Lollygag

The story of a moth man who fails as an entertainer, a boy who grows up too fast, and a man realizing that his father is there for him. This was created for the roving performance series, Moving Target, curated by Margaret Tedesco. This particular evening was at the Lab in San Francisco, in 2000. The performance started with a man dressed as a moth (me) setting the stage and holding a tiny light singing This Little Light of Mine until he’s embarrassed enough to leave the stage. A performer enters (Jon Wolanske) and tentatively finds the spot light and struggles to tie his necktie due to his large cartoony hands. He’s wearing a white puffy jacket – that covers his entire body and mouth. We watch him make several attempts until he finally completes the knot. I enter again, wearing a tiny lamp on my head to illuminate my face. As I tie my own tie, I talk about a trip to Disneyland and waiting to see Mickey Mouse who only appeared at the last moment. I connect that memory to a moment at my mother’s funeral, when my father took my hand as we walked away from the grave site.