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People who do cool projects from the next expedition to Mars to a new planter in the backyard.
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arts / play / fun / #1 sep. 2010
Candice Obayashi
Sophia Hopkins
Magic Jester Theater
material peoplematerial people
Breakable
Breakable
UnBreakable
Candice Obayashi
Sophia Hopkins
Magic Jester Theater
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
Magic Jester Theater
Magic Jester Theater
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
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
Magic Jester Theater