Before the pandemic, I regaled audiences in person. Seated behind two microphones, I told them my tales through a sound system so people in the back row could hear. People in the front row? How far away were they? If I were onstage, I’d say about six to ten feet.
But now, for better or worse, I’m closer, sharper, and louder, too, because if my audience wants to turn up the volume, that’s easy to do at home.
Yes, for the time being I’m on Zoom for my adult performances. The camera is a mere two feet away. Hoary and curmudgeonish as I am, it still seems to work. As professor Joseph Walsh put it after a recent Zoom show for college kids:
Indeed, several students who had seen Odds perform in the past – and he has fans who come back every year – considered it even better. They loved the fact that they could see his face up close and watch his fingers dance across his guitar and harp.
Up until March of last year, I told my winter series of adult tales at Grendel’s Den in Cambridge, MA. We had lots of fun doing it, and not wanting to lose that fun completely, Kari Kuelzer, the owner, and I decided to move our shows to Zoom. She’ll be online to introduce me and help me juggle audience questions afterwards.
For next Sunday she chose ODIN AND THOR BATTLE THE FROST GIANTS, which I’ve performed at her club many times. You are invited. Tickets are $25. I hope you join us for some wild and woolly performance art.
