 Hi, welcome to Things Tech. We are raising public awareness about technology, energy, diversity, and globalism. This show is center stage. I'm your host Donna Blanchard, proud managing director of Kumakuhua Theater. And we are coming to you from Pioneer Plaza in the heart of downtown Honolulu, very near Kumakuhua Theater. I might add. This is the second part of a series of Oahu fringe. We've got four guests for you today, so we're going to go through these as quickly and as thoroughly as possible because these are some awesome acts we really want to make sure that you come down to Chinatown and see this weekend. Joining me right now is Shinru Young and Bonnie Kim. Hi, Shinru. Yeah. And you have your, not together, you're from very, very different groups, and I want to make sure that we talk about both of them. Shinru, we'll start with you because you're a returning guest. You were here two years ago. Yeah, it's great to be back. Yeah, it's good to have you back. You were fairly new to the island and you were... I'd just gotten here. Yeah, you'd just gotten here and you were creating pieces that had to do with water. Yes. Really focusing on water here. And you completed that work. Have you stayed on the island throughout? I've traveled a lot. At the time I didn't know if I was going to stay and I'm still here two years later. So it's really awesome to kind of come full circle. But yeah, I'm still here. We completed the water project, Flood Turn the Tide, and it's cool to be back at Fringe two years later. Yeah, it was for Fringe two years ago when you were here. And I got to see one of your performances. It makes me very excited to see what you're doing today. Thin Skin is the name of your piece that you're doing this weekend. Just to give people a little bit of background on Flood Turn the Tide, the piece that I saw was a group of amazingly talented dancers who gathered at the Blaisdell where there is a natural spring and then we as the audience members followed the dancers as they improvised their way above the water that flows through Oahu out to the harbor just outside the ward warehouse. Yeah, I went straight to the harbor. That was an amazing experience. Congratulations on creating that for all of us. Yeah, that was just the first in a series of four site-specific pieces actually. So it was the experiment after experiment. Yeah, now for Fringe Festival we're doing another piece that I also consider site-specific. So it's very different. It's not about water, but it's actually like a personal narrative that I'm sharing and I'm a very private person, so it's very bizarre to put myself out there. But the piece is about vulnerability and it's going in a very different direction, like actually showing different sides of ourselves and what we're afraid to share. When you say site-specific, how is the sites in Chinatown related to the story? Well, it's built in my creative partner Spencer Agaston. It's in his studio, Studio 114, so it's his art studio. He's a sculptor and a scenographer and so he's built the installation within the space that I interact with and I dance with. So it's site-specific in that I designed the piece for a small intimate space because it's an intimate piece. Okay, got you. So how many audience members will fit in? Per show, only about 15. Oh, wow. Yeah, so that's why we have six shows is to try to get as many people in as possible. Yeah. What an interesting journey to choose to take. Yeah. I mean, I think everything is a challenge, right? Like water was completely different. We had to go outdoors, we had to be near the water and now this is a totally different piece, you know, it's always, it's a totally new challenge. This time it's actually about myself and I don't usually share that, so it's a totally different challenge. I suppose when someone writes and or performs a song or a piece of poetry or writes a play or a puppet piece, we ourselves are always in it. This, for the purpose of revealing vulnerability, becoming vulnerable is kudos to you. I'm really anxious to see it, so tell me when and where I can see it. It's Thursday, Friday, Saturday, two shows per night, 7.30 and 9 o'clock. And I would recommend getting tickets ahead of time because if you have to turn you away, you might miss another show, so, yeah. Gotcha. Okay, and we can get those tickets online if we go to Oahu Fringe. Yeah. Okay. I'm excited. Is it just you dancing or are there other performers? That's a good question. It's me and Spencer, so it's very raw, we reveal the whole process as well. So you see us changing the scene, you see us interacting, so it's me dancing and him being kind of my witness and co-collaborator, you see him doing his scenography live as well. Oh, wow. Yeah. And the music behind it, is this original work? I designed the soundscape, yeah. It's a lot of dialogue, it's me interviewing people, it's interviewing my mother, you hear my birth story, you hear all kinds of things as well as music. Wow. Yeah. I'm very anxious to see that. Yeah. Thank you, man. You come up with the stuff, girl. Okay, Bonnie has brought a friend. Oh yeah. Ta-da. Ta-da. This is the first of my show. Last week we had a baby. Hiya. Now we have a tiny little man. Look at that. It's one of my puppets in the show that I'm doing at the Oahu Fringe Festival. The title, The Boy Who Loved Puppets. It's the title of my show. And the story is actually inspired by a true story of an artist in Taiwan. And I started working on this project about two years ago. So the puppets, so this is a Czech marionette style puppet. And I made puppets in the stage in Prague two years ago. And then I did a bunch of research in Taiwan with the artist that I was working with. And now it turned into a longer show. At first it was a 10 minute piece. And then I wanted to make it into a longer show. So it came out to about 35 minutes now. So that's what I'll be presenting this Friday. And the story, the story itself, where did that, how does, is that a, how did you come to that story? Oh, so the artist, let's see if we can see. Okay. So it's a puppet artist from Taipei, Taiwan. And actually I met him here in Hawaii three years ago when he came with his company, Taiwan Puppet Theater, from Taipei. And they had an exhibit at East Hawaii, East West Center. And they also perform. And I was so fascinated with the traditional Chinese Taiwanese hand puppets. So I contacted the director and I went there that fall to do sort of an internship with them. So I kind of followed Shadow, the theater, everywhere they went. I went, I worked backstage and I just went to all the shows, you know. And then I got to know the artist. His name is, now he changed his name. So his current name is Yong Ting Lai. And I did a lot of interviews. So kind of a similar process, I guess, our interview process and personal story. But it's not my personal story, but there are a lot actually I see myself in the story. So in some way, I feel like it's sort of autobiographical in some way. Oh. Yeah, anyway. Well, and every artist has to find themselves in the story somehow in order to be a part of it. So you were working with a Taiwanese, let me make sure that I get the story. Yeah. Because you're using Czech puppets. The style of this puppet is Czech style, Czech marionettes, but it's a miniature size. So what I'm doing is called toy theater or family theater, which was really popular in Europe in 19th century, especially Germany and Czech Republic. So the regular Czech marionettes are much bigger in terms of the scale, but these are more miniature version of it for toy theater. So yeah, and then in my show, it's a multimedia show at the toy theater solo puppet show. And in my show, there's also projection of the Taiwanese artists performing and sort of his process within my show as storytelling. Oh. So you get to see two different traditional puppets in there, like the Czech as well as the Chinese, Taiwanese and puppets. How do they differ? Or are we looking at a picture of one of them? No, this is one of the Czech style. Yeah, so the puppets are Czech style. I don't think I have the video footage of the image here, but I have a video projection. It's like a miniature movie you get to see within the small stage. So anyway, so yeah, it's sort of multimedia. Yeah, no kidding. How many performers are there? Just me, solo show, but I have five characters. So I have to play five different characters. And two hands. And two hands, exactly. Big challenge for a puppeteer. Yeah, no kidding. Well, this is also because they're so tiny. This is very intimate work. Yes. What are you limiting your audiences to? I'm not having any limits. I mean, I don't know how many the, because my show will be at the Marx garage. So I don't know what the capacity is there, but audience should be able to see it if I make sure the seating is done right. I wear my driving glasses. But it is a small and intimate show, so it's kind of not a common puppet show that you get to see, especially in Hawaii. So I think that will offer audience new experience. Yeah, no kidding, right? What time, when? Oh, Friday, this Friday. Marx garage at six o'clock. At six o'clock. Yeah. And tickets can also be purchased in advance for your show. Have you been involved in the Fringe Festival before? Yes, this is my third time. Oh, okay. I've done first, third, and fifth every other year. Have these shows gone elsewhere? So yeah, this show actually, I did touring in Europe and Asia last year. So summer and fall, I was touring. Mostly schools. So I've done a lot of school shows in Germany for elementary and middle school kids. And in Korea, was family centers, libraries. And I also did a house performance in Bangkok for a group of international school students and faculty members. So that was really fun. Really? Yeah. Do you make all these? Yes, all these are, yeah, I make all my puppets. So yeah, this is hand carved out of wood, basswood. And I made all the costumes, paint, everything. That is really fascinating. And I feel like puppetry is gaining a resurgence. Oh yeah, totally. Over the holidays, I saw a puppet show in LA that was, I can't remember the name of it, but they were like Barbie doll size that just people behind the counter. And you get to the point where you don't look at the people who are manipulating at all. You're just looking at those puppets, wondering what they're going to do next. Yeah, I think the puppetry, the field of puppetry has become really broadened with the technology. A lot of people doing stop motion now considered as part of the puppetry. And they are doing a lot of live, green screen projected puppetry shows and theaters, live shows. Yeah, so there are a lot of new styles of puppetry, I think, nowadays. Awesome. Everywhere around the world. I mean, everywhere I go, I see a lot more puppetry. I'm glad of it. It's an art form that has just limitless boundaries that can be explored. We just have about a minute left in this segment. Thank you both very much for being here. I know you know each other. Yes, we do. Yeah. Have you ever talked about collaborating? We haven't. But I would love to. Actually, I saw her show. She saw the show. She sent skin, because she put it on in November. And then Misa from French saw it and invited us to re-stage it. But yeah, Bonnie came. Yeah, it was really, I mean, I recommend people to go see it. And get your tickets early because it's a small, small space. Yeah. And very personal. And I was, yeah, it was really fascinating. Yeah, I really enjoyed it. Maybe we will collaborate. I don't know. I haven't seen her work yet. But I think we can. This guy looks really limber. I'm just saying he's pretty bendy. Yeah, he can do all sorts of stuff. Thank you both very much for being here. Thank you. And we will be seeing you this weekend. It's a happening weekend in Chinatown. We're going to take a short break. We're going to be back with you. Totally new guests for you. So please stay. Thank you. Oh, huh. What are you doing? It's me, Angus McTach. Wishing you to welcome and join us to see us on Hibachi Talk on Think Tech Hawaii. Join my co-hosts. Got to know the techs out and enter the security guy every Friday from 1300 to 1345. We look forward to see you. We'll talk tech and we'll have some wee bit of fun. And remember, let your wing gang free. Where are you be? Aloha. I'm Jay Fidel. And with Ray Starling, I host Hawaii, the state of clean energy, four o'clock every Wednesday. The Hawaii Energy Policy Forum making discovery of what's going on in energy in this community. Ray, what do you think? We've got a great group of shows coming up, finishing out this year and starting next year. Dean Nishita has been with us today. He's the new consumer advocate. And he has told us a lot, but he's got a lot more to tell. So we're going to have him back and others like him in future shows. And Dean, how much of that do you agree with? There's a lot to be said. And I'm interested in seeing some of your other shows. Okay, we'll be back. Four o'clock every Wednesday here on Think Tech Hawaii. I've got the Beagle Sisters here with a healthy tip. We encourage you to enjoy the food you eat this holiday season and keep it local and healthy. Yeah. Eat the rainbow. Eat the rainbow. And if you need any produce, come to the red barn on the north shore. Hi, I'm Marianne Sasaki. And I'm speaking to all engaged citizens. I think everybody should know that there's going to be a big women's march on Washington on January 21st. And there will also be independent marches in each city around the country. And the purpose is for our voices to be heard and to take a stand on reproductive rights and other rights which may be eroded under this presidency. It's not a protest march, however. It's a positive march. So look for your local march and join in. Every hand counts. I'm Stan Energy Man. And I want you to be here every Friday. Noon. ThinkTechHawaii.com. Watch the show. Be there. I pity the fool who ain't. Hi, this is Jane Sugimura. I'm the co-host for Kondo Insider. And we're on Think Tech Hawaii every Thursday at 3 o'clock. And we're here to talk about condominium living and issues that affect condominium residents and owners. And I hope you'll join us every week on Thursday. Aloha. My name is Ray Tsuchiyama. I was raised in Kalihi Palama, proud graduate of Farmington High School. And I want to say that ThinkTech is a great program, brings people together, and creates a really great community of concerned citizens for the future of Hawaii. Hi, we are back. And we are live at the Center of Sades on the ThinkTech Hawaii Digital Network. If you would ever like to join us from the downtown studio for one of the shows, you may do that. We'd love to see you here. If you ever have any ideas for people you'd like to see on the show, or you yourself feel like you're an artist with a story to tell, let me know. You can find me on Twitter at It's All About Donna, because it is. Okay, my two new guests who are both involved in fringe, Rory Franzen with ThinkFest, improv. ThinkFest, improv. That's right. And Steph Mariano of Steph Mariano Folk Music. Yes, Mariani. Mariani. Oh, very close. It's okay. If I have four people on the show, I always throw up one name. We're good. Trust me. Okay, so let's start with you, Rory. Absolutely. If we may, tell us about ThinkFest, improv. Well, ThinkFest, improv is a local improv troupe that has been going for about five years now. We've been in fringe festival a couple of times now. And we always have such a good time that we are always down to come back. But what we do is we take suggestion from the audience and we use that suggestion to do our entire show off of. Sometimes we'll take a bunch of suggestions, sometimes we'll just take the one. I think this year what we're planning on doing is doing a long-form piece, which long-form improv is more like a one-act play where it's one suggestion or multiple suggestions to tell one story. And then we'll be doing short-form improv where we're getting a bunch of suggestions and using that for fast-game scenes that are really fun and kind of hit with a high amount of comedy. Yeah. Very cool. ThinkFest improv has been around for five years. Five years. Is it mostly the same ensemble of people? No. We're a long-running troupe, so we've had people that have come on, gone on to bigger and better things. Mostly they've gone on to Chicago or on with their careers, left the island. That's really the only way to get out of ThinkFest is to leave the island. But we have a couple of them that have babies, things like that. But we keep the lights on form, we've had people that have left the team and then come back to the team so that they still have a place to play. That's the hardest thing with improv is that you get in with one troupe, you play with them, something comes up in life and you can't do improv anymore, and then you don't get a chance to come back to it. So we have a place for everybody to come back to in that way. And how often do you... That's awesome, by the way. Thank you. How often do you get together? You knew you had the Fringe Festival coming up. Did you have extra rehearsals because of that, or do you get together on a regular basis? We get together on a regular basis. We rehearse once to twice a week all the time. Oh, yeah. So I personally, I teach classes on Tuesdays, rehearse on Wednesdays, teach classes on Thursdays, and then we have shows on Fridays and Saturdays. But other members of the team are on multiple teams within our own group. So some of them are rehearsing two and three times a week. Oh, wow. So I get a light schedule. You guys kind of like what you do. And where do you perform around town? Other than the Fringe Festival, you're normally performing around town. Well, we perform at On King on a regular basis. We also perform at Jazz Mines in Honolulu. And then we do pick up shows at any place that will have a stage and lights and can sit people. So, I mean, if you could get people in here, I'd do a show right here. Don't tip J-F-L-L-Z in the booth right now. Don't tip. So when and where for your shows at Fringe? On King on Saturday. Doors open at 5.30. Doors open at 5.30. And your show is a little longer, huh? Yeah, we have a whole hour long set. So we will be doing multiple versions of what we do. Because I think that's improv does all kinds of improv. So we took a longer chunk of time this year so that we could do both styles and give a good view of what improv can be. That's nice. That's nice. People get a little taste of... A lot of people know of improv is... Whose line is it anyway? Whose line is it anyway? And Saturday Night Live. Yeah. And Saturday Night Live is completely scripted. But the improv long form that we do is what sketch writers use to come up with their bits. Because you don't just get to sit down and write funny stuff. You have to act it out and make it funny. You work together. So you have... How many people are actually going to be involved in the show on Friday Night? 13. Oh. Yeah. That's a big number. Size group of people. Okay. And correct me if I'm wrong. I forgot to ask the other two ladies. Just because we want to make sure that people come into Chinatown and take advantage of the festival. There are all these different places to go. You want to get your tickets in advance. You want to keep an eye on your schedule. And with some of these people there are places to get food and drink. Does Anking have a bar that's over on there? They have a donation bar at Anking. Okay. And I believe that will be open for the princess. So there's that. As well as other places. Absolutely. Any of these days. Yeah. Find plenty of places to eat and drink. You can totally live in Chinatown. I used to. And I miss it. You can live in Chinatown. All right. Thank you very much. Absolutely. Thank you very much. Thank you for coming with stuff Mariano. Let's hear about, you are a folk singer. Yes. And you have been, what makes a folk singer? Did you grow up really loving Joni Mitchell? Actually my mother is a folk singer-songwriter from the 70s and Joni Mitchell is indeed one of her big people that inspired her. And so that's what I grew up on. And so in Northern California. Okay. Northern California vibe. But yeah, I grew up around it. Wow, you know who? I really enjoy folk singers and it's not often you hear someone new. I think the most recent folk singer that made me want to run out and buy her music was Michelle Shocked. Do you know Michelle Shocked? It sounds familiar. You might have to share that with me. Show me some good stuff. I'm down. Do you write your own music? I do. I write all my personal work. I have a lot of personal stuff going on and improv is by its very nature coming out of you. You can't hide when you do that kind of work. I applaud all of you for the vulnerability within your work. So you have, is it just you singing on your own? So I'm singing and then I have a whole band of boys that back me up. That's how I like to roll. That's nice. They're fabulous and they support me so well. So it's ultimately, it all is focusing around the lyrics and vocal. But they nicely accompany me and I play guitar as well. Awesome. And how long have you been doing this? I would say my whole life but I was really shy growing up because my mom's an entertainer so I actually have to force myself to go into the public eye and perform. It's not something that comes natural for me but because I write I feel compelled to get it out and that's what drives me. So I have to, like I was talking to him about he has improv classes. I'm like well maybe you can help me to be a better storyteller in between songs and you know something I'm always working on because it's not something that I came out of the womb doing. And I think I kind of fell into my mother's shadow a little bit because she has a very dynamic personality and booming alto voice. So a little bit different than me. So I, yeah. Okay well and I would love it if we had collaborations that happen here. He can help you. Yeah, collaborations is what it's all about and Honolulu is ripe for those. I meet people all the time that I can collaborate with and beautiful things come of it. And I think the Fringe Festival brings people together. That's one of the coolest things about it. That is a very cool thing. I think all of performing on some level is about trusting yourself. Yeah. And the more people you get to know, the more people you have in your circle the more your boundaries expand because you have other people that you get to trust. That's true and you get to watch other people get naked in public and be vulnerable. Right, right. We do have someone in the festival actually getting... Oh really, when? One time. I'm just waiting. Everyone goes, maybe she in room. Oh, okay. We're going to see her, Sinskin. Okay. Yeah, if you look, I was looking at the website and I thought, oh there's another act that I saw in there. I can't remember the name of it right now, but I thought, oh okay, the Fringe Festivals are so cool because they can go there. They know no bounds. I want to say it was my first year in the Fringe Festival and I had no idea what I was getting into. And the act that came on right after me was, I want to say they were pole dancers of some kind, but it was like a seven-year-old woman doing like a pole dance and she was amazing. I watched it and I was like, I can't believe that there's something I'm watching. But it's totally worth all of the money I spent to be here. It's really awesome. So it's really cool. That's cool. And if she had been bad. It wouldn't matter. The fact that she feels like she can do that and she wants to do it and she has an outlet for it, I think is amazing because we're, I mean, you get nervous, right? Oh yeah, yeah. I mean, it's hard. Yeah, it is. And the beauty of Fringe Festivals is that you don't have to have your home theater, a place where you normally perform. You don't even have to have your own built-in audience. You just go and you hit it and get it. People get to come in and see what's going on here. It's really nice that most of the time, at least with improv, I have to explain to people, A, no, it's really an art form. B, this is what the art form is. And C, this is why you should see it. And Fringe Festivals kind of takes care of all of that. It's okay. That's cool. I hope everyone will come down for the Fringe Festival. You are, did you say your day is in time? On King at 7.30 on Friday. And then On King again at 10.30. We're wrapping it up at On King. On Friday. On Saturday. On Saturday. You're wrapping up the whole festival. Yes, yes. Okay, so could you play me out please? I've got some, goodness, thank everyone. Could you play just a little bit? Yeah, absolutely. Do we need to move for microphone? So if you want to hem my guitar. Oh, we got 30 seconds. So I'm going to go ahead and I would like to thank everyone who is here for the show today. I would like to thank Rich Prapis, who is our floor manager who has had his work cut out for him today. Thank you very much, Rich. I would like to thank the studio overlord, Zuri Bender, who is in my ear helping to make all of this happen. Jay Fidel, who somehow manages to put all of it together. And you, thank you for watching the show and we really hope to see you at the Fringe Festival this weekend. Thank you very much.