Material People 09.10

arts / play / fun / #1 sep. 2010

Candice Obayashi

Sophia Hopkins

Magic Jester Theater

material peoplematerial people

Breakable

UnBreakable

Candice Obayashi

Sophia Hopkins


CandiceObayashi

I got Joe, my boyfriend, the beer making kit for Christmas a few years ago and I thought

it would be a good excuse for me to keep in touch with the printmaking I used to do so

regularly when I was in school.

Joe and I have been making beer for a couple years now. Though we don’t make batches

very frequently anymore, it is an ongoing project. He and I collaborate on each batch - after

brewing the beer, he thinks of the name and I’ll create a simple 1-color tag.

I’m most happy about this project as being an outlet for me to create without getting

overwhelmed.

Because I feel like they should be disposable, there is less pressure. The tags are a non-committal way for me to be creative. It’s a great feeling when there’snothing on the line, when it’s purely for fun. And...you get to drink the beer when you’re done!

MP 09.10 /11

It’s hard to find the time to brew the

beer or to sit down and make the tags

anymore. Brewing beer is a multi-step

process and sometimes I know I won’t be

available for several weekends in a row

to tend to the brewing. This is not

something that I feel badly about though,

I know that I’ll be able to make another

batch when I feel like I can.

In terms of this project, I’m not setting up

any expectations or commitments

because that is the beauty of it - I don’t

really look too far into the future or

schedule batches / labels because that

would ruin the fun of it! It’s not some-

thing I want to have to stress about.

MP 09.10 /13

mp

YaChin Bonny You

She’s leaving the house without her shoes on, she’s leaving the house without her pajamas, she’s leaving the house without her wallet, she’s leaving the house without her children, she’s leaving the house without her keys, without her chopsticks, without her gloves, without her smiles.

SophiaHopkins

A friend took me to a small boutique where he buys his body

soap. There were several unlabeled colorful bars to choose

from. I fell in love with a coconut

scented bar, but all the different colors and scents were very

inspiring. I wanted to make my own so I went to the library to

learn how.

I’ve been creating an abundance of fine soap bars and body

products since 2008. I use decadent blend of vegan oils and

butters to create creamy, bubbly,

conditioning soap bars. I make them using a method called

cold process.

I love the feeling of decadence when working with all of my

raw ingredients. I love using my own products.

MP 09.10 /22

I wear an all natural jasmine and honey scented shea body butter that leaves my skin feeling amazing. It pretty much

makes you feel like divine royalty.

It’s true you need to acquire a lot of supplies and ingredients to make soap. This can really

rack up what I call craft debt. It’s also true that there are no mistakes in art, but there are in

soap making. It’s just as much a scientific project as it is a creative project. If any calcula-

tion is made incorrectly it can ruin the entire batch of what would have been soap. There

is a lot to learn! Soap making can also be dangerous, it requires using a highly caustic base

that can burn the skin. Have you read/seen Fight Club? Sodium hydroxide is dangerous

stuff but is essential to soap making.

Recently I’ve created a perfect recipe so I’m

having fun with that. In six months I see myself

measuring out new exotic blends, and crafting

lavish products for more people to enjoy. mp

MP 09.10 /24

We join spokes together in a wheel,

but it is the center hole

that makes the wagon move.

We shape clay into a pot,

but it is the emptiness inside

that holds whatever we want.

We hammer wood for a house,

but it is the inner space

that makes it livable.

We work with being,

but non-being is what we use.

Tao Te Ching

Over the next three weeks, Magic Jester Theater was born as I pulled together a four-hour variety show. The graffiti on the warehouse wall formed the backdrop for our show, which featured a comedy sketch that I wrote, as well as two improv sets.

I am Michael Davenport, the founder and director

of Magic Jester Theater in Oakland. We teach and perform

Chicago-style long form improvisational theater, making

up scenes on the spot. Sometimes the scenes link togeth-

er form a story, similar to a one-act play. At other times

the scenes are linked by a theme, or they are completely

unrelated.

We have three performing troupes that rehearse once a

week and we hold a weekly free improv jam that anyone

can attend. Folks can come and try it out and see if they’d

like to join a performing troupe, or they can just play and

have fun.

We put on variety shows every second and fourth Friday

at the Temescal Arts Center, right around the corner from

Lanesplitter’s Pizza. In addition to our three house improv

troupes, our shows also feature guest musicians, slam po-

ets and stand-up comics. Every evening is completely un-

predictable!

Ever since I was little, I have loved making people laugh.

When I moved to Chicago, I started taking improv classes

and realized that there was much

more to it than laughs. I became

an improv geek, going to classes

or performances every night. I

saw some of the greatest impro-

visers in the world and they in-

spired me to do scenes that were

wild and edgy and made people

think, as well as making them

laugh. I took acting classes and

learned how to tap into emotions

that didn’t realize I had. I brought

my acting skills back into my im-

prov, creating deeper relationships with my scene part-

ners and developing emotionally resonant scenes.

I ended up studying and performing in the Chicago im-

prov scene for ten years. I performed at Second City, the

A highlight of that time was putting together an improv

troupe called Melange that performed for six weeks at

Second City.

After moving to the Bay Area in 2007, I began

studying and performing at Pan Theater in Oakland. I start-

ed directing a group of Pan students on a volunteer basis

and formed my own troupe with a couple friends. We were

rehearsing weekly, and I wanted to find more opportuni-

ties for us to perform.

In October 2008, while I was working at Peet’s Coffee

in downtown Oakland, I met a girl who was living at the

Hazmat, a punk rock commune in the warehouse district

near Jack London Square. She told me that they had shows

at their place every Friday night and said I could hold an

improv show there, as long as I filled their four-hour time

slot.

Over the next three weeks, Magic Jester Theater was born

as I pulled together a four-hour variety show. One of my

Peet’s customers, a saxophonist, agreed to play, as did a

blues guitar duo that I met on the bus, and an accordionist

who was a friend of one of the improvisers. A stand-up

comic, who was one of the improvisers’ co-workers, hosted

the show. The graffiti on the warehouse wall formed the

backdrop for our show, which featured a comedy sketch

that I wrote, as well as two improv

sets.

We loved the energy and excite-

ment of the Hazmat, but decided

we needed a place that was more

accessible to our audience. We

moved to the Humanist Hall in

uptown Oakland, where we per-

formed monthly for about a year,

and we’re now performing twice a

month at the Temescal Arts Center.

Temescal Arts Center is a perfect

space for us, and we love being

in the Temescal neighborhood

because it provides so much sup-

port for community activities and

the arts. It’s also great to have so

many fantastic restaurants and ca-

fes nearby to recommend to our

fans.

The performers in our theater

company are very talented. I am

very pleased with their commit-

ment and hard work. We are con-

tinually drawing the interest of

other performers to work with us.

We are always seeing new faces

at our shows and getting the word

out.

In founding a theater company,

I have learned how much I care

about the art and craft of impro-

visation. The biggest surprise

has been my feeling about my

role in the improv scene. When I

first started, I was merely working

to build my skills as a performer.

Now, as a director, teacher and pro-

ducer, I feel like I’m doing my part

to improve the quality of improvi-

sation as an art form. I have come

to find myself in a leadership role,

which is something I never would

have imagined before striking out

on this adventure.

The greatest joy of doing this has been the building of the community of people that are part of Magic Jester Theater. Sharing this project has brought us together as friends as well as fellow performers and fans.

In this leadership role, the challenges I have faced have

been humbling. I have had to learn to find ways to seek

out help and I have been very surprised at how support-

ive people can be. I really appreciate the help I’ve gotten

from friends in the theater company and beyond in hosting

shows, playing music, creating posters, handing out flyers,

finding musicians, providing space to rehearse, and many

other contributions.

The greatest joy of doing this has been the building of the

community of people that are part of Magic Jester Theater.

Sharing this project has brought us together as friends as

well as fellow performers and fans.

One of the challenge we have is that the reputation

of improv theater is a mixed bag. It doesn’t get much re-

spect from the viewing public. I feel there is a lot of beauty

within the self-expression of an improviser who is on stage

and I want to share that vision with others.

It is my hope to build our theater company to be a place

for improvisers to feel free in their self-expression and find

an audience that appreciates that kind of work. The other

day one of our audience members told me that he thought

about the show for several days afterward. He said it was

like when you go to an exhibit at a museum, and then you

go outside and see the world as a more beautiful place.

That made me feel great, like we are on the right track.

MP 09.10 /34

Doing a variety show presents the challenge of continually bringing in performers from

different disciplines. We have primarily had musicians, and I would like to have more slam

poets and standup comics.

We have also been talking about starting a training program for people to learn our ap-

proach to improvisation. We are still working out logistics of that.

I am very excited for where we are with Magic Jester Theater in our first year and a

half. I’m very pleased with the performances and I feel that the next six months will see

the beginnings of the training program. I want Magic Jester Theater to become a fixture

in the Temescal neighborhood, place where people know they can go on a Friday night to

wash away the stress of the week, laugh, connect, and maybe be inspired to try out improv

themselves. mp

material peoplePublisher / Editor / Director /

Laborer / Everything else

YaChin Bonny You

Contributors

Candice ObayashiSophia Hopkins

Michael DavenportJessica Davenport

Special Thanks to

Jessica Davenport(for being the task master)

Contact

[email protected]

09.2010

Working on cool projects? Be it the next Mars expidition or a new planter box in your own backyard, tell us about what you’re working on in our next issue.

Email [email protected].

look forward to featuring you!material people

arts / play / fun / #1 sep. 2010

Candice Obayashi

Sophia Hopkins


Material People 09.10

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