Naked Stand-up Tragicomic: A Human Body Project Video

Naked Stand-up Tragicomic: A Human Body Project Video (5 minutes, 2013)

Tasha Diamant will present the The Human Body Project off-fringe during the 2013 Victoria Fringe, August 22-September 1, 2013, and at the Vancouver Fringe, September 5-15, 2013.

"Here's what's 'wrong' with me. I was born into a world where people don't look after each other or even see each other. I always felt it and was never okay but I fully believed what I was told. That I needed to "be successful" and "pretty." I knew I should figure out how to fix my bothersome self. I tried harder to do that than anyone I've ever met. 
One day I realized I was done. The only thing that will really fix me is living in a world where people choose love over ego/domination. It's super easy. Kids know how to do do it. There are lots of reasons why we've ended up training ourselves backward and I could say more about that but one thing I've noticed is that no matter how much 'research' there is, not much changes. 
Our work is in the emotional realm. I happen to have 'expertise' as a super-sensitive emotional being who has survived! I am not an addict, a suicide, on the street, or crazy. 
I do not thrive and I often struggle to function, but I am here doing my job. 
This shift won't happen in my lifetime but I am doing everything I can think of to make it happen. I feel defensive because who I am and what I know is easily and often dismissed because it makes people uncomfortable. 
I honour myself and I honour all of you who honor your own sensitivity and, I'll say it again, vulnerability is the only way forward."     Tasha Diamant

"Because of all the horrible things that humans have done in anger, anger has been given a bad name. But it is a legitimate emotion that signals that someone has been violated. 
It's time we raised healthy anger back to the rafters of acceptability, and worked together to clarify a way of expressing it that both holds everyone safe AND allows us to honour its inherent wisdom. Not abusing self or other, but seeing the feelings all the way through to the healing and lessons they contain. 
This means not doing the forgiveness bypass--pretending to forgive before we have organically moved through the feelings. Feeling, expressing and healing first."     Jeff Brown

"It’s ridiculous to talk about freedom in a society dominated by huge corporations. What kind of freedom is there inside a corporation? They’re totalitarian institutions--you take orders from above and maybe give them to people below you. There’s about as much freedom as under Stalinism."     Noam Chomsky

Earth Day Vulnerability Vigil: Fisgard and Government, by the globe sculpture, downtown Victoria, 5:15 pm, April 22

By an anonymous Human Body Project participant

Earth Day Vulnerability Vigil 

Monday, April 22, 2013

5:15 pm

Fisgard and Government

Downtown Victoria

I believe humanity will not survive unless we choose love over power and ego.

We will not get beyond the current globally destructive domination paradigm without viscerally dealing with our vulnerability.

Most humans on the earth come from cultures rooted in millennia of domination. Understanding must go beyond cognition into the body.

By standing naked and unscripted for the Human Body Project, I am choosing vulnerability and authenticity.

I represent and share not only my own vulnerability, but I also stand in solidarity with those who are most vulnerable, such as children. As a sample human, I represent the vulnerability of all humanity at this time of urgency.

This is my way of being the change and teaching what I need to learn. My work is a commitment to healing and action.

In public, as a form of outreach and non-violent protest, I hold monthly Vulnerability Vigils. Along with the people who join me, I stand naked on public streets. In a gesture of gentleness to those who may be affronted by nudity, my supporters and I hold a large sign.

Recently, I wrote an explanation of why I do the Human Body Project for my 5- and 10-year-old daughters, which seemed to help grown-ups understand as well: http://www.humanbodyproject.com/2012/10/to-my-beautiful-daughters-attempt-to.html

www.humanbodyproject.com
https://www.facebook.com/HumanBodyProject
twitter: @HumanBodyProj https://twitter.com/#!/HumanBodyProj
tashadiamanthuman@gmail.com

Vulnerability Vigil, March 25, 5:15-ish, Gov't and Fisgard, Victoria

Cars driving by during the November 2012 vigil.

We're still all in this together.
And I'm still doing monthly Vulnerability Vigils.

Monday, March 25, 5:15-ish pm
Downtown Victoria at Government and Fisgard by the globe sculpture

More information:

I believe humanity will not survive unless we choose love over power and ego and we cannot get to that place without viscerally dealing with our vulnerability.

For Vulnerability Vigils, I commit to showing up naked and vulnerable in a public place as a form of art, activism, and education.

In a gesture of gentleness to those who are affronted by nudity, I, and those who join me, hold a large sign that says "VULNERABLE" in front of our bodies. 

People who join me can choose to be as dressed as they wish.

I hope you will consider joining me or consider holding your own Vulnerability Vigil wherever you live.

Recently, I wrote an explanation of why I do the Human Body Project for my 6- and 11-year-old daughters, which seemed to help grown-ups understand as well: http://www.humanbodyproject.com/2012/10/to-my-beautiful-daughters-attempt-to.html

I have committed to holding a Human Body Project Vulnerability Vigil once a month.

www.humanbodyproject.com
https://www.facebook.com/HumanBodyProject
twitter: @HumanBodyProj https://twitter.com/#!/HumanBodyProj
tashadiamanthuman@gmail.com

Announcement: Vulnerability Vigil Feb. 27, 5 pm, downtown Victoria, Gov't and Fisgard

We're still all in this together. Vulnerable bodies on a vulnerable planet.

I'm still doing monthly Human Body Project Vulnerability Vigils and the next one is:

Wednesday, February 27

~5 pm-~6 pm
Downtown Victoria on Government and Fisgard by the globe sculpture

More information: For the Human Body Project, I commit to showing up naked and unscripted to share a visceral experience of vulnerability. 

For Vulnerability Vigils, I commit to showing up naked and vulnerable in a public place as a form of art, activism, and education.

In a gesture of gentleness to those who are affronted by nudity, I, and those who join me, hold a large sign that says "VULNERABLE" in front of our bodies.

People who join me can choose to be as dressed as they wish.

I hope you will consider joining me or consider holding your own Vulnerability Vigil wherever you live.

Recently, I wrote an explanation of why I do the Human Body Project for my 5- and 10-year-old daughters, which seemed to help grown-ups understand as well: http://www.humanbodyproject.com/2012/10/to-my-beautiful-daughters-attempt-to.html

I have committed to holding a Human Body Project Vulnerability Vigil once a month.

www.humanbodyproject.com
https://www.facebook.com/HumanBodyProject
twitter: @HumanBodyProj https://twitter.com/#!/HumanBodyProj
tashadiamanthuman@gmail.com

Thank you, Tasha.

Tasha Diamant, naked/stand-up/tragicomic, debut Feb. 13, 7:30 PM, Victoria Event Centre, in Diversion 2

Next week will be my debut as a naked stand-up tragicomic in Diversion 2 at the Victoria Event Centre on Wednesday, Feb. 13, 7:30 PM. (Or naked/stand-up/tragicomic?)

I have decided to take part in a variety show and I will do a 15-20-minute act.

I see this as a conceptual tweak on the Human Body Project. I want to experiment with this idea to see if it might "work better." (I.e., maybe reach a few more people. Needless to say, the concept of right livelihood is ongoingly theoretical.)

Slightly different intentions. But both still =

• Mother work
• Non-violent action
• Healing
• Disruption of status quo
• Western dissidence
• Paradigm shift
• Decolonization
• Reconciliation
• Teaching
• Learning
• Art

Human Body Project =

• Naked and unscripted
• Authentic/vulnerable
• Open agenda and open heart
• Share intense experience of vulnerability with the audience
• Experiential
• In relationship to audience
• Audience role is ambiguous/open-ended

Tasha as naked/stand-up/tragicomic =

• Naked
• Still authentic/vulnerable but with a more verbal purpose, which, in my case anyway, means more mind, less heart
• Still not really scripted and no set agenda but with more intention to "perform," share stories and ideas
• Still experiential but more towards the "about me" end of the spectrum rather than the "me in relationship with audience" end
• Audience role still participatory if they want, but they can sit back a little more and let me take the responsibility

I wonder if Tasha as naked/stand-up/tragicomic can be as transformative as the Human Body Project.

I got the idea because I was flat out sick for weeks recently and over that time I watched several comedian movies on Netflix (Russell Peters, Aziz Ansari, Patton Oswalt, Brian Posehn, Maria Bamford, Zach Galifianakis, Louis CK, Jim Gaffigan, Kings of Comedy Tour, and more).

I have often thought that stand-up is the popular art form that the Human Body Project most resembles because those little persons are so alone up there and so vulnerable. They are so sad but they try to make people laugh. Laughter is a safe place, but what if they fail?!

They die!

Having died several deaths on stage, I figure my new "act" can't really go wrong. A) I will live. B) I do not plan to always be funny or even try to be funny.

Hence stand-up tragicomic.

For instance, there is inherent tragicomedy in a naked 51-year-old person's body. Politically and culturally, I think there is probably less tragicomedy and more repulsion inherent in a naked 51-year-old woman's body than a man's, but that remains to be seen (eye of the beholders and all that).

Also, one thing I got from watching the comedians is that they walk a thin line between respect for their audience and "fuck you."

There is a fair amount of "fuck you" inherent in a 51-year-old naked woman's body. Especially one as hairy as mine.

I do my work from the point of view of a person who has been close to destroyed by my culture (always an excellent source of tragicomedy, not to mention comedy) and am only interested in working toward creating antidotes and healing. So, while I have shared my anger and unpleasant emotions, it is in the spirit of being vulnerably authentic. I try not to be the "fuck you" even if I feel like the "fuck you."

The Human Body Project is, in one sense, about me creating a healing space to have a heartful outlet for outrage and pain.

This new thing might be not quite as nicey-nice because of all the dang impolite ideas, thoughts, and feelings, of which I am plumb full.

I.e., being more intentionally verbal may be more "fuck you"-ish. Cultural context-wise, sadly, I feel it might be less of a leap for audiences.

I have some ideas about how I will structure this little experiment but if you want to see, you'll have to come to Diversion 2 at the Victoria Event Centre on Wednesday, Feb. 13, 7:30 PM! (Plus it's for a great cause, the VEC needs chairs so very badly.)

Another vigil tomorrow, Jan 4, 2013, 11:45 am, at the closed door of the Enbridge hearings in Victoria plus a video from the anniversary vigil

Tomorrow the Enbridge Review Panel convenes in Victoria. The hearings are closed to the public.

The proposed pipelines (and tanker traffic) are a perfect example of the willful disregard of industrialization's agents to the vulnerability of earth and humans. 

Paradoxically, we are all both agents of industrialization and earthlings in trouble. We are, as Velcrow Ripper says, the 100%.

Choosing vulnerability, the ethos of the Human Body Project, is not only about showing up in non-violent protest but also about being the change. Only by choosing vulnerability and experientially dealing with vulnerability in our beings and bodies will our brains figure it out. 

This second vigil of January 2013 is about us standing in solidarity with the people of the BC coast and, by extension, all humans; to say NO to more pipelines and tankers; to acknowledge the difficult paradoxes of living in modernity.

Yes, I am protesting my own way of life because we haven't created the way to look after each other yet. Let's do it! Choose vulnerability!


Tomorrow's vigil is
Jan 4, 2013
11:45 am
Delta Victoria Ocean Pointe Resort
45 Songhees Rd.
Victoria


We're all in this together. And one thing we for sure don't need is more pipelines and more tanker traffic. 

Here's a CHEK-TV news piece about the January 1 first anniversary vigil... in the theme of wacky naked lady/nice cop. 


http://www.humanbodyproject.com/

Here's a link to the government info: http://gatewaypanel.review-examen.gc.ca/clf-nsi/prtcptngprcss/rlsttmnt-eng.html

Here's a group showing up at the hearing tomorrow: https://www.facebook.com/events/200619096735487/

Some "Minutes" from the December Human Body Project Workshops

Is it a sense
of duty
Is it a sense
of obligation
Is it a sense
of caring
Is it the appropriate place
to be
Yes to all of the above
Vulnerability is important
Vitally important
to the survival
of her creation

Doff it
Only if it
is
sooo hot
that
I'm
uncomfortable
she turned 
up the heat
and I began
to sweat

she wants to
tease out
the shame
in her
despair

divorce

out of control
psychopathy
20% are awake
transnational murder
escalates
community kitchens
respond
peace on earth
goodwill to all
happy holy days ya all

one of the problems is people actually believe they are stimulus-response creatures when in fact we are something other than Pavlov's dog

one of the problems is one person's fucked-up is another's paradise

-------

you always look so depressed

Christmas is a family time

You don't know you're beautiful

I am a holy person

-------

apple     bareness       caring         deliberate
anger     balderdash    curing         deep
angst     blaming         courteous   deepening