Back in 2006, my dad and I started working on a thing called Not This Day. It was part of my dad’s reawakening, when he quit his law practice and tried to start a new life. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite as successful as he planned, and a few years later he went bankrupt. He never did go back to law, but he also never did make it as a show producer, a writer, or any of the other plans.
Sounds like a sad story, right? It is, and it isn’t. The entire long journey of discovery and disillusionment is both beautiful and tragic like most good stories. My dad has written about it in his own way.
At the time that we were working on it, though, Not This Day was full of feverish energy, full-on stars-in-the-eyes inspiration and drive. It’s the kind of old work you look back on and feel embarassed of your own excitement, while still remembering it fondly.
Not just a show
The thing is, Not This Day was supposed to be a ‘revolution’, not just a show. It was like the Ethereum of performing arts, something to change the paradigm. We wanted to spark hope, bring joy, tell people how to live without fear. It was beautiful and strong and motivational, and also naive and simplistic.
Because it represented a moment of growing up, and growing up is hard and awkward, I don’t think much about it anymore. Recently, though, I was going through my hard drive and realized I still have footage from some of the things we created. There’s a trailer, and the full thirty minute sneak-peek we did, interspersing some of the best scenes with speeches by me and dad.
It’s not perfect. But it’s more than just old files to become obsolete, so I’m releasing both the trailer and the sneak peek.
There’s a lot more to talk about Not This Day and how it has influenced my life and thinking. I’ll be sharing a lot more of that with my patrons. If you’re interested in the behind-the-scenes creative process of my work, early access and sneak peeks, consider subscribing to my patreon at www.patreon.com/gilliantheperformer.