Fine and Not So Fine Arts
This category includes dance, art, theater and music related posts.
Hoarding is not collection development
Real Men Like Poetry
Rough Men, Tough Men
Poems of Action and Adventure
Cole, ed.
1969
This book caught my eye for both the title and the cover art. I think the orange pirate look on the guy is a bit creepy. I also want to remind the editor that ladies can be rough, tough and appreciate a bit of blood and gore in their poetry as well.
The poetry itself is from a variety of authors, including Shakespeare, Tennyson and Swift. There is a lot of good stuff here, but the packaging is geared to elementary school boys from the late 1960s.
Mary
Mediocre Magic
Nothing’s Impossible!
Stunts to Entertain and Amaze
Sheridan
1982
Need to up your entertainment skills? These guys have the solution. Basic magic, stunts and some positive affirmations are what this book offers. The tricks aren’t well explained either and others are just riffing on stuff kids already know. Sample tricks: wooden match and a safety pin, cutting an apple, and for the big finish, lifting a guy off the chair. I doubt if anyone would get a contract in a Vegas showroom with any of these tricks.
I think I will make this one disappear!
Shazam!
Mary
Funny Ha Ha?
How to be Really Funny
Stolzenberg
1988
I’m not sure a book can tell you how to be funny, whoops, I mean really funny, but this book does. It literally tells you what is funny. Example: simple mindedness also known as a “nice way to say stupid”. On the plus side, there are discussions about some excellent talent such as Lily Tomlin, Steve Martin, Johnny Carson, and Jack Benny. For what it’s worth, I would think this book is more about improv and comedic acting than just “being funny”. Even for 1988, this one had too many references to shows in the 1960s and earlier. (Find me a kid that knows about the show Laugh In heck, even their parents probably won’t know.)
“Say Goodnight, Dick”
Mary