TGIF! presents...Lewis Back on Writing.

A favorite comedian of mine. Black discusses writing, blogging...and at the 1:40 mark, Black talks about his dabblings in playwriting - you'll wanna listen to that (or maybe I should heed Black's words).

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Origami No. 17. "Two Men"...a song.

I wrote this song for inclusion in my latest full-length play. The first verse includes the exact lyrics I created and sang as a kid - then I just expanded the song from that point. It has nothing to do with the dark comedy I'm writing - but it does provide some levity between the protagonist and the individual he's butting heads with. I suppose it's sort of hard to appreciate it with the melody I have in my head, but...put your own tune to it and see how you like it.

I will say that it's supposed to be in the vein of the songs featured in the hit movie, "Juno".

“Two Men”

Two men
Livin’ in
A little house
By the falls
Two men livin’ in
A little house by the falls
Making dolls

Oh-h,
two dolls
Cornhusk dolls
One for each
Charge a quarter a piece
Two men
Making dolls
Cornhusk dolls just a quarter apiece.

(scat break – singing)

makin’ dolls
tens of thousands of cornhusk dolls
price arisin’ – 50 bucks, you see.
That little house is a’buzzin’ with all sorts of glee
Millionaires
A bigger house
by the falls and their million dollar dolls.

Two men
No more corn
And No more cornhusk dolls
(had to sell and move back to that small house-by-the-falls)
no more corn
no more dolls
If you were in their shoes
what would you do?

Straw dolls.
Outta straw.
The two men found a way
to keep their million dollar ways going strong
Straw dolls
diversified
The story goes on
Nothing you ain’t heard before…

Two men
Livin’ in
A little house
By the falls
Two men livin’ in
A little house by the falls
Making dolls

© Copyright 2008 Jeffrey James Ircink


Origami is sort of my catchword for a featured blog entry that highlights my original writings - could be an excerpt from one of my plays, a poem, a song, a rant, a rave, a cursing, etc. Origami is the art of folding paper (the word is of Japanese origin). So, within the folds of this particular blog feature/post you may find something really beautiful, meaningful or poignant.

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"The Bed"...makes the Semi-finals for Short & Sweet/Sydney!!

"Good play."

- Alex Broun, Artistic Co-ordinator of Short & Sweet (includes Sydney/Brisbane/Melbourne/Singapore/Malaysia), the largest ten minute play festival in the world, and one of the world's most produced ten minute playwrights.

Yeehah! My 10-minute play, "The Bed", has been officially shortlisted (semi-finalist, same thing) for Short & Sweet/Sydney, to be held in Australia in January/February 2009! This is the 2nd year in a row I've gotten to this stage - my award-winner, "Pass the Salt, Please." (that dirty little play) was a semi-finalist last December as well. Now if I can just get over that hump...

"The Bed" is a dramatic short about an elderly man who takes an introspective look at his life - from infancy through death. No dialogue. Just first-person narration (the elderly man) set to music (“Adagio in G Minor”) and performers on stage acting out the narration. From nearly 1,000 entries, 300 were "shortlisted". Each play was read by 2 to 3 adjudicators and considered under the following five criteria: Story, Character, Dialogue, Dramatic Tension and Theatricality. The shortlisted plays are then distributed to directors who put together a Top 5 list and a slate of shows is chosen from the 300 to encompass four weeks of theater in Sydney in January/February 2009. Like last year, I'm very happy to be a semi-finalist. And yet, like last year, I feel "The Bed" has the moxie to get into the finals. We'll see. By the way, only 39 US writers made that shortlist of 300.

You can check out the Short & Sweet shortlist press release here - from there you can tool around the site at your leisure. And if you'd like to read an excerpt from "The Bed", go to my play website, Plays of Jeffrey James Ircink. Or email me at irc_64@hotmail.com if you'd like to read the play in its entirety. And, of course, if the play makes the finals I will be looking for patron (sponsors, same thing) to help me get over there to see the production.

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"Listen to the Mourning Doves" Tonight at Pacific Resident Theatre / Venice Beach.

I'll be appearing tonight in a staged play reading of my friend, Jerry Small's play, "Listen to the Mourning Doves", at the Pacific Resident Theatre in Venice Beach. Starts at 7 p.m. and is free if you'd like to attend. The theater's at 703 Venice Blvd. - email me at irc_64@hotmail.com or show up at the door and tell whoever's there that you know me.

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My Inked-In Blog - Check it out!

I belong to an online community of writers and artists called The Burryman's Center Writing Community and an offshoot of the group is Inked-In. Check out my visually aestetic writer's page here.

What can I say? I needed a place to display my mudskipper photo in all its glory. Inked-In is the ideal "safe place" for me to converse with other writers and share ideas and we're all on sort of the same page, you know?

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