Faire Folk at Work
Beaverton High School (2nd Period)
So, welcome to another episode of Fair Folk at Work. You know, every time us old Fair Folk get together, we all lament about the lack of young people at the fair. My guest today, Shannon Derry, has actually done something about them. He's out there getting kids to the fair. So, Shannon, welcome. Well, thank you, Dan. Yeah, I've been teaching theater at Beaverton High School for a while now, and we started a summer group called the Barney Brats, and I teach them some of the old shows we used to do, the old Taylor Get King Arthur, Pyramids and Dizby, and they write a couple plays of their own, and we learn that's the fair style of theater. We learn how to pass the hat and how to engage people in the audience. We look at J. Paul's book on Gorilla Theater and use some of his ideas because he's a genius, and we go to our local fairs here in Oregon and spend our summer hanging out. Camping, playing, doing games, it's pretty fun. Okay, that was my first question, which is where is Beaverton High School? Beaverton High School is in Beaverton. It is probably the oldest continuously running school in Oregon, it's over 100 and some odd years old. Our theater is one of the oldest theaters in Oregon, so over 116 years and we've never gone dark. Well, I have given your students a question to ponder. After they answer that one, I'm going to subject them to a series of questions they've never seen before, followed perhaps by an incredibly amusing, directed role play. They also have not seen before. Okay, that's not good. Okay. Let's go with Sam first, Sam, to give us your name, the grade you're going into, and answer to the question, what was the first time you saw something theatrical and thought to yourself, "Hey, I could do that," and then what was the person, thought, or action that propelled you actually on stage? Hi, yeah, I'm Sam Wise, like The Hobbit. The first time I saw something theatrical and I thought, "Oh, wow, I could do that," was my parents used to take me to a lot of community theater shows in Upstate New York, which is where we used to live, and then, so I like seeing the actors up there and how they would just become someone else, and then, of course, they had all the fun costumes and stuff, which as a little kid, that's a very appealing, and I wanted to be up there so bad, and then, the other thing was, I watched a lot of sketch comedy shows as a kid, like Kids in the Hall, SNL, that kind of thing, and I thought they were so funny, I wanted to be on one of them. Do you remember the first costume that sort of caught your eye and said, "I want to be in that one"? Ooh, gee, I don't know. I watched Cats as a kid, and I thought some of the cat costumes were pretty cool. What was your favorite cat? Definitely Rum Tum Tugger. Do your parents or family have a theatrical background? No, I think they just really wanted to give me lots of different experiences to kind of find my passion, and I'm definitely glad I did, because it led me here to Beaverton High School, to Beaverton High School Theater, to our wonderful director, and to the Renfaire and to this podcast. Well thank you very much, Ali, you're up next, what grade are you going to be in next year? I'm going to be a college freshman. Well congratulations, your turn to answer the introductory questions. The first time I saw something theatrical. When I was younger, my mom and I would always watch the movie "Annie" together, the old one, with Koonja in it. But we got the opportunity to see it on stage, and I was probably seven or eight at the time, and it was the coolest thing. And I think it was either the spring or summer, and I was a bit confused on why it was set during Christmas at the time, but I saw the dog on stage. Like it was a real live dog for Sandy, and that was so cool. And yeah, just to see all of them taking that bow together at the end was really cool. And also I was watching Disney movies as kids do, and the one set, and time periods where there's like princesses, and knights, and stuff, like Sleeping Beauty was like inspirational, because like I love Briar Rose's dress. I love like the puffs on Prince Philip's shoulders, and how he had the fight with the dragon. It was just awesome. How did you get from seeing a dog on stage and Disney shows to actually get in on stage yourself? Um, I had recently moved, and the old school I went to didn't have anything theatrical at it, but the new school I went to did. And so I was able to sort of get an introduction that way, because there was like a specific school play that everyone had to be in, and like I worked so hard on this thing, I learned to project from it, because like part of our character was to be the loudest thing on stage. And we weren't miked, and I'm a try hard, like I still have the lines written on my mirror, because my mom had written them down. And so I could practice them and look at them like all day, because I had a mirror in my bedroom. Can I hear your lines from this production? We are the chorus of the ancient Greeks, we have to act together. So we practice for weeks, listen very carefully for when we speak, because we are the chorus of the ancient Greeks. Well done. The only lines from a show I remember, like afterwards. I'm sorry, I interrupted, your original school had no theater program. I moved to Oregon, and they did have theater programs, and then once I got to middle school, there was like a fully developed theater program after school. And I was introduced to it, because I had forecasted for a theater class, and that was the first thing on the first day that I had going on. So I met the theater teacher, and she was really cool, and we meshed really well together. And so I became like one of her main people she would go to, and we would do the plays we'd set up, and because we were in a cafeteria where her classroom was on the stage in the cafeteria, like every night we had to move everything off the stage so we could practice. And then move everything back on after rehearsal was over, so it could be ready for the next day. That was incredibly tedious for the first year, but then afterwards we got portables that we could be taught in, and then the stage was free. But middle school theater was like my jam, like I know some people peek in high school, but I may have peek in middle school with theater. I don't think so, I really don't, let's move on to Oliver. This is Oliver, and where are you going to school next year? Yeah, so I'm Oliver, and next year I'll be a freshman at Portland Community College. Very cool, and the first time you saw something theatrical said that's the life for me, and what got you out on stage? Well, I sort of started watching theater around the same time that I really got to start in acting as theater. I had a pretty high reading level for my grade when I was in second or third grade. So by the time I was in elementary school I was already sort of familiar with Shakespeare stuff. Around second and third grade is also when I started first seeing plays, my parents would take me to like Shakespeare at the park sort of things all the time because it was a free way of getting me to be quiet for a couple of hours. At the same time in school my elementary school had a performing arts club, they called it Ridgewood Performing Arts Club, or R-Pack. Essentially they did a play every year, and you were in it. If you went to Ridgewood you were pretty much in the play, it was kind of guaranteed. Basically as far as I can remember back theater was kind of just a thing that happened to me, it was sort of the normal for me as far as I can remember. Was it normal for everybody else in your family including your parents? Actually no, both of my parents were really dedicated band kids, it was a bit of a surprise for them that none of their kids grew up to care about really playing music all that much. Also my dad just hates musicals and theater in general. So it's really a wonder, but really I got a lot of it from my mom who is very, she has a degree in English and she focuses in a lot of writing and stuff, and so she pushed me a lot when I was younger to succeed and that sort of thing. That's kind of where I got a start in it. Okay, Aiden, your next step? Yeah, my name is Aiden, I'm going to be a junior believer to next year. I feel like it's a little bit weird that I know my parents took me to a lot of community plays as a kid like downtown Portland, I don't really remember any of them. The first thing that got me deeply invested in theater was I saw my mom showed me the 2013 production of Newsies and I was like, "Man, I love to crush you so much," and I was like, "God, I want to play that guy," and it frustrates me to this day because there's this one song in the play that's not on the soundtrack that he sings and it pisses me off. But now I have an illegally recorded version of it. So how did you go from enjoying Newsies to getting out on stage yourself? The first I did a theater camp once, I don't remember what the play was about, and I remember I specifically asked for no lines because I did not know anyone on that camp and I was getting everyone, but the first genuine production I remember, it was also in middle school. We did a production of James in the Giant Peach, and I played a pilot who my role was to fly a plane full of passengers into the Peach, that was it. My theater experience did peak in high school though, that's when I did genuinely start getting into it. Okay, now what I'm going to do is ask you a series of questions for which you have not been prepared. Let's go start with Ali. What theatrical experience moment that you have participated in thus far has given you the most joy? Probably my middle school production of Footloose in seventh grade, I played Chuck Cranston. I didn't know how to sing very good at the time, but I had a lot of fun learning the choreography, I wasn't good at it, but I got to act all mean and tough and it was really fun because I got to like push the like lead character because I was a bully. Yeah, that was a lot of fun. It's not me once I'm in character, like it's you go in and out, it's like it's not me, but that person's still doing it safely, you know? So who's next? That would be Oliver. Oliver? I think it's me. I think the theater production that brought me the most joy would probably be maybe the first year that we did party brats because I didn't know what I was doing back then. I was like, "Oh, this is great. I'm doing great. Everybody's doing great. This is so much fun." I'm not that it isn't fun in the past couple of years, but I think the first one was just the most impactful to me and so it brought me, it brought me the most joy at the time. You remember the specific interaction with a patron or is it doing something or what was that moment when you stood back and part of your brain goes, "Yeah, this was a good choice." Is it weird to say the money? How much should I make? I don't remember now. I was $40. I'm being told it was $40. Yeah, yeah, it was a good size amount of money for the work, at least I thought that. Well, Shannon, you're doing a good job if you're getting them gigs that are getting them $40 a day. More than I made them, I think. I've forgotten somebody on this first run through of everybody. Aiden, why don't you go? I personally really liked we did a production of "Arson and the Knoll Blaze." That was so fun. I love that one. I didn't have a huge role in it, but it was so fun watching everyone else. I played Mr. Gibbs, who's just this old guy who comes in for one scene, but I had so much fun with it every time interacting with other actors. I do have very distinct memories from it, because instead of having a wig, they put baby powder in my hair, and it was so bad. I can make the slightest movement, and it went everywhere, so that is the only complaint I have about it, but everything else made up for it. It was really fun. Was that the first time you felt like you had truly inhabited a different character? Except you had incredible dandruff. It was so bad. Mid-summer, we did mid-summer the year before that. That was probably the first time I played one of the fairies, and the fairies for that one were special. How do I even describe this? Tights, brightly colored tights, and brightly colored wigs, and you're just kind of scuttling around on stage like a spider. That's how we did it. I had a lot of fun doing that, and that was fun, and we got to push them around and stuff. But I guess we are at Sam Wise's first question answered. Yeah, my favorite production we did was this year we did The Hobbit, and oh man, that story is so close to my heart. It was a bedtime story for me for a long time, and I'm named after The Hobbit, and I'm only 5'3". So we had such a fun time, everyone I know had really just a blast doing it, and I got to play Bilbo Baggins, who was one of my favorite characters of all time. I was so excited to play it, and it was the last time I really got to act in a duo with Oliver over here. He graduates, so that was a special moment for me. When you articulate a line from that show that for you, every time you said it, it was just because sometimes you can be in a show, and it's rolling along, and you know this line is coming up that you're going to nail, and it's going to be so much fun to say it. Did you have a line like that in The Hobbit? There were two, if that's all right. The first one is, "After Thorin dies, I have I bid you all a very fond farewell, and then exit, and it hits my heart every time, and Thorin had been rolled away, and all the dwarves are gone right after that, so I'm kind of just alone on the stage for that one, and I certainly felt emotional. I hope the audience did too, I hope that transferred, and then the second one is at the very end, we're walking back to the Shire, and me and Oliver, you know the Tolkien had the poem, The Road Goes Ever On in the book, and so we found a musical version of that, and we sang a little walking song at the end, and that was like the last thing that was on stage, and I don't know, it meant a lot to me, and I thought it was a really powerful moment, and again I hope that kind of transferred to the audience. Can you remember a little bit of that song? You don't have to sing it, but if you can, or if you can sing it, that'd be great too. The road goes ever on and on, down from the door where it began, now far ahead, the road has gone. Well, we kind of lost part of that, thank you very much, that was really good. Switching now to talking about Faire, and this time we're going to start off with Aiden. Aiden, what was your first impression of Faire, and what is your current impression of Faire? The first impression was, I was really scared that I wasn't actually going to get in because last year on the list, instead of having the party brunch under B, it was under T for the, and then Derry came down interested to come down with a truck full of kids, and it was so chaotic, and it was so dusty, and I was like, I didn't know how to comprehend it. You would say confusing would be the first adjective that I was praying to mind. A little overwhelming, and then figuring out that you have to project really, really loud, because everyone else is really, really loud out there. Currently, it's just as dusty as I remember it, and I'm not going to miss that part for this weekend. After an interlude of dealing with Aiden's dog, the interview continues. What was the question? How has your perception of Faire changed over time? I mean, it's always going to be chaotic and confusing, because especially with King Arthur, like, learning how to work with different types of people, just from the past two years, I know that, like, working with different people playing Guinevere, we've had some history of difficulties with that, and learning how to work with people who are not confident. I'd like to make a verbal footnote and point out that Aiden here has played the role of Arthur in the Ye Old Tale of Good King Arthur, and so when he talks about working with new and improved Guinevere's, he knows he's walked the walk, so go ahead. You, I don't know, I've been always kind of cautious with that, especially at the end part where it's that Arthur, Arthur, look at this, you should treat it to, because, like, everyone, I've seen, like, kind of, it goes, like, leans back a little bit. That's why I immediately, like, get down on one knee, I'm like, it's not going to be that kind of and then you kind of quickly play into the part that you're disgusted, because I don't, you know, I don't want to make an audience member uncomfortable, and so just being really mindful of that. Okay, well, let's move on. You handled Guinevere really well, thank you, but Sam, it's your turn. Yeah, my first impression of the fair, that first year, we only had the one show. We were only doing Ye Old Tale of Good King Arthur, I think, and it was also, it was a really small group. It wasn't much bigger than the kids. We have now on this podcast, and, you know, I kind of, I thought it was just, okay, this is just, like, another stage that we're performing on, but it's so much more than that. I really thought it would be more similar to just doing anything else on stage, but there's a lot more layers to it. You have to gather in a crowd, you have to, there's so many other distractions, you have to make sure they're not, you have to draw their attention enough so they won't wander away and go look at, oh, what's over there? There's that other cool act that's happening over there. I was also really excited about the prospect of passing the hat and gaining a little bit of pocket money. We didn't make very much. Shannon, you have a pretty mercenary group here. We're only in it for the money. I'm sorry, go ahead, Sam. But now, now I see it a little after, you know, two more years. My favorite part is no longer just performing on the stage. It's like talking to customers and becoming this character and messing with them a little bit and having fun. We do this thing called Peltabardi Brat, where people will, they pay a dollar for three sponges to hurl at kids with their like face sticking out of these holes. And my favorite part is like selling the sponges and like talking to people, oh, that's a great one. They're like, you know, getting them to spend more money. That's, and I think that's, it's more appealing to me than it was my first year. And so it's become less of a performance space and more of a place for interaction with customers and just having fun stuff. I don't know. Well, I agree entirely. Is it all over next? First impression of fair. And has that helped over time. So my first impression of Lorraine Fair, I think was probably, I was probably from, from Derry describing, if I have to be honest, he, I mean, Derry always talks about these huge fairs out in Texas or California or whatever, where there's so hundreds of actors and all this other stuff. So my first impression of the Ren Fair was something more like larping, I guess, like super immersive, hyper detailed stuff. And just forming the idea that we're all here to form a world around these people who were there. And that's, that is still true to an extent, for the most part. But I think, I think at the fairs, at the fairs that I've been to, I think that idea is somewhat different, is at least a little bit different. Different in what way? Well, I think, I think overall people tend to have, at least between performers, I think there's a bit more individuality of it. That might just be the kind of actor that I am that I pick up on that though. Like, I mean, Sam always was talking about Peltabardi Brat and how their favorite part is to, is to sell the sponges and to like prep people up and interact with them. Personally, my favorite part of doing Peltabardi Brat is to, to hawk it and just like get these lines and go. I don't like to improv all that much. I think the, I hadn't, I had the impression that the fair was a lot more improv heavy than it, than it might maybe is. Maybe it is in reality, most of the time. Well, I think that's a good observation because at the fair while, you know what you're going to say, but you don't know what the audience is going to say. So, your first lines are set and then you know how the bit is supposed to end. It's just the stuff in between that you're sort of figuring out as you're going along. So, let's move on to Ali. What was your first impression of fair and how has it evolved over time answer? Well, I have a very strong sense of justice. So, I believe that fair is everybody's getting what they need. But on like the Renaissance fair note, my first impression is I went to the Bristol Renaissance fair with my dad and my brother and at the suggestion of one Shannon Derry because he said he had friends who worked there. And so, he gave me the name of the group he used to work with Sound and Fury, but my memory is not very good. And as I hadn't known him very long, it just like, I just remembered like the as it may have been like fire. So, there was whips and fire. I'm like, maybe it might have been it. I don't want to talk to them because I'm scared I'm long. But I went there. It was a pretty cool thing. I didn't have any costume yet. So, I was kind of boring, I guess. My dad kept trying to pressure me to get the turkey leg. I'm like, I don't like turkey. If you want it so badly, get it for yourself. I won't judge you. But there was this like cool game with crossbows that you get to like fire them. That was pretty rad. I saw the mud show, which was pretty cool. What costume have you evolved into? I have the premium off Amazon. And a few select pieces from Dave from Shawn and Dave, which I have graciously borrowed and will return at the end of this weekend, I promise. And so, it's like this kind of like jester outfit. I got puffy shoulders and a vest. And sometimes, sometimes I have puffy legs. Let's just go in the reverse order. So, Ali, you can go first with this one. How does your experience at the fair compared to other venues and acting styles? I've only really performed on school stages. The acoustics are a lot different. With the fair, it just goes everywhere and no one can hear it unless you're like super loud. And so, my vocal cords of steel at the fair when I'm just like projecting. And like you can interact with the audience a lot more. Like you can throw in jokes that you had no plan to do in rehearsal. You can banter with the audience a lot more if it's not like in an auditorium. Okay, very nice. I think, let's see, Ali, how about all of our next? How does your fair performing experience compare and contrast to other venues and styles? Like Ali said, volumes really is really different. You've got to be way loud when you're performing in affairs because of how many other things are going on. Something that I noticed a lot of too is backstage energy. I don't know if it's just because of the heat or because of how long you spend, how much time you're spending acting in a day. But just, a lot of people, I see a lot of people like finish with their show and then they head backstage and they're just wiped. Not quite as much as what happens in traditional theater. I think it can affect shows sometimes. Yeah, I know. It's just mostly just the energy of it. It's way different. Whether you're acting or not. I realize this is a little bit of a diversion, but I noticed out of fair, you also had a single act. You pulled some audience members up and then told a story using magic tricks and props. What was the thought behind going in that direction? The props just came with the magic. I mean, for that act, it's an act where I'm portraying Marlin if he was young telling this story. Because it's both a magic trick and I'm telling this story and I'm the only person, aside from the volunteers and the only actor on stage, it just came up as necessary to have props be a part of it. It's not like a necessary evil or anything like that. It can become really helpful telling a story, especially if you can incorporate it into being both helpful as far as the magic goes and also contextualize within the story. I guess my larger question is what made you think and telling a story with magic was the way you wanted to go. It's sort of leaning towards making a magic act or a different performance, do you mean? Yes, I think that's there is a couple of things. I've always kind of wanted to do a show with magic because I love it. I used to watch episodes of The Masked Magician from the 90s. They got upload on Netflix. As far as bringing it to the rent fair, I felt like it was a perfect opportunity to add that because we just finished the Hobbit and so I played Gandalf so I already kind of had a wizard costume handy. If there was a time to try and do a magic deck, it's probably the best place to do it. Okay, well done, fair enough. Who am I forgetting now? Sam, have I done you for this one? Okay, then make this moment yours, my friend. Yeah, I think fair acting is a lot different. I mean, for one thing, it's the projection that I think everyone has talked about so far, but also on top of that, it's not just being loud. You have to be interesting. If there's like five people standing in a line talking on stage, the audience is going to want to go check out the other five million interesting things that are happening in the fair. You have to do something shocking enough to pull them in and have it high quality enough to keep them there, I think. When you're in a school theater, it's the only thing to watch. Their eyes aren't drawn to anything except the stage and maybe their cell phone if they're a bad audience member. And I think it's taught us all a lot to use in a school theater setting, though, because if you're in a situation where you need to be interesting, it nudges you to be interesting even when you don't need to, and that just makes you a better actor overall, I think. Now, wait a minute, are you the one who dove into the ground for the Pyramus, and Thisbee? Yes, yes, I am. I would like to point out for those listeners out there who remember a very young Adam Long, the gentleman here in front of me, in the middle of some dying soliloquy, he came off the stage. There was an empty picnic table, he died on the picnic table, then he saw somebody filming himself, and then he went somehow, he dove off the picnic table and onto the ground in front of the person filming, and then he staggered back to the stage, but fell in front of the stage, which was clearly not the place he needed to be to die, and then the actress playing Thisbee motion for you to get back on stage, and so you had to run back on the stage, which was about four feet off the ground, and then you reprise your death scene collapse so she could collapse upon you, and it was kind of that well, Adam Long would have done that, so well done to the both of you. That to me was another one of those. You couldn't do this in a real theater kind of thing, I mean it was truly incredible. Let's see, who haven't I talked to? Aidan? Okay, then it's your turn to talk, comparing contrast fair to other venues. Well, everyone's already said it, but like volume, hockey, you have to be really loud, and shows, I mean usually it's an auditorium, so like it all echoes, it's not when you are projecting, you don't have to like put your whole heart into it, and it's, I mean unless you are, then your voice isn't dead by the end of the show. At least that's how you should be doing it like, healthily, but at the Ren fair, it just gets to the point where you just kind of like yell it out, and I mean projects, but it does get to the point where like my voice is dead by Sunday. That's not something that happens in a normal theater. Another thing, like Ali said was audience interactions, that like you can do that a lot more at a Ren fair, like there's a bit in King Arthur where Ali and I, like we're searching for Guinevere and we're just kind of like running around the audience, just like asking people like, have you seen Guinevere, run up to Guinevere? Have you seen Guinevere? You got to do a lot of fun stuff with that, and that's not something you can do on a high school stage. Do you find yourself, and again, I'm flashing on the original King Arthur, because he would go out into the stage, and he would send my sort of grill people like, have you seen her? She's this tall, you know, you know, and try to describe the costume, and have you developed a sort of routine of pattern as you are in the audience looking for Guinevere or in situations like that? It's not that interactive. I kind of just like look under tables. If I'm feeling adventurous, I'll just run up to someone like threatening me like, where is she? And then like just run to the next person. It is a short bit though, so it can't be way too long because you got to run back up on stage. Did I get it? Everybody, I think so. Yes. The next question is, if you could start your own fair, what time or fantasy world would you set it in? And what would be your role in that Renaissance fair? And let's start with Oliver. Why don't we start with you this time? Man, this is tough. This is something I like to think about a lot, just sort of, I'm really interested in that sort of an idea of like making a, an experience that is immersive for people like telling a whole story. If I had to choose one idea, I think the LARP seem like a live action role playing stuff. Like real life Dungeons and Dragons, I've always thought that was very interesting. If you could design like a fair or an event or something featured around that using the sort of mechanics that they tend to have constructed experience for that, I think that'd be pretty cool. What would your role be in this Dungeons and Dragons fair? Just like a peasant. I don't know. I'm tempted to say, oh, I'd be, I'd be the king of this thing or whatever. But honestly, I think I'd probably just like to pick some kind of smaller role that gets me to interact with with a lot of people, whatever the story is. It's a big royal story, maybe some kind of lesser noble or something. Just just like a, there's a boots on the ground sort of where I get to directly give a lot of immersive experience to people. Really cool. Aiden, same question to you. If you could create your own immersive theater Renaissance fair village, what time period or fantasy worlds would it be and what would be your role in it? I have one, but I think that's Sam's answer. So I'm gonna do a different one. I think pirates are really cool. Golden Age of piracy, 16th century. That'd be really cool, like just seeing. What about that age attracts you or seems fun to reenact theatrically? Pirates are cool. I, I have like a lot of pirate stuff when I was a little kid. And one of my favorite shows revolves around piracy. And I don't know, like when you, look, I have just once again, that's my dog. I'm sorry. But I don't know. I guess it also just be cool, because like, like you said, like everyone, there's so many pirate costumes at the Renaissance fair. I don't know what's happening out there, but something is there something you need to take care of or? No, I think they're just barking at reflections. They do that. What kind of dogs do you have? One's a laboratory. And the other is, we don't even know some sort of lab, but he's really small. But yeah, so like, sorry, like you were saying, seeing how many people like cosplay and costume as pirates at the Renaissance fair, like it makes me wonder what a whole fair revolves around distinctly that would look like. And what role would you reserve for yourself at this pirate Renaissance fair? I don't really have an idea in particular, just I don't know. I guess whatever really works, I don't really care. I just want to see the idea of like, I want to see how everyone else would react to that. And I think like the whole experience would be really cool if they made something like that. Fair enough. I think that if I had an award for interview slash improv given under greatest duress, you and your dogs would win it hands down. So thank you very much. I think I'm going to go to Sam next and ask him what your Renaissance fair would look like. And what role would you be in it? I've thought about this. Okay, so it'd be a pretty large barrel, right? I'm imagining it's mill Earth. Okay, there's different, you know how Disney has like different sections of the park or different things? Like there's like the wild west place and the place that's like Toy Story. It'd be like that, but for different areas of Middle Earth, they'd be like a little part for the Shire and there'd be one for Mordor and Rohan and Gondor. And then the whole fair would be have like a track around it. And the main reason that people would go to the fair is because there's like not a marathon, but like a walkathon. That is the distance that Sam and Frodo traveled to Mordor on foot. And then they could walk the track that amount of time and it'd be a whole thing. It'd be so fun. And what part would you play in the day-to-day activities of this? You said it this fair up. You can give yourself any part. I think I would want to be the eye of Sauron and I had to have like a big flashlight that I could shine at people and annoy everyone. I forget. Is he on a mountain or something? Yeah, it's it's in Mordor. He's has the Tower of Barador. So yeah, I'd have to be on something high up with my big flashlight. Annoying people. That's the key part, I suppose. Ali finally bring us to a conclusion in this question. Okay, so it's going to be very similar to the Renaissance fair, but it's a dinner experience. And everyone likes to focus on the joust, right? So we have four jousters. They're wearing colors like red, green, blue, and yellow. And like it's a full-on dining experience. Like we put them in this like little arena that's inside this like castle like structure. And we don't give them silverware. They don't get silverware. They have to eat like chicken and corn and like potatoes without silverware at all. And then there's like a queen and a king. They switch off some nights, you know, talking about who's like leading the festivities and whatever. But there's like this green knight and he's a real bad dude. So he's going to get into a fight the red knight during their joust and they're like going to get off their horses and like bite and like duke it out. And it's going to be this whole thing. And like people have to cheer for their night to make sure like their night's winning. And the night who gets the loudest cheer or like wins their joust gets like this super cool like headpiece they get to wear. And what is your role in this? You're the horse? Yes, the clip-flop guy. Are you the good guy's horse or the bad guy's horse? It depends on feeling that day. What in your personal experience would inform your performance as a horse? I think it'd be neat because you know it'd be like niche parts of America that you have to like drive like 40 minutes to get to like it isn't an everyday thing. It's like a special thing like Olive Garden. I think I'm going to move along. The way I conceive this is a sequential character that somebody will start and then I will interact with and then I'll say something like and I see you've brought your friend. And so whoever is the next person incorporates what the first person has said so that the first person is basically giving the parameters for this world and everybody going along goes along. So it's not how quick you can be. It's just a listening and contributing exercise rather than who can yell the loudest, funniest, fastest. Okay, Ali, I'd like to start with you. Your character is you, you are you and your age and accept you've won the Academy Award. Whoa, that's insane. So what I want from you is first of all, tell me the Academy Award you've won and give me your acceptance speech. And you can take as long as you like with your acceptance speech. Okay, I am accepting the award for best ensemble dead body in the background of a scene. Yes, I did get stepped on 40 times for one take. Yes, I enjoyed it. I would like to thank my mother who taught me how to be a dead body, not by being dead, but she taught me to lie very, very still. Also, I'd like to thank my cats who also taught me to lie very, very still or else they would get off with me. I don't want that. I would like to thank my middle school drama teacher for teaching me how to die in productions. My first death was in my first show of Lion the Witch in the Wardrobe. I played the bad wolf. His name was Fenris Olf and I got a sword that was really cool. But I'd like thank her because I died in a few other productions. And then I guess my high school teacher. My math teacher was really good in high school. He let me work with him one on one because I was very bad at math. And then another high school teacher. My biology teacher, she wrote me a letter recommendation. That was very nice of her. And I guess my drama teacher, he was fine too. I would also like to thank the director for casting me in this role of dead body number four. It has been an incredible pleasure. And I would like to continue this career further. Thank you so much. Nicely done. Okay. I think I will do Sam next. You are still Ali. It's the morning after the Academy Awards. And you are doing the circuit of early morning TV shows and giving interviews. Okay. And let's say this is a podcast called A.M. Beaverton. And so welcome to A.M. Beaverton. We're really, really fortunate today to have as our guest the winner of the Academy Award for being stepped on in the background. I'm talking of course about our very own Ali. Welcome Ali. Thank you so much for having me. Now, I imagine you didn't get a lot of sleep last night. What time did you get bed? Oh, I went to bed around 3 a.m. I couldn't sleep because I was dreaming of like stilettos and snowshoes and all sorts of shoes stepping on me. What initially attracted you to this role? Well, as a young child, I was known for playing dead. I gave quite a few of my elementary school teachers quite a scare when they came out for recess. They would see me lying down on the ground with like a bark chip in my chest and just, you know, my eyes weren't blinking. I also hold the world record for for a staring contest at 13 minutes and 15 seconds. That was at the staring contest in Oslo last year, wasn't it? Yes, it was. Yeah. You upheld the honor of Beaverton proud in Oslo. I didn't used to wear glasses and then I went to that contest and now I wear glasses. Changing gears a bit, you were recently voted the worldwide critics circle greatest new talent and Billboard has noted you as a worldwide number one box office star for the second year running. Why do you think you are so successful on so many levels? Well, to answer that question, I would have to say it's because I'm ginger. There's only a few of us left in the world and I think my red hair and while I'm lying dead, I think it just gives the audience something crave and they keep coming back for more. To follow up on that, how do you manage to say so humble? I don't. Okay, moving right along. Sources tell me that you have had tryouts with both the Lakers and the Dodgers and they went very, very well. A Dodger manager Dave Roberts has called you a one in a million tallian and the Laker coach, whose name I don't know, called your half court jumper money in the bank. How did you think you did? And if you have to choose between the two, which direction do you think you'll go? Well, I think I really did fantastic in both tryouts. I am only five feet and three inches. So the teammates sort of lifted me up and then I like tossed the ball into the net. But honestly, I don't know which team I'll go with because I'm excellent at dodging lakes. And so I just, they both seem so close to my heart. Would you rather stay in acting or go into professional sports? I see this is a very hard question for me. But I think I'm going to find a mix between the two. The current plan is to go into professional wrestling and create a character. I think the main it'll be a playing dead will be my main gimmick. So your doctor zombie or something is? Yeah, sounds good. Well, I see you've brought another friend with you to the audience and we'll make Oliver the next friend. This friend was also nominated for this coveted academy award, but lost. Thank you for coming, Oliver. And how did you sleep last night after losing? Well, I like to think I slept like the dead, but I guess that's not a super accurate statement, is it? No, I slept fine. Well, let's cut to it. How does it feel to lose? It's good. Man, you know, they say they say losing is a really good learning experience and they say that a lot. And I can't. It's, it's good. I'm happy. I'm happy. I'm so happy from a good friend, Alice Gripte. I've been told by my sources that you actually turned down the role that got Ali the Academy Award. How does that feel? I guess, you know, I just didn't see like the dead body number four and I didn't. When they first started doing auditions for Annie, I didn't think the dead body number four would be like a particularly good role in that show or very popular, but so I guess that's, I guess the bags on me in that case. But instead, you accepted another role in the same film. What role was that? Yeah, Annie. I was an Annie, actually. And I thought, I thought I did pretty good. Yeah. I thought I was pretty good. It was a lot of fun. I love my comfort role. Up till now, your most famous role has been for the spokesperson for Benny's used muffler store located somewhere outside of Medford. How does it feel to be a muffler spokesperson? You know, it's, I don't, they do, they have me do a lot of things. And it doesn't, it doesn't always feel good to have the, to have the, they make a lot of jokes about, oh, it's the mufflers even work on me. And it doesn't always feel good, you know. How does the castan feel as you're dressed in the foam rubber muffler? It's probably pretty good. I don't know. I couldn't tell you. One other thing before we go, the slogan for Benny's muffler is Benny's mufflers make it go smooth. Could you share with us your characteristic rendition of the slogan to make people want to buy a used muffler from Benny. Benny's mufflers make it go smooth. Can you just do it spontaneously? I'll give you a minute. Oh gosh, hold up. Benny's muffler makes it go smooth. Wow, I think that's why it's become a cliche of the greater Salem area. Well done. I see you brought your friend, Aiden, the director of the film. So Aiden, welcome. How did you sleep last night? I think that sucked pretty good considering all the hard work of casting in all the awards. I won for that film of Annie, The Remake sequel is pretty good. What attracted you to this project in the first place? Well, you see, when I was a young child, Annie was my favorite musical, that is actually true. And I just felt the sense of nostalgia and after the ending, where they all lived happily ever after, life's not always like that. So I wanted to show the more realistic version. That's why you might see cast names such as Dead Body #4. And Annie, that's all we have here with us. That's the whole cast. It's a two-man show. So I'm trying to get from you what is the message you want the audience to walk away with after seeing this film? Be careful what you wish for. Okay, why did you decide to set this film in the White House? Well, you know, a lot of stuff happens in the White House. And I felt that Mr. Warbucks wasn't, like, he wasn't famous enough. He didn't have enough wealth. So I figured that we might as well use the White House while, you know, like the whole the presidents are away. And now Mr. Warbucks is the president. And that's that's why it's there now. Were you surprised that Taylor Swift decided to make a cameo in this film? Yes, considering it was a two-man show. Well, did you know her before you asked her to be in this non-existent role? Uh, sorry, can you repeat that question? I did not really. Taylor Swift makes an uncredited cameo in this film. Did you know her before you invited her to be in the film? No, but I have hired, well, yes, actually, I lied. I didn't know a little bit about her. That is why she does not have credit because as many people would say she's the problem. It's her. Well, that leads into my next question, which is how was it to work with her? She was the problem. Well, I think that brings to a conclusion another episode of A.M. Beaverton. Shannon, would you like to take us out of here? Certainly. Well, hopefully, people in the Beaverton region and our listeners everywhere come to see our exciting new season come to Canterbury Fair and Shrewsbury Fair, which will be in September. And we also have a very busy year coming up. We're going to be doing the Adams Family Musical Homes for the Holidays, which is a murder mystery Sherlock Holmes-based holiday play. We're going to do three really awesome student-directed projects. One of them is going to be a play that was written by a student called Townsman Townsman about a townsman who's in a town called Townsman, I think. We're going to do the Outsiders, a student-directed interpretation of Breakfast Club, and we're going to end the year with Be More Chill, which is a kind of a futuristic musical, which should be fun. Our goal this year is to top last year. Last year was just awesome. It was amazing. Our goals are very high. Our aim is high. That's what we're going to do, and I hope people can see. Where can people find out more information and dates and where to get tickets and all that stuff? Glad you asked, Dan. We are on the Interweb. We are available on the Beaverton High School website. There's a tab, as the kids call it, there's a tab for performing arts, and we reside there. You can buy your tickets there and you can get all your information there. Even Bardibrat information is available there. Well, thank you, Shannon, and the Bardibrat's Oliver, Sam, Ali, and Aiden for coming by A.M. Beaverton for visiting and coming with all your questions and energy. It's been wonderful. Thank you very much. This has been another episode of Bear Folk at Work, and it's time for me to find the Stop Recording button. Oh, how about this one? That was my August 2024 interview with Shannon Derry and his students from Beaverton High School, Oliver, Samwise, Ali, and Aiden. If you have questions or comments you'd like me to pass along to Shannon, you can email me them at djng@earthlink.net. If you have questions or comments for me, you can email me at djng@earthlink.net. And finally, if you or somebody you know would like to be a guest on Fair Folk at Work, contact me at djng@earthlink.net. I'm your host Dan McLaughlin, and thanks for listening to another episode of Fair Folk at Work. We're all done this time, so bye-bye and see you next time.