I am a Doer.

Hello, world!

This is my first post in a quest to help make the world sparkle a bit more. I’m a performer, improviser, director, and teacher living in NYC. I go by 'Philip Sparkle' sometimes onstage! I wrote a one-man show called Sparkle Hour, and a follow-up Sparkle Death, I've been interviewing people I think exemplify their inner sparkle via a podcast coming out this Fall that I'm calling 'Sparklecast!' I host a variety show every month called The Sparkle Zone...my instagram is @philipsparkle...you get it, it's my personal nightmare, but it's branding at this point, baby!  

And the thing I'm most proud of in my life is launching and being a part of the NY branch of the infamous Annoyance Theatre. As of today, I have stepped down from running the Annoyance NY to assume the full-time status of being funemployed and commit to being a full-time artist and teacher.  

Why did I step down? I think I’ll start by sharing a poem I wrote: 

I am a Do-er.

I Do all the time

Do this

Do that

Do more

Do less

Always Doing.

I’d rather Be.

But Beings beyond

What I can do.

So I Do

Do it

Do him

Do her

When I’m done,

I don’t.

I wait

I worry

Till I do some more.

I wish I didn’t.

I won’t do anymore

I say.

I mean it.

But I don’t

Stop Doing.

I can’t

Do Nothing.

Just Being

is something

I wish for

Every Day.

I’m gonna Do

Myself to death.

Dark shit, right?! The Sparkle whimsy belies an undercurrent of harsh introspection. When I’m alone, I’m not very nice to myself. I’m much better in action out there in the game of life, in solving problems, Do-ing tangible things...building theatre. This constant need to be active is something I’m ‘working’ on…in therapy...oh yes. 

So as of today, I've spent three years building the Annoyance NY. It was — I believe — a success! The party we had last night was moving beyond all hell and back to me, to see people that had pulled together around the possibility of a new theatre. There is nothing I like more in the world than possibility...it's both a curse (always thinking of the dreaded 'if') and a dream (a new community dancing to Robyn on a basement stage, all to ourselves as the strobe lights play)! I bore the brunt of all the Doing it took to make it happen: the ups and downs and missed opportunities and fights and regrets and wins and losses and drama and misunderstanding and growth and tears and elation and ego-trips and teaching hundreds of people what I knew about improv and the value of the Annoyance’s philosophy. I am very fortunate to have had the opportunity to do this and learn from building a theatre from the ground up. 

But now, I am cutting loose once and moving into the unknown, blowing the small savings I have on a three-week trip to Bali. I will probably read Eat, Pray, Love (please…kill me now). This is the longest time I have ever given myself between doing things.

But I also respect verbs. I am a Do-er and probably always will be. What I know I'm not a maintainer. When I buy something and it breaks down, my first insinct is to buy a new thing (isn’t that the most awful, privileged sentence ever?). I like to create; I like to build; I like to improvise, I like to grow things...I don’t like to run them forever. 

When I get back to NYC, I am glad to still be teaching and performing and creating at the Annoyance. I am committing myself wholly to the one thing I know brings me joy each and every time: being an artist. 

And, I want to share on this platform! I have no idea what content I’m going to create, but I’m glad to be starting the Sparkle.

Thanks for reading.