indie artist in residence
currently in residence:
David McGimpsey
David McGimpsey is regarded by many as one of the funniest writers in Canada. He is the author of the poetry collections: Hamburger Valley, California, Dogboy and Lardcake (ECW Press), as well as the award-winning critical study, Imagining Baseball: America's Pastime and Popular Culture (Indiana University Press). His book of short stories, Certifiable, was published with Insomniac Press (2004). His most recent book of poetry (his fourth) is Sitcom (Coach House, 2007). Critically the book was very well received. Sitcom was shortlisted for the 2007 A.M. Klein Prize for Poetry and the ReLit Award. The Washington Post said: "McGimpsey displays erudition, clever insights and a knack for the wickedly funny wisecrack", while another capital rag called The Ottawa Citizen said, "as funny as David Sedaris, and more inventive." This past summer, Nathalie Atkinson wrote about Sitcom in The National Post declaring: "Given that McGimpsey manages to do this while name-checking Gilligan's Island, Annabeth Gish, Mary Tyler Moore and the Fonz and keeping up the iambic pentameter, I say give this man the Leacock medal, already." On November 22, 2007, Jacqueline Turner of The Georgia Straight noted: "McGimpsey manages to dredge up every television reference you've ever forgotten, and spins them into a Hawaii Five-O libretto that's immune to limitations of form, content, or even just good taste. In fact, his poetic argument is that there's no such thing as good taste. His writing embraces the full range of cultural references at work in contemporary society, and blends them together without mercy."
What can McGimpsey offer the $&@*#! lowlifes who read Broken Pencil as the indie artists in residence? Hope? Fake Tony Danza hair samples they can sell on Ebay to pay for their BP subscription addiction? More practical advice? Illegal counseling? He teaches creative writing at Concordia University and is a member of the rock band Puggy Hammer and is on Facebook. The band Puggy Hammer has another member named Jason Camlot, who is also a poet and teacher in Montreal. David McGimpsey 's travel writings frequently appear in The Globe and Mail and he writes the "Sandwich of the Month" column for EnRoute magazine.
In a 2005 interview with Jon Paul Fiorentino for The Danforth Review, McGimpsey discussed the clattering intersection between laughter and poetry. "[B]oth depend on timing as much as what is being said. Poetry without timing is prose, comedy without timing is The Mike Bullard Show. The way tensions shift in poetry--from premise to killer line-the reflexive views, and reinvention of terms, often work in the same as comedy's set-up, act-out, punchline, call-back, and shift. The set up of a joke drifts one way--you know, like "that Ben Affleck is one lucky guy"-- and the punch draws it back the other way -- like "yeah, I wish I got paid to look into Matt Damon's eyes."
Says McGimpsey fan amazing photographer Ottawa's John W. MacDonald, "There are a only few people I would love to be able to write like. David McGimpsey is one of those people. I saw him read at the Ottawa International Writers Fest last fall and he was very much a comedic highlight of the event. I remember saying in my blog about the panel he was on: "The assembling of writers for one event must be difficult. Again, tonight's 5:30pm event was no different. David "Pass-the-peanut butter" McGimpsey was paired with Donna "I'm-originally-from-Newfoundland-so-don't-hold-it-against-me" Morrissey, and Beth "How-did-I-get-stuck-reading-with-McGimpsey?" Powning. A stand-up comedian meets a dramatist and a writer who remembers her grandmother. Interesting combo."
McGimpsey recently edited the highly eclectic anthology Dingers for DC Books. The anthology culls essayists, fiction writers, and poets who all write about "baseball's combinations and forms, seeking to plumb its meaning as a game and maybe metaphor for Life's deeper truths."
McGimpsey is the only author to ever review his own book in an issue of Broken Pencil. If you can find the review, you can read it. We might even give you a prize, but we doubt it. Check this page to see what David McGimpsey is up to: or send him a joke at indierez@brokenpencil.com and for a small fee of $US856 he will read it. Twice.
It's been an Indy Christmas
The arrest of corrupt Illinois official (a tautology perhaps) Rod Blagojevich had me thinking these last few days about the beleaguered tenure of city hall magnate Mayor McCheese, once the beloved disciplinarian of McDonaldland. Perhaps sensing the corrupt ward-boss ways of Chicagoland may be under heavier scrutiny for the next four to eight years, Mr. McCheese continues to keep a low profile. The Press, for its part, does little to challenge the absentee head of city government with questions which have long consternated the electorate. Mr. McCheese has yet to answer questions about whether his support is basically for the simple cheeseburger or the quarter- pounder with cheese. Prone to shows of robber-baron era ostentation, firmly wearing his purple velvet top top hat while sticking out his bright yellow gladhand, Mr. McCheese has come under great scrutiny and has, to his political opponents (some suggest this is all part of a political power play manipulated by out-of-favor anthro-disgestibles "Snooty Pea" and "Colonel Corn" who have long resented the flashier dimensions of McCheese's administration.
David McGimpsey
posted: Dec. 28, 2008
Indy Adventure!
I've seen some pretty questionable tourist attractions: The Lincoln Watermelon, the miniature golf Aztec pyramid, the shrine to Conway Twitty but there is no tourist "attraction" more utterly appalling than the Charmin' bathrooms in Times Square. These are ostensibly public restrooms which are actually a long, delayed, immersion in the advertising campaigns for Charmin' bathroom tissue. The cutesy pictures of bears who have to pee, the loudspeakers blaring the Charmin jingles and the incredible long haul up escalator after escalator only to wait in line to use a bathroom stall pointed out by Disney-happy Charmin shillers. It's not just something which makes one acutely aware of the prerogatives of advertisers it is an experience wish makes one gratefully realize nothing is that important. You're better off taking a leak on a cop car. The line-ups are less at half-time at the Giants game.
David McGimpsey
posted: Dec. 13, 2008
Dawning Indy Memories
Alice Cooper's appearance on the Tony Orlando and Dawn Rainbow Hour demonstrates one of the harshest axioms in show business: nobody, not even the king of shock rock, can touch a hair on Tony Orlando's head. It was the third and final year of Tony Orlando and Dawn’s amazing variety show and I was just a kid. Sure, I could have been enjoying the outdoors, playing baseball, helping folks, but we could get CBS through an antenna on our TV so what use were the outdoors to me? Little did I know both Tony Orlando and Alice Cooper were going down. After just two seasons, The Tony Orlando and Dawn show was redubbed the “Rainbow Hour” to give the show more of a counterculture edge. After the strange luster of “Tie A Yellow Ribbon” faded and as Telma Hopkins and Joyce Vincent were seemingly less interested in bringing solidarity to “Dawn,” the show would try to be a bit more hip. George Carlin became a regular cast member and now Tony would sing “Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall” just as easily as “My Boogie Wants to Boogie with You.” At the time I was excited to see Cooper on TV but, in retrospect, to be on a show with a guy who did “The Bump” with Betty Ford at the Republican National Convention may have not been the strongest move for a rocker who once reputedly sacrificed chickens on stage. On the show, Cooper appears in a lame game show spoof and then does an elaborate medley from his doomed album “Goes to Hell.” Now we can see it all replayed through the magic of DVD box-sets, it’s clear nothing will ever out-rock an episode of Tony Orlando and Dawn.
David McGimpsey
posted: Dec. 10, 2008
From the Indy letter files
Dear Heartless WC Network Executives, I am writing to express my displeasure at the news of the recent cancellation of the sitcom Reba. I received this disconcerting news as I was reading a newspaper in a doctor’s office (nothing serious: just elective foot remodeling) and the headline of that paper (I think it was the San Mateo Freebee) said it all: “Show Canceled.” I could hardly believe my eyes. Saddened, I asked Dr. Poncho’s receptionist, Marlene, if she had ever watched this glorious sitcom about a struggling divorcee played by country music superstar Reba McEntire, and she just looked at me like I had robbed a liquor store. It was a strange attitude for Marlene to cop, I thought, considering when I asked her if I could use her lip-balm she said “Knock yourself out.” Anyways, I will not ask you to explain the reasons why you would do this to me or to Ms. McEntire for that matter as I imagine your explanation will be like when I told my boss that I missed a week of work because my mother was sick. Sick with Reba-fever was more like it! Did you know she’s appearing in Vegas these days? Would you drop a sitcom which starred Celine Dion and which had her and her 5 friends tackle contemporary issues of love and dating in a hip Manhattan setting? I doubt it. Anyways, I was wondering if you could tell me about Reba in other broadcast forms besides serial TV? Is there a Reba-cast or a Reba-pod which will help fans during this difficult time? I’m going to be laid up for awhile and I need to find some way to get my Reba on. Sure it’s on cable reruns all the time but somebody’s supposed to come around here and fix that and I don’t think they’re ever coming. What’s wrong with you people? Keepin’ it Reba, Dr. David McGimpsey
David McGimpsey
posted: Dec. 9, 2008
Keeping it Indy Since December the One!
Why are NFL wide-outs such divas? Can anyone tell me? I spent my weekend the way I usually do: enjoying sports on television and making something from my favorite book: Cooking with Dr. Pepper. It's the holidays, so it is time for a little mulled Dr. Pepper. It is cold outside. It's time to stay indoors and reflect upon the year that has passed and indeed upon all the years which have formed one's own registers for happiness or happiness's opposite, Oshawa. When I look upon the world and summon together every scrap of knowledge I've either studied or picked up, I keep coming up with the same conclusion: At least Terrell Owens never shot himself in the leg when his team was 11-1.
David McGimpsey
posted: Dec. 8, 2008
Indy is as Indy does
French Lick, Indiana. My favorite Larry Bird moment, like most indy-culture readers in Canada, is when Bird stole the ball off Isiah Thomas in the closing seconds of the 1987 Eastern Conference finals. My favorite Johnny Most moment (Most was the gravel-voiced play-by-play announcer for Boston) is when Most went to the doctor with some ear problem, wanting a new hearing aid, and the doctor discovered that the old hearing aid was lodged deep in Most's ear canal. Now that's hard livin' Saw that Xmas ad for the electronics retailer in French last night and if there's one thing I can say is that thing is equally offensive in two of the three official languages of this country. Note: I know Welsh is the official language of Prince Edward Island, but I have yet to see the ad in Welsh.
David McGimpsey
posted: Dec. 5, 2008
I Am Indy, Hear Me Roar
There's one thing I always feel when I stare out over the expanse of a great American cornfield. I think, "Jesus, it sure would be nice to rent a crop duster and hunt Cary Grant down in these fields." I think the way Cary Grant was portrayed in The Flinstones (as "Cary Granite") always made me suspicious of his reputation and have often thought him overrated. Pepper Martin, on the other hand, vastly underrated. One respects the might of mighty corn. It is responsible for Corn Flakes, Corn Puffs and Corn Chex. That's a hell of an achievement, if you ask me. It seems like it's holiday time, the season for the celebration of the prettiest baby in Bethlehem. I am trying to put together of things I want because as much as I enjoy giving I gotta say I really enjoy the taking.
David McGimpsey
posted: Dec. 4, 2008
Indy Artistry
I am grateful for all the generous commentary vis-a-vis the Tony Stewart - Kyle Busch debate. According to the constant play of very irritating ads for a large electronic products retailer, it is Christmastime. You can also tell it's christmas by the welcome reappearance of gingerbread latte in everybody's favorite coffee retailer. I am dissatisfied with their "Coffee Mint" flavor because everybody knows that mint comes after coffee. Not with coffee. AFTER. Combining the pleasure of mint with coffee is like smoking while you're having sex. Fun, sure, but wrong. Wrong. There actually is a place called Santa Claus, Indiana, somewhere in the "mutton belt" in the south part of the state where, coincidentally, Abraham Lincoln spent his adolescence. Abe liked to read. When time came for the family to rid their farmland of snakes, Abe always had his nose in a book which some of his relatives perceived as pure reluctance to participate in normal snake-hunting duties. So, if you find yourself similarly pressed into other unpleasant work-duties (say you are currently an MP in Ottawa) I would also recommend you stay in and read. My latest book is called Sitcom.
David McGimpsey
posted: Dec. 3, 2008
Racing Through All Indy Options
My favorite racecar driver, after Lucky Jackson, the fictional driver Elvis portrayed in Viva Las Vegas, is Tony Stewart. I may switch to Kyle Busch so I'm wonder if Broken Pencil readers could make a case either for or against this monumental shift in allegiances. Marion, Indiana, is the birthplace and final resting place of James Dean, the Hollywood icon who knew a thing or two about the glory inherent in a fiery car crash. Visiting James Dean's gravesite in the simple town cemetery is, after buying popcorn in Amish country, the best way to spend an afternoon in the state which gave us both Larry Bird and James Dean. The one thing I noticed about Dean's grave is that the stone was covered in lipstick prints, which brought a suspicion to a fine, tender point: even decades after his death, James Dean is getting more action that you.
David McGimpsey
posted: Dec. 2, 2008
More Indy Fare
One thing I've never done in my life is criticize New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning. I have, however, frequently criticized his more popular brother Peyton Manning who is the chief ball- hurler for the Indianapolis Colts. Some of the more unfortunate things I have often called Peyton are "Gomer" and "Loser." Calling somebody "Gomer" is not quite an insult when you're standing in a cornfield. When you escape Indy and get into Hoosier country, in the town square of Gomerville, you can feel bad about saying such things about one of the Mannings (who are from Louisiana anyway). I'm sorry, Gomer. I'm sorry, Loser.
David McGimpsey
posted: Dec. 1, 2008