Zaboys Media Blog!: Under the Influence and LOVING IT!!!!

No this isn’t a drug or drinking topic, even though sometimes enjoying a little bit of both before digesting some of the stuff I’m about to talk about would not be a bad idea. No, this is an entry about the influences that have made me Positive C, and guided me to Zaboys. Now Zaboys itself is a unit, a team, a practice in what can happen when the creative wills of very different people are allowed to be let free. I’m not one to downplay the importance of the team work that goes into this show, and when thinking of the things that’s influenced me I saw a pattern of groups and teams being involved.

Seinfeld: Yes the show about nothing has probably been the biggest influence to my sense of humor and observation, and I thank my mom for that. She was a constant watcher of the series, not only the new ones during my childhood; but also the reruns as I got older. The exploits of Jerry, Elaine, George, and Kramer are just as memorable to me as my own it seems; and I would be surprised if I’ve melded the two worlds together at points. There is so much that I take from this show and the way the members of the cast held their own so well, but they weren’t ever better than when all 4 were able to riff off the others. The observation list humor has been a staple of how I see things, even in my everyday life that sometimes I wonder if it’s a detriment. I feel as if this show about nothing taught me almost EVERYTHING I know about what makes real life funny.

Monty Python: If Seinfeld taught me that real life can be funny; Monty Python showed me how to take the humor, twist it, and turn it into the surreal. This show, and yes I’m saying show because I watched The Flying Circus way before I saw Holy Grail, was instrumental in the way my mind works. The men on the show were excellent at playing so many different types of roles, but also knew the strengths that made the group work as a unit well. They would stray and go off into left field at times, but they would always somehow wind it back around to make it all make sense….to some. If you didn’t “get” Monty Python, then you probably weren’t meant to. They didn’t cater to the lowest common comedy denominator and that is the way I vary comedy! If it doesn’t make you think a bit, it is not as funny as it could be!

Mrs. Lawrence: My fifth grade teacher defiantly deserves mention in this topic. This lady was my Mrs. Frizzle and I am pretty sure she had a talking lizard. I know she had a hairless rat and albino ferret, I know because I took them home at points in time to scare my mom. The way she used to nourish my young creative mind by reading the books I used to write instead of the lesson plan. It was this act that gave me the confidence to call myself a writer for the rest of my life.

My Grandmother: There is probably not one more person more singularly responsible for making me a creative than my late grandmother Queen Morrow, and she did it in so many different ways. Whether it be her always telling me to use my imagination by going along with my pretending our old Cadillac was the DeLorean from Back to the Future, or telling me to go play in my room instead of watch TV; she was always findings ways to motivate my passion for creating. The biggest thing she did was introduce me to the original Star Wars movies, which she made a special point to sit me down and make me watch. This changed my life, as from then on I wanted to be a part of making worlds and ideas that did not exist yet. I wanted to be the creator and the one who brought life to the unbelievable, and it all started the night Queen introduced me to the Jedi Knights!

So I have taken these things and people and developed my own style and humor, all in all keeping true as I can to the things that made me love the creative process. I hope that we as a unit and I personally hold up the high standards set by my influences, and that we continue to entertain all that come into contact with us!