Search Results for: label/Brian Feldman

Tilikunundrum

Posted on by Thor

I decided to get up as early as possible on a Saturday morning to sketch Brian Feldman as he began his eighteen hours of confinement in a stranger’s bathtub, one hour for each year Tilikum the orca has been held captive in a space of comparative size at SeaWorld® Orlando. In a YouTube video, Jean-Michel Cousteau lamented the tragic death of a Sea World® trainer. Perhaps the time has come to stop keeping these beautiful mammals in captivity. Terry and I had the opportunity to see a pod of orcas as they hunted and played off the coast of Washington State. Terry, who grew up in San Diego, loved to watch Shamu perform at SeaWorld®. After seeing orcas in the open ocean, however, she no longer has any desire to see them jump through hoops for fish handouts.

I got to “Sea House®” at about seven in the morning. There were quite a few cars parked in the street outside the home, so I knew I was in the right place. The sun was just beginning to warm up the sky. I knocked once and then opened the front door. I followed the sound of splashing water and made my way to a tiny bathroom where I found Brian’s father sitting on a toilet trying to bring up some YouTube videos of the SeaWorld® Shamu show. Brian was just getting into the tub to begin his performance. On the laptop screen there were two video streams. There was a major problem however, the tub had no stopper! Brian tried to keep the water in the tub by pressing his foot over the drain, but I could hear the water flowing out into the drain. Brian’s father put out a request online for anyone to get a stopper. Brian had to lean forward every few minutes to refill the tub. Once he turned the wrong knob and the shower sprayed down on his head.

After I was halfway finished with my sketch, Lili McDonald arrived at the front door with a brand new tub stopper in hand. She was an instant hero. Brian’s father had to get to work so he said goodbye. Lili took his inglorious seat and took over laptop duty. For the duration of his performance Brian had the bombastic “inspirational” music from the SeaWorld® Shamu show playing in the background. Lilli, who is techno-savvy, set up the YouTube video to play in a loop so the music went uninterrupted. Having to listen to this music over and over again is enough to make any thinking breathing mammal go postal. I applaud Brian for the unconventional way he demonstrated against keeping orcas in captivity.

I later spoke with Mary Hill, who once worked at SeaWorld®. She pointed out how devastated she was by the conditions of the animals kept in captivity. They were treated humanely, but in the wild they have ranges of thousands of miles. Being restricted in an enclosure is hard for any animal. She used to conduct backstage tours for guests. Backstage there is an area where polar bears go when guests are no longer in the park. She told me there was super thick one-way glass which could keep the bears from seeing or smelling handlers. One bear was particularly neurotic. He would pace in a set pattern all day and rub his head up against a fiberglass “rock” until all the fur on his neck was rubbed raw. They would move the “rock” but then he would just reverse his pattern and then rub the fur off somewhere else in the process. She went into work early in the mornings just to sit with her back against the thick glass, and she would meditate and pray for the animal. On the second day of doing this, the bear sat with his back up against the glass where Mary sat. It is as if he knew she was there sending him good will.

The death of the SeaWorld® trainer is tragic and perhaps it will cause this multi-million dollar industry to rethink using orcas as a form of entertainment if only for a moment.

Amanda in the Sky with Guy Mans

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The Met Life Snoopy One blimp came to Orlando to fly over the Arnold Palmer Invitational golf tournament. Amanda Chadwick approached the folks who pilot the Met Life Blimp to see if she could go along for a ride, and believe it or not they said yes! She was told to invite two friends. She invited me to sketch the event and Brian Feldman to stream the flight live on TheDailyCity.com. The day prior to our flight, I saw the blimp while I was driving to work at Full Sail, so I decided to sketch it after work. The blimp was held in place by a strong red and white mooring mast and it would change positions like a weather vane every time the wind changed direction.
I was nervous and excited as the day approached. For Amanda, this was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. Brian considered flying a remote control blimp inside the gondola, but that plan had been vetoed. The three of us decided to carpool to Orlando Executive Airport where the blimp was moored. She drove to the airport bundled with energy; playing a rap song on the radio which Brian then started making up blimp related lyrics to. She called her mom and explained where her will was, should that be needed, as Brian rolled his eyes. Since I had been to the launch site the day before, I navigated to the road which leads to the air traffic control tower. There were no security fences to worry about, we just drove right up to the blimp launch site. We were shocked, however, because upon arrival there was no blimp! We scanned the horizon in all directions, but it was nowhere in sight. Amanda drove right up to the trailers parked on the launch site and we piled out thinking our dreams of flying had been deflated. She asked a man who was resting in a trailer what the story was, and he explained that the pilot had taken the blimp for a spin and would be back in fifteen minutes. We let out a collective sigh.
While we waited, we wandered out to the mooring mast and checked out the portable air blowers which they must use to help keep the blimp inflated. There was also an assortment of Helium tanks strewn about near the airport fence. Then I saw it, a small bulbous shape on the horizon. I pointed and shouted, “Thar she blows!” The wind was fairly strong so the blimp’s nose kept diving down and then pulling back up as it fought it’s way up wind. A crew of about 8 men and women gathered on the field and grabbed the ropes hanging off the blimp when it landed on the grass with its nose in the wind. Small wheels were under the gondola and on the bottom tail fin. The handlers grabbed ropes which hung from the front of the blimp, and then they dragged the blimp over to its mooring mast keeping the nose facing into the wind the whole time. Within moments, Geoff, our pilot, got in and we loaded in. Amanda took the co-pilot seat, and Brian and I loaded in the back along with his marquee sign.
The moment the engines fired up and we began to move was exhilarating. The nose of the blimp pointed up and we were in the air. Each of us were given headphones with mics so we could talk to one another. My mic, however, didn’t work. The pilot suggested I wiggle the jacks where it plugged into the gondola. Great, things were already going wrong. What had I gotten myself into!? The blimp flies much faster than I thought it would. The pilot said we were going 45 miles an hour, and soon we were flying over the buildings of downtown. It seemed like every time we went over a lake, the nose of the blimp would point sharply down and we would start a nose dive. I had to put my foot on the back of Amanda’s chair and brace myself by grabbing the window latch. Brian pointed out that I was grabbing the emergency escape latch, so I grabbed the window frame instead! The pilot would pull back and make the correction and then the metal marquee sign would fall back and hit Brian and I in the knees. I was so worried I might not finish my sketch, that I lost track of our many close calls. I wiggled my headset jacks again and finally got a crackling signal. I could hear everybody in the cabin now but they didn’t seem to hear me. Isn’t that always the case? Brian said he saw a man running in a parking lot with a Batman cape on. He deduced it might be a crime taking place. We finally reached the golf tournament and could see all the cars parked on grass fields. It was a quiet green automotive oasis. We were a little too high up to see Tiger Woods, but I’m sure I found the street I live on.
When we finally made it back on solid ground, I was feeling a little queasy from all the movements of the blimp. Amanda and Brian both admitted that they got a bit motion sick as well. Amanda rested on the hood of her car talking to friends on her cell and Brian talked to the ground crew and drank plenty of water. We watched for an hour as the crew loaded a large TV camera in the blimp for shooting aerial footage of the golf tournament. As I sketched, members of the field crew came over to see what I was working on. We asked a crew member if he could take a photo of us to commemorate the day. As Amanda drove us back from the airport, she leaned back from the steering wheel and shouted, “I want more adventures!” Since she is looking, she is bound to find them.

Maupin!

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Elizabeth Maupin was the theater critic for the Orlando Sentinel for 26 years. She decided it was time to leave the paper and start a new chapter in her life. In honor of her final day on the job, Brian Feldman read selected reviews she had written for the Sentinel. This eight hour event was broadcast live on brianfeldman.com, Qik, Vokle and Livestream. Viewers were encouraged to request specific reviews with names and dates of the productions. When I asked Brian if I could sketch this performance, he tried to encourage me to sketch from the comfort of my home. I had to explain that sketching a computer screen didn’t offer the life and vitality that I get when I am sketching places the audience usually doesn’t get to see. On the day of the event he fired off the address. When I arrived I had some trouble seeing the building numbers, but then I spotted his tell-tale mini marquee sign in a ground floor window. Since he was reading all day, he simply left the door open and I slipped in without a sound. I immediately sat down and started sketching. Brian never even turned to see who had entered, he is such a pro.
The space was an amazing twisted technological mess. Wires snaked around the floor and posters and assorted paperwork were hung everywhere. It was ironic that all the audience could see was a single Shakespeare poster behind Brian. That poster was the one note of decorative calm in the storm. Some review requests were also rather ironic. For instance, a request came in to read a review that changed a playwright’s life. He wrote a play and was so excited when it got to the stage. However, Elizabeth’s review was so scathing, that he decided to give up the theater and work in city planning. Many of the reviews were Fringe related. Brian was constantly scanning the multiple screens and windows to bring up reviews and try and keep all the video streams working. This was a nonstop juggling act with many stops and starts.
Elizabeth has just started a new blog titled “Elizabeth Maupin on Theater“, so the next chapter of her life has already begun. The theater community can sigh with relief, since Elizabeth’s voice and opinions will still be heard.

Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival

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On Friday March 19th, the 51st Annual Winter Park Art Sidewalk Festival started. I decided to go right after work at Full Sail when Kathy Blackmore told me that there was going to be a jazz band featuring songwriter Peter White kicking off the night’s festivities on the main stage. I knew I had other commitments over the weekend, so this would likely be my only chance to sketch the Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival. I would be exhibiting my art at the Outsider Art Fair at Frames Forever (941 Orange Avenue Winter Park). There, I plan to sketch Doug Rhodehamel, who makes his unmistakable mushrooms out of brown paper bags, and Brian Feldman, who will be performing “sleepwalk 2, i walk over you”. Both of these are priceless sketch opportunities.
When I arrived at the festival, I wandered and soaked in the energy and excitement of all people gathered for the event. The outdoor cafes were packed. Conversations were buzzing. My pace quickened. As I looked through several artists booths, I ran into Terry and Rick Loewen. Terry and Rick are old friends from ORCA which stands for Orlando Reef Caretakers Association. Terry and Rick informed me that ORCA would be hosting the Marine Aquarium Conference of North America this September, so this is certainly an event I hope to sketch. They told me I could get a hotel room discount at the Marriott Resort, which didn’t make sense at first. But then they told me they would have a Margarita making machine in their room and I agreed, a hotel room was a great idea! If you happen to work at the Marriott, I made that last piece of business up.
I was anxious to find my way to the Winter Park Arts Festival jazz, so I told Rick and Terry I would see them by the main stage. The lawn in front of the stage was already crowded. I walked down the sidewalk and found a spot between artist’s tents where I could sit. I of course started sketching immediately since the sun was setting. A couple asked if they could sit in the spot next to me and, of course, I agreed. When I was about halfway through the sketch, the man seated next to me who was sipping a red wine, put his hand on my shoulder and said, “I love your work, can I see the sketch?” The watercolor was still wet in spots, but I handed it over. He shared it with his wife and they agreed, that they wanted to buy it. I gave him my card so he could check out the blog and told him to leave a comment if he still wanted it. I hope I have found another reader!
The Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival continues at Central Park in Winter Park through March 21st at 5 PM.

Chemonologues

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Marilyn Wattman, a cancer survivor, wrote Chemonologues and I went to the first reading of the play at Theatre Downtown (2113 North Orange Avenue). The play reading was supported by a professional development grant from United Arts. When I got to the theater, the front doors were locked. Tommy Wingo was also waiting with a huge collection of sound equipment. He made a cell phone call to Brian Feldman, Marilyn’s son, and was told to knock loudly. Sure enough, after several loud knocks the doors opened. Marilyn immediately greeted us and showed us into the theater. Tommy set up in the center section and I sat down at stage left and started sketching the stage area. I used my time by penciling all the chairs in the proper locations and when the actors arrived I sketched each in ink on a chair. The theater is a dark intimate space and I fell in love with it immediately.
Chemonologues is set up as a cancer survivors support group. Marilyn interviewed dozens of cancer survivors in order to find the different voices in the play. She began as a reporter but over time realized she was personally and intimately involved. During the talk back after the reading, Mr. Feldman got choked up as he described how Marilyn hated going to support groups. He continued by pointing out the never-ending costs of cancer; medical bills keep piling up and there is no way for the family to deal with it.
Several times during the reading characters clashed and disagreed, but overall the play was more educational rather than dramatic. The information is presented in a preachy manner at times rather than being presented through conversation and action. For me, the play ran too long, but I can see the amazing potential in the premise. One audience member pointed out that too many of the characters in the play were in the acceptance stages of the disease. She wanted to see other stages of grief and denial, like anger, bargaining and depression. She pointed out that it would be nice to get more of a feeling of the day-to-day struggles of living with cancer, and how our health care system often leaves survivors up the creek without a paddle.
The harsh realities presented in this play are difficult to face, but I do feel I understand and can empathize more with families that have to live with the disease. Most everyone I know has had their family touched by cancer at some point and yet it is not something that we talk about very often. This play is a diamond in the rough that could still use some more polishing.
Thumbs up to the cast who only read the play once before this reading and to Marilyn who is taking bold chances, and I hope she continues to do so.

iMove_2.0: iCandy

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The romantic and playful evening of iMove_2.0: iCandy has come and gone, so now I must simply report on what you missed. The multiple dance routines took place in a large open warehouse. My wife, Terry, and I were the first to enter. Brian Feldman was on hand to offer any crowd control that might be needed. There was no assigned seating. As a matter of fact there was just one couch, so for the duration of the evening people milled about gathering in different areas of the warehouse to watch the various dances. I said hello to Zac Alfson who was busy seeing if he could get his tweets up on the big screen. I think he also was taking photos with his phone all night.
What I loved about the show is that art truly imitated life in this open and vibrant setting. The dancers between dances, would mill about the room checking their iPhones or chatting playfully on old telephones with cords! It was fascinating because many of the audience members were themselves tweeting or checking Facebook status updates. They bowed reverently to the glowing information presented on palm sized screens. Terry can be seen checking her iPhone to the right. A screen on the far wall scrolled tweets and movies were projected on large seamless walls. A kissing booth was set up but it offered no actual privacy so I think it went unused. The Twitter bird icon was animated, flying about the room on the walls. Love letters and long streamers with love notes and hearts were everywhere. I picked up a strawberry flavored heart lollipop and put it in my pocket for later.
I sat on my portable stool next to Genevieve Bernard, the choreographer, and I heard her say “Nice choice” when a dancer had to adjust her movement to avoid running into the crowd. Genevieve said she was nervous right before the event because she was concerned people might not understand this open playful way of presenting a performance. Once she saw everyone was mingling and sipping wine, she relaxed and enjoyed the show. She even went out of her way and got me a red wine while I sketched. I spilled a little on the sketch in the upper left hand corner but I don’t think it hurt anything.
Doug Rhodehamel, an amazing local artist, stopped over and said hello. I have been trying to arrange to sketch him hard at work on his Spore Project. He explained that there might be a mushroom making party next week sometime, which would offer the perfect sketching opportunity.
My favorite dance routine of the evening involved three dancers who began the dance seated in three chairs. Two of the dancers, Leah Marke and Amanda Oost Bradberry, were constantly drawn to each other in romantic embraces circling and becoming closer, while the third dancer, McClaine Timmerman, would try and get close to the couple while never fully becoming part of the couples dance. In the end she remained alone, her staccato movements reaching towards the heavens as if imploring, yet never answered.

Carousel of Progress 35th Anniversary

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To commemorate the Carousel of Progress’ 35th anniversary at the Magic Kingdom, Brian Feldman decided to experience the ride, his favorite, for as long as the park was open that day – 11 hours straight. In order for me to sketch Brian’s performance, I had to arrange some way to get into the park without paying a fortune. I put out a request via Facebook, and Lon Smart, a former Disney Feature Animation colleague, offered to get me in. As I was driving down World Drive toward the Magic Kingdom, Brian Feldman gave me a call and explained that he had arranged for a travel agency to supply him with a ticket. When he got to the Disney World will call ticket booth, he was asked for his ID or drivers license. It was only then that he realized he had forgotten his license, at home: it was sitting on the kitchen table. Brian’s performance had been on the news that morning, yet the Cast Member stood fast and refused to give him the ticket.

I called Lon who was converging on the Magic Kingdom on his motorcycle, trying to explain the situation, but our connection was cut off. When I met Brian at the Monorail, I told him Lon might be able to save the day and get both of us in. As we waited at the entrance to the Magic Kingdom, Brian and I both noticed a man holding a black box with a yellow cord hanging from it that looked suspiciously like a fuse. I was standing near a trash can and the man approached me and dropped something inside the can. Needless to say,I backed away from the trash can quickly. The man later handed the black box to someone else who walked away with it. We never did find out what was in the black box.

Lon arrived and was happy to get both Brian and myself into the park. As we walked down Main Street, U.S.A., Lon explained to us that the Carousel of Progress is slated to be disassembled and moved to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. He knows what will replace the attraction, but is sworn to secrecy.

There was no line to get on the Carousel of Progress. Brian and I entered the theater the first time with six or seven other people. A Cast Member announced, “Please no eating, drinking, video or photography.” They did not say anthing about sketching, so I immediately set up my portable stool so I could look down the front row of the theater with Brian in the foreground, and started to sketch. The Carousel tells the story of the evolution of technology in 20th century America. According to the show introduction, “The Carousel of Progress has had more performances than any other stage show in the history of American theater”. With robots.

After the first performance of the Carousel was over, Brian and I remained seated and waited for the next audience. A few people trickled in and the show began again. A Carousel Cast Member approached me and asked, “Is that Fred?” I responded, “No.” He then said, “I heard that someone named Fred was going to ride the attraction all day”. I then introduced him to Brian. Brian was not pleased that I had blown his cover. I had placed the entire mission in jeopardy. As I sketched, I noticed video cameras positioned in the corners of the attraction to watch the audience. After the next performance of the Carousel was over, two more gentlemen approached us and said they were there to help us. My sketch was not finished yet, and I was suspicious. “May I help you?” usually means quite the opposite. They said we could get on the ride all day, but we would have to exit each time and then re-enter. They told us we could stand at a roped off area so we didn’t have to get to the back of the line each time. But really, come on… “what line?” This was the Carousel of Progress, not Space Mountain!

With the next performance, the ride broke down, and the audience was treated to the same performance by the same animatronics a second time. Over the PA system, a woman who sounded like a flight attendant, asked everyone to quietly and calmly exit the theater. We found ourselves on the backlot and had to walk around to get back in the park.

We didn’t know how long the ride would be down, so I started a sketch of Brian as he checked his iPhone and talked to the friendly Cast Member informing gusts of the ride’s temporary closure. Before I finished the sketch the ride began again, so it took a little less than two hours for it to be fixed. All during that time, people had to be turned away. Buttons were being handed out in the park announcing the ride’s 35th anniversary, so some people were curious.

It took me a while to find Brian again since there are five different theaters, each letting the audience exit in different spots. I experienced the ride a few more times to finish the sketch. It broke down once again, this time in the living room of tomorrow. In this scene, the oven is programed to work via voice activation, and as the family of tomorrow jokes about a high score on a video game, the oven raises the temperature to match the game score, burning the dinner. Smoke billows out of the oven. We had to sit through the same scenario several times, each time having more smoke fill the theater. One woman rushed past me saying, “I’m getting out of here!” When I got out of the theater, I decided my sketch was finished. Brian continued to ride the attraction for the rest of the day. This might be the most daring and dangerous performance he has ever done.

“There’s a great, big, beautiful tomorrow, shining at the end of every day. There’s a great, big, beautiful tomorrow, just a dream away!”

United Arts Professional Development Grants

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I assumed that attending the United Arts Professional Development Grants Panel meeting, at the Enzian Theater, would be a boring experience. Sketching this process was quite the opposite. I arrived a bit late, and embarrassed, sat at the table closest to the entry door. I agonized for a moment thinking maybe I should move up closer to the panel table to get a better view. Then I noticed that Aradhana Tiwari and Zac Alfson were sitting at the table in front of me, and Beth Marshall, Dewey Chaffee and Douglas McGeoch were seated at the table to my right. I was surrounded by friends and decided an overall view of the room full of artists was the correct vantage point for my sketch.
After I started blocking in the sketch, one of the first orders of business was Michael Poley talking about how he wanted to produce a half hour documentary about an artist who explores Orlando, sketching every aspect of the arts scene. Several panelists didn’t know what he meant by sketches, were these theatrical sketches, poems or moments in time? Some panelists who knew of my work started praising what I am doing. This was something akin to sitting in on my own eulogy. None of the panelists knew I was in the room sketching. I finally decided to march up to the panel and hand over my most recent sketchbook as people’s exhibit A. Michael said this stunt helped him gain some points, and I certainly hope he gets the $1000 grant: which, if he does, will still have him investing over four thousand dollars of his own money into the project. This is humbling. I hope my sketches and stories do not let him down.
Artists who were submitting applications for grants had to defend their positions, often being asked how the grant money would help them grow as artists rather than focusing on the techniques of their craft. Dewey Chaffee has just taken a huge plunge by not renewing his contract to work at Disney. He certainly could use the boost a grant would offer now, but the panel seemed convinced that his character Wayburn Sassy was fully developed with no room for growth. One panelist seemed to think Wayburn just offers shock value, but Dewey explained that the character gives people a way to laugh at bigotry and narrow-mindedness. Orlando, in my mind, certainly needs Wayburn Sassy.
When Hannah Miller was asked to discuss her puppetry show called “Thunder Hag“, one of the panelists leaned back too far and broke their chair. There was an awkward pause, and Hannah asked if he was alright. Aradhana Tiwari put in a grant to study Viewpoints with the SITI Company and its artistic director Anne Bogart in NYC. Aradhana walked up to the panel and sat as close as possible. She was poised, confident and eloquent. She discussed “Project F” at some length and from the panelists responses, it sounds like she is sure to get the grant. As one panelist remarked,”You are up and coming, go to New York and make it happen.”
After the panel discussion broke for lunch, a small group of artists remained standing around the snack table, eating the free pretzels. For me, this was lunch before I went to the next location to sketch. Brian Feldman remarked, “All the real artists in the room are still here.” It was fun joking around with these artists, all of them friends, and discovering how they felt about the process. For some, it was like facing the Spanish Inquisition, but there was also comedy and unlimited human potential to be discovered in the room that day.

MOOM at Blank Space

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MOOM stands for Meeting of the Orlando Minds. I attended the sixth MOOM hosted by Mark Baratelli’s TheDailyCity.com at Blank Space (201 East Central Boulevard). Eighteen people were present. Jeff Wirth called the meeting to order and we all started by introducing ourselves around the table. Once the introductions were out of the way, Jeff asked us all to break up into groups of four or five people, with each person expected to quickly outline what they might need in the following year to help in the creative work they were doing. I was skeptical. I have never been one to specifically ask for assistance, and yet people have found me over the course of the last year and assisted in ways I never would have imagined. Well when it came my turn to talk about this blog, I said I just needed people who could assist me in trying to locate interesting cultural events at which I could sketch. To my amazement, the young woman seated next to me named Amber Mundinger said that she could help me on all counts. She is the Marketing and Special Events Coordinator for Downtown Orlando. My jaw dropped. She is as excited as I am to discover Orlando through sketches. It is a New Year’s resolution to finally contact her at her office and discuss how we can help each other reveal to the world Orlando’s growing cultural community.
My other humble request was to find out if anyone knew a web designer who might be able to help me update and improve Analog Artist Digital World as it rolls into 2010. To my right was seated Arianne Pemberton, and she said she knows an artist named John who could easily assist me. I am so excited. The arts community is proactively gaining strength from within its ranks and we all benefit.
Brian Feldman was with my group as well, and discussed how he might need help with a project he is planning with the Orlando Public Library. The project promotes literacy and I hope it can happen in 2010. Ambers humble request was for some timers, so that a lights display at Lake Eola Park could turn off automatically each night . I had two timers at home, but they were both in use and I felt bad not having any to lend to her.
I am reflecting on the supportive atmosphere that I felt at MOOM, as I face a whole new year with a rededication to post one sketch a day documenting Orlando and its art scene.

“Take My Beard, Please!”

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On New Year’s Eve at 7 PM Brian Feldman had his marquee sign set up outside Urban Stylez Barbershop at 7 North Rosalind Avenue, right across from the Orlando Public Library and next to Blank Space. To attract additional attention an 8-foot high inflatable barber pole also danced in the street. I arrived a little early and considered drawing the inflatable barber pole, but felt it would take too long. Minutes later, Brian arrived with his parents. Inside, he set out his Best of Orlando plaques on a ledge and disappeared into the back room of the barbershop. I asked which chair Brian would be seated in and the second chair was pointed out.
I started one sketch but felt I was too close to the action and the barber might block my view most of the time, so I started a second sketch which offered a better overview of the room. I started this second sketch drawing the fellow getting his hair buzzed. Then, when Brian stepped out and was seated I started blocking him in. Brian asked if anyone in the audience would like to have a first cut using scissors and Jeff Wirth stepped up to the plate. I sketched Brian’s head at the moment his beard was beginning to be buzzed off. He didn’t look happy about these first cuts. The beard came off in less than a minute, and then the straight edge was taken out to give Brian a really close shave. The chair was reclined and Brian’s face covered with a hot towel. He looked nervous as the straight edge was taken to his throat.
Brian’s huge head of hair looked very much out of place without the beard, and he asked the barber to cut it as well. From the audience, Jeff Wirth shouted out, “It’s a double feature!” For a reasons unknown, I still do not understand why Brian asked that 2011 be shaved into the side of his new haircut.
The event was shot live by Brian’s dad using his iPhone and was posted on The Daily City even before the shave was finished. Brian handed out beard masks to everyone who attended.