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.)