Saturday night was amazing - Neil Gaiman at the Opera House (and our very first venture into the bowels of that famous Australian icon).
I managed to get some amazing seats for David and I - we were in full view of Neil, the screen on which Eddie Campbell's illustrations for the story were projected and the four person string quartet (aptly named FourPlay). Unfortunately I couldn't take any photos as that was strictly forbidden, but I did get some of the panel the next day.
Before the Neil even came on we were treated to an unexpected event - Kevin Smith was announcing the winner of an animation competition, and shortly after that, on came the man himself, to great applause.
He read a 70 minute short story called 'The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains' (it has since been released in a compilation of stories called Stories, co-edited by Gaiman). After that, Eddie Campbell asked Gaiman a few questions, and then we were given another treat - a reading of an actually unreleased poem (I say actually unreleased because its really not released, its not in a book, a news paper or on the inter-webs).
One of the things that struck me most about Gaiman, is that he is not just a good story teller in the written sense, but he is also an amazing story teller in the spoken sense. Nothing was over exaggerated, he kept the listeners interested, in suspense, right to the very end.
He didn't go so fast as not to understand him, he wasn't so slow as to put the audience to sleep. Whether this is inherent in natural story tellers, who knows (I did once read an article on him talking about the first time he read a story out loud to an audience), but it was a lovely thing to listen too.
If you are a fan of his work, and ever have the chance to see him, I would highly recommend it!!
XX
Jen
I managed to get some amazing seats for David and I - we were in full view of Neil, the screen on which Eddie Campbell's illustrations for the story were projected and the four person string quartet (aptly named FourPlay). Unfortunately I couldn't take any photos as that was strictly forbidden, but I did get some of the panel the next day.
Before the Neil even came on we were treated to an unexpected event - Kevin Smith was announcing the winner of an animation competition, and shortly after that, on came the man himself, to great applause.
He read a 70 minute short story called 'The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains' (it has since been released in a compilation of stories called Stories, co-edited by Gaiman). After that, Eddie Campbell asked Gaiman a few questions, and then we were given another treat - a reading of an actually unreleased poem (I say actually unreleased because its really not released, its not in a book, a news paper or on the inter-webs).
One of the things that struck me most about Gaiman, is that he is not just a good story teller in the written sense, but he is also an amazing story teller in the spoken sense. Nothing was over exaggerated, he kept the listeners interested, in suspense, right to the very end.
He didn't go so fast as not to understand him, he wasn't so slow as to put the audience to sleep. Whether this is inherent in natural story tellers, who knows (I did once read an article on him talking about the first time he read a story out loud to an audience), but it was a lovely thing to listen too.
Neil Gaiman tickets!!
They are nommy...
Nom nom nom...
Grrrrrrrrrrr....my Neil Gaiman tickets, not yours...
If you are a fan of his work, and ever have the chance to see him, I would highly recommend it!!
XX
Jen