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Well
what a 2019 this
year has been!
It's
had everything -
rain in ridiculous
quantities; some
cricket, some
rugby, sport
generally; all
that politics
there; the ending
of The Throne
Games; that day of
all the Calzone
Express jokes on
the Twitter
channel.
It's
like they filled a
year's worth of
events into a
year.
How
do they
consistently
manage do that?
But
one thing this
year hasn't yet
had is this: my
annual sumuppary
of things I've
done, things I'm
doing next, things
I recommend, and
an offer of free
shipping on
products for the
good people on my
mailing list.
Some
2019 doings:
Actingly,
in the summer I
shot a couple of
scenes on SEACOLE,
a biographical
film about the
extraordinary life
of Mary Seacole.
It should be
coming out next
year.
Also
in 2020, I am due
to appear in an
episode of BBC 1's
HOLBY CITY,
playing the role
of a
statistics-obsessed
patient.
And
I've shot scenes
as a vegetarian
teacher in THE
QUEEN'S GAMBIT,
for the Netflix
channel.
Writing-wise,
I created a piece
of speculative
fiction for the
lifestyle
management service
platform,
TEN
Lifestyle Group.
I
spoke to the
brilliant Leila
Johnston about
working methods
and ideas mixing
for her superb
Phonic On-Demand
Broadcast,
HACK
CIRCUS.
I
mentored Simon
Widdop as he put
together his fab
solo spoken-word
show
STAINED,
which he performed
at the Greater
Manchester Fringe
Festival in July.
I
performed
PRONOUN
TROUBLE, my
"lecture" about
Looney Tunes,
weird words and
the enduring power
of friendship, in
London and
Brighton.
I'll
be bringing it to
the
Midland
Arts Centre
in Birmingham in
late May 2020;
more dates to be
confirmed.
BOOKTALKBOOKTALKBOOK,
presented with the
excellent
Jo
Neary, was
also on tour in
2019. It's a
peculiar
performance piece
that begins as an
awkward book
festival event,
but evolves into
something stranger
as it goes.
We
performed it at
Bookseller Crow on
the Hill in
Crystal Palace
(twice), at Stoke
Newington Literary
Festival, at
Phoenix Brighton,
at WOMAD, at The
Also Festival, at
The Idler Festival
and at The Curious
Arts / Byline
Festival.Look out
for it next year
too; more dates
are already being
lined up.
And
at this year's
Port Eliot
Festival I
premiered my new
show,
WHO
HERE'S LOST?
where it was well
received. If
you're a regular
reader of these
annual bulletins,
you'll have read
short excerpts
over the years
while it's been a
work-in-progress.
Here's
another brief
section:
The
high streets
of the various
towns
reiterate
charity shops
and
bookmakers,
testing each
others’
points.
Occasional
highlights
include a shop
called Sofas
and Gallows
that does good
business in
selling sofas.
A hair salon
called
“Chances,” as
it’s giving
partially
sighted
hairdressers
an opportunity
to get back
into the
workplace, and
because that’s
what you take
when you go
there.
The
next outing for
the show will be a
reading at
Bookseller Crow on
the Hill in
Crystal Palace, on
Thursday 23rd
January 2020, as
part of their
Stoke the Crow
campaign - tickets
will be available
very soon -
this
is the place to
get them!See
you there?
The
(bold, yet
possibly
foolhardy) plan is
to take all three
of these pieces on
the road in 2020,
including,
hopefully, to the
Edinburgh Festival
Fringe.
-
THIS IS WHERE THE
SUPER SPECIAL
ANNUAL OFFER TO
MEMBERS OF MY
MAILING LIST IS
FOUND BUT YOU HAVE
TO JOIN THE LIST
TO GET THE OFFER -
SO IF
YOU WANT FREE
SHIPPING FOR
CHRISTMAS ON ITEMS
IN MY WEBSHOP,
EMAIL
benmoorinfo@gmail.com
WITH THE WORD
"SUBSCRIBE" IN THE
SUBJECT AND I'LL
SEND YOU THE LINK.
A few
of my favourite
books out of those
I've read this
year (not
necessarily
published in 2019)
have been (in no
particular order):
Episodes
by Christopher
Priest
Someone
At A Distance by
Dorothy Whipple
You're
On An Airplane
by Parker Posey
Lanny
by Max Porter
Shopfronts
Of London by
Eleanor Crow
March
Of The Lemmings
by Stewart Lee
Mouthful
Of Birds by
Samanta
Schweblin
The
Topeka School by
Ben Lerner
Lost
Children Archive
by by Valeria
Luiselli
The
new X-Men comics
written by
Jonathan Hickman
and drawn by
various
(amazing)
Artists
Books
are the best, and
I am always
thrilled to
receive any tip in
return.
Books.
Some
of my favourite
films of 2019 were
Destination
Wedding, Us, In
Fabric, Burning,
The Souvenir, and
Avengers: Endgame.
Prediction:
My favourite movie
of 2020 will be
Bill And Ted Face
The Music. Way.
Excellent
theatrethings this
year have included
Emilia, Islander,
Come From Away, A
Very Expensive
Poison and Orphée
at ENO.
And,
as ever, a regular
stage highlight is
the remarkable
mentoring project
Scene
and Heard,
which partners
children from
Somers Town in
London with
volunteer theatre
professionals, and
creates
inspirational
moments and the
funniest, most
wonderful shows
you'll see. It has
celebrated its
20th Anniversary
this year, and you
can support the
charity by
purchasing
a book of quotes
from two decades
of brilliant plays
from their
website. It's
good.
TV
topness has
included Infinity
Train, You're the
Worst, Legion,
Back To Life, and
The Good Place.
I saw
some great gigs
too; particular
highlights were
Howe Gelb at St
Matthias Church,
The Working Mens
Club at Port
Eliot, and The
Stereolab at
Shepherd's Bush
Empire.
Musically,
here's a
EweToob
Playlist of
a few of my most
enjoyed songs of
2019, not all of
which were first
released in 2019.
(Trigger
Warning: some of
the videos are
music only clips;
there are also
felt pigeons;
adult language
while discussing
mental health;
people wearing
pastels, dancing;
the Spanish
language; rock.
These are all
entirely
justifiable in
context.)
So
that's about it
from me - how have
you been?
Thank you for
participating in
this weird old
year, and shall we
see how the next
one plays out?
As ever, if we can
all be excellent
to each other I
think we'll be OK.
Please accept my
early compliments
for the season,
and allow me to
wish you an
absolutely
astounding 2020.
love
and peace!
benMOOR!
TEXT-WITTER:
@benmoor
