Started here in 04 to save some money on the side

He had visions of moving to the other side

Now he sits here wondering what happened to his life

Now he’s travelling to work on the tube everyday

Started out with colour then his body turned grey

Could’ve been a lawyer could’ve learned to fly a plane

I could’ve been someone I could’ve gone a different way

and now gregs not dumb not numb to the feeling

sits at his desk and he stares to the ceiling

thinks about the air in his lungs that hes breathing

whats the point in living if you’ve got no meaning

 

Poppy had a job when she was 14

Never had a plan but shes smart by all means

Says she could’ve made it on the modelling scene

Paid for a photoshoot when she was 23

Now shes 28 and she lives in her phone

Staring at the models on Instagram and vogue and she

Only eats 500 calories a day

Takes photos on her phone hoping luck will come her way

See poppy had a chance to do anything in life

Settled for a jealous man ended up his wife

forgot about her dreams and got an office job instead

There’s money in her pocket but her dreams are dead

 

To start with, i had tried accompanying this part with an instrumental. However, upon struggling to find something suitable i have further thought that i could easily incorporate the audience into this as my music makers. So i will get them the clap along to this part. This will heighten the fun, and develop the audience performer relationship, breaking the fourth wall.

Since coming up with an opening, i have re-attempted a new spoken word that is purely about the future, influenced by the wonderful Kate Tempest (WHERE HAS SHE BEEN HIDING ALL THIS TIME)!!!

This is exactly what i want to go for, after watching this performance entirely i was so inspired to write my own.

Kate Tempest – Let Them Eat Chaos (2017)

With her influence i have made my own spoken word verse:

 

She lives in a vortex

A space cadet

She

scurries between the clouds and the leaves

this is what it means for her to live in a dream

“What a strange little girl you have

Doesn’t she want to play with dolls

Or toys,

why does she always play with the boys

Didn’t you teach her to be scared of spiders and bugs

And not to play amongst the mud

Jonny got an ipad for his 6^th birthday

He signed up to facebook yesterday”

Continue reading “Kate Tempest”

IDEAS TO OPEN WITH…

I have decided that i want to open with something comical, focusing on the light heartedness of  ‘we could’ve been anything that we wanted to be’…. but we chose to do a drama degree. So i have explored writing material in the style of stand up… this follows:

Now im not saying you can’t sing and dance your way through life,  cos you can, but actually im just saying that to be nice, because nobody wants to hear singing 24 hours of the day, can you imagine it your partner has cheated on you and all you can do is sing? Like ‘fuuuuck’ just doesn’t sound as aggressive or satisfying as just …fuck. What would you say to someone who has seriously upset you, or cheated? ….. right and you what would you say back….. and now sing it at eachother….

Now seriously all of you, go fuck yourselves. … no im kidding, but somebody said that to me once and the more I dwelled on what that really meant besides the physical action of fucking myself I thought do you know what, I took a drama degree at uni, so thankyou good sir but I have been doing a fine job at fucking myself over as it is I do not need you to direct me to do so. And you know,  I just wanted to try that with you guys and see if you had the same thoughts…

So who’s graduating soon show of hands please…. Okay and how do you feel about that, in one word tell me what you feel about leaving…

These are just ideas and i will not incorporate this into my piece after exploring that it does not work. I want to be raw and honest to myself. I am a silly person, and im southern and everyone compares me to that of dick- Van dyke style when i’m out and about. So, this may be a rather risky thing to do but… i have written a funny song to accompany this soundtrack…

 ‘CURIOUS’- Funny Comedy Music – The Crazy Venezolano Soundtrack (2015)

 

My names jode the toad

I sing when im walkin down the road

Im always going with the flow

 

Steady as I go

Walking down the road

 

In me own world

No-one but me

Oh don’t the swans look lovely

The birds are nesting in the trees

Rustling the leaves

Whistling with me

 

Skippin along I feel me ead

Pigeon poo, but I don’t dread

I think that ill just laugh instead

Not a thing to dread

Poo is on me ead

 

I live in a world

In the unknown

I aint got a clue where im gonna go

 

Who would have known, Three years have flown

So I better go

Start me solo show

 

I will perform this in the comedy musical style that i was influenced by in the Bugsy Malone ‘Bad Guys’ song!

I want the aspect of not taking life seriously to be enveloped. I also like the idea of me starting very silly, happy-go-lucky and in my own world to contrast with my video and character personality change that will come later.

 ‘CURIOUS’- Funny Comedy Music – The Crazy Venezolano Soundtrack (2015) Youtube Video added by Nicolai Heidlas Music. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gV9ts8IFMPQ

I like the idea of portraying the boss as the devil, a monster…

‘The man in the grey suit got out his net, caught the butterfly so now she’s good for dead’ 

I had already recently been in a video for media students, it explores a woman trapped and drowning in the reality of her life. Here you can see the original, and how the video is suggestive of domestic abuse and my character’s need to escape it in my mind.

Submerge (2016)

I then dubbed this video with the original song, ‘2. I MONSTER – Daydream In Blue (2013)’

 Jodie’s Solo (2017) 

I thought i could incorporate this as a projection later in my piece, after the voices have influenced me to stop dreaming.

Jodie’s Solo (2017) Youtube Video added by Jashuarskillz. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFMWxXg6qPk&feature=youtu.be

Submerge (2016) Youtube Video added by George Thornton. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUeseW29pW8&t=2s

 

I stumbled across this video that my uncle took and uploaded to Facebook and thought I NEED THIS! I have dubbed the song  Daydream in Blue (BBC Radio 2 Session) (2015) over the top and created, what i think will be my opening!

I knew i needed this video because, it is nature for one-  and that is one thing i am majorly consumed in. I also love the fact that this Butterfly is trying to fly through strong winds and isn’t getting anywhere. This as a metaphor works really well for my piece. The idea of us all being butterflies, as we leave university to spread our wings into the big wide world, but the wind is the things that make that difficult. It is also a great representative for the things outside the window that distract me and take me away from the harsh realities of life.

I plan to have this played on projection. I have also dubbed an office phone onto the end of the video, as an interruption and a wake up to reality, of myself being back in the office job.