Joshua Zamrycki's Weblog

I've got no time to tell you about all the exciting and painful things going on in my life at the moment, so I leave you with some quick snapshots that have been waiting to be shared. Enjoy!

None Shall Pass

Cookie Push

The Getaway

Wet Feet

Posted by Joshua Zamrycki at 12:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Dear friends,

Barcelona's Jocular Theatre is back with its latest outrageous production, "The Nature and Purpose of the Universe". You remember Jocular, don't you? The same irreverent English-language group that brought you "Picasso at the Lapin Agile", "All In The Timing" and "The Marriage of Bette & Boo". Anyway, this year's offering promises to be just as much fun and just as sharp.

Your appetizer at this jocular night of theatre, "The Actor's Nightmare", is a hilarious spoof detailing the plight of a stranger who is suddenly pushed on stage to replace an ailing actor. Your main course, "The Nature and Purpose of the Universe", is a dark comedy homage to the Book of Job in the Bible that will assault your sensibilities quickly and brutally, while appealing to a sick sense of humor that you almost wish you didn't possess. Both pieces are by the American playwright Christopher Durang.

Thursday, 12 June at 21:00 / 7 euros (save 3 euros!)
Friday, 13 June at 22:00 / 10 euros
Saturday, 14 June at 22:00 / 10 euros
Sunday, 15 June at 20:00 / 10 euros

at the Antic Teatre Riereta
c/ Reina Amalia 3, 08001 BCN
T 933 292 196
L3 Parallel or L2 Sant Antoni

You can purchase your ticket by contacting the theatre directly or via a member of Jocular Theatre. Though tickets will be on sale at the door, we encourage you to please book your tickets in advance as our shows do tend to sell out and we don't want to have to turn you away at the door.

We must be good, we've got our own web site!
www.joculartheatre.com

Feel free to forward this to anyone you think may appreciate a twisted night of comedic theatre in English.

Thank you,

Joshua Zamrycki
Director, Jocular Theatre

The Nature and Purpose of the Universe

Posted by Joshua Zamrycki at 2:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'd like to share a short photo-journey through our lovely day at the beach from last week. Emily had never been on a bicycle before and was ecstatic when we proposed the idea of renting one. She was even keen to wear a helmet (most of the time), which she dutifully called a "hat".

Speed Racer

We only rented the bikes for an hour, but that was just enough time to ride a couple of kilometers up the coast and back, stare out over the surprisingly crowded beaches, and emphatically call out the names of everything we recognized along the way: sea, beach, ball, cloud, kite, dog, etc.

Which way to the beach?

Even though she was on the back of my bike, I could still tell which way Emily was looking because her helmet would bounce off my back every time she turned her head. And then she would exclaim, "Daddy's back!" and pat me. Jan was left unfettered to ride circles around us and show off her stuff.

Grace

After we returned the bikes, we headed down to the beach for duck-shaped sand castles, a giddy round of "run into the sea but run out before a wave touches your feet", and dirty sand tickle wrestling. A good time was had by all.

Sandy smiles

Posted by Joshua Zamrycki at 9:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Remember when I said I was cast in a film called Paintball but didn't know anything about it? Well I know all about it now. Here are the relevant bits.

Spanish production company Filmax to shoot this horror/thriller in English here in Barcelona from May 20 through June 20. I have three days of shooting. Paintball. Murder. Mystery. Shaky cam. Lots of blood.

There are five lead roles. I am not one of them. My character's name, as previously mentioned, is Player 2. This turns out to be a much more interesting part than Player 1, so that's cool. And I do have lines! Five very emotional, aggressive, adrenaline-riddled mini-speeches where a few of the lead characters have to literally pin me down to stop me from going totally ballistic. That's very cool. Oh, and did I mention that I only speak Polish? WHAT?!?! Yeah, I only learned this fairly important bit of information last week. Talk about a challenge.

I received the script last week but it was all in English. I just received my lines translated into Polish today. My first day of shooting is this Thursday. That doesn't leave a lot of time to perfect my Polish accent or memorize my lines. Here is the first of my five lines:

Zwariowalas? Co ty kurwa zrobilas? Zabilas ja! Przeciez to tylko gra! Ja pierdole! Ona naprawde nie zyje! Co ci strzelilo do glowy? Wiesz co teraz bedzie?

By the way, the five main characters are all supposed to be American. Four of them are played by British actors. The fifth is Spanish. Go figure.

Posted by Joshua Zamrycki at 1:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Ask Emily what a cow says and she'll be happy to tell you. The mere mention of a pussy cat will have her meowing with glee. Inquire about elephants and you'll get a trumpet in the face. She's always been very good at animal noises.

Sheep, monkey, horse, duck, snake, dog, and most recently, monster. Emily can do them all.

But it's been a long time since she's learned a new animal noise (monster notwithstanding). Until a couple of weeks ago, that is. Emily's grandma was kind enough to teach her what roosters say. Then all hell broke loose. We heard nothing but cockadoodledoo (or, as Emily likes to say it, "cockle goo") for the next 48 hours. I kid you not. 48 hours! And frequently since then. Think I'm exaggerating? Here's a video that lasts just three and a half minutes. Now multiply that by 822 and you get two days. Try watching this video 822 times.

Posted by Joshua Zamrycki at 12:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

If I don't start writing now, I may never write again. I just keep putting it off and putting it off. I've come to a decision: in an attempt to stymie this rampant and recurring case of transient writer's block, I resolve to start writing more concise blog entries.

All too often, I find myself amassing a mammoth entry in my head only to never get around to actually writing it. Then, all that quality material - and it is quality - goes to waste. I'm not ruling out the occasional marathon entry, but they will be the exception more than the rule. This unfortunately means that I will be knocking the monthly Emily birthday catch-up entries on the head (boo!), but they will be replaced with much more frequent anecdote-style entries. You'll probably end up with more photos and videos in the long run. So no complaining.

This is a milestone in my self-recognition. I can now add another item on to the list of things that I'm no good at. I don't think I'm a bad writer, but I've sometimes got a bad work ethic. Since this blogging thing is supposed to be fun, I'm hoping this new approach will facilitate that enjoyment. That sounds very clinical.

This entry is already longer than I had anticipated. I do drone on, don't I? Note to self: keep it simple, stupid.

Posted by Joshua Zamrycki at 11:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I've got so many little things to tell you all about but, as is the case every month around this time, I don't want to write anything while Emily's monthly birthday blog entry is still pending. I'm supposed to write that super-long entry on the 6th of every month, but there's so much to organize, upload, and write that I inevitably get overwhelmed and just keep putting it off. I shouldn't even be telling you how I shouldn't be telling you this. If I ever found out that I was writing something trivial before posting Emily's entry I'd be pissed. So don't tell me. I'd get cross.

• I started my HP-subsidized swim class today. My osteopath has been nagging me for months to start swimming and begin recuperating the muscle that had slowly disappeared while I couldn't walk from December to March. The instructor watched me fly through the pool like grease lightning doing the breaststroke and informed me that I was doing it all wrong. Then he watched me struggle and flounce and pant and almost faint after attempting the crawl and he said I only had to fine-tune a couple of things. Same time next Thursday.


• Only one month until the plays that I'm directing open and I haven't written a single word about them on this blog. That will change very soon - probably next week when the posters, flyers, tickets, and web site are complete!


• I got the part of the title character in a cartoon series called "240" about... well, disgusting and obscenely vile things. But it's mostly about the profane insanity inherent in a world where people can purchase a super-intelligent clone-baby called 240 (that's me!) that comes in an easy-to-open vacuum sealed drink container. I based the character on an autistic mix between Woody Allen and Liberace. I also get to play the part of a demented scientist who eats his own excrement. I found inspiration for this one by imagining an evil reptilian Peter Lorre with dry mouth.


• I was invited by a local casting agent to audition for the new Filmax film, Paintball. It's an action/thriller that they'll be shooting here in Barcelona next month. I was invited to audition for the part of a computer programmer who likes to take out his aggression on the paintball course - not too much of a stretch there! I was very happy with my audition but I didn't hear back from them. Two weeks later, they call me again to audition for a different part, that of Player #1 (that's right, this character doesn't even get a real name). Anyway, after my audition I get another call from them, this time to offer me the part of Player #2. That's right, I didn't even get Player #1. Don't get me wrong, I'm totally excited about the job! I just thought my fast slide down the character food chain to be whimsical. I don't know if I have any lines or not, but they did tell me that I get to die in a pretty fantastic way, so that's cool. I haven't even read the script yet. I've got my costume and makeup tests tomorrow so I'll know a bit more about the project after that. Stay tuned...

Posted by Joshua Zamrycki at 12:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)