Investment Bankers and Homeless Men - Scott's First Comments

I've never much enjoyed performing out in the public. Give me a theater with lights, costumes, a crack tech team, and a paying audience that has read the publicity and is invested in the show's success before even sitting down -- that's my kind of performance.

Foisting my art on the unsuspecting, uninitiated, and often uninterested public has often felt presumptious, egocentric, and downright embarrassing.

That's the predisposition I loaded into KT's car Wednesday afternoon as I went off to my first LIFT outing. And the weather reflected my internal state: dark, rainy, cold, and threatening a long winter.

But gosh darn it if I didn't end up having a great time. A memorable afternoon in the company of some of my favorite fellow-performers interacting with a hesitant but never ill-willed public. And the sun came out to remind me of the extraordinary beauty of our little city on the Sound.

For me the LIFT on Wednesday became a social experiment and the pervading question was: WHY DID YOU, PERSON X, SAY 'YES', WHEN THE MAJORITY OF THE PEOPLE OUT HERE SAY 'NO'? And the answers varied from 'Why not?' to 'I've got four hours to kill before my flight'. Not profound. At least not yet -- maybe I'll discover pofundity later. Some insight into human nature. I suspect that for some folks it was just easier to say 'yes' than to let us down...

I always thanked the yea-sayers for trusting me. I wonder if any of them recounted the story of being pushed up a hill to others in their lives later that day. Perhaps at a dinner table? Perhaps over a beer? Perhaps as they did the dishes? Will one or another of them remember, some future day when they are walking up a steep urban street, the odd LIFT they got on Wednesday?

I'll pursue the 'what made you say yes' line of inquiry during today's LIFT. And I hope to add a dance piece to the experiment (on the descent back down the hill). I also hope to focus more on the LIFT part of the participant's experience, rather than the pre-LIFT decision-making part.

Montage: The Ohio State couple -- his bright, mischievous eyes. Lynn in his orange jacket. The sidewalk philosopher who engaged with Aaron. George from the school. Susan from the school. The tall hanger-backer with intelligent eyes. Aaron crazy-leap dancing back down. The suit wearing investment bankers from the east coast with their sincere curiosity and playful willingness. And of course the dozens of nay-sayers: the 'I'm fines', the 'ha-ha-ha's', the duck arounders, the no thanksers, the 'maybe next timers', the 'talk about it for a long time but still say no-ers'.

A slice of the public -- the 'demos', the people in your neighborhood, the investment bankers and the homeless.