Parlor tricks
This brand new one-person show answers the deeply personal, political, and musical question:
What is the sound of a ukulele?
Again and again, this little instrument has deeply humbled me. Through the ukulele I've seen empathy connect and heal, I've watched people raise their voice and their community, and I've come to value wear and tear, bumps and bruises, as patina and wisdom.
The story is real. The soundtrack is live. The instrument is small. A journey through story and song from a long century of American popular music.
Artist Biography
Eddie leads the industrial ragtime band Parlor Tricks and reviews instruments for Ukulele Magazine. Eddie is a public advocate, a recovering communications director, Circus Bella board president, and a writer and editor who has collaborated with astronauts, actors, artists, political prophets and pariahs, hip hop royalty, and comic book superheroes.
Ukulele: What's the Big IDea
The Sound of a Ukulele is live music and storytelling about music and my path to meaning. Told through the prism of the world's most pound-for-pound powerful musical instrument.
This is my story of intimate moments, important ideas, and sweet sweet music.
The ukulele dominated American popular music for decades -- about a century ago -- but its hold on our imagination remains. So get ready for a trip through popular song and the biggest little story imaginable.
Performance
The Sound of a Ukulele is a 50-minute one person show that combines personal storytelling with live ukulele performance.
Warmly received by preview audiences at The Marsh Theaters in Berkeley and San Francisco.
Suitable for your venue -- from small intimate salons to large theaters.
Can be adapted to any length.
Can be performed with or without sound reenforcement.
This unique and entertaining show is ready and available for your event: Please contact Eddie for more information.
Artist Statement
Every few months a ukulele shows up at my doorstep. Writing about ukuleles for Ukulele Magazine opened a door to stories that grew too big for those short articles. Ukulele became my bridge to understanding my experience, my family, and my journey through the world.
I see the connections between Hawai'i and a century-plus of popular American music. I see in the music struggle and joy, science and sex. I see the peril of our current moment and paths forward. Ukulele is no miracle solution, but it is a powerful tool for empathy and understanding.
I developed the show workshopping with David Ford at the Marsh Theater.
