Randall

According to Out of Our Minds attendees: “[Randall] offered thoughtful, practical suggestions on how to write for impact & evoke genuine emotion.” “[Randall] helps people get into their writing & out of their own way. He is encouraging & kind as an instructor.” “I loved how safe & fun the class felt. I didn’t feel my usual dread of reading what I’ve written out loud.” “I don’t know what magic Randall worked on me, but I sit & put my pen to paper & go where I am taken now.”

The reviews are coming in & OUT OF OUR MINDS (& onto the page) gets #writers #writing without worry

Next 5-week session of #improvised #storytelling starts in May @ Toronto’s SoCap Comedy Theatre

To register or for details: createdbyrcw.com

#creativity #games #fun #improv
@gioardio.bsky.social

A dramatic Oregon coastal landscape plays on a movie screen as patrons look on. (Photos by @createdbyrcw)

Please support your local cinemas & second-run movie houses

Help ensure we’ll always be able to fully experience #movie magic

sowhatsyourstory.ca

#storytelling #screenwriting #writing #filmmaking #cinema
@ce-gbpolytech.bsky.social @gbpolytech.bsky.social

Sunny day over Lake Ontario at the Leuty Lifeguard Station in Toronto’s The Beaches neighbourhood. (Photo by @createdbyrcw)

Loving my life means every day is Valentines Day!

My thanks to all of you who help make that possible.

Dorothy and the gang try to convince an Emerald City guard to let them in to see the Wizard in this moment from The Wizard of Oz.

Our job isn’t to get past or circumvent the gatekeeper because behind one gatekeeper is another gatekeeper & another &…

Understand who the gatekeepers are & then find a way to turn them into an ally or better yet, a champion

sowhatsyourstory.ca

@ce-gbpolytech.bsky.social @gbpolytech.bsky.social

Who knows what funny lurks in the bones of this month’s creative nutjobs?

Seriously! This show is so crazy, it would be nice to have a heads up!

FUNNY BONE, March 6 @ SWEET ACTION THEATRE!

Tickets at: www.iclown.ca/funny-bone

#clown #comedy #storytelling #sketch #standup #vaudeville #cabaret

Join host Michael Salvatore as he invites #storytellers & #comedians to share #truetales of love, loss & lust at Listen to This: That’s Amore

Feb 20 @ 7pm @ Toronto's Free Times Café.

Love fest tickets available now: www.eventbrite.ca/e/1981673773602

#storytelling #comedy

Ward off the terrors of Friday the 13th with the antic hilarity of Friday the 20th!

Get your tickets for THE STUPID GOOD COMEDY SHOW at #SoCapComedy!

Feat: The Coincidence Men with Jan Caruana & Rob Baker

stoopidgood.eventbrite.ca

#improv #comedy @gioardio.bsky.social @shortweird.bsky.social

In silhouette against a pale blue aquarium, a mother watches her young child be enthralled by the undersea world. (Photo by @createdbyrcw)

The wonder is always there.

Sometimes you simply need to adjust your perspective to recognize it.

Good thoughts... it never occurred to me that there was a breakaway safety feature, but it completely makes sense you don't want that thing getting snagged

Thanks, Laura. Great advice.

Has anyone ever looked into why lanyard manufacturers think everyone has a neck circumference of ~500 cm?

That's the only reason I can think that every lanyard comes with a meter or more of ribbon

Close up for my forehead with a thought bubble of my doubts and fears. (Photo by @createdbyrcw)

Writer’s block is an inside job.

The good news is you already have everything you need to get unblocked.

sowhatsyourstory.ca

#storytelling #writing #screenwriting #selfdoubt #writersblock
@ce-gbpolytech.bsky.social @gbpolytech.bsky.social

One student proclaims: “Randall was instrumental in helping me develop my Toastmasters speech. His insights & recommendations brought the content to life & helped me feel the moments as I delivered them. He offered thoughtful, practical suggestions on how to write for impact & evoke genuine emotion.”

Let's grow creatively by going OUT OF OUR MINDS (& ONTO THE PAGE)

Next session to be announced shortly.

Learn more at: createdbyrcw.com

#storytelling #writing #improv #games #play

Nothing is ever random in #storytelling.

Whatever the #genre, #stories should be completely obvious when read backward from end to start.

Even perceived randomness has a purpose & makes sense within the story’s context.

sowhatsyourstory.ca

@ce-gbpolytech.bsky.social @gbpolytech.bsky.social

I am all over the place, honestly.

I do family drama, comedy, thriller for my screenplays
When I tried teleplays, it tended to be sitcoms, but I have a science doc series
My one novel (still waiting to finish) is historical fiction
Short stories are all over the map... mostly humourous

Me on-stage telling a story. Photo by Marlon Kunreich. CAPTION: First, I had to learn to listen, to allow you to finish your thoughts, to feel your feelings uninterrupted. Then, I had to learn to hear, to set aside my anxieties & my ego, to see your perspective without advising or editorializing. Then, I had to learn to understand, to seek clarity in a muddled amalgam of your language & mine. Then, I had to learn to empathize, to experience & reflect upon your thoughts & your feelings unencumbered by my own. Only then was I truly ready to be there, best I could, how & if you needed me.

Skip a step and the whole thing falls apart

A major part of any skill is consistent #repetition of that skill set.

If you’re not willing to #practice #storytelling, you are unlikely to achieve as much as you could.

#Write. Even if the #writing isn’t for a #story.

sowhatsyourstory.ca

@ce-gbpolytech.bsky.social @gbpolytech.bsky.social

Anthony Claire (Jake Gyllenhaal) confronts doppelganger Adam Bell in this moment from 2013’s Enemy.

The people with whom I have struggled most are those who reflect an undesirable trait I see in myself.

What might that look like for your #characters? Who represents the darkness they seek to deny?

sowhatsyourstory.ca

#storytelling #writing
@ce-gbpolytech.bsky.social @gbpolytech.bsky.social

Remembering the day in 2020 when one of my photos from The Beaches boardwalk was used in BlogTO

www.blogto.com/city/2020/06/volunteers-stop-protecting-family-foxes-toronto-threats-verbal-abuse/

PHOTO: An aging storyteller (me) in a Hawai'ian shirt stands in a spotlight, mid-story. (Photo via James Gangl) CAPTION: An often-unrecognized perk to #authenticity is I don’t need to remember anything. When I show up authentically, I can simply reflect who I am, what I think, & what I feel no matter who stands before me. Showing up inauthentically demands that I remember who I am to this person, what I have said, & what I have led them to believe to remain consistent. Then multiply that effort by the number of people I face. Authenticity is exquisite laziness.

An often-unrecognized perk to #authenticity is I don’t need to remember anything.

Authenticity is exquisite laziness.

Struggling to describe a place or event?

Be there now. Be present no matter how imaginary the situation.

Absorb every sensation. Feel every emotion.

It is, after all, what you are asking of your reader or audience.

sowhatsyourstory.ca

@gbpolytech.bsky.social @ce-gbpolytech.bsky.social

I'm not saying my bedroom closet was probably a root cellar back in the day, but I just went to get a shirt and the temperature was 7C (44F)

What the hell is wrong with people?

Well, that song has suddenly become chilling! 😆

A moss-covered teddy bear leans on an infant’s grave marker. (Photo by @createdbyrcw) CAPTION: Describe (v): To say or write what someone or something is like. Evoke (v): To make someone remember something or feel an emotion.

Descriptive language engages the mind.

Evocative #language engages the soul.

Powerful #storytelling coaxes feelings to the surface.

sowhatsyourstory.ca

#writing #screenwriting #connection #emotions
@ce-gbpolytech.bsky.social @gbpolytech.bsky.social

Dear Algorithm, please share this with people who will appreciate my art. Thanks!

An old man (me) in a Hawai’ian shirt stands mute on stage at Toronto’s Burdock Music Hall. (Photo by Matt McLaren)

Until I speak, I have no voice. Until it begins, there is no journey.

Thinking & planning are admirable & helpful, but until I start telling my story, there is only silence.

sowhatsyourstory.ca

#storytelling #selfexpression #selfdoubt #writing @ce-gbpolytech.bsky.social @gbpolytech.bsky.social

There is still time, but barely, to get your EARLY-BIRD TICKETS for THE STUPID GOOD COMEDY SHOW

On Fri, Feb 20, The Coincidence Men welcome the mayhem of Rob Baker & Jan Caruana to #Toronto's SoCap Comedy

stoopidgood.eventbrite.ca

#improv #comedy
@gioardio.bsky.social @shortweird.bsky.social

Music instructor Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons) violently berates a student in this moment from 2014’s Whiplash. CAPTION There will always be people who criticize, who seek power in taking me & my work apart. I must separate my concept of self from that venom, listen for any legitimate notes I can use, & then dismiss the rage & bluster as trivial noise. The beast only gains power if I give them mine & that simply isn’t going to happen.

There will always be people who criticize, who seek power in taking me & my work apart.

The beast only gains power if I give them mine & that simply isn’t going to happen.

sowhatsyourstory.ca

#storytelling #criticism #selfdoubt #writing @ce-gbpolytech.bsky.social @gbpolytech.bsky.social

YouTube video by CBC News: The National #TheMoment wrestlers battled in front of a live orchestra

Symphony orchestra backs up pro wrestling! Wrestling finally gets its own soundtrack!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgtE...

Don't miss out on the zaniest show you are likely to see this year!

www.eventbrite.com/e/1979187933387

#clown #comedy #standup #storytelling #circus #vaudeville #cabaret #mayhem #TorontoEvents #ShowUp