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Hoke's Bluff in Edinburgh

If you are looking for details of when Hoke's Bluff is on in Edinburgh! We're on at Forest Fringe which this year is at the OutoftheBlue Drill Hall in Leith (30–36 Dalmeny Street, Leith, Edinburgh, EH6 8RG) and we're on at 9:15pm from 16th - 23rd August. The programme details for Forest Fringe are here http://forestfringe.co.uk/edinburgh/artist/hokes-bluff/

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a video from a show we did in Falmouth in 2011

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We went to see NBA Basketball in San Antonio. It was FULL ON. We've now seen Basketball in Texas, American football in California and Ice Hockey in Vancouver as part of the Hoke's Bluff process.

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here's a video from when we performed at the lovely TIG7 back in the day

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A Western in Bangkok (images by withit chanthamarit)

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the violence of healing herbs

We’ve been working for nearly two weeks now at Bios in Athens on a new piece called ‘Slap Talk’. The piece grew out of some stuff we wrote on a residency back in January as if we were two boxers talking before a fight about what we were going to do to each other. We started to stretch the language and metaphors in interesting ways and see what came out. We did a couple of works-in-progress to explore ways to use the text, none of which we were particularly happy with but we were still enjoying the text so we’ve carried on writing and in Athens we’ve been improvising and making more text and playing with ways to use it again.

The text has grown now and ideas have emerged around violence inherent in language and the way we use language to be violent. Also about conflict and competition and where/how much it exists in our everyday experiences. The kind of lurking presence of violent forces. We’re now convinced the show is durational (or just really long, we’re also exploring what the difference is between those two things), perhaps even 24 hours long if we can manage it. We’re interested in how far you can take things, how much you can stretch language in real time, what kind of temporary mythologies you can build for yourself and what craziness starts happening to the words when we’ve been saying them for 6,12,15 or 24 hours. We’re also interested in how much conflict you can endure (as performers, and as an audience) even if its only words, even if its often concealed in the language, is there a limit to how much we can hear?

Because its long we’ve been generating a huge amount of text and we’re really pushing what kinds of dialogue and speech we can reveal violence in. I’m particularly fond at the moment of some text Gemma made about healing herbs and their healing properties that sounds simultaneously warm and loving but also hugely threatening. We’ve also found violence in how we describe the cooking and preperation of food and how we talk about where we live or even the way someone talks to you to help you relax. I’ve been intrigued by how much aggression exists in any kind of conversation and watched how the improvisations Gemma and I embark on shift and change and our real arguments about the making of the piece and about what we’re going to eat at lunch time get intertwined in the process.

We’ve also introduced an autocue and a video camera this week to see what happens and thats been really interesting. Its helped us focus on the language but its also (counterintuitively) potentially creating a more visceral experience. Being able to see our faces form the words close up and our being able to deliver each word with specific intent at a close target has changed the nature of the text and it appears to generate a much more physical experience of the dialogue.

The autocue is also really exciting because it foregrounds the text almost as an object itself, or even a performer in its own right on the stage that is supporting us, but also making things difficult for us as the words continue on and on relentlessly. And of course it makes the piece read more about how we are fed violence and how culture is continously fed to us through screens. Thats why we’re particularly keen to make it 24 hours long but we’ll have to see if thats even possible. We have a work-in-progress in two days where we’ll test out the current format and then we’ll see….

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Watch Me Fall in Shanghai

images taken by audience members and posted on Weibo (the Chinese version of twitter)

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Hoke's Bluff & other stuff

Here’s what we just sent out to our mailing list (you can join it if you want)

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Hello Action Hero buddies. We’ve given up on fancy email mailout templates, we’re going back to the old skool. This is a kind of end of year round-up I suppose.

Hoke’s Bluff We’ve just finished a work-in-progress of this new project inspired by the derivative narratives of American teen movies and underdog stories. Its a look into sentimentality and nostalgia and asks why we’re so compelled by certain stories, even if they’ve been repeated over & over. We’re working with a bigger team for the first time which is really exciting too- we’ve just spent 2 weeks in Warwick Arts Centre as part of the Triggered scheme and they helped us get together with Nick Walker, Debbie Pearson, Jo Palmer and Laura Dannequin to make the show (AKA Team Awesome). We managed to make a 1 hour 20 min work-in-progress, which is practically a miracle as we’ve yet to breach the 1hr mark in anything we’ve ever made! We’ve become obsessed with American football and we’ve had an excuse to watch Lynsey Lohan films, so we’re both happy. We’re going to finish the show in the new year. Slap Talk We’re in Athens at the moment working in a place called Bios for 2 weeks on another new show called ‘Slap Talk’ (supported by Caravan). After a few years of obsessive focus on the making of Frontman it feels like we’re sort of bursting to get all our other ideas out and a few shows are forming at the same time. We performed Frontman in October and we’ve decided its the last time we’ll ever show it. Its kind of stressful to perform, so it feels good to ‘put it to bed’ but we’re glad we made it, and feel proud of it. Since making the decision a whole load of other ideas have started to bubble up, and Slap Talk was something we’d worked on in a residency in January but not been able to work on since. It vaguely takes the form of two boxers before a fight telling each other what they’re going to do to each other, and it seems to be about competition and violence, but we’ll know more by the end of these two weeks. Bios is a really great venue so we’re excited to be back (we brought A Western and Watch Me Fall here in Feb) and at some point we’re going to write something on our blog about this venue becuase its a really inspiring place. Extraordinary Rendition Another idea that’s bubbled up is a bit of a leftover from Frontman. We were interested in the songs that were used to torture alleged enemy combatants in Iraq, and in a recent residency in San Francisco I sang David Gray’s Babylon (one of the songs used) to a bar full of Americans (and Gemma filmed it so you can watch it here). When we got back we started talking to IBT about developing this idea, so we’ll be spending some time in a shipping container at IBT festival in Feb. We’ll be singing some Karaoke, and doing some research into extraordinary rendition. We’re particularly interested in some information that was released under the freedom of information act about a private plane that carried terrorists as well as the Boston Redsox Baseball team. Other Stuff  We’ve been racking up the air miles this year showing work in Athens, Lisbon, Rio, California, Sarajevo and Shanghai as well as touring the UK and a beautiful residency in Cove Park thanks to Fuel so as xmas approaches we’re starting to flag. We’ve been kept afloat by two things though. One is the brilliant Mel Scaffold who, thanks to Theatre Bristol, started as our company producer in September and who has CHANGED OUR GODDAMN LIFE. The other is Taylor Kitsch, who’s rugged good looks and smouldering performances in the TV series ‘Friday Night Lights’ has helped us through all the hard work and long journeys. In the words of Coach Taylor “Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, CAN’T LOSE”. Here’s someone’s home-made youtube montage of Taylor Kitsch (this is for Made in China who share our obsession)

We’ll be in Vancouver and Edmonton in January, then Bangkok in Feb followed by our residency at IBT festival in Bristol. After we’ve finished here in Athens we’re flying straight to Dublin for some Watch Me Fall action with Forest Fringe.

Mull the shit out of everything this xmas and we’ll see you in the new year. James and Gemma Action Hero xxxxxxxxxxxxx

ACTION HERO website Follow us on TWITTER join our FACECLOTH

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California Dreaming

Here is the performance to camera work we made in California. They were both shot with Gemma's stills camera and we hope to develop these ideas into something else perhaps with a better camera and a bigger road trip. Gemma was attempting to 'become America(n)' by placing herself within an American landscape rather than in front of it, we were interested in the frame that is exclusive and what that means. We like the way the sound on the video sometimes infiltrates the image and betrays it. Also what it means to be an artist and a tourist and what's the difference. As we travelled we also became aware of the American notion of wilderness and the way humans have been removed from the landscape and then only interact with it as tourists, framing the landscape in their cameras.

I was interested in the idea of a journey without a destination and the American maverick/fugitive icon, always running away from something, heading away rather than towards a destination, and how thats different to the tourist model of travelling to pre-ordained places of interest, national parks + wildernesses that exist soley as destinations. For me this tied into the desert and its role in American iconography. The myth that the desert is empty and 'dead' (i.e death valley). I've posted the crass version here because its funnier and easier to watch in one sitting. The silent version I used in the installation at Counterpulse is longer and a bit glitchy too but you can see that on our youtube channel if you like.

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Extraordinary Rendition

Gemma and I have been talking recently about the seeds for a new project called 'Extraordinary rendition' based on the songs used by the U.S military to torture Iraqi prisoners.

The U.S Military reportedly played David Gray's 1999 single 'Babylon' as torture to Iraqi prisoners in the Iraq war. So last night I decided to sing 'Babylon' to a room full of Americans in a bar in San Francisco. Here's a video of it.

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San Francisco

We're setting off for San Francisco tomorrow morning. While we're there we're going to be working with some awesome artists based there at a place called Counterpulse. You can read about what we're doing and follow our American based funtimes on the blog here http://counterpulse.org/artists/action-hero-uk/

In California we hope to see the following things:

Some surfers/armed robbers

  Some Hippies

      and Silicon Valley

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Love this

Via @dancingbrick who saw it on the wall at the new live art space at the Tate Modern.

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Up to Nature Festival

We were aware of a festival in the woods being organised by IBT productions for a while and thought it sounded ace. Then I remembered a conversation I'd been having on and off with my brother for a year or so about making a show with him in it and put 2+2 together. My brother is a very keen camper and has been camping in the forest near where we grew up for years. I remember as children he would always get survival equipment or camping gear for his birthdays. He is also a good talker. He's good craic (as they say in our neck of the woods) and we'd talked about using his oratory skills in a performance. So I had the idea that a nice starting point for a collaboration might be his equipment in general. So he sent me a list of his stuff and then he came down to Bristol for a couple of days and worked with gemma and I and we made a little piece for a campfire in the woods. We've called it 'Natural Selection' and IBT were happy to accomodate us in the woods because they are generally bad ass producers like that and so its going to happen. In the two days we worked on it it became more about where we grew up than anything else. Its a kind of meditation on rurality, hardship and survival in a broad sense with a focus on the specifics of the geography of where we lived. It'll be relaxed and pretty low key and we'll play a song. Below is the list my brother sent if you're interested and the link to details of the amazing festival its part of.

Kit List:

Water:

Canteen - 1 ltr

Platypus - 1.5 ltr

Metal Bottle - 1 ltr

Fire:

Tinder - South American pine, 85% resin

RX04 - Gift, Very powerful windproof electric lighter, refillable, easy ignition, durable

2x Disposable Lighter - Backup for RX04

Waterproof matches  - Backup for lighters

Cooking:

2xAluminum Pots - Lighweight an durable, modular handle inc.

Water Purification Tablets - Self exp., nano filter needed

Collapsible Stove - For cooking on the go

Fuel Tablets for stove - Double as Firelighters

Kitchen case - Contains chopping board, micro fible cloth, herbs and spices, oil, knife, mini sponge

Bowl

Cutlery - Titanium, caribina link, case

Kettle

Shelter:

Sleeping Bag - 2 season summer bag or 4 season winter bag

Roll Mat - Womens as smaller and lighter and no need for cushioning on feet, Anti Bacterial, self inflating

Tarpaulin - For Camp cover or Sleeping under - Ripstop

Tent - Ultralight (900gms) 1 man storm tent for equipment or foul weather

Hammock - For equipment or fine weather

Pillow - Unworn clothers in Sleeping bag stuff sack

Spare Guy Ropes

Length of Climbiing Rope

Clothing:

Merino Long Johns

Baselayer long sleeve top

Base layer short sleeve

Oil cloth trousers - fine weather

Fleece lined Windproof Water resistant trousers - Foul Weather

Micro Fleece

Jacket - Wind and Waterproof

Hat

Gloves - Micro Fleece, Reinforced

Brasher Supalite Boots

Spare laces

Medium Socks

Thick Socks

2 paors normal socks

2 pairs of pants

jogging pants

Tools:

Gransfors Bruks Felling Axe

Bahco Laplander

Leatherman copy

Bushcraft Knife

Maglite

Head Torch

Compass

Maps

Sewing Kit

Smartphone, case and charger

Fishing Line, Weights, lights and hooks

Oilstone

Wire saw - for use with guy ropes

Misc:

First aid kit

Toothbrush

Soap

Microfibre towel

Tao Te Ching

Stuff Sacks

Rucksack - Osprey 48

There are some things here which are not in the photo but only a couple. There are some things which will be added by June as I am going to be camping between now and then. In fact, some stuff will probably have gone as well. This what I would take if I wasn't ever coming back, this is a survival kit not a camping or expedition list and over time I would expect to find suitable replacements for all of the perishable items from the natural world. Those that I couldn't find I would have to learn to live without.

Boom.

http://inbetweentime.co.uk/up-to-nature/about-utn

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work with us!

Theatre Bristol are recruiting for a role that means you'll work with us, here are the details -

Company Producer £27,000 pro rata

We’re looking for an energetic, experienced, well-networked Producer to work closely with selected artists and companies to develop and manage their work. This is a pilot role, created in response to the needs of a growing number of Bristol-based artists/companies who need management support beyond the capacity of Theatre Bristol’s established Artist Support programme, but who may not be in a position to employ a Producer themselves.

Part-time pilot post (until March 2013). Initially 14 hours pw but with the flexibility for increased hours.

  Application deadline: 9.00am, 25th June 2012 

Interviews: Monday 9th & Tuesday 10th July 2012

Download Company Producer Application Pack

TB are also looking for an artists support producer. More details on both roles here

http://theatrebristol.net/recruitment

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Workshops in San Francisco

So we're mega excited to be going back to SF this August to do a 2 and a half week workshop at counterPULSE, where we met the brilliant Julie Phelps last May as part of a project University of Chichester is running. We hitched along for the free trip and scammed a few free meals off them. (joking- obviously we worked REALLY HARD meeting lots of artists)

Anyhoots, we're going back to do some work with local SF artists, so if you are in fact one of those people, then hey- apply!

Here's the link

http://us1.campaign-archive1.com/?u=d7b3022e4957003b7bf6ef2f5&id=b3f0e325f8

xx

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Action Hero vs Go Project

Action_Hero_E-flyer_A4-2.pdf Download this file

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Photos from Chichester Showroom

Here's some nice pictures of Frontman at Chichester Showroom last Thursday. Taken by Robert Daniels. Thanks Rob.