I’m heading off to do yoga and spend time with a trainer at the gym. I’ve been doing this since finding out about the audition, actually.
This is an interesting experience for me. I’d already been talking to Rob about feeling like I wanted to go to the gym because I was uncomfortable in my body. This isn’t about size so much as fitness. See, for most of the past twenty years I’ve been supporting myself as a puppeteer.
A typical day when I was on tour involved carrying in the set, putting it up and then performing two shows, taking the set down and carrying it out. Our speakers weighed 50 lbs each and I used to carry them in, one in each hand, without thinking about it. In fact, I delighted being at schools where gentlemen custodians of a certain age could not stand to see the young lady carrying things. They’d offer to take the speaker and, though I’d demur, I’d eventually hand them one with a straight arm.
I giggled inside to watch them realize that it was heavy.
In the Sleeping Beauty story that I tell sometimes in bars, the thing I don’t mention is that the puppets weighed between 10 to 15 lbs and that I performed by leaning on a rail, with my arms held straight out in front of me. For an hour. To give that a try, take a gallon of milk and hold it out in front of you. It weighs about 8 1/2 pounds.
Anyway, the point of that little digression is that since we moved to Portland, I’ve been mostly writing and doing some construction, but nothing that involves repeated heavy lifting. I don’t have any habits built around having a sedentary lifestyle.
It’s one of the reasons I bike everywhere.
It also leaves me in the position of suddenly needing to hit the gym in order to prepare for an audition. The puppets weigh 66 pounds without a rider. I won’t be back to my speaker-carrying days, but I already feel better and am reassured that the weight of the horse is still well within my range. Even so, I’m likely continue when I return from NYC. Sedentary sounds good, but really isn’t any fun.
Now, while I’m off being tortured here is the first of 6 video diaries that Toby Olié shot for the National Theatre about War Horse. He was one of Joey’s puppeteers in the initial run and is now on Topthorn. It’s a bit easier to see what the puppeteers are doing here because they are in street clothes.
War Horse Video Diary: Episode 1 from Toby Olié on Vimeo.
I remember my dog show days. Carry a full-grown Lhasa Apso stretched out on my arm, so as not to wrinkle the coat? No problem- well, not back then. Somehow my trainer hasn’t suggested a similar exercise- I guess it’s those no dogs allowed rules.
Oh, yeah. Dogs are surprisingly heavy, plus it’s living weight so the balance is always shifting. I’ve been joking about doing curls with our 12 pound cat.
So, if you were to get the part, what would happen to your tour dates in the sidebar?
The rehearsals don’t start until January but at this point I’m just focused on getting through round one of the auditions.
I am always interested in how other writers and desk jockeys adapt to their sedentary lifestyle. I try to exercise–a lot. It can get rough, though, when the deadlines kick in, and I know the *right* thing to do is hit the treadmill or yoga studio, but the thing I *need* to do is spend twelve more intensely focused hours at my keyboard. I appreciate any and all suggestions and comiseration on this dilemma. Not only does sedentary work make you weak and cause you to gain weight, but it tends to put your back and body out of alignment, and over time that can cause a lot of pain.
One thing I haven’t tried is bicep curls with my dogs. I’m intrigued! I might have to start with a smaller dog, though, like a Labrador Retriever…