I'm an award winning and losing playwright and screenwriter; I'm a dad of two great kids, an aggressive spoiler of dogs, and hopelessly addicted to baseball and The Beatles. I have no recollection of ever having worn a mullet, yet photos in the 80's say otherwise.
By Jack Canfora Talking about the nature of humor or laughter is about as fun as stepping on Legos in bare feet. I get it. But hear me out. For the few of you who can recall essays I have written for this esteemed blog, I tend to try to levin somewhat serious topics with … More “A Sudden Glory”: A Thought Or Two On Humor
By Jack Canfora “How hard it is to be simple!” – Vincent Van Gogh, in a letter to his brother Theo I start with this quote not merely to lend my post an unearned credibility by associating it with the sentiments of a genius, but because I find it an amazingly true insight into creativity … More Why I Don’t Get Invited To A Lot of Parties
By Jack Canfora Back in the waning days of the Coolidge Administration, I was but a young lad training to be a Shakespearean actor in London at a prestigious academy which, as I attended it, has reached a financial arrangement with me assuring I never mention it by name. We were taught by a man … More Some Cliched Advise About Avoiding Cliches
By Jack Canfora This will be a short post and I can assure you that there’s a really, REALLY good reason for this: I want YOUR opinions on this topic at least as much to express my own. It is not, not, absolutely NOT because it’s 10:17 at night and after a very harried day, … More Art Versus Artist: The Final Countdown
I know, I know. We’ve all heard about the importance of being grateful. So I’m not going to blather on about its individual and collective benefits. Instead, I’m just going to make a short list of some of the things I’m grateful for. Warning: I’m new to this gratitude thing. I may mess it up … More Dear Lord, Not Another Post On This Blog About Gratitude
By Jack Canfora In my experience, there is only one true way to tackle a diet: failingly. This perhaps explains why I am becoming the answer to the seldom asked philosophical question, “What would Orson Welles have looked like if he weren’t a genius?” Having said that, I’m happy to report that my latest diet … More I Didn’t Read The News Today, Oh Boy!
By Jack Canfora Apologies for my absence. The good news is my online theater company, New Normal Rep, starts streaming today and runs through April 4th (www.newnormalrep.org) The first play is mine! Help me fill the gaping hole in my psyche that only the approval of strangers can fill! Forgive the plug, but that’s also … More A Sudden Glory
By Jack Canfora It feels like a long time since I’ve posted on here; it’s likely you, with your busy lives crammed with saving democracy, binging various food-themed shows, and (if you’re like me) binging on actual food haven’t noticed my absence, but I certainly have. Much of it has been for a happy reason: … More Been A While
By Jack Canfora It’s sooo on brand for 2020 that it’s a Leap Year. No, no, 365 days weren’t enough for this Annus Horribilis (and yes, you’d better believe I triple checked the spelling on that first word): it was so overflowing with awfulness, so teeming with terribleness, so rife with wretchedness, it needed an … More This Year, Let’s Keep The Days Out Of The Holidays
By Jack Canfora To be an artist or writer means to become intimately, and more often than not, quite frequently acquainted with rejection. Fortunately, I have become somewhat inured to rejection due to a rigorous immersion in it in middle school. Still, some rejections can sting a bit regardless of how many girls laughed at … More Art=Rejection, And That’s Perfectly Fine (I Think)
By Jack Canfora John Lennon was 40 when he was killed; that murder took place 40 years ago today. I spent most of my teenage years trying to be John Lennon; eventually I realized that position was permanently filled. The whole band (you know who I’m talking about, right?) grabbed my imagination and still hasn’t … More The Witty One
By Jack Canfora As I awoke this morning from uneasy dreams I found myself transformed in my bed into a gigantic insect. No. Nope. Wait. Sorry, that wasn’t me. It was Gregor Samsa. Not me. I’m constantly getting the two of us confused. It’s led to some pretty wacky situations, as you can well imagine. … More The Respites Against, And Advantages Of, Sadness
By Jack Canfora Everything changes at the holidays, even seminal works of literature. (Gatsby in his mansion, alone, disconsolate.) Gatsby: Daisy chose Tom over me. It can’t be. It can’t. (The phone rings. Picks it up.) Daisy?Gatsby’s Wise Yet Hitherto Unmentioned Uncle: Well, it’s been a long time since anyone’s called me Daisy. No, it’s … More A Very Hallmark Christmas Great Gatsby
By Jack Canfora … More 2020: THE INTERVIEW
…it’s hard at times (today being one such instance) not view my life as little more than the sum total of my mistakes. … More I Seldom Pay Much Mind To My Mind
By Jack Canfora … More My 10 Iron-Clad Rules For Writing
By Jack Canfora “The quality of mercy,” wrote The Bard in his anti-Semitic romantic romp, The Merchant of Venice, “is not strained.” However, in my experience, the quality of mercy is often very strained indeed. Strained past to the point I think that, despite intense physical therapy, it may be out for the season. I … More Shakespeare Was Wrong
Even those whose worldview we find must repugnant and alienating are, deep down, also come from a place of fear and alienation. I try to remember that. And that’s at least something in common. … More Feeling Alone? You’re In Good Company
I do not believe a sense of loneliness and despair is endemic to the human condition writ large, but I do believe that it is for many of us. … More Depression & Despair: 2020’s Prom Theme