Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Inspiration

Taylor Mali, author of the Poem "What Teachers Make"
I found a two minute monologue that is perfect for me, less than half an hour ago. Ten minutes ago I memorized it. This never happens. Not to me, not to anyone. But it just did.

The monologue isn't even really a monologue. It's a poem, written by the guy pictured to the left, who, one hour ago, I'd never heard of. I was having an instant messenger conversation with a good friend of mine about my tutoring, and she asked me if I would consider being a teacher. I gave my standard answer of no and my explanation, but a second later out of curiosity, I Googled "What do teachers make."

If I had used the more appropriate question "How much do teachers make," I never would have found that poem.

Taylor Mali wrote the poem, anonymously at the time, about exactly what it is teachers make. He's since performed it for a huge variety of venues. I read it once, then again, then watched him do it twice. I loved the words, and there was no doubt his performance was passionate, but a little part of me started thinking "I'd actually read it a little bit more like this..."

I printed it out, made a few cuts, and read it twice. Then I put the paper down, and recited the whole thing, top to bottom, only checking the sheet twice. The second time I did it, I was off book. And it felt good.

This never happens to me. It took me three weeks to memorize a monologue half this long. I must have read it on the subway hundreds of times. But this new piece I have down cold, and it's so good that I want to go to auditions now just to deliver it.

2 comments:

  1. Hey Joel, I've got no idea if you remember me, but its Frank Martin from Northwest. We were on an environment team together when you were in high school (if I remember correctly).

    Saw your post on facebook and thought I'd come take a look at your blog. Its good to hear your doing well. Come check out my blog sometime if you get a chance and let me know what you think.

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  2. I recommend another poem of his called The Impotence of Proofreading. His You Tube version is wonderful.

    JSP/aka M

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