In 2003, The Signature Theatre presented a series of three productions by Bill Irwin; I wrote the music for two of them.  The Regard Evening was the second.  The first half was a shortened version of our old show, The Regard of Flight; the second a sequel, showing the characters twenty years later.  We were performing The Harlequin Studies seven times a week, and spending our days reconstructing the old show, and trying to come up with the sequel.  It wasn’t easy.  Still, the show was received well, and we were extended, providing welcome employment.

In 2003, the Signature Theatre in NYC presented a series of three productions by Bill Irwin; I wrote the music for two of them.  The Harlequin Studies was the first.  I called on two fine musicians to join me: David Gold on violin and viola, and Sean McMorris on drums.  The score included short cues and flourishes for the first part, a series of brief vignettes; a more extended score for the second part, a longer play featuring Bill as Harlequin; and a noisy overture in between.

I drew this originally as a slide show, then made a comics version.  I kept the graphic balloons translated by subtitles, however, since that was so much a part of it.  Our cowboy does see some cows, but they head out, so he stops for lunch.  His horse is stolen, so he serenades his sweetheart on the euphonium.  They discuss marriage, and their ensuing death and reincarnation as tapeworms, as euphoniums descend slowly from that big sky.

Performa 11 organized a “Visual Art Performance Biennial” in November 2011.  It included a a film series devoted to comedy, curated by Lana Wilson, and screened at Anthology Film Archives, in NYC.  The program for November 14 included a number of videos and performances I did with Michael Smith, and one of my ventriloquism routines from a variety show Mike once hosted on Cinemax.

Before he wrote the musical Rent, Jonathan Larson collaborated with another songwriter, Bob Golden, on Away We Go!, a children’s video about transportation.  I had met Jonathan through New York Theater Workshop, and he called on me to operate the newt puppet that you see here.  I also had a cameo as a bus passenger.  Jonathan himself appeared in another cameo, as an elevator passenger.  We filmed this strictly on the cheap, at one point having a rather unpleasant altercation with a cop who disapproved of us filming at the airport without a permit.  The video was released two weeks before Jonathan died, in 1996.

A little cartoon of mine appeared over the letters column, in the 13th issue of Weirdo — founded by Robert Crumb, and edited at that time by Peter Bagge.  (I didn’t letter the logo; I just left it in for context.)

A trip to Paris in 1993.

“Eddie Unchained” was the most elaborate appearance I ever devised for my dummy, Eddie Gray. He was the star of this musical, supported by me, my other dummy Lloyd, the fine actress Ivy Austin (replacing Alice Playten on short notice), and a fine string quartet (Robert Zubrycki, Cenovia Cummins, Carol Benner, and Benjamin Whittenburg). I wrote it, composed the music, and drew the slides, which provided cartoon stage sets. It was produced at Dance Theater Workshop in NYC, in October 1993.  It was a lot of work.

Doug and Eddie work in the small town of Skinner Center, Indianois, making a poor living performing traffic safety skits in schools. Through a series of unexpected events, Eddie becomes mayor of the town; whereupon he builds an ivory tower for himself, which, much to his dismay, becomes a crowded tourist attraction. His public outburst leads to his downfall, and a humiliating return to his former job. Along the way, Doug and Lloyd plan Eddie’s birthday party; the local business, a Biblically-inspired soft drink called Vita-Fizz, proves to be a health hazard; and Eddie’s brain cells act as a Greek chorus. Here are a few of the drawings.

I drew this directly onto prepared film, and projected it with a classroom film strip projector, for an Ullage Group event about technology.

On December 11, 2010, I joined Bill Irwin at the Westport Country Playhouse, in Connecticut, for a show called The Clowns and Mr. Beckett.  Bill performed a couple of Beckett monologues; we read some passages from the novels; and, somehow, also worked in some of our own solo and duo material.  I also sang a song that Beckett, wrote: the leap year song from Watt. I’ve long loved that song, but had never performed it before.