For most of my life I’ve been a DIY, live-off-the-land-hippie, pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps kinda gal.

Rebuild two car engines from a book. Check.

Build a geodesic dome cabin in the wilderness without electricity or running water which led to contracting amoebic dysentery and the attendant vomiting/diarrhea in the outhouse. Check.

Knit stupid sheep-smelling beanies from hand-dyed, hand-carded wool. Check, check and double-check.

No mas. Been there done that I am soooooooooooooooo  especially done with that, my friends, when it comes to The Moby Dick Diaries. The reason why is simple.

You wouldn’t climb Mt. Everest alone, would you?

What I’m saying is making a solo show is a helluva undertaking not to be done without proper guides, equipment, colleagues and oxygen. And that oxygen comes mainly from conversations with people of the solo performing ilk. Like you.

Research says that people want to hire and work with people who fit in. No matter how competent or incompetent.

The problem with artists is, they never fit in. Our job is to stand out, to fight squishing in which is lonely life  unless you have fellow artists to stand out, talk to, and compare notes with, be weird and unique together.

This year I’m dubbing “The Year of Scaffolding” i.e. accountability to the people who spur me on in my goal to become the best solo performer and writer I can be…especially for the Edmonton International Fringe Festival, August 17-27th.

To whit:

• twice monthly solo performer career support group meetings
• weekly class with David Ford
• weekly rehearsals with Mark Kenward
• weekly get-togethers at Artis Cafe with Irene to get feedback on six pages of the novel
• The Field with choreographers and performers Vangie King and JoAnn Sleisker at Luna Dance to cherry-out the dance finale in Act 4. Can’t wait. So much fun!
• sporadic blog interviews with solo performers/directors/dramaturgs/designers whose work I love and admire.

As regards this last (but not least!) bit of scaffolding, my first interview will be with Josh Korbluth. Lucky me gets to dig for the golden secrets Josh uses to create his wildly warm, funny, humane piece about the Zen Hospice Center where he’s the artist-in-residence. I’ve been lucky enough to see his WIP improvs twice. I can’t begin to say how deeply affecting this show is.

Watch this space.