RESPONSE: The Joy of Nerding

I recently read this blog post by Dr Emily Garside, Let Me Enjoy Taylor Swift in Peace (or stop stealing people's joy). The more I read, the more my nerdy little heart was screaming YES at everything she had to say. I took to Twitter to express how much I related:

Read this blog post and celebrate your nerdiness, whatever it may be.

I obsess. I fangirl. And it has brought so much joy into my life. Friendships, shared experiences and in jokes, and so many adventures! Finding the people that enjoy and match your energy is the best. https://t.co/aL5mQYDlh4

— Jacqui Onions (@jacqui_onions) April 15, 2021

But sometimes a Tweet just isn't enough so here I am to tell you my own little nerdy story.

Firstly, Garside's blog post discusses the issues around perceived intellectual or taste superiority. Now, I am not the stereotypical South Wales Valleys girl. A lifelong theatre-goer with a Master's degree, I have spent my free time in lockdown seeking out online performances and biology and psychology lectures. Can you hear those childhood taunts of swot, snob, nerd? But take me out of the Valleys and little old me with my Doctor Who t-shirts, Funkos, and collection of Sulleys from Monsters Inc couldn't possibly appreciate Oscar Wilde or Dylan Thomas...could she?! And this is before you throw into the mix that the arts and sciences shouldn't go hand in hand in one person! So what am I, the superior or inferior? I don't consider myself either and certainly don't try to project either persona...in fact, I don't believe that either actually exists...but I'm sure in the eyes of different people I have been both. As Garside so wonderfully describes it, these people are all joy suckers! I love that I can go to my TV recordings and choose between Alan Bennett's Talking Heads or Star Trek, Uncle Vanya or Holby City, not to mention my inexplicable addiction to Say Yes to the Dress. Garside points out that the joy suckers that consider themselves superior "want people like me to think I’m enjoying quality high brow stuff and judge me for it." What the joy suckers don't seem to realise is that we can understand the difference and enjoy both. And when you stop worrying about what other people think and embrace the things you love, be they high art, popular culture, or just plain trash, you'll enjoy them all the more. 

Now we've decided to stop the joy suckers in their tracks and enjoy whatever it is that makes us happy, it's time to share that passion with the world. But how much should we share? Garside rightly points out in her blog post that "the idea that it’s somehow ‘unprofessional’ to profess a love for a musician? A TV show? This is ridiculous." Yet this is a battle I've had with myself several times. It is for the most part a pressure I put upon myself - I am my own joy sucker! Some days I am proud to be a fangirl, enthusiastically sharing on social media all the things that make my nerdy little heart happy. But then other days I censor myself, concerned that I shouldn't be going on too much about whatever my obsession at the time is. Garside observes, "Fans are used to the idea that being passionate about things like TV, film or comic books, even theatre fans, that it's a 'silly thing' that is a pat-on-the-head 'that's cute' but take it a step further and you're 'weird' and 'why are you so obsessed with this'." I need to remind myself of two things. Firstly, I have never lost any professional respect through my nerding, in fact, my colleagues and professional contacts often respond favourably to my geeky social media posts. Secondly, life is so much more fun when I fangirl. Let me expand on that second point by sharing some of the things I blame Daniel Boys for!

I have been stalking Daniel Boys for nearly 12 years now. By stalking, I mean in the summer of 2009 my friend and I purchased a fan site that we relaunched in the October as the Daniel Boys Fanzone. I say friend...we didn't actually meet in person until December 2009, several months after we'd decided to run this site together! Luckily it all worked out and we really are friends now. And that's the first crazy thing that I blame Daniel for...but it gets crazier. We've had plenty of adventures over the years (and made some wonderful friends along the way) but by far the weirdest moment was when I ended up on Points of View! Daniel had filmed an interview for a TV show but was cut completely so the Fanzone rallied the troops and turned to Points of View to find out why. We were chuffed when they responded to the messages we'd collected and were even more pleased that they were going to interview Daniel as a result, but it hadn't crossed our minds that they'd want one of us to make a video of our query! Guess who got volunteered for that one? It's certainly one of my stranger claims to fame! 

I also blame Daniel Boys for the fact that I ended up singing with a choir on an album! Let me elaborate. Daniel sang a track on More With Every Line - the debut album of Tim Prottey-Jones. Tim hadn't been on my radar until then but we made contact with him to do our little bit to promote the album through the Fanzone and of course I purchased a copy. I completely fell in love with his music and started following him on social media so when he came to be planning his second album and announced that he wanted to put together a choir from his Twitter followers to sing on it I had to give it a shot, even though I am most definitely not a singer. By some miracle or act of kindness on Tim's part, I got into the Twitter Choir and spent an amazing day in Birmingham with a lovely group of people that I'd never met before, learning and recording the choir parts for the album, Surrounded by the Sounds. It's an experience that I will never forget and ten years on I am still incredibly proud to have been a part of it and grateful to Tim for giving me the opportunity. And I wouldn't have known a thing about it, let alone put myself forward for it had I not been a fangirl.

So, good things happen when you fangirl but why do we fangirl in the first place? I'd like to return to the perception that these passions are a 'silly thing'. Yes, I make light of my fangirling and joke about stalking and obsessions but if you ask me or take an interest then I will happily articulate in all seriousness why I am passionate about a certain performer, TV show, or piece of theatre. Garside has even written a book about one of her personal passions, Schitt's Creek - that's no 'silly thing'. I am no author but I'll enthusiastically discuss with you how and why I became and remain a Daniel Boys fangirl, why I will watch anything that has James Spader, Michael C. Hall, or Matthew Macfadyen in it based purely on the casting, where my love of Under Milk Wood came from, or what I find so relatable about the musical Ordinary Days. And I actively encourage discussion and debate. I don't need you to share my love or agree with me, but I'd love to have a conversation about it and to discuss your passions too. The lesson here - engage with the nerd in your life. You may find you influence and inspire each other and have some fascinating conversations and discussions. 

I'd like to conclude by talking about joy. On the subject of Fan Fiction, Garside says, "it's one of the few things that has brought me true joy this last year. I'm clinging onto one Fic I'm writing like a life raft right now." I have never written Fan Fiction but I related to the sentiment in terms of the joy and comfort that my own passions have brought me during lockdown. For the sake of variety, let's move away from Daniel Boys for a moment and look at one of my other obsessions - Matthew Macfadyen. Macfadyen first caught my attention back in 2002 with the start of one of my all-time favourite TV series, Spooks, so I have been a fan for the vast majority of my adult life. Combine lockdown with the release of Quiz, my discovery of Succession, and I have disappeared down a rabbit hole! It's not unusual for me to go through phases of seeking out the back catalogues of my favourite actors (I have a decent James Spader DVD collection that I am always happy to add to), but so far the pandemic has seen me watching seven seasons of TV shows, two and a half mini-series', and six movies featuring Macfadyen. If any judgemental thoughts are crossing your mind right now then you are a joy-sucker! I have taken a great deal of joy in discovering film and TV that had previously passed me by and revisiting pieces that I have enjoyed before, as well as the comfort found in the familiarity. Most people have a comfort movie, well I guess I've just extended that a little! 

Take joy in your passions and those of others. Life is much better when you do!

Ordinary Days

Ordinary Days is a musical following the ordinary lives of four ordinary people living in New York, but ordinary is one thing this show is not. It follows the lives of couple Claire (Julie Atherton) and Jason (Daniel Boys) as they experience the joys and stresses of moving in together, and the seperate lives of Deb (Alexia Khadime) and Warren (Lee William-Davis) who form a friendship after Deb looses her graduate thesis notes and Warren returns them to her. Although completely unaware of each other, the two stories, written brilliantly by Adam Gwon, fit together and interact perfectly in a true to life way with the characters passing through one another's lives just like that stranger that you pass on the street every day. In fact it is in the truth of this piece that it's beauty lies. Each of these characters are somebody that you know or that you can see yourself in, experiencing events and emotions that everyone can relate to. I could certainly see different aspects of myself in each of the them, from Claire's hording instinct to Jason's 'seize the day' attitude and Warren's slightly rose tinted outlook, but it was Deb that I related to most closely. As she described how she carries with her everywhere a book containing her hand written graduate thesis, I was very aware that my own hand written masters dissertation notes were, as they usually are, sitting at my feet in a Spongebob notepad in my handbag! Couple this with over ambitious designs for the future and a general desire to always want to be somewhere else doing something else and who does that remind you of?

Of course, no matter how good the writing, a character is only believable if it is played in a believable way, and this cast were faultless. First to enter the stage was Lee William-Davis and from the moment he appeared I took to his portrayal of Warren. I'd not seen Lee in anything before but he's certainly one to watch out for in the future. He and Alexia Khadime bounced off each other brilliantly, with Alexia delivering much of the comedy of the piece with exceptional timing. Daniel Boys and Julie Atherton took the audience on a rollercoaster ride of emotion, through laughter and tears, as they gave the audience an insight into the strains of Claire and Jason's relationship without you ever taking the side of one character or the other. Both of them had me close to tears at different times, firstly Daniel Boys at the end of 'Hundred-Story City' and then Julie Atherton's deeply emotion filled rendition of 'I'll Be Here'. 

The whole show is sung and ran for around 80 minutes with no interval. I think this was the right way to go as an interval would have broken the flow of the piece. Telling a story entirely in song runs the danger of the songs working within the piece but not standing up out of context. While I was watching the show I was so engrossed in the story that these songs as a collective were telling that I didn't really expect to come out of the theatre with several of the tunes going round in my head...but they were and have been ever since! Ordinary Days has a wonderful catchy score and has left me very much wanting to buy the soundtrack.

I was lucky enough to catch Ordinary Days twice during it's recent run in Studio 2 of Trafalgar Studios (once on Friday 25th February then again for the last night of the run on Saturday 5th March). I love Studio 2 as a venue and this show worked brilliantly there. The intimacy of the tiny auditorium meant that the audience were really drawn into the story and felt like a part of it. There were a couple of instance when Alexia Khadime was looking me straight in the eye and talking directly to me! I had my concerns before I saw the show having heard that there would be a three piece band on the already small performance area with the actors but the staging was designed so that everything fitted neatly and effortlessly together within the available space. I was however a little surprised and disappointed that on both of my visits the auditorium was uncomfortably hot, and I really felt for the actors having to perform in those conditions. I saw Wolfboy in Studio 2 last summer when it was 30 degrees outside and it was cool in there then so I'm not really sure what the reason for the sauna conditions was this time. I was also surprised to find that on my second visit there were no longer programmes available and apparently this had been the case for a few days. This may not sound very long but with only a four week run it becomes quite a significant length of time and doesn't really reflect very well on the venue if they cannot provide people with programmes.

Ordinary Days is a beautiful and emotional piece of musical theatre that I would happily go and see again and again. I sincerely hope that we see another production of it very soon.

10 - Daniel Boys' Cabaret

Throughout his run in the musical Ordinary Days at Studio 2 of Trafalgar Studios, Daniel Boys has been performing cabarets after the Friday night shows at this wonderfully intimate venue. So on Friday 25th February I went along to see both the musical (which I'll dedicate another blog post to) and the cabaret.

I was lucky enough to see Daniel's 'So Close' cabaret three times last year. This showcased songs from his debut album of the same name along with a few other live favourites. I thoroughly enjoyed this cabaret every time I saw it. Although some people may think seeing the same set three times may be a little boring, Daniel's natural demeanor on stage coupled with the wide variety of venues, guest stars and accompaniment set ups (from a full band to just the incredibly talented Douglas Whyte on piano) made every show a new and unique experience. So I was rather sad to hear Daniel saying at the Leicester Square Theatre back in November that the 'So Close' cabarets were coming to an end that night, and I was one very happy bunny when it was announced that he'd be doing a brand new cabaret, '10'.

It's nearly ten years now since Daniel graduated from the Guildford School of Acting and '10' looks back over his subsequent highly successful professional career. Comprised of familiar songs from his album and the 'So Close' cabarets (after all these have been a big part of his life over the last two years) and pieces from the varying musicals and concerts he has performed in, this new show gives a wonderful insight and very personal perspective on Daniel's working life. The performance is dotted with anecdotes relating to each song and his explainations as to why each one holds special meaning for him.

Daniel's vocals, as always, were on top form and I thoroughly enjoyed the performances of songs that I hadn't heard from him before but I still think my favourite of the night was one I've heard him sing several times. His rendition of Run Away With Me is nothing short of mesmerising...and that is exactly what he did to me! He had me so caught up in the story and the emotion and the moment that when he came to the end of the song I didn't start applauding straight away, I was still there in that moment! Truly captivating.

Such an intimate look at someone's life is best suited to an intimate venue so Studio 2 was exactly the right place for this cabaret. Having just Daniel and Douglas on stage in a venue with only three rows of seats was absolutely perfect and coupled with Daniel being rather hyped up having just performed Ordinary Days made for some rather fun banter between the two of them and the audience. Daniel even pulled two of my friends out in front of everyone to show off their home made fan t-shirts (and rightly so because they were fabulous t-shirts!).

Daniel will be performing just one more of these cabarets before Ordinary Days closes and appearing as his guests will be Helena Blackman and Lee Mead. This promises to be an amazing night so if you get chance to go on Friday 4th March make sure you take it. '10' is not to be missed so book your tickets here:
http://www.ambassadortickets.com/2394/677/London/Trafalgar-Studios/Daniel-Boys-In-Concert-Tickets