Paul’s Magic Moment!

WATCH Paul’s YouTube video 

of his performance at the Story District Show on January 12, 2016

Paul Newport in Story District's Jumping the
gun: Stories about "leaping before you look"

 

Story District

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CLICK ON:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67gjIlzG7Ww&list=PLDGn_6N3BeYruWBOddIQXCW80awsM-iFO&sns=em

THEN: Click on “Read more” below for an explanation and some photos.

Courtesy photographybyalexander.com

A little background.  Paul belongs to a group called Story District.  Every second Tuesday, they put on a show at Town Danceboutique in Washington D.C.  It is part of their monthly storytelling series that features a mix of first-time story tellers and regulars who have to tell a 7-minute true story on the night’s chosen theme.

I should tell you that Town Danceboutique is D.C.’s largest gay nightclub.  It is located at the corner of 8th and U Street NW, which is being re-vitalized and made very hip.  As Town’s website explains, “it is a combination of a cabaret performance space, a plush lounge, and a high energy dance club.  There are two floors, multiple rooms, an outside smoking area, an amazing video installation, state of the art LED lighting, and multiple dance floors and seating areas”.

I was somewhat intrigued, therefore, when Paul, told me that he would be performing there on Tuesday, January 12; and that he hoped Mum (Jane), Sis (Sarah), Matthew (Sarah’s boyfriend) and I would come see his performance.  I told him that we would definitely all be there.  It was a bitterly cold night, we ditched the car on a dark street nearby, and made our way to what turned out to be an impressive brick building (formerly a warehouse?) emblazoned with the sign Town.

We went upstairs to a very large theater-style room which was surrounded at the back by an extremely impressive and enticing bar where small night club tables were scattered around.

Naturally, I headed straight for the bar while the rest of the party went to secure seats.  It was already packed so we could not sit together.  I sat in a third row aisle seat, right in front of Jane, while Sarah and Matthew sat immediately behind her.

Armed with a large glass of red wine, I started to look around.  It was a big crowd.  The noise level was already high and like me, they were all knocking back generous glasses of wine, beer and other beverages.  Well, at least the audience would be lively, I thought.

Paul was one of seven first-timers who were performing that night.  All the stories were focused on the theme “Jumping the Gun”.  If you have heard the story by now on YouTube, you will know that Paul had chosen an “incident" that had taken place when he was about 7 or 8 years-old. We were living in Melbourne, Australia, at that time and it all seems quite distant now in my befuddled mind.  However, the fact that the story was absolutely true made it rather uncomfortable for the the Newport parents sitting in the audience.

January 12

Show 

Jumping the gun:  Stories about leaping before you look

Didn’t you get the feeling that we were being presented as somewhat detached and seemingly oblivious to the terrible conflagration that occurred?    In retrospect, I think we were just plain dumb-founded that the Boy hadn’t set himself and the whole house on fire!  And, of course, poor Sarah was reminded of how she lived in constant fear of Paul’s next dangerous or hare-brained idea throughout childhood.

Even though I am a proud Dad and all that, I really did think that Paul was the ONE and gave an amazing performance.  The crowd laughed all the way through and he got a huge and spontaneous burst of applause and cheers when he ended on that “magical” note.

Presenter Vijai Nathan introducing the line up of storytellers

The other story tellers were all extremely good and very entertaining.  You can watch them all on the same link, if you wish.  As with Paul’s story, the real whammy comes when you realize that they are true and that people really can find themselves in the most extraordinary situations at all stages of their life, from childhood (Paul) to adulthood (the rest). The stories involved a number of interesting situations.  They ranged from being helplessly stuck under a bathroom sink in the middle of the night with one’s (female) bare backside fully exposed as firemen crash through the door to assist; to walking along a small back street in India and falling into an open latrine.  You get the general idea.

Before the show, I started to talk to the lovely lady right next to me.  “Do you know someone in the show tonight?” I asked to break the ice.  “Oh yes," she replied enthusiastically, “Paul Newport”.

I was taken aback. “You know Paul Newport?”  “Yes, we all work with him”.

What are the odds that I would sit slap bang in the middle of two rows of Paul’s work colleagues from the Friendship Heights Animal Hospital?  She introduced herself as Ydaima (Yeda) and then introduced me to Paul’s other colleagues, Brian, Alysia, Nahketah and Sophia.

They were all very excited to come see Paul and were duly introduced to Jane, Sarah and Matthew as well.  Paul had parents! And a sister!  A family!  This was news to them.  We were absolutely thrilled to know that Paul had such great colleagues who would come out on a cold January night to listen to his story.  Maybe there is hope for him yet?

I am not sure who took the above photo but I think it was another of Paul’s colleagues who was not sitting with this group.  Paul later showed me a Facebook entry in which this photo was featured. I guess I was captured grinning inanely in the background and designated as “some random white guy”.  As you can see from the Comments to the right, Alysia had to inform her colleague that the random white guy was, in fact, Paul’s Dad.  What a hoot!

Anyway, after the show, they were all aflutter and agreed that Paul was simply the best.  I could not disagree and was immensely proud that his family and work colleagues had been able to hear his zany story, told with such charm and finesse.  We were all able to gain some insights into Paul’s strange childhood; and the even stranger world that he inhabits today!!

If you want to learn more about Story District, have a look at:

http://storydistrict.org/about

Based upon his first performance at a Story District Show, Paul tells me that he hopes to be selected for another show very soon.  We’ll keep our fingers crossed.  An upcoming theme is evidently entitled “True Detective” and, if selected, he will base his story on a really, really crazy event from his wild Brooklyn days.

Paul’s YouTube story

If you want to have a preview of that story, you can read it in the next blog.  I think it might have been one of his great acting moments--even if it was done under duress.  Let’s hope we can hear it soon.