Wednesday, 6 February 2013

Luck Of The Irish #2: "Epic Quinning!" - Starring David Quinn (as himself)

Luck Of The Irish #2:
"Epic Quinning!"


***Foreword***

Welcome again, to another Luck Of The Irish interview. I know it's been a while since the last one, so I'll skip all this intro guff, and get straight into another intro. Because that's how I roll.

But beforehand, please let me thank the very excellent
Joffre St Productions for allowing me to use some of their fine pictures of David Quinn. I urge anyone who needs any photography work done to contact them, as they are both approachable and professional. Which is a heady mix of awesome ingredients, I'm sure you'll agree.
 



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David Quinn: Creator/Promoter/Thespian/Artist/Writer/MC/Podcaster/etc.

I wouldn't mind him doing all those things and making me look lazy by comparison
if he would just have the good grace to suck at AT LEAST ONE OF THEM.


David Quinn – how do I describe him?

I think the phrase “Modern Bard” would do well, although I'm leaning towards “Geek Philosopher”.

Damn, that's funny.

Because Greek Philosophy is a thing, and 'Greek' sounds like 'geek', see?

Now, Quinny wouldn't make that mistake – explain a joke. Because (unlike me) he understands how comedy actually works.

Okay, the best place to start would be to find his online whatever-ography and...

Wait. That CAN'T be right. Nothing?

Maybe I should stop using his middle name and searching for 'David Anthony Quinn', because I'm just getting Google hits of some black and white pictures of some actor guy who I think might have been a time-travelling George Clooney:



That's the great actor Anthony Quinn, that is.


Well, like they say in Journalism School - well, 'probably say'. I didn't go to one. Unbelievable, I know. You can tell if you look hard enough though, because fragmented sentences.


Ahem:

If the thing you're trying does not fit,
just type in Lorem Ipsum or some other shit.”

(I clearly have no idea what Journalism School would actually be like.)

So let's ask the man himself about his lack of an online (COUGH)-ography. And other things.

(Note to self: find out what the damn word actually IS. Which'll be hard, because he does it all. He acts in adverts. He does voice-over work. He acts in plays, and sometimes directs them. He does live podcasts. He draws. The reason that you're bored – the reason that there's nothing to do around here – is probably because Quinny already did it! Except it doesn't actually work like that, but whatever.)

(Further note to self: stop using notes to self as actual content. And look up that damn word already!)

(Author's Note: Look, just use the phrase “Author's Note” to make a comment. And the word you're looking for is technically 'webography', because you're looking for his bibliography on the internet. But you should just use the word 'bibliography', because people actually know what that word means already.)



(Note to self: okay, thanks. I thought that 'biblography' just meant the books you'd written.)

(Author's Note
: Yes, that's a common misconception. Did you want to maybe continue with the interview now? This intercourse is quickly becoming stale.)

(
Note to self
: that's what the nun said to th-)

(
Author's Note: JUST GET ON WITH IT ALREADY!)



 *********************************************
 

Uh - “Ladies and Gentlemen – I give you the cosmic-scale awesomeness wrapped in a human body that is: L'artiste d'excellence, David Quinn!”

(“L'artiste d'excellence” may not be an actual French phrase, I don't know - but I think someone as artistic as Quinny needs to have some French in their intro, and the only real French I actually know is 'Avec Pour', 'Cr
รจ
me De Menthe', and 'Zoot Alors', because I'm low-class riff raff.)



I totally know heaps about French Food, though.

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Luck Of The Irish #2:

"Epic Quinning!"

Starring David Quinn (as himself)




David Quinn: Creator/Promoter/Eye-Seducer.

(More excellent work from Joffre St Productions, who clearly have more headshot win than a robotic sniper)
 
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1 ) When I looked for your body of work online I couldn't find it. I did, however, find heaps of stuff about classic film actor Anthony Quinn.

Were you named after him?

A ) “Yes. Yes, I was. Much to my parents chagrin in later life when I became an actor! I blame them. They haven’t worked out that all the money I have ever needed to support my thespianic lifestyle was indirectly their fault. They should have stuck with Harley.”

(Author's Note: 'Chagrin' is an awesome word, and not enough people use it.)


2 ) What's your official job title, and what duties does it involve?

A ) “I would struggle to work out what my job title should be…

I do so many different things on a day to day basis. Actor, Producer, Editor, Writer, Artist, Director, Graphic Designer, Voice Talent, Location Scout, Location Manager, Production Assistant, Casting Agent….

The list is in many ways endless. And it all depends on what job I’m working on at the time. I literally just did an audition for a voice role in a film promo. Then I’ll have to edit some voice over for a corporate video I’m re-editing. Before that I was procrastinating by doing some art. (Which one day maybe I’ll try to sell…) Not long after that I will need to edit the video I shot yesterday for a school production about bullying.

In the next couple of weeks I’ll need to finish the video’s film some more for a client. Start the auditions for Grease a big budget musical that I’m directing and get ready for a 7 week trip to the US of A! Oh I also work as an MC for Supanova, the countries biggest pop culture expo, and I help maintain their website.

So…

Yeah…

I guess I’m a Creator. With many many strings to many many bows….”




Strings...Bows...
Is he trying to tell us he's the real life Arrow, as well as all that other stuff?
That would certainly explain the f*ck out of this picture.

3 ) Did you always want to be an actor/producer?

A ) “No, never had a clue what I wanted to be. I guess I always knew I wanted to draw, but my life has been a long journey of discovery. To finding out what it is that I love more than anything else, and what I can do better than other people. I can trace some paths, but I never ever had a plan. I have all but stumbled into every good thing I have been a part of and I honestly can attribute a huge amount of my journey to either luck or divine providence… and as I don’t do the “god” thing… I’m going with incomprehensible universal forces.”

4 ) How did you begin working in media?

A ) “It was a slippery slope: up until the end of year 12 I had been a visual artist (with a bit of writing thrown in), but then I needed a change so I became involved in theatre. I found myself drawn more and more to acting, and it excited me in a way that art never had: It was instant gratification. So I went to university and studied acting and drama, during which I did a lot of plays and an occasional short film. I was always interested in the technical side of stuff with computers etc., as well…

After that degree I was a bit lost and found myself drawn to doing a course at TAFE in screen studies, which is where I realized I had always wanted to be. In that I found a mentor in Koos Roets, a South African director who had hundreds of TV episodes under his belt and nearly 40 feature films. I went to South Africa with him and learnt a great deal in that time. Since then I have been a teacher of media, I have made numerous short films, web series’ corporate videos, commercials, and the like and been a part of promotions for major feature films and small indie releases.”




I don't have a witty caption for this picture.
I just really wanted to use it.
I mean, look at it. It's awesome.
 

5 ) What challenges have you faced in your career as a Creator/Promoter?

A ) “Making ends meet usually is the biggest one. As you never know where the next job is going to come from you can never really plan on anything. Maybe you’ll get a huge job that pays thousands of dollars. Or maybe you won’t. That’s probably the biggest thing. Yeah there are lots of little things every day that are challenges. Trying to maintain creativity, keeping yourself motivated and on task is hard when you’re your own boss… but usually the ever present threat of homelessness and foodless is enough to keep me working.

I guess the other one is acceptance, that 'Yes, it is a real thing I do'. It may look for all the world like I am sitting on facebook a lot, but it's WHILE the video renders. Its while I am doing something else as well. And when I do work it's intense and creative and requires a lot of thought. I may be shooting mini documentaries for an award show that require me to travel all over the state, conduct interviews and piece together a cohesive story about a person’s life that lasts less than 4 minutes, all while on the road and alone. Its hard to convince folks that what you do is really real. Until you can show them the fruits of your labours.

In some ways it makes me long for the days when I was teacher. People understood that.”


(Author's Note: Using facebook while your art renders is an excellent use of creative downtime. You're connecting with people and being approachable, and you can work on your marketing/networking while you're at it.

For instance, I use facebook while my different song tracks are rendering. It is working, but Quinny's right – it doesn't look like it, especially to practical-minded people. That's the nature of the beast, I guess.)



Speaking of The Beast: Did you know that The Beast from the X-Men was an Avenger once?
Also, The Avengers' plane is called the Quinnjet.

(Truly, I am the master of 'things that are nearly relevant.')
 

6 ) What personal attributes/quirks have benefited you in your career?

A ) “Sense of humor and the ridiculous. I think my particular brand of humor has done more for me than anything else. I mean, it's not my looks, it's not my fashion sense, it’s the wit that gets me through. A sly smile at the right time will make anyone feel a bit better to be around you.

Also being garrulous and outgoing really helps a lot. I make friends pretty easily and more of my work has come form people liking me than any other area. If they like you, know you and trust you they will usually want to work with you.

My voice has also been a boon to me. It’s something that, as a child, I would have been told off for, but has since been of great use to me. Mimicry and silly voices were always a passion of mine and I would play sounds back in my head to try to make them work with my voice… now I occasionally get paid to do just that!

My love of art and drawing has let me do a lot of things too, and a reasonable eye for what Is visually interesting… But that’s something I guess you can be taught. What’s intrinsically me that has gotten me here? A cheeky grin and a dopey joke.”

7 ) Which media is your favourite to perform for, and why?

A ) “Hmmmm. Tricky. I love audio as its not fettered by any constraints of reality. I can be an old man, a young boy and crazy whacked out super hero in a single recording session and it all comes down to what I can make my voice do.

I love performing on stage. It gives you immediate feedback and a feeling of connection with your audience that is unparalleled but it also limits you as to what you can be cast as. I will forever be the comedy guy, the lovable side-kick, the buffoon. Because that’s the looks I can pull off. MAYBE a villain depending. But in animation, in audio I can be ANYTHING. And that excites me no end! Unlimited potential.

I also love writing for the same reason. I can write scenes for hundreds of battle cruisers and giant battles. Deeply complex and emotional scenes, ridiculous and over the top comedy… and it all happens on a page. Or in someone’s mind. That’s a media I love. I like film too, but it’s a very slow moving industry and can be pretty tiring and soul crushing.”



Is he Villain or Hero? Will he smash the world, or rebuild it?

Wait, that doesn't actually work, if you think about it.
Never mind.

(I also put an in-joke in there for Quinny. Enjoy, big guy.)


8 ) In your opinion, how has The Internet impacted the entertainment industry?

A ) “It's forced the industry to move at a different pace. Suddenly the world got a lot smaller and things could be accessed immediately. You could let things slide and trust that it will be fine in a few months when it finally gets to the other side of the planet. Now people know if your film is a flop, all over the world in a matter of hours.

There are so many great articles about the leveling of the playing field but Patton Oswald wrote two letters recently that summed up a lot of the changes in the world of entertainment. One was to the creators and the other was to the “gate keepers” as he called them. The people who traditionally held the gates to fame and fortune and only let in the people who did all the right steps and made all the right moves. He told them that they needed to evolve or get out of the way. Look at the music industry, digital distribution changed the face of how we think of music. How we consume it; how we seek it out. Fame and best-seller lists became meaningless.

It’s the same for other forms of entertainment. The concept of TV is changing so rapidly that nobody knows how to keep up with it. Now anyone with a modicum of talent can make pretty solid looking entertainment, get it up online and get a following. Give it a kickstarter and suddenly folks are getting paid by the viewers to provide the content they love. Web series like “Nuka Break” and “Shelf Life” are prime examples. As long as they produce good content, fans will keep paying money to see the next season.

It's scary because nobody knows the rules really. Who owns these things? What happens when the fan film is more popular than the feature property its based on? Look at the Mortal Kombat franchise. It's had feature films, TV shows, cartoons, games galore, but a fan produced film lead to a web series which has since gotten a second season and netted the director of the series the job of directing the next feature film?! There is not a single “gate keeper” alive who would have guessed things would go that way! And yet it has…

Evolve or die.”





"Wait, did you say you're the Gate-Keeper? I've been looking EVERYWHERE for you!"

9 ) How'd you become involved in stage work?

A ) “The desire to meet girls.

No, really.

One of my mates said, “Hey, come work on a play, there will be girls there”. I went. He lied. It was a sausage fest. But as I sat in the wings looking at the people out on stage acting away I realized that I couldn’t be backstage again. I needed to try to be out there. So I did.

After mucking about in it for a year my boss at the time said “You have some talent you should learn how to do it properly” and pushed me to audition for Uni. Now fifteen years later I can honestly say it was the best decision I’ve ever been pushed into!”
 
 
The desire to meet girls is nothing to be ashamed of, although it can be possible to overthink things.


10 ) You're going to direct Grease soon. How is directing different from acting?

A ) “It’s a very different skill-set. Directing is about managing people and in some ways manipulating them to think that they are having your amazing ideas (I kid). But it's all about managing a team, especially on a show as big as this!

Its about working with the choreographer to make the dances feel like they fit the characters. Making the acting flow into the music and singing. Meeting with the music department to make sure that they are getting the time they need to make things sound amazing, while at the same time balancing out the rehearsals so the acting gets its shot and the dancing isn’t under cooked. It’s a logistics challenge really. Whereas acting is a lot more cerebral and about finding the character; the voice… and remembering the lines!

I love doing both but one is certainly a bigger job!”


11 ) When you were in College, you were in a social group called "Mutant Hamsters From Mars", who would do things like 'stage impromptu Monty Python skits' or 'organise marshmallow-throwing flash mobs'.

That sounds like fun. Care to elaborate?

A ) “I do believe it was actually the Psychedelic Hamsters (Author's Note: Oops). But yes, I played with them and had a ball. Daniel Flewellyn and Martin Bennet, though there were others before us. Martin was really the ringleader…. In fact my time was kind of a second generation thing. A renaissance of stupidity, if you will. Singing silly songs, making the place a bit more interesting.

Sometimes it was utterly puerile but damn it we laughed! It was lovely to be a part of something! And now I think back… yes! They were almost flash mobs or almost performance art pieces! Utterly bizarre. Completely unsanctioned. Totally silly. Just what all good teenagers should be.

I do believe Padge was a hamster too… he certainly had a picture! Dreadlocks and all!”

(Author's Note: Padge was my old nickname, but I changed it because it rhymed with something that was too easy to make fun of. Also, I had blonde dreadlocks in college. If you know me personally or have ever seen a picture of me, your mind probably just blew up. Sorry about that. But enough about me: back to Our Man Quinn.)


12 ) Nowadays, because it's your job, you go to Supanova and interview world-famous stars like Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. Both at the same time, no less! Some people might find that intimidating.

You're still a fan, but now you're part of the entertainment industry as well. Is it still fun? Why/Why not?

Quinny with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost at Supanova '11.

(I don't have the heart to make a joke about this. Or the balls. Or the brains.)


A ) “The moment it stops being fun will be the moment I need to stop doing it. It’s a job, true. But it's one of the best jobs in the world. And make no mistake - it's physically and mentally hard work. It’s a lot of running and standing. Time management and crowd control are hugely important too. It can be intimidating as hell! Facing down a crowd of a couple of thousand people and knowing it's your job to keep them happy until the “talent” arrives is scary.
 
But it's also a rush - and yeah, you get to meet (ever so briefly) some of the people you look up to and respect. I’ve been lucky to make some amazing friends through it, with people I have loved the work of since my childhood.
 
I call the guy (Noah Hathaway) who played Atreyu in The Neverending Story, “brother” now! As a child I loved that film more than anything and looked up to him as a hero! What is not to love about that?!




It was either this picture, or the one in the Swamps of Sadness.

You know the one.

You're welcome.

I am on the periphery of it. I orbit around the stars. But still hope to one day go a bit supanova myself and become someone that others are there to see. And not just a gate keeper…. Hehe.”


"Repetition is an important factor in comedy, as is subtelty."


13 ) Are there any famous people (or any of your idols) that you'd like to meet and still haven't?

A ) “Sadly many of them are dying these days. I’d have loved to meet Jim Henson, or Stan Lee (no he’s still kicking, but its getting less likely all the time) but I guess the thing I’ve realized is that meeting them is all about making them human.
 
You learn that they can be grouchy or tired, and while they are funny and wonderful they are also just as human as you. So I don’t know who I’d like to meet. Maybe one of the Doctors… or Steven Moffat… I’d LOVE to spend a few hours in that guys brain! I’d enjoy hanging out with Neil Gaiman. Or spending time with Terry Pratchett before he is too far gone with his awful illness.
 
These days its more about creators than stars…though Jennifer Connelly… Labyrinth… Rocketeer. Still the most beautiful woman alive I say. But then what do you say to her? 'Hi. You’re stunning. How are the kids?' ”





"The kids are great, and thanks for the compliment.
Hey, wait a second - aren't you the guy from that ad? I loved that ad!"
 
(Author's Note: There are 14 questions and not my traditional (so far) 13. The reason for this is quite simple: In addition to jokes, I also don't understand how maths or thematics work. I could just edit/cut it out, but I really like his answer. And I have the keyboard. Bwahahaha etc.)


14 ) You've done a whole bunch of stuff. You MC at Supanova, You've got the Live webshow at CoolShite.net you're acting in awesome comedy clips, you're directing Grease for the ENCORE Theatre company - and so on.
 
AWESOME COMEDY CLIPS.

Is your body of work not online because you're ridiculously prolific and by the time you've finished writing it down, you need to start all over again because you've done something else?

A ) “My body of work is not online because I never figured anyone would be interested to know about it. I know it, a few folks have seen the things I’ve done. But in the end I just figured that who would care what I’ve done?

I have recently gotten a deviant art page up and running so at the very least people can see some of my artworks… but yeah…

I guess the other part of it is that so much of what I’ve done is ephemeral. Theatre is fleeting. You rehearse for 8 weeks and then do 4 shows and its done. The few hundred people who saw it will maybe remember it. Maybe there's a video of it? Maybe not…

Podcasts are there forever, but who goes back to listen to a review of a film from 7 years ago? This is what I want to change. I want to create things that people can hold, and watch over and over again. Things that they can read. Or enjoy. Not based off anyone else’s works - not reviews of the work of other artists, but something original and new.

Hopefully then I can gather a body of work and be able to point at it when I’m dying and say. 'I did that. Wasn’t it silly?'

Awesome. Thanks Quinny. :)

 



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That was (at least) 13 questions, and that's the Luck Of The Irish for now.

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So, what have we learnt from David Quinn, folks?

Personally speaking, I learnt that my memory sucks (Mutant Hamsters From Mars? REALLY?). And that Quinny is even more active than I originally thought. And also that the word 'garrulous' exists.

But the main thing I got from the interview – or 'Quinnterview', as I've been calling it inside my head - is this: David Quinn is a man at peace with his place in the world who understands that fame is both a goal and a dream.
(As the saying should go: “Fame is up to the audience, not the artist – all the artist can do is have the art available”. But it's not a saying, because it's way too long.)
Because Quinny has played to his strengths, this has sadly resulted in a lack of what you might call 'artistic proof'. Being an Artist/Creator is weird, because you don't have a resume, as such – you only have your body of works. And if your body of works is related to mainly live performances, then you'll end up wondering where the years went and why you didn't start to get your artistic portfolio/resume/CV/whatever together sooner.

Or maybe I'm just projecting there, I don't know: I'm mostly known for my live music performances, if at all. I
do
know that that's a pretty bizarre quirk of the entertainment industry on a grass roots level, though. I've found that there really is no business like show business, in that regard.

Anyway - thank goodness for random people who record stuff on their phones, I say.

Quinny has worked very hard to achieve his goals - but he's also remembered to smell the roses along the way. That's a very important balancing act, right there. And a very difficult one, in my experience. Western Culture is very goal-oriented, and often the idea of
making entertainment your day job
can frighten otherwise talented people into social submission. Which is a shame, even if unavoidable. Perhaps Quinny doesn't have his hand in so many pies just because he likes to - perhaps they all add up to an actual income. That's why piracy is wrong, in my eyes. Not the cartoon kind, or space pirates - they're both awesome. I mean the kind that makes people unemployed.

But 'Our Man Quinn' appears to be winning at this. Or 'Quinning', you might say if you were awesome like me. Which you are. So you should probably say it. Like, right now. Or maybe later, if you like. Your call.
He's also a very modest person, which I totally would not be if I were rubbing shoulders with famous people. I'd be all like “I'll have a cappuccino, thanks” whenever anyone spoke to me who wasn't as rich and famous as me. Also, I'd buy a monocle. And maybe a yacht. And then make a sex tape. Actually, I've already done one of those. But all the others, totally.

"I NEVER WANTED A PONY BEFORE - BUT NOW I MUST HAVE ONE, BY JOVE!"


And he's not perfect. He's human, too - he gets upset, he gets angry, he loses hope sometimes, and once he even drew my attention to the fact that I shouldn't be questioning him about how he 'could just kill a man'. No, wait – that was Cypress Hill. Never mind.

He's also genuinely funny both on and off of the stage, and an awesome person to take to a barbecue. Because then - even though he's the funny one - you get the credit for bringing him. AWESOME. Damn, I love being Australian sometimes.




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This isn't supposed to sound like a David Quinn appreciation document – but do you know what?




If that's how you perceive it, I'm fine with that.

“Why's that, Paddy?” I hear you ask.
(Which freaks me out, because you're nowhere near me right now, and get out of my head, damn it.)

I'll tell you why:
Because all his art, and reviews, and dopey jokes, and voice acting, and general tomfoolery, and being on ads, and pre-internet flashmobbing and awesome profile pictures, and all those things like that?

They didn't just appear out of thin air. They're made. That's why they're called 'works' and not 'plays'. Except for the theatrical performances actually called 'plays', of course. But that doesn't count, because it doesn't fit in with what I said.

Because when you understand - and are thankful for - the fact that you have a job doing something that truly interests you, it means that you understand how the world works.

Because I think I'm funny, but Quinny actually is.

Because when you imagine yourself using the phrase 'Wasn't it silly?' on your deathbed, then you've already won at life itself.


That's why.


(
Liam 'Paddy' Padmore is a Tasmanian-based human male with a terrible memory, and an even worse fashion sense. I mean, come on now. A monocle? REALLY? Really? Okay, wow. Just – WOW. Damn, man.
)