Interview With TJ Dawe, Part One
September 3rd, 2008, 3 Comments »
Last Saturday, I was fortunate enough to enjoy two good Fringe shows: TJ Dawe’s “Totem Figures” and Charles Ross’s “Sev” at the Victoria Fringe. Both are ex-classmates of mine from UVic, and both are entertaining one-man shows about, among things, making art. I usually don’t go in for art about art, but these were both engaging shows with none of the wankery and elitism that often accompanies such projects. Vancouverites can see both shows, starting today, at
The next day I had dinner with TJ at the Magnolia Bakery, and interviewed him about his life and work. He’s incredibly well read, and a monologist by trade, so he makes for an excellent conversation partner. I may eventually publish some audio snippets from our chat, but the noisy restaurant plus my crappy little voice recorder makes for a pretty shoddy recording. In the meantime I’ll transcribe some bits as time permits.
TJ is the Übermensch of Fringe performers. Over the past decade, he’s written and performed in 10 autobiographical, solo shows, and been involved in some capacity in 12 others. He’ll be in Vancouver this week (as will Charles), and it will be his 82nd fringe festival. He figures he’s performed over 700 shows. His work has also been published. A few years ago he became so popular that he stopped promoting his shows with fliers, posters and so forth.
Though he has occasional gigs and projects in the ‘off-season’, the Fringe Festival circuit is his main source of work and income. It’s a marathon of 10 to 12 festivals from May through September.
TJ’s latest show, ‘Totem Figures’, is a slight departure from his previous work. While it still relies on TJ’s particular fusion of stand-up and theatre, it’s more directly autobiographical and personal than other shows. Here’s the blurb:
Totem Figures is a ninety minute monologue about personal mythology. About the idea that we’re all the main character in our own epic adventure. About having one’s own personal Mt. Rushmore. TJ extrapolates this concept, and exemplifies it with his own mythology. His life story, inner and outer. Including many things he’s never talked about in all of his previous monologuing.
And here’s the first set of excerpts from our conversation over chicken and mushrooms in black bean sauce. Looking at them now, they feel a little random, but I guess they reflect the wide-ranging nature of our chat:
On Identifying Totem Figures
DB: I was thinking about what you said, in your show, about the people who most other people don’t like.
TJ: That really tells you something. You’re not just into it because you want to fit in.
DB: That’s right, because I’ve got Bob Dylan on the list…What is the metric? What is the minimum contribution to your life to get someone on your album cover?
TJ: It’s entirely up to you. The ten-year yard stick is the short way to figure out whether you can trust it as a totem or not. A lot of people are into Bob Dylan for a year or two or three when everybody else is. But if it outlasts that. Or, if you can think of some personal involvement. If you’ve specifically learned some Bob Dylan songs that aren’t the ones that everybody learns. Another thing is something you respond to emotionally. So that it’s a movie that always makes you cry, or if it’s an album that you put on when you’ve had a really bad day.