Writing from a theater pov What writers can learn from theater people 1. A book is not a thing. It is an experience. We actors see when the audience is slumping or sleeping. Writers don’t see the reader put down your book forever. 2. The audience teaches you. What’s alive? What’s dead? What’s stuck? What’s waiting to be discovered? 3. Energy, energy, energy. In every story, at every moment, energy is either building or waning. Ditch your perfect plan and follow the energy. 4. Be ruthless and playful. Cut ruthlessly. Then take what’s left, write it again, and surprise the hell out of yourself. 5. Get “investors.” People you trust. Who will help you not quit. Who will be your first audience, and give you non-stupid comments. 6. Read your fucking work aloud! Even to yourself. Especially to yourself. And pause. And gesture. Yes, gesture. 7. Iterate intelligently. Don’t work in isolation for months on end. Find a director, or a collaborator, and set a "rehearsal schedule" for the next 1-3 months.

< Back #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 Previous Next

Alan Watts: "Six Men" Charlie Varon 's Comic Bonbons #11: Alan Watts, "Six Men" "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 Alan Watts - Six Men 00:00 / 05:42 Written & performed by Charlie Varon Thanks to J.P. Tilleman for collaboration Keep the bonbons coming! Email me when the next one is ready! Email Subscribe Attention, writers and performers: I have openings for mentoring/coaching .

"The links that bind" Charlie Varon's Comic Bonbons #25: Poetry Unwound, "The links that bind" (in which I channel poet and podcaster Pádraig Ó Tuama) The Links that Bind 00:00 / 03:48 Written & performed by Charlie Varon Collaboration: David Ford, J.P. Tilleman Find out what else I'm up to (summer/fall 2026)

KPFA April Fool's Prank 2007 Charlie Varon 's KPFA April Fool's Day Prank 2007 Charlie Varon's KPFA April Fools Prank - 2007 00:00 / 13:43 Written & performed by Charlie Varon Collaboration: Marc Fisher In 2007, KPFA's Larry Bensky asked Charlie to fill in for him on his Sunday Salon show. Charlie did, and here's what happened. Attention, writers and performers: I have openings for mentoring/coaching .

For booking information, contact: Jeannine Frank 310/476-6735 Jeannine@FrankEntertainment.co m

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."

The 5 most important things I've learned as a writer Webinar - Sun Feb 5, 2023 10 to 11.30am Pacific on Zoom 60% of what I know in 90 minutes Short video clips from the webinar: Unnatural (2 min) Time (2 min) Energy (3 min) Energy - Part 2 (1 min)

< Back #16 Election Anxiety October 27, 2024 Written & performed by Charlie Varon Special thanks to David Ford & J.P. Tilleman Feeeling a tad anxious about the election? Click here Election anxiety 00:00 / 03:54 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

In the spring of 2001, the California Medical Association approached Charlie Varon about giving a speech. They were thinking comedy: Charlie would do a few routines over lunch to lighten up a seminar for physicians and attorneys. Charlie had a different kind of comedy in mind. He proposed to do the speech posing as a ranking expert on human genetics. To Charlie's amazement, the C.M.A. agreed to the prank. To create Genome Out of the Bottle, Charlie assembled a team that included his collaborator and director, David Ford; humorist Jim Rosenau; and Jonathan Karpf, who teaches genetics at San Jose State University. In less than five weeks, Charlie created Albin Avgher, Ph.D. and his theory of human communication, supported by an intricate web of fabricated statistics and personal anecdotes. The prank worked perfectly, receiving high marks from conference attendees and press coverage in the San Francisco Chronicle and The Recorder. Charlie has reprised the speech, each time fooling a new group. And each time, members of the audience have stayed afterward to thank him for his artful deception. Watch the video...

Bernie is 83. He really shouldn't try to surf. And Bernie hates Al. And Al hates Bernie. And Ben misses his son, who stopped talking to him after becoming Orthodox. And Adele is worried about her grandson. And everyone is in love with Selma, witty, irreverent, mischievous Selma. FEISTY OLD JEWS is a comic novel set at a Jewish retirement home in San Francisco, written by beloved San Francisco theater artist Charlie Varon. When will it be published? Soon, I hope! Charlie Varon's stage work has been called "dazzlingly funny" (SF Chronicle), "a delight" (Washington Post), and "a comic tour de force" (The New Yorker). Read the beginning of the book . Read what early readers are saying about Feisty Old Jews . Read "Why I Wrote This Book."

< Back #13 Alan Watts, "Puzzling Evidence" June 28, 2024 Written & performed by Charlie Varon Collaboration: J.P. Tilleman Alan Watts - Puzzling Evidence 00:00 / 06:00 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