About the Year in Review It started simply enough. One Rosh Hashanah Rabbi Katie included in her evening sermon a few sentences about the events of the past year. I liked that: it felt true, important. I suggested we do it again the following year, but more fully. What if it became a separate thing, not part of the sermon? Katie agreed and, being a good leader, delegated it to me. I’ve done the Year in Review every Erev Rosh Hashanah since 2010. I’ve been standing in front of audiences for over 40 years, but the response I get to the Year in Review is different from anything else I’ve experienced. People heartily thank me (but I’ve been thanked before). Some ask me to email them a copy (but I’ve been asked for scripts before). So what’s the difference? My hunch is that the Year in Review meets a need. A need that we may not have even known we had, for communal orientation. The Year in Review is a collective marking of time, an acknowledgment of what we have lived through, are living through. Watch 5785: The Year in Review

Free writing workshop Do you want to write but... ...can't seem to get started? ...get distracted and give up? ...don't like the isolation? Make 2024 the year you commit to your writing with... 5-8 appointments to write A writing community Conversation with other writers A 1:1 coaching session with me Start t he New Year WRITE! Led by Charlie Varon Every Wednesday - 8am Pacific Time $ Sign up here [eventbrite link] "I am really enjoying writing in community. This is the easiest writing has ever been for me."

Charlie Varon's satire and other mischief Comic Bonbon #2 Comic Bonbon #2: Bernie's Dream August 23, 2023. Of all the voices I do, none gives me more pleasure than that of Bernie Sanders. I cooked this up yesterday and sent a draft to David Ford, my collaborator and director for 30+ years. David listened and asked the question that unlocked the piece. I recorded again this morning and sent it to him and then to Joe Dunn, who told me to post it right away. Bernie's Dream 00:00 / 02:47 Keep the bonbons coming! Email me when the next one is ready! Email Subscribe

A discernment form for writers A discernment form for writers Download the form

John Cheever - The Angel of the Bridge - read by Malachy McCourt 00:00 / 25:13

Election anxiety Charlie Varon's Comic Bonbons #16: Election Anxiety Election anxiety 00:00 / 03:54 Written & performed by Charlie Varon Special thanks to David Ford & J.P. Tilleman Feeeling a tad anxious about the election? Click here

The San Francisco Chronicle has credited Charlie Varon with “redefining the art form of solo theater.” For 30 years, Charlie has written, performed, directed and taught at The Marsh Theater in San Francisco. His award-winning shows – all created in collaboration with David Ford – include Rush Limbaugh in Night School , The People’s Violin , Rabbi Sam , and Second Time Around , a collaboration with world-renowned cellist Joan Jeanrenaud. In 2018, in response to the political crisis, he and Brian Copeland created and performed a collection of monologues called The Great American Sh*t Show. As collaborator/director, Charlie has worked with Dan Hoyle since 2004, on his many hit solo shows. Over the years Charlie’s writing has appeared in The New Yorker , The Atlantic and other publications.

< Back #15 Bernie's Dream - Oct 2024 October 10, 2024 Written & performed by Charlie Varon Collaboration: J.P. Tilleman Bernie's Dream - Oct 2024 00:00 / 04:50 Keep the bonbons coming! Email me when the next one is ready! Email Subscribe Attention, writers and performers: I have openings for mentoring/coaching starting in February. Previous Next

< Back #11 Alan Watts, "Six Men" April 2, 2024 "Smartphones brought the internet everywhere. Many times I’ve walked into a public bathroom and everyone is simultaneously using a urinal and staring at a screen. - Ezra Klein, NY Times, Aug. 7, 2022 Written & performed by Charlie Varon Thanks to J.P. Tilleman for collaboration Alan Watts - Six Men 00:00 / 05:42 Keep the bonbons coming! Email me when the next one is ready! Email Subscribe Attention, writers and performers: I have openings for mentoring/coaching starting in February. Previous Next

The People's Violin tells the story of Sol Shank, experimental filmmaker, transplanted New York Jew, and unhappy son of a famous father. When Sol undertakes a film about his father, he discovers a mysterious violin, launching him on a quest that uncovers hidden chapters in his father's past. Evidence mounts that his father was not who he claimed to be, forcing Sol to question what it means to be Jewish — and forcing the audience to question the meaning of identity, tribe and self. Charlie plays 20 characters in the solo play — men and women, filmmakers and psychotherapists, Americans and Israelis, and a tricky violin salesman. The play intersperses Sol's narrative with family members, friends, and other characters speaking about his father's life. The People's Violin is not a comedy, although it frequently employs humor in its exploration of family relationships, culture, and identity. "As I wrote this play," says Charlie, "I became absorbed with my characters, their lives and deceptions; with the voices of old people remembering the past; and with what it means to be an American and a Jew." Listen to excerpts from The People's Violin: Nirit and Sol "Do you believe in God?" Sol and Aharon Buy a copy of The People's Violin script from Dramatists Play Service.

< Back #8 Bernie's Henry Kissinger Dream December 14, 2023 Written by Charlie Varon & David Ford Performed by Charlie Varon Bernie's Henry Kissinger Dream 00:00 / 03:24 Keep the bonbons coming! Email me when the next one is ready! Email Subscribe Use code BONBON and save $25 on the Intensive Previous Next

Writing with Workarounds A writing exercise 1. Close your eyes and imagine that you are riding on a long-distance train. 2. Keep your eyes closed and let yourself settle into the experience of riding this train: the view out the window, the feel of the upholstery, the smells, the vibrations of the moving train. 3. With your eyes still closed, imagine the person seated next to you on the train. This person is a stranger. Notice this person’s appearance: their apparent age, gender, ethnicity, clothing and body type. 4. Now open your eyes and write a description of this person. THE RULE FOR THIS EXERCISE : The description you write can only include what this person is NOT. For example, you can’t describe their clothing, hair, face, manner. If you need a phrase to get started, some options... He/she/they had no... Nothing about this person... Being around them, I did not feel... 5. Now close your eyes again... and imagine a conversation you have with this person sitting next to you on the train. Let yourself hear their voice, see their mannerisms as they talk and listen, their gestures. Feel what it’s like to be in this person’s presence. 5a. Now open your eyes and write 5-10 sentences describing the conversation. THE RULES FOR THIS EXERCISE : You cannot write what this person says. You cannot write what you say. You cannot describe the person as they behaved during the conversation. You can only write what the conversation was not, what the person did not do or say, what it did not feel like talking to them. 6. Keep writing the scene on the train using the same approach. SOME OPTIONS: A. Begin with “He/she/they was nothing like ________”[a person you know well]. Then write a long, winding sentence (even a run-on sentence) about the person you do know, describing them, and digressing into a memory about them. B. Begin by writing what you don’t know about the person sitting next to you, and what you really would love to know. 7. The train comes to a sudden, unexpected stop. Write what the person sitting next to you does NOT do when that happens. Option: Write how you (and, if you like, other passengers) react to what your seatmate does not do. 8. Reflection Look over what you’ve just written. What was easy or hard? What gave you energy or was fun? What ideas does this exercise spark?