Your solar eclipse to-do list
Plus an interview with Ibis author Matt Ames
Right. We’re gonna keep this chronological this week.
The next solar eclipse will momentarily confuse all living creatures on Monday, April 8.
Between now and then… ho boy!
Friday, April 5
Today, along with this newsletter, you can check out episode four of the Page and Stage Podcast, featuring special guest Brenny Campbell.
Brenny is an actor, coach, and platinum-level human being. She and I discuss the transformative power of collaboration, the intersection of improv and scripted theater, the importance of listening, and the mindset of embracing failure as a key to personal and artistic growth.
We also laugh a lot, cuz Brenny is a hoot!
Saturday, April 6
It’s launch day for LAST OUT: ELEGY OF A GREEN BERET, over at the Ibis Bookshop.
This play packs a wallop, and it’s headed to New York to do a special performance for first responders next week.
But don’t take my word for it. Check out these heavy-hitter endorsements:
LAST OUT is raw. It’s real. It’s necessary for civilians and politicians to see and understand.
Gary Sinise
This play is a powerful tool for healing.
Tom Brokaw
You can purchase the play HERE (starting tomorrow).
You can learn more about the production and tour HERE.
You can learn more about Tunnels to Towers, the non-profit sponsoring the tour performance next week, HERE.
Sunday, April 7
CLOWNS LIKE ME, the humorous and heartfelt one-man show I wrote/directed and which is heading Off-Broadway this summer, is getting an official showing at the Sarasota Film Festival!
We captured the show last year on a couple nights with a three-camera set-up, and videographer/editor extraordinaire Brad Bryan cut it all together into a sweet film experience.
The film is playing Sunday, at 4pm, on screen 8 at the Hollywood Regal in downtown Sarasota. Scott—the actor telling his story of living with mental illness—and I will be there and have a talkback with the audience after the showing.
You can buy tickets to the film festival screening HERE.
You can purchase the play script HERE.
You can learn more about the show and our upcoming New York adventure HERE.
Monday, April 8
Finally!
The eclipse is here! And along with the eclipse, Monday hosts the launch of the newest memoir from Ibis Books, MY CURIOUS LIFE: IF MY GRANDKIDS ASK ABOUT ME, TELL THEM THIS.
Bob Danna is the memoirist in question here, and the reason we chose to launch on this particular day is that Bob is an eclipse junkie. No joke. He travels to the best spots to view each eclipse. He writes about this addiction in his book. We may have to stage an intervention at some point…
But Bob is also a curiosity junkie, and he’s led a fascinating life, which he spins into lessons and provocations. Former hippie, Meatloaf fan, naval officer, engineer, business leader, world traveler, and—most importantly—grandfather.
You can purchase MY CURIOUS LIFE at the Ibis Bookshop (starting Monday).
And you can learn more about Bob and read his blog HERE.
ANYTIME, ANY DAY
And finally, check out this incredible interview with Matt Ames, author of the equal parts heartbreaking and heartwarming memoir THROUGH THE IMPOSSIBLE: LESSONS IN CARETAKING FROM A HUSBAND WHO’S BEEN THERE.
You might recall that Matt is the Georgia Super Lawyer (able to leap objections in a single bound…) who found himself learning how to become a caregiver when his beloved wife Liz was diagnosed with an extremely rare, extremely aggressive cancer. Their story is, simply put, inspiring.
Recently he sat down with Rough Draft Atlanta to talk about his experience and how he came to write a book about it.
You can read that interview HERE.
And you can purchase his book, THROUGH THE IMPOSSIBLE, at the Ibis Bookshop.
So, yeah. There you go. Books and articles and podcasts and plays and films. If you’re bored over the next few days, you’ve only got yourself to blame! :)
Jason (Total Eclipse of the Newsletter) Cannon