showbusiness | PlayFighting

The Amateur-Professional Divide

I just read an article by Isaac Butler on the difference between amateur and professional theatre in the USA. It was inspired by a blog post about the same topic in photography. In the era of cheap(er) high quality cameras and Photoshop, the quality of the amateur’s work is often comparable to professionals, and so […]

A Stage Combat Exemplar: Rick Sordelet

New York-based Rick Sordelet seems to be the most prolific fight director in America right now. The certification of Fight Director is a lot easier to attain in the U.S. than in Canada, so most of those certified aren’t really worth a damn. Rick is the opposite end of that spectrum: he has an excellent […]

July Stage Combat Jump-Start

Update: Due to scheduling conflicts, the first day of class is July 13. The course will be 3 weeks, 2 hours per day: 5pm to 7pm. Since the time is reduced, the price is reduced to $250. Are Your Stage Combat Skills Rusty? How long has it been since you took a stage combat class? […]

Stratford Article on Daniel Levinson

My mentor, Daniel Levinson, has spent the last few months choreographing the stage combat for Julius Caesar at the Stratford Festival. He is also the associate fight director for Macbeth. The Stratford Festival website recently ran an article about Daniel and his work. It’s a brief look at the ideas that a fight master can […]

David Carradine Has Fought His Last

The sad news is that David Carradine was found dead in a hotel room yesterday. There is an ongoing investigation and there will be an autopsy, but there is already wild speculation around the web. Here is a good article that both details his life and the circumstances of his death: Actor David Carradine Murdered […]

Sword Master F. Braun McAsh

Last Friday, I had the honour of meeting sword master F. Braun McAsh. His claim to fame is the Highlander TV series. And that is how he is introduced by everyone. Highlander TV SwordMaster His pledge to the producers was that he would provide an original move or way of using a weapon in every […]

Learn About Learning Strategies

Why reading a book on a new martial art or stage combat will do very little for you: This image is from an article called Learn Anything on Litemind.com Why People Put Down Book Smarts Learning from a book is often frustrating precisely because it is limited. You know that you can’t fully learn a […]