Free Fall ‘10 Blogger Shannon talks to Bob and Becky

He Said She Said
negotiating the waters between Bob Wiseman and Becky Johnson

On Saturday March 20th, Bob Wiseman and Becky Johnson are presenting their cabaret at the Theatre Centre. As I write this it is Tuesday March 9 and I close my eyes, trying to imagine being at the West Queen West theatre space. In my mind it is now approaching 9 pm and I am sitting in eager anticipation of the cabaret that I am about to witness. The lights in the theatre dim but that is as far as my imagination will take me- I have absolutely no idea what to expect that night.
I sent Bob and Becky an email trying to fish out some insider information. Bob, a Juno Award-winning composer, keeps my intrigue alive by saying that I should expect ‘adventure, wow factor’. Becky holds up her end of the duo as award-winning clown, comedian, playwright and performance artist saying, ‘expect nothing and we will not disappoint’. These two are hilarious even via email.

I ask our unexpected duo how they met.

Bob: The world of Toronto performing spaces and places. I saw Becky perform her unique work in 2003, we became friends later round then.
Becky: Bob was basically stalking me. I became his friend to normalize the situation.

Reading her response, I question her use of the words ‘normalize’ and ‘friend’. I continue on to ask how they work as collaborators. With such different backgrounds, I am interested in understanding how these differences enriched and/or challenged the creative process.

Bob: That’s really top secret. But frankly when you try to collaborate with someone, you get along or you don’t. As far as I can tell if I just shut up, me and Becky get along great.

Becky: Bob’s creative process is very pushy, very bullying. I agree with everything he says, we tend to get along okay. He is also way more of a genius than I am. This is proven by things like the number of awards he has, his age and the guarantees he gets to perform. His genius makes me a better performer by association.

As always I am fascinated by who mentored these artists. For Bob it was blues musician, Otis Spann. ‘Good morning Mr. Blues. Blues how do you do?’ Becky responds, ‘My sense of mentorship is very cloudy. I tend to prefer to work with younger people and suck the creative energy out of them like a vampire. But when I was younger and trying to do improv in Vancouver, an amazing lady named Ellie Harvie was a great inspiration to me. Her words of wisdom at the time: ‘Move to Los Angeles now.’ She was probably right. I didn’t listen.’

I for one am glad Becky stayed in Toronto and happened to meet Bob in 2003 and now will be performing their cabaret at 9pm on March 20th. Tickets are available for $10 and can be booked by phone at 416-973-4000 or online at harbourfrontcentre.com. ‘We will sell you the whole seat, but you will only need the edge.’