Just checking in to let any readers I have know that I am still alive. Although, I am on surgery right now, so just barely.
I just started watching the This American Life TV show. There is a fascinating season #1 episode about a guerilla theater group who "pranks" an obscure local band into thinking they have fans by going to one of their concerts.
Think about that for a minute. Charlie Todd, the organizer of this group, got 35 people together in order to make a showing at this new band's second concert. The 35 people in question are part of an urban theater network called Improv Everywhere. The 35 people downloaded the band's music, learned the lyrics and made t-shirts. Then they came to the concert and rocked out with the band. My question is, in what sense does this constitute a "prank?" This is just life. I can't figure out how this is any different from the "prank" I once pulled when I went to school for what will be going on 25 years now and worked hard and got good grades. Hah (slaps knee)! All my teachers thought I was a good and diligent student! Man, I really pulled one over on them. Or the one where I visited my girlfriend in the hospital when she was sick with appendicitis. I brought her flowers and balloons and everything. Man you should've seen the way her face lit up! She thought I really cared about her.
My point is that our entire lives are, in some sense, a "stunt." The mission statement of these 35 was to give this band "the best gig ever." Maybe some of them were also there to achieve some notoriety or maybe they enjoyed being a part of something bigger than themselves. Maybe some of them genuinely were fans of the group. But, when one of the band members found out that these so-called fans where there as part of an urban theater performance, he was devastated. He's being short-sighted. Here's why.
If you take the view that your performance is meaningless despite the crowd of people jumping and singing to your music, what meaning does anything in life have? What you see, hear, touch and perceive is as real as anything gets in this world. Don't think too hard about it - you'll drive yourself mad.
