Jon Ferguson's Words of Buffoonery

I have to give credit where credit's due and say that I titled this blog buffoonery because of Jon Ferguson.  When I took a workshop from him I was challenged yet delighted by his theme that mistakes are a gift.  With every exercise we performed we had to turn, as ourselves not a character, and face the audience whenever we made a mistake--thus sharing that experience with them.  Having grown up fighting for perfection I found this to be a (literally) entertaining slap in the face.  "The purpose of this class," he said wryly, "is to make you see that you're a complete moron...and that's a beautiful thing."  

Not long before that I was challenged by a lovely woman named Cheryl who said that humility is really offering my gifts in their imperfection rather than constantly playing them down. Wait, humility means I should be onstage?  It means I should sing?  It means I should write a blog...

As I study theater, I see this thread forming that says process, process, process not perfection. Some people say theater is all about ego and getting the applause, and I can't deny that in some cases that is true.  But in a bigger sense, I think, theater is about serving,  about being vulnerable...

And about learning to not take yourself so seriously! [Gigantic Finger Pointing at ME]