Here’s something for your amusement. This recently surfaced from AWS’s digital archives, and I’d say this really demonstrates the effects of the pandemic, lockdown, our imminent demise, etc. It also ties into a book I’ve been writing. (What, in my world, doesn’t?)
For a while I just thought it would be so much fun to launch a “channel,” and my best idea was to make it utterly farcical and yet also something that I had the means and will to make, and which would actually be interesting and unique. The result was The Typing Channel, the only place where a person could watch writers doing their writing!
Totally in keeping with my brand, which is consummately literary. And, crucially, requiring only equipment which I already owned: a keyboard, some hands, and a camera. Even better—able to be produced by doing what I do, requiring no stages, studio, set, costumes, et al.
I think in my defense we can all look back at 2020 and reflect that we were all going a little haywire, no?
Some of the salient features we see here are: 1) the inclusion of self-deprecating humor—always key in a world where self-promotion, persons-as-brands, social media, etc., are amok; 2) Evidence of my infatuation, peaking at the time, with the late-90’s HBO sketch comedy program Mr. Show (the Globochem Corporation is a recurring company in the show’s “world”) ; 3) the enduring appeal of fake sponsorships, which signals a disdain for the world as it works—the ultimate outsider move. (I’m still not over this.)
Here’s the result: