Much Ado About a Moustache
2007-01-13 04:35 | Posted by Ashrita Furman | Permanent Link | General
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2 votes)
I’m on an extended tour of Turkey and Bulgaria with many of my friends who are students of Sri Chinmoy. In the evenings we often get together and put on skits about inspiring topics. My friend, Databir, frequently directs these amateur performances and he is phenomenal. He can put together an entire production, from writing the script to getting the costumes to rehearsing with the actors, in a few days.
Databir occasionally asks me to perform in his skits, but not because I’m a good actor - it’s because I’m good at memorizing lines! Concerning my acting, I’ve been bluntly told that I overact and that every character has way too much energy!
The other day Databir handed me the script of a skit he wrote about the life of Albert Einstein and asked if I would play the part of Dr. Einstein. I accepted and figured that this was an opportunity for self-transcendence. If I could improve my glass balancing or one leg hopping, why couldn’t I make progress in my acting? I was determined not to wait until the last minute to learn my lines, but to really take my time and try to get into the character.
On the day of the performance, the director was in a panic, as usual. An hour before we were scheduled to go on, all the actors got into costume for the first time. I was provided with an excellent wig and moustache, but there was only one problem – there was no spirit gum to attach the moustache to my face. Poor Databir was frantically trying to get through the rehearsal, but I finally had to insist that he do something about the situation. With a look of annoyance, he rummaged through a bag and handed me a Prit glue stick!
Now, you don’t have to be an Einstein to know that a glue stick, which is designed to adhere paper to paper, is not going to be effective on a person’s face! Sure enough, the moustache fell off in rehearsal and I pleaded with Databir to come up with a better solution. I was surprised at his lack of concern about the crisis. All he said was, “I don’t know, tape it on!”
So that’s what I did. I made a loop of tape and affixed that facial hair to my upper lip the best I could. I found that if I didn’t smile or make any exaggerated facial movements, the moustache would stay on. The only other problem was that Databir had covered the black moustache with baby powder to make it look gray. Breathing in the powder irritated my nose and I kept fighting the impulse to sneeze. Considering how tenuously the moustache was held on, I figured that a sneeze would send that thing flying into at least the second row!
Well, the show went well and the moustache actually stayed on. Afterwards, people came up to me and complemented me on my performance. The general consensus was that I had finally managed not to overact. I wanted to believe that my acting skills had improved but, in reality, it was probably only because I was so focused on not losing that silly moustache! But, hey, it’s a start!
Talking about reality, here are a few quotes from the wise Dr. Einstein:
Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.
I never think of the future, it comes soon enough.
Try not to become a man of success but rather try to become a man of value.
The best work is done not by rules but by imagination.
Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.
I love to travel. But hate to arrive.
Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.
Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.
Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something, wearing stripes with plaid comes easy.
