Well Happyloojah!
I've finally managed to update this little blog after a very long hiatus. My apologies. But I did act in five plays in German theatre this year and it was very difficult and time consuming. So perhaps you can imagine that I didn't have much time to fool around with this computer.
However, the best news is that I'm finally launching The Happy Time Tabernacle's "Soul Signifyin' Revival" on two nights, December 7th and 8th, from 8p.m.- until, at the Saalbau Neukoelln (Karl-Marx-Str. 141, 12043 B, U-Bahn U7/Karl-Marx-Str). And what a show it will be!
4 years in the making! Featuring the live music of the Mighty Soul Sanctifiers! With special guest appearances by Mistress TT and Deacon Bruva Shaker!
The best thing about this is that I will get to sing ALL my favorite southern soul anthems with one of the smokin-est bands in town AND we will be making a short documentary film about the entire project. Expect to see lots of video clips on YouTube around the first of next year. And expect that a whole lot of people are going to get really tired of me talking about the power of soul music before I'm done.
I am so looking forward to this!
Also, be sure to check out my new MySpace page; it's still in a somewhat primitive stage but there will be links, pics, vids and music updates (along with more appropriate HTML formatting) coming soon.
So hold on to your hats and your pocketbooks! Grab your church fan! And get ready to shake what ya mama gave ya! Cause I'm rilly gettin' ready to shake mines!
Below is a brief project excerpt from the 4 years of research that I did on this project.
And may the stanktiddy stick to ya from head to toe wheresonever you go!!
***
Project
Abstract excerpt from: “Reverend Boogaloo’s Soul Signifyin’ Revival”
“...performance is a means
by which people reflect on their current conditions, define and/or reinvent
themselves and their social world, and either re-enforce, resist, or subvert
prevailing social orders. Indeed both subversion and legitimation can emerge in
the same utterance or act.” --M.T. Drewal
The
raw materials for this project will be extracted from various expressions of
interdisciplinary performance - in music, theatre, dance, literature and visual
arts - which have been developed and practiced during the past century by black
church communities throughout the south-eastern region of North America.
The
musical parody “Reverend Boogaloo’s Soul Signifyin’ Revival” will use the
conceptual setting of high-energy, “revival meeting” culture, substituting
current American Christian Nationalist symbology with an original myth, based
on pan-African music iconography.
The
content elements of this project will originate from many different pan-African
cultural expressions including storytelling, folklore and myth making, praise
speaking/singing techniques, popular soul music and lyrics, dance and mime,
surrogate audience participation, costuming and body decoration, and the use of
visual signs and symbols.
Purpose
The
purpose of this project is four-fold:
-to
demonstrate how the storytelling tradition within soul music lyricism embodies
a philosophy of art, a history of performance, a way of life and can create an
original mythology.
-
to simulate a charismatic, church-like environment which provides a theatrical
context to discuss the preacher as storyteller.
-
to create original rituals, similar to those staged by institutional religious
organizations in any community of interest, for the support and development of
new socio-cultural events.
-
to critique the socio-political impact of the Christian Nationalist philosophy
on North America society.
These
epistemological events should encourage cross-cultural discourse on a number of
contemporary social issues and should raise such questions as:
How
do myths evolve?
How
are myths and rituals used in contemporary society?
How
are beliefs developed?
If
religion is one way of knowing the world, what is the role of the preacher as a
“gatekeeper” of that knowledge?
To
what extent does myth and ritual influence social programming, political
discourse, societal values and public policy?
A Signifying Church
for All People: 6 points
“Hallelujah!! They call me Casper! Not the friendly ghost, but the Holy Ghost!! And I’m here, to make you
shout! Oh Glory Be, to the one, that know what the Funk’s about!” From
“We’re Stretchin’ Out” by William “Bootsy” Collins, on the LP Bootsy’s Rubber
Band, 1973
(1) For
my project, I will simulate a live, church-going experience for audiences based
on a significant difference: by creating an original “religious experience”
using the storytelling literature, visual symbols, music and dance practices
found within soul, jazz, rhythm and blues, and funk music cultures.
Through the use of elaborate set design, props and costumes, I will create “sacred” performance spaces with the intention to animate, proselytize and preach to “congregations” (audiences), in the storytelling role of the “Reverend Dr. Boogaloo, Pastor and General Overseer of the Happy Time Tabernacle, Temple Number II for All People, on the Earth, in the Universe and every Dimension beyond”.
“Church
services” will be held in appropriately sized concert halls and performance
spaces, and will follow the high-energy style of “tent revival meeting” culture
of the past century in North America. My
intention is to create a realistic and believable church-like atmosphere by
employing musicians, actors and dancers to simulate healings, testimonies,
miracles and the behaviour of “charismatic” or “holy-roller” church attendees. My expectation is that this dramatization
will create a notable amount of public attention and controversy, because this
type of activity – to make fun of the black church (or any religious
experience) in public – is still considered taboo within many black communities
throughout the world, especially in North America.
In
the cosmology I have developed, artistic legends have been canonized; for
example, James Brown will be referred to as “St. James of Brown” and his
collection of lyrics within the “Book of Soul” will be referred to, chapter and
verse, as “The Book of Brown.” Stevie
Wonder will be referred to as “St. Stevie of Wonder”, while his lyrics will be
referred to as verses from “The Book of Wonder.” The titles and themes of Rev.
Boogaloo’s monologues/sermons will use texts that will describe, for example,
the intricacies of “Love and Happiness,” insider knowledge of a “Psychedelic
Shack,” the perils presented by “The Back Stabbers” or the world-view of a “Sex
Machine.”
I
am presenting the culture work of this artistic tradition as truthful,
insightful, valuable and therefore “sacred.” By displaying the diversity of soul music literature and iconography in
this sacralized context, this cosmology assigns a value equal to or greater
than the valuations of insight, wisdom or cultural worth historically assigned
to European, Asian, Middle Eastern or any other original, sacralized cultural
expression.
2)
A Pulpit, Robes, church programs and church fans – the majority of black
churches in the Americas, the Caribbean and Africa make visual use of some or
all of these four important physical symbols.
It
is expected that every preacher should use a kind of stage, platform or pulpit
space from which to preach and that a specialized costume must be worn –
most often, a flowing, highly decorated robe or Clerical collar – when he or
she is preaching and acting out stories. These kinds of visual symbols convey a clear sense of authority and
spectacle to church congregations and audiences
The
character of Rev. Dr. Boogaloo will be costumed appropriately in colourful and
original garments that will use a combination of symbols, colours, fabrics and
shapes that will instantly identify him as a “High-Priest of Stanktiddy.” By integrating fashion trends from the
mid-sixties to the present, I will use extensive costuming to make a maximum
visual impact on viewers.
In
addition, each audience member will receive a free church program upon entering
the “church service,” which will feature the order of service, special
announcements, church dogma and identities of sponsors and patrons.
Also,
it should be noted that in the south-eastern US, simple, inexpensive, cardboard
church fans are usually distributed to congregation members free of charge,
especially during warmer months. These
fans are normally printed with elaborate graphics depicting a church or
religious scene, along with a sponsor logo on the reverse side.
Our
church fans will be no different: they will feature pictures of Rev. Dr. Boogaloo,
Happy Time Tabernacle logos and slogans,and the names/logos of our
sponsors. This small detail, when used,
will provide an added-level of authenticity to the audience environment by
providing a visual effect of congregation members, usually ladies, fanning
themselves with their personal fans during concert performances.
3) The Band – in many modern black churches
today, it is a requirement to have a seasoned, groove-oriented, musical
ensemble that can improvise during church services. You cannot “have church” without one. A band functions, not only as entertainment,
but as a “sonic response team” to the preachers “call.” The band members generally participate in the
delivery of a sermon by providing a musical soundtrack to the preacher’s
delivery. This symbiotic relationship creates pure excitement for audiences,
even at times when they do not fully understand the sermon. The band is an integral part of creating an
emotional appeal to the preacher’s message; they are his primary, musical
support system for the delivery of “The Word.” Back-up singers and a choir are
optional, but provide even more excitement when they are utilised.
4) The Believers – in the majority of black
church congregations, there are usually a core group of “believers” who support
the preacher, through the use of physical gestures and spontaneous vocal
outbursts, during the service. Over the
years, many preachers have made full use of pre-arranged routines with
congregation and audience members to stage healings, miracles, signs and
wonders, testimonies and vocal interaction, to elicit crowd responses, and to
establish deep credibility with audiences.
I
will make use of actors and dancers to provide vocal and physical responses
during my sermons, to provide
high-context gesture and dance, along with energetic vocal outbursts during
performances, to signify when the “Spirit of Stank” is particularly
“high.” Members of the “congregation”
will be regularly called upon to offer realistic, powerful, faith-based
testimony about how the power of “stank” has changed and transformed their
personal lives in positive and miraculous ways.
5)
The Sanctuary – in every church there are signs, icons and visual symbols to
identify the site as a location of sacredness. The “Signifying Church” will be no different in this regard. I will use beamer/video-projection technology
to create a visual spectacle that is lively, colourful and filled with original
images that suggest and support the cosmology that I have invented.
Examples of such visual images, still and moving, would be pictures of church interiors and exteriors, Rev. Dr. Boogaloo and his congregations in revival meetings, and original artistic symbols and logos that the church will use to identify, or signify, itself. These symbols should function as visual cues for my audiences in the same way that symbols and depictions of the cross, of angels or saints, or Jesus and his disciples function in a church, tabernacle or cathedral.
6)
A Cult-Following Philosophy – in order for a preacher to be visible in any
community, the preacher must develop some level of insider or cult
following. I fully intend to accomplish
this by using the psychological operational practices of modern media
propaganda, promotion and advertising. For example, I will distribute an
original “church charter”, “Tabernacle Covenant” and statements of belief
through the media, using easy to remember and specifically tailored legends,
articles, stories, slogans, sayings and rhymes. These messages will be consistently repeated in radio and television
appearances, newspaper and magazine interviews, pamphlets and memorabilia, and on the web so that they
become associated with core cosmological principles.
In
order for the persona of Rev. Dr. Boogaloo to be believable, I intend to use visual
spectacle and physical stunts that will serve to suspend disbelief, in the same
way David Bowie has used the mythical figure of Ziggy Stardust, the late jazz
composer Sonny Blount used his character Sun Ra, or the great band leader
George Clinton in his unforgettable Star Child persona. Like Santa Claus at Christmas, Mickey Mouse
at Disneyland, or David Copperfield as a “magician”, the character of Rev.
Boogaloo will present himself in character during every performance and
promotional appearance, in every interview and media presentation, for the
entire duration of this project.
I will make full use of my lifelong study and observation of preachers, evangelists, storytellers and comedians to stage well-timed sight gags. I will utilise high-context communication, such as facial expression, animated physical movement, gesture and mime. I will create and sustain direct visual and verbal communication with my audiences. In sum, I will use a situationist theatre approach, along with method acting, to plead, debate, cajole, convince and proselytize audiences with missionary zeal.
Links
Short History of American Christian Showbusiness
Jamal-Harrison Bryant in Action
12 year old Preacher in Training
