Coleman revives 'The Neon Man' in one person show
Provincetown Banner
July 12, 2006
by Ann Wood
Slash Coleman won't let his friend die. The writer-turned-performance artist plays tribute to Mark Jamison, who was killed after
being blown into a power line while hanging a neon sign, time and time again in his new show, "The Neon Man and Me."
Coleman plays 30 characters in this sentimental 60-minute piece, which shows at 9pm tonight, Thursday, and 7pm, Friday at
the Provincetown Inn, 1 Commercial St., Provincetown. Fringe Festival events are $15 at the door. This show is making the
Fringe Festival circuit in preparation for what Coleman hopes will become an Off-Broadway run.
"The weird thing is, because you know I kind of struggled with my artist career forever, and this has been effortless through it
so it's kind of magical that way," Coleman, 38, says by phone from his Richmond, VA home.
Provincetown Banner
July 12, 2006
by Ann Wood
Slash Coleman won't let his friend die. The writer-turned-performance artist plays tribute to Mark Jamison, who was killed after
being blown into a power line while hanging a neon sign, time and time again in his new show, "The Neon Man and Me."
Coleman plays 30 characters in this sentimental 60-minute piece, which shows at 9pm tonight, Thursday, and 7pm, Friday at
the Provincetown Inn, 1 Commercial St., Provincetown. Fringe Festival events are $15 at the door. This show is making the
Fringe Festival circuit in preparation for what Coleman hopes will become an Off-Broadway run.
"The weird thing is, because you know I kind of struggled with my artist career forever, and this has been effortless through it
so it's kind of magical that way," Coleman, 38, says by phone from his Richmond, VA home.
That doesn't mean Coleman started penning the piece right away. Rather, he was collecting letters, poems, music and newspaper articles to give to
Jamison's son.
"So I decided I would write down all these memories of his dad," he says. "When all was said and done I had 300 pages."
But Coleman wanted to do more than just give the kid a stack of papers- he decided to create a performance from those pages. With Jamisons' parents'
blessing, Coleman worked with 15 writers and performers to help shape the piece, which was cut down to 27 pages. HE then brought in a director. It took a
year before "The Neon Man and Me" hit the stage. Coleman has since performed the piece about 80 to 10 times.
"When I did the research on the one-person show, they say that you have to tell a story up to about 1,000 times to have it be successful," he says. "It really
felt like I could do that."
This show consists of eight stories about Coleman and Jamison and his death, and four songs.
"The stories take place from my meeting Mark in college and Mark opening the neon shop and me traveling the world," he says, adding that when people
hear about the show, they don't understand that it's not a tragedy. "They think it's this tragic thing about my friend dying, but it's a lot of funny stories."
The whole experience of writing and performing this show, which Jamison's child was taken to as an infant, has made Coleman more spiritual, he says.
"His parents have seen the show a couple of times now, and his parents think his spirit is alive when they're there," he says.
Jamison's son.
"So I decided I would write down all these memories of his dad," he says. "When all was said and done I had 300 pages."
But Coleman wanted to do more than just give the kid a stack of papers- he decided to create a performance from those pages. With Jamisons' parents'
blessing, Coleman worked with 15 writers and performers to help shape the piece, which was cut down to 27 pages. HE then brought in a director. It took a
year before "The Neon Man and Me" hit the stage. Coleman has since performed the piece about 80 to 10 times.
"When I did the research on the one-person show, they say that you have to tell a story up to about 1,000 times to have it be successful," he says. "It really
felt like I could do that."
This show consists of eight stories about Coleman and Jamison and his death, and four songs.
"The stories take place from my meeting Mark in college and Mark opening the neon shop and me traveling the world," he says, adding that when people
hear about the show, they don't understand that it's not a tragedy. "They think it's this tragic thing about my friend dying, but it's a lot of funny stories."
The whole experience of writing and performing this show, which Jamison's child was taken to as an infant, has made Coleman more spiritual, he says.
"His parents have seen the show a couple of times now, and his parents think his spirit is alive when they're there," he says.
(Photo: Tania Barricklo)
But it wasn't just Jamison's odd untimely death that compelled Coleman to write and perform the show - there were some weird things surrounding that
event. A month after he died, Jamison's girlfriend found out she was pregnant ("Nine months later I've got Mark Jamison that arrives as a baby," Coleman
says); the pair played in a jazz band in college and when Coleman put those recordings on CD, he head Jamison scream on one song as if he's being
electrocuted, after which the gutarist says "neon"; and Coleman wrote a novel five years after meeting Jamison which one of the charcters is electrocuted
by a power line.
"Those three things, definitely when he died, they trolled around in my head," he says.
event. A month after he died, Jamison's girlfriend found out she was pregnant ("Nine months later I've got Mark Jamison that arrives as a baby," Coleman
says); the pair played in a jazz band in college and when Coleman put those recordings on CD, he head Jamison scream on one song as if he's being
electrocuted, after which the gutarist says "neon"; and Coleman wrote a novel five years after meeting Jamison which one of the charcters is electrocuted
by a power line.
"Those three things, definitely when he died, they trolled around in my head," he says.
| © Slash Coleman 2009 |
