Critically awesome

I wanted to share some wonderful pictures with you, courtesy of Kris Anderson.

After each performance of Critical Hit, Kris would ask for our performers to stay back after the show had finished, and let him take pictures of them in costume, and in different poses.

He was planning something, but none of us were exactly sure what.

A few days ago, he finished his secret project - which was to turn our fun improvised comedy show into something altogether more epic.

It's just amazing, isn't it? You can see our "real life" players just off to the right of centre, with the Games Master Billy (in the green shirt). Behind them are their characters: Nameless, the thief; Ky the warrior; and Melcor the wizard. To the left is an array of other characters that featured throughout the season. In the background, you can see the outline of part of the Critical Hit Map of Ages, that grew each night as we explored a different part of the world.

Impro is such a transient thing; it's lovely to be able to have images like this to really remind oneself - yeah, that was a thing I did. We're even looking at getting prints done, which will be lovely.

Next up from ImproMafia is our take on the classic 1001 Nights. All of our shows this year have had key images, featuring one of our performers. For this one, I got to dress up in genie pants and veil to portray the story-teller Scheherazade. Kris, in a creative masterstroke, decided to do some composite moon work, boost some colours, and so:

An Arabian Night will be Sunday 2 September, 7:30pm at the Brisbane Arts Theatre. Tickets $12, and you can grab them at the door. 

And while I'm talking all things BAT - make sure you head up there to see The Body Snatcher, a spine-tingling gothic thriller directed by the one and only Wah.

You can also head over to Facebook and like Kris Anderson's photography page.

D20 Destruction

Critical Hit wrapped up last night; thanks to everyone who came along to support the show and bestow their laughs on the performers.

If you didn't make it along, you may not have realised that our set piece was a giant twenty-sided die, known in role-playing parlance as a "D20".

It wasn't actually a full die, but the facade gave a pretty good appearance of solidity. I say "appearance", because we had to dismantle it after the final performance:

To be honest, the destruction had begun earlier, during the show, when I was playing a destructive demonic creature known as a "Magic Moose-ile". Left onstage to run riot (narratively appropriate, of course), I realised that we didn't need the D20 anymore. So I jumped into the space behind it and started kicking it out from within (which is why it's already half broken in the video above).

I must say I really loved doing that. There's something very satisfying in destroying something in the full knowledge that there are no repercussions for doing so. The set would've been broken up anyway; I just did it in a speedier, more flamboyantly violent way.

We also finished our Map of Ages! Six different locales within the world of Delphar, as the lands of the Critical Hit universe came to be known.

Original map outline by Dan Beeston
Locale art by Paul of Ace Comics & Games

And finally, I'd like to share this captivating character montage by our musician/photographer extraordinaire, Kris Anderson:

Pretty darn amazing, and just as entertaining that Dungeons and Dragons!

You can check out more about ImproMafia here. As always, I'm very proud of this company - full of good people with great ideas and brilliant stage presence. Thank you all again!

Winning... Something. Anything.

Maybe it's all this election business that's been on of late, but for some reason I've got the hankering to win something.

It doesn't have to be a 77-seat majority in the Queensland parliament; I think that might be over-egging the pudding (for everyone, really).

But it's been... I don't know... years since I actually *won* anything. Like a prize, or a trophy, or a certificate.

I know it's trivial, and not necessarily reflective of your general success in life, etc etc, blah blah blah - but who doesn't like to be picked out for something ahead of a bunch of other people? I'm sure scientists work hard on weighty matters concerning the nature of the universe because they're passionate about learning and understanding, but come on. You think they've never once thought about a Nobel Prize? Even just a little?

20 Pics of 2011 (via mobile phone)

I've had my HTC Mozart Windows phone for just over a year now. It serves my purposes well enough, but I must admit that my usage remains fairly basic. Calls, texts, email, Twitter, a bit of web browsing. I've not explored the world of "apps" much; mainly because I figure there are maybe 17 or 18 that have been made for the Windows Phone.

One feature I do use is the inbuilt camera. It's not particularly great quality, as the shutter button is external, not on the screen, so it's harder to fire off those super-quick shots people with iPhones seem in the habit of doing. However, it's often the only camera I have on me, as my other camera is a big Nikon DSLR.

I thought it might be fun to have a look back at the year that was 2011, through the prism of my mobile phone camera. So often our mobile phone pictures are disposable. I thought collating a few might help me look back on the year, and the shape it was. I took hundreds of pictures, but displaying them all would be foolishly boring, or boringly foolish. So I settled on the round number of 20 to show to you. Some I've used in posts or tweets throughout the year; some are blurry; some are just plain silly.

But, here they all are anyway. 20 Pics of 2011 - via my mobile phone.

#30before30: Street Photography

The always charming Kris Anderson suggested trying "street photography" while on holiday in Hong Kong. As far as I can understand, this means snapping away at random things/people as you wander around somewhere. I've collated the photos I took specifically for this into a small video presentation; please forgive the poor quality of the shots! I've had my Nikon D80 dSLR camera now for 18 months or so, but remain embarrassingly ill-versed in how to use it. These were all taken with my little 50mm fixed lens (at least I think that's what it is).

I think two things are clear from these photos:

1) Taking photos in black and white is a really good way for a beginner to cover up some really dodgy camera work.

2) Adding a soundtrack by Deep Forest makes everything just that little bit more arty and meaningful.

PLEASE NOTE! I've added a PayPal donation button in the sidebar. If you're enjoying reading my adventures, please feel free to donate some cash (no amount restrictions). All money raised will be split between the Australian Red Cross (for Pakistan flood victims), and the Brisbane Arts Theatre. Donations are voluntary. Thank you!

Eclipse

Nice eclipse, that.

'Course the zoom on my Nikon D80 doesn't quite having the seeing power of the Hubble telescope, but still, I think the impression of the Earth's shadow on the moon comes out nicely.

Lashings of Cream Cakes

This evening saw the first ImproMafia Sunday night show at the Brisbane Arts Theatre - Enid Blyton: By the Book.

I played beloved English children's author Enid Blyton, and used suggestions from the boys and girls in the audience to inspire a new adventure story.

The "hook" of the show was Oscar the border collie - that's right, we put a live dog onstage, Famous Five-style.

Oscar belongs to my friends Alisha and Mark, who very kindly lent him to us for training, rehearsals and the show. The Wah and I have known Oscar since he was a puppy - he's so happy and friendly. It really was a case of the dog inspiring the show.

Thankfully, the audience responded just as I'd hoped: they loved it if Oscar did things "right", but laughed even more if he did things "wrong", such as wander away, leave the stage, or refuse to follow directions. They particularly seemed to enjoy Oscar's single-minded determination to grab every piece of kabana he possibly could - kabana being our "training tool".

Touche Magique

I am generally one of those annoying people (ie: women) who is a bit whingy and critical about her physical appearance and shape. Luckily, I have a friend who is a magician:

 

Aurélie Beeston is a genius behind the lens. She's also a deft touch at processing photographs - ensuring the best light and truest beauty is brought out in each shot. Which is the technical way of saying damn, she's good at getting rid of my flaws.

We did this photoshoot a few weeks' back: Aurelie wanted to experiment with sun flare and urban settings using her new Canon; and I'm a shameless narcissist who loves posing.

I know it is one of the truisms of my life as a Modern Woman that while I wish to be valued and admired for my intelligence, wit and creative skills - by goodness I won't say no to looking swish in the odd photoshoot.

No wonder you blokes get fed up with us chicks. WE ARE FULL OF INTERNAL CONFLICT.

The point is, I'm very excited to see that Aurelie has finally launched a website of her work; with more to come. I highly recommend her services to anyone out there looking for a photographer for weddings, portraits - anything.

Her website also features a full slideshow of my photoshoot, complete with a funky French backing track.