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The Coffee Guest

 

 

 Bonnie Nish interviews Randy Jacobs

 

Randy Jacobs' (a.k.a - RC Weslowski) name comes up in a causal conversation one night as I’m driving a friend, Trevor Spilchen to the airport.

 

“He is the glue that holds the Slam community together,” Trevor freely gives. “He is a great performer and a great guy and you can quote me on that.”

   

Trevor is not alone in his estimation of what RC Weslowski has become in this tight-knit community. Over the years RC has become an icon and there are so many reasons one could give for this having happened.

 

For one RC’s words count. If you want to see someone perform who gives it their all, who tells you what they believe, who shares what they think really matters in this sometimes insane world, then that person is RC. But he goes beyond words; he is also action. President of the Vancouver Poetry House, a member of the current Vancouver Poetry Slam Team and coordinator of the recent Canadian Festival of the Spoken Word 2005, RC’s journey into the performing arts began ten years ago.

 

“When my Dad and Grandfather died, I wasn’t in a good place mentally. I dropped out to tend to myself.”

 

What that meant was a trip across Canada alone. RC started to think about writing at this time and, when he came back, took a writing course at UBC once a week.

 

“I had it in me but I didn’t know how to get it out. There were four or five of us from the class who met every few weeks to write. Then there were two of us until he moved away and then there was just me.”

 

Randy was at a point in his life where he knew he wanted to express himself creatively and decided to go back to acting school. While there he met David MacMurray Smith who was teaching Creative Character Development and Personal Transformation through Clown.

 

“That course changed my life, in some ways saved my life. A wake-up call. To boil it all down, it allowed me to take myself a lot less seriously.  Even in the bleakest of moments and the darkest of feelings I found it tremendously important and freeing to be able to laugh at one's self.  How absurd and silly it all is, and through that how amazing and miraculous it is as well.”

 

An important message to learn and anyone who has seen Randy perform today knows he still carries this with him. He will have his audience on the edge of their seats with anticipation. Having grabbed their attention with some issue he then takes them in a completely different direction which makes them laugh and realize there really are two sides to everything. 

 

“I can remember doing a clown exercise where we release our diaphragm muscles and practice letting go of the control of our breaths...you then begin to laugh or cry and hopefully cycle in between the two extremes while allowing your breath to follow its own impulses.  Eventually you vocalize and I was lying on the ground feeling shitty about something "oh I feel horrible, it's the worst ever, it's the worst pain in the world" and then laughing hysterically about saying such a thing. Because it can feel that way on the inside but once you actually say it aloud then somehow the silliness surrounding it is made real. Or something like that. But in a nutshell, it allowed me to laugh at myself more easily, and opened a door for compassion towards others.  I'm not as important as I would like to think I am at times.”

 

Others would disagree with that.

 

“When I finished school I was looking for a place to perform. At that time the Poetry Slam was happening once a month at the Press Club. I went to see it and I liked it and thought; I can do that.”

 

RC believes the Slam helped to progress his creativity in a certain way. He has been on the Slam team five times, traveled to perform and made great friendships out of this, with people such as Angus (Ms. Spelt), Steve Duncan and Shane Koyczan to name a few. He believes it’s all basic important stuff. He used to feel he wasn’t being influenced by anyone else but over the years this has changed. He feels everyone influences him. He feels he’s willing to be more influenced by others- more involved in the world rather than separated from it.

 

“I read all of the time. I go to the library and take things out. Neruda, Lorca, Shakespeare, Nolan. Jen Curran’s new book is really good. I want to be influenced by everything. Rock’n roll, comic books, movies.”

 

Randy’s goal is to express himself, to show how he has been influenced. He doesn’t’ care if he impresses. He wants to encourage others to express themselves. This kind of caring nature shows in other ways. The fact that he promotes the Slam through weekly emails, sits on the Board of Directors for Vancouver Poetry House as President and was the driving force behind The Canadian Festival of the Spoken Word 2005.

 

RC realizes he does not do this alone. He is part of a team and he’d like to see more people involved. He feels he has gotten so much out of this community and will likely always stay involved in some capacity. He is also excited, and rightly so, about the Slam teams win in Toronto this fall and all of the upcoming events.

 

In particular he is excited about helping out with the Individual World Poetry Slam event coming here from January 31st- February 3rd, (Slam fundraiser on November 14th. See link below).

 

“People will be excited to come here from all over the world. Some of the best slam poets want to come here. People who haven’t been involved for a long time are getting back into it so they can come.”

 

RC feels there is more for him to explore on a creative level. He feels he has come full circle and would like to try other things, incorporate sound into his work, and collaborate with other voices such as with Martin VanSteinburg.

 

And he feels very strongly about expressing your voice. Ten years in the Slam community have given him enough time to think this through.

 

“Do this against all doubts and fears that tell you not to do it. Do it. Don‘t worry about others. Your voice is in you always. There are things in the world that keep us from listening to it. But find it. It helps you keep your sanity. Listen for the yes. The world won’t be better off for your not trying to find your voice. It is worse off if you stay silent.”

 

No truer words. This community, this world is so much better off because of RC Weslowski. He has spoken, taken action, shocked us, moved us, and made us think. The one thing RC might not be aware of is the influence the impact of his words has on us. How his driving force is noticed and just how respected he is. He makes you stop and listen. He makes you find what is important. He makes you want to stand up and find your voice no matter what. He makes you want to become involved in the world and he makes us glad that he did.  

 

RC he will be hosting a fundraiser on Dec 12, 2006 with proceeds partially going to the Union Gospel Mission to feed the homeless program. The fundraiser will be a variety show with some poetry as well as music, clowns, comedy sketches and so on; a RC Weslowski Christmas Special not to be missed.

 

For more information email him at weslowhiskey@direct.ca

 

Links:

 

www.vancouverpoetryhouse.com/

 

WWW.INDIVIDUALWORLDPOETRYSLAM.COM

 



Previous Interviews:
Mike Peacock and Chad York of Melic Thrum
Marc Creamore
Rogue Reese Murphy and Trevor Spilchen
Ashok Bhargava
Shulamit Joffre
Sean McGarragle and Chystalene Buhler
T Paul Ste. Marie
Ariadne Sawyer ~ Re: The world Poetry Reading Series
Johnny Frem ~ Re: Bolts of Fiction
Liars of Orpheus ~ Re: The intentions of Orpheus
Estelle Bogoch ~ Re: Crosswords for Gardeners
Byron Sheardown ~ Re: Quills Canadian Poetry Magazine



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