Yet another glorious day out here in New York City. The air was crisp, the sun was shining, and embarrassment was in full force. Why you ask? Today I did a little public dramatic reading. Originally, I was just going to just read the Shakespeare passage from Henry V aloud somewhere over and over again, but then I thought it would be fun to read pretty much anything aloud in public. So I did.
I headed to Union Square with my roommate Max, my trusty camera, and a sign that begged for literature. On such a perfect day, there were tons of people out soaking up the sun and sights. It took a little time to find the perfect spot due to the fact that a band AND drum circle were already filling the air with sounds, so I waited for the right opening to proclaim my voice upon the masses. I found it under the giant bronze statue of Washington. Shop set up.
Now I knew I was going to read Henry V, but I didn't want it to be the first one, so I sent Max undercover to watch for a while, then deliver the speech at the right time when people were already giving me things to read. But it took a little bit, as there was the normal weird looks and laughs that looked like "what the hell is that guy doing?" type of faces. Finally, I had my first couple of takers. They were medical students who wanted me to read from one of their medical textbooks, but I knew from the giggles I was not going to be reading anything nice. No, I read, aloud, to all the people sitting around, about gastritis and herpes. Nothing gets people's attention like yelling herpes out loud a couple of times. Thanks for that friends. But after the first read, it was down hill from there, as a lot of people wanted a piece. I even ran into an old friend Ricardo who happened to be walking by.
Next up was a gentleman wearing sunglasses that VERY closely resembled the eyewear of Lavar Burton character from Star Trek, who wanted me to read a postcard ad he found on the ground about food. It was okay, but his sunglasses stole the show. No worries, because as soon as he was done, I met two Belgium tourists who wanted me to read from their New York City travel book. No problem, except for one thing.....THE BOOK WAS IN FRENCH! I took spanish in high school and college, so I have no clue where to even begin with the french accents and such, and now I find myself about to have to read French aloud. Good thing Max got this on tape:
When I got done, I said I think I nailed it! and the girls, politely, said I did not understand ONE word you said. Whatever, I know I said "New York City" correctly. You can't take that away from me. Thanks, though, girls. That was funny. And this led me to my next big moment....Henry V. It was time. I was scared but prepared (side note: I was originally going to memorize this bad boy, but it was waaaay to hard to do. Maybe I'll try again sometime), so I let it rip. Thank goodness there were enough people around laughing that it made my bumbling of old English not so bad. Billy S. would be so sad to know that what he wrote was performed so poorly...or greatly? Is greatly a word? I am wordly. Anyway, check out the video.
Soon the people kept on coming, daring me to read whatever they had aloud, trying to see if I wouldn't read it, but I did. Of course I will read your Wendy's cup man. I would love to read from your homo-erotic novel lady. Anything and everything was read. I even read from a script of a movie. That's right. Nine Run Run (like 9-1-1). The guys hanging out next to me were film students, and one of them (who was from England) was telling me about the movie he is making next about a psycho-killer chick who murders all her friends and feels no remorse. Gruesome. But anyway, he had me read a bit of the script aloud. I told him I would be in the movie need be. He declined. Bummer.
After a couple hours outside in the direct sun, I knew it was probably time to call it a day. I was pretty sure I might have gotten a sunburn on my forehead (I did) and a little dehydrated (I did). But mission complete: public reading done. Thanks Marcos for the suggestion. You rock brotha. Don't forget to vote on the poll, and send in your suggestions! Thanks friends. Have a good weekend.
One quick addition. So in the video you could probably hear the drum circle going on. They were really good, and even got a lot of people to dance with them, including this one fellow in the video, who furthers the stereotype that white men cannot dance. Rhythm my man, rhythm.
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