The ‘Yes And’ Creative Method Behind WEIRD at NIGHT
WEIRD at NIGHT began in April 2020, and in the last two years has grown larger than we could have ever imagined. We share all kinds of art; from painting to poetry, from dance to drag, from film to fashion, from writing to film. And we create art on the show; Live on the show! Every episode ends with an Auto-write; an interactive segment when viewers join in a stream of consciousness writing exercise. Everyone tries to clear their mind and write without editing for one minute. Each submission is posted in the chat and read live on the show. These auto-writes, as well as a creative approach inspired by surrealism and Dada, inform our surreal comedy sketches. Dada was a movement in art and literature based on intentional irrationality, and Surrealism seeks to release the creative potential of the unconscious mind. So, we greet every chat comment, every absurd or seemingly meaningless thought with a ‘Yes and’ attitude. If something doesn’t make sense in the conventional or logical way, we embrace that. One of the first characters introduced into the WAN-iverse was ‘Shoe Detective Steve Germany’, whose segments were a radio play satire on Noir-style detective programs. It was primarily an audio experience with a desaturated still image. Now Steve Germany is a fully animated character with a world of story surrounding him in ‘Noirrland’, and he is joined on the show by many other weird characters. Most of these characters and their stories are based on ideas birthed in the Auto-writes.
A good example of our ‘Yes and’ creative approach with WEIRD at NIGHT is the birth of ‘The Goblin Bird, Mandy Ravage.’ Mandolin Ravage’ was a Mad-Climate Scientist who accidentally turned themself into a homunculus Goblin Bird with a pegleg who has super hearing and creates by destroying. This character was created from a special ‘character creation’ brainstorm episode of WEIRD at NIGHT. To create this new character we would take all the ideas from the live WEIRD at NIGHT chat, not excluding a single one. There were moments when doubt tried to creep in and tell us, “how can this character be both a mad-scientist and a homunculus creature with a pegleg who is obsessed with global warming? Will this work?” But we answered each idea with “Yes and.” Yes, and the creature used to be a scientist. ‘Yes and’ the mad-scientist was a mad-climate scientist. The audience watching live and interacting in the chat would become the team that brought this creature to life. The cartoon of the Goblin Bird was created by animator Madeline Williams, voiced by WAN producer Blazinspace, and portrayed in live action flashbacks by Freddye Dollma Starr, an esteemed drag performer and video creator. The story of ‘The Goblin Bird’ unfolded over the course of 12 months, and came to life in a ‘Noirrland’ short film series starring the aforementioned Steve Germany.
On WEIRD at NIGHT, there is a talking Pink Cloud who helped an animated action figure of Stone Cold Steve Austin reach sobriety. There is a whole family of Space Raccoons and a personal backstory for each of them. Throughout the summer TraeAnna Holiday starred in our surreal stories and we even teleported to Mars with Omari Salisbury. More Converge Media stars will soon enter the WAN-iverse! It is ever expanding. At WEIRD at NIGHT we celebrate every idea, and treat all conscious or unconscious creative thought as valuable. Plus, we have so much new art to share! Every episode of WEIRD at NIGHT features new music videos, art pieces, historical deep dives, surreal comedy sketches, and fun public access gems.
Join the WAN-iverse this Saturday at 10PM on Converge Media! WEIRD at NIGHT is an art share, surreal comedy, live stream hosted by Patrick Galactic. It is founded on four principles; Art is the antidote, time over money, people over profit, attack with love. This is a live stream for the late night disenfranchised, and it’s weird as f***.
