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

Charlie Varon & David Ford, improv rehearsal for "Alan Watts Returns" podcast (Nov 17 2022) Rehearsal Audio - Fall 2022 On Nov 17, 2022 Charlie and his long-time collaborator David Ford worked via telephone on new material for their satiric podcast, Alan Watts Returns . Listen in on this improv rehearsal. 00:00 / 17:38

Charlie Varon's satire and other mischief Charlie Varon 's Comic Bonbons #6: Alan Watts, "We Am" We Am 00:00 / 03:03 Written by Charlie Varon & David Ford Performed by Charlie Varon Keep the bonbons coming! Email me when the next one is ready! Email Subscribe

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

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."

What drivers say after honking The Honking Report On some Saturdays my partner, Myra, and I spend an hour at the anti-Maga protest outside the Tesla dealership in San Francisco. What's evolved is quite magical. We stand on O'Farrell Street holding our signs that encourage honking. On any given cycle of the traffic light, two to ten drivers will honk. Some then have to stop at the red light. Myra and I have different approaches. She goes up to cars stopped at the light and offers the driver a "Make America Human" pin. I approach drivers and say, “Thanks for honking!" When they open their window, I say: "These are crazy times we’re living in. What keeps you sane?” Some highlights from this week's conversations with honkers... Black woman in her 40s. She points a finger up. “My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He’s in charge.” She pauses, smiles. “And then, seeing you all out here – I know you’re angels he’s sent.” Shirtless Asian man, late 20s or early 30s. “Training.” What are you training for? “Soccer!” The light turns green and he’s gone. Filipino man in his 50s or 60s. He says: “This is too much. This has to end.” I say: “We are many. We are powerful. And we will eventually win. But what I want to know is, When is eventually? And will I live to see it?” “Oh, you will. We will.” White guy in his 40s. “Fuck that guy!” (Trump) “What keeps you going?” “My family and my passions.” Long-haired tattooed, white man late 30s, maybe 40s, unkempt, cheerful, scraggly beard. “I don’t know.” (Pause) “Marijuana!” Young woman in her 20s, bright eyed, Asian. “Reading the food section and the politics section.” I ask, “In what order?” “The politics section first. Then the food section as a reward!” White man driving a Mini Cooper. Early forties. Loud, fun, an extrovert. “Hair! Doing people’s hair! I’m a hairdresser. Making people look good! At least what I think is good.” We laugh. We high-five. A couple, white, in their 40s or 50s. The man says: “Ignoring the news. Don’t give him any more mind share.” A 40something white woman in a baseball cap. “Dancing. And my kids. And donating to Democrats.” White woman about 40. “Friends and family. Reading 1440.” She explains that “1440” is a news site. A white man, my age, doesn’t honk. Rolls his window all the way down. He is ruddy-faced and loud. “No Kings?” (He’s referring to my "Honk for No Kings" sign.) “What about the Democrats all clapping for King Charles when he spoke to Congress? Why did they clap for a king?” Hostility oozes out of him. Grievance. “I don’t know,” I say. “You tell me.” “You’re a traitor!” he informs me. A snake spitting his venom. “Have a blessed day!” I say. “ You have a blessed day!” he spits back. * I left the demonstration thinking about three of my interlocutors: The born-again Black woman. The loud gay hairdresser. The aggrieved Maga man with his gotcha talking point. If I were to put these characters onstage, or in a movie, I would be accused of stereotyping. Correctly accused. And yet there they were, each in their car, each playing their part. With complete commitment. Full embodiment. No self-consciousness. No self-doubt. Pitch perfect. But what if I put them onstage, not in their cars, but in the same room? What would they have to say to one other? * Other stuff I'm up to: Small group workshops My coaching & mentoring for writers My free online writing community

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.

The Return of Pete Seeger Charlie Varon 's Comic Bonbons #10: "For Pete Seeger's Sake " Pete Seeger bonbon Feb 29 00:00 / 02:01 Written & performed by Charlie Varon Special thanks to J.P. Tilleman 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 mid-March.

Playwright, comedian, director, mentor, coach.

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."

Poetry Unwound: "Circling" Charlie Varon 's Comic Bonbons #14: Poetry Unwound: "Circling" Poetry Unwound - Circling 00:00 / 02:28 Written & performed by Charlie Varon Collaboration: J.P. Tilleman Attention, writers and performers: I have openings for mentoring/coaching .

SECOND TIME AROUND A duet for cello and storyteller Charlie Varon, author and performer Joan Jeanrenaud, composer and cellist David Ford, director Tentative premiere: March 2016 at The Marsh San Francisco Second Time Around is the next in the series of Charlie Varon’s stories about old people – the same series that includes Feisty Old Jew. A high school student brings a video camera to the retirement home where 92-year-old Ben Rosenau lives. He’s come to interview Ben about his service as a bomber pilot in World War II. Charlie says: “Much of the story occurs inside Ben’s mind – his memories, his regrets, his yearnings. My quest to put all this onstage led me to the cello – the instrument which, like no other, can express the interior life of human beings. And that led me to Joan.” Joan Jeanrenaud was the cellist of the Kronos Quartet for 20 years. Her work with Kronos included more than 30 recordings and over 2000 performances that took her to virtually every major concert hall worldwide. During those years the group became – in the words of New York Times critic John Rockwell – “the world’s best known, most innovative contemporary-music quartet.” Joan has taken on the demanding task of composing an original score for the 70-minute story. In SECOND TIME AROUND Joan and Charlie will perform sometimes in tandem, sometimes solo. Joan is also composing an overture that will open the performance. E-mail Charlie to be notified of future SF area shows.