MINOTAUR MET FELLOW #DBD KILLER, HUNTRESS AT #NYCC

HUNTRESS IS www.instagram.com/julie_huntre...

HUNTRESS IS NEW MINO-FRIEND!

Hopefully I'll still be open to learning new things when I'm her age too. It really isn't that far away really. /🧵

This was a small show. Not like the sold-out theater spaces in Salem during October I use to perform in prior to Covid. But every show is important because every show means something to at least one person in the audience. 🧵

As I was walking out of the building, I heard three of the ladies, moving slowly with their friend using a walker, talking about the protagonist of The Tell-Tale Heart and his claims about clearly not being "mad". 🧵

She may have been a Karen, but she proved she was willing to learn new things and showed joy at having a new insight into the world around her. 🧵

Basically she checked off all my boxes for my goals in my program. I do my shows not just because I like acting and I like Poe, but I like teaching and I like sharing my love of history and art. 🧵

She even talked about how she kept identifying with his struggles in life due to problems she's had lately in her own life. And that the problems he had overall, were just like what people deal with today. 🧵

She said she always assumed Poe was a crazy, sick writer whose stories were just violent. But after my program, and after discussing some of the works in depth along with The Raven and his life, she said she had an entirely new appreciation for his writings and wanted to go read more! 🧵

Afterwards, the lady came up to me and said that she always hated scary stories and that when her son was in high school, he had to read some story that was very violent (not a Poe story, but it was violent in what she described). She was so incensed that she went to the school to complain! 🧵

I open my show with the Tell-Tale Heart; wonderfully violent and entertainingly gory. I talk about the Murders in the Rue Morgue, detailing the gruesome crime. I discuss Poe's legacy that unfairly paints him as a madman; and I finished this show with a very emotional telling of Annabel Lee. 🧵

The front row was four women who all were new to the program and very interested it, but one lady with dark hair said she didn't really like horror stories so she wasn't sure about the program. 🧵

I've performed there last year to very positive feedback so they wanted to have me come by again this year. It's a fairly informal setting and had maybe 20 people in the audience, about half new and half returning people who saw the program last year. 🧵

I educated a Karen today on Poe!

My performance today was a repeat visit to a community retirement center a few towns away from here. It's a nice building in a nice town where retired folks can go for special events, entertainment, exercise, meals, etc. 🧵

Saving Gwen 😃
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#spiderham #peterporker #brycedallashoward #nycc2025

Reviewing this whole, very wordy, thread. I realized that what I did right was that I built for myself because I really wanted to make this character. I wasn't building for what I thought judges would like.
I think that's the key.

they are probably up to no good.
A little Halloween painting!
Oil painting on panel 14"x18"

Haunted is there to push me when necessary.

This is another reason I don't like doing contests. I've lost enough of them to learn to not take it personally (unless I'm literally the only entry, then it's personal, Jim).

It's fun or it's not.
If it's not fun, don't do it. Gawd.

And costumes that look boring on stage can be stunning up close. Everyone gets judged up close. That's why the contest is so damn hard.
Two overall winners weren't even in the sewing category, they were in FX because they incorporated many different techniques. I saw their work. They earned it.

Aaaand, I'm seeing criticisms online about the NYCC judges' decisions.

Everyone in the back row especially needs to hear this:
Costumes that look AWESOME on stage can look VERY DIFFERENT up close and personal.
Chill your pills unless you were in the room with ALL the contestants.

MINOTAUR KNOWS WHAT JUDGES WANT TO SEE

Lastly, purchase one of those collapsible stools people carry around now. You'll be standing for A LONG TIME on contest day with very few chairs around. Just bring your own.

That's all I can think of right now! /🧵

Only enter contests when you are ready to do so and when you feel it's right for you. Don't use a contest as a way to prove your worth. That pathway ends in madness. 🧵

Ask for feedback. It's so worth it. 🧵