I’ve always loved slapstick comedies. When I was young I used to imitate some of the physical pratfalls that comedians did on TV and movies. I excelled at falling down and walking into things. This became very useful when I actually did walk into things, since no one knew how clumsy I really was. I used to do these types of activities just to amuse myself, and others, especially my young nieces and nephews. My favorite was walking into walls and doors. When close enough to a wall, I would drag my back foot so it brushed my front foot, and thus creating the impression that I was tripping over something. As I headed toward the wall in question I would raise my hand and slap the wall just as my head was close enough to look as if it hit it. The sound of the slap, followed by a rebound of my head was enough to look as if I had tripped into a wall. I would immediately put my hand to my face and look dazed to complete the impression. Depending upon who was the witness, there was either shock or laughter. Adults tended to be shocked and wanted to offer help, children laughed. This type of slapstick behavior continued well throughout my young adulthood. Sometimes doing these types of behaviors did not have consequences.
2009
Go Green song
These are the lyrics of a new song that I wrote for a Go Green Festival I’ll be performing at in November.
Go Green
by Harvey Heilbrun
©2009
Chorus
We must Go Green and work to save our planet
Think about the things we do that can affect us all
We must Go Green and try to change our actions
Save the earth, improve our lives and stand up tall.
When leaving rooms turn off the lights, conserve electric power
Turn off TVs, and pull out plugs that you’re not using now
Fix all those leaks, don’t let them drip and take a shorter shower
It’s not so hard to save this earth if you know how.
Chorus
The great outdoors is calling us; there is a good solution.
Take a walk or ride your bike, don’t always use the car.
Don’t litter, or waste paper, keep noise down, stop pollution
By planting trees and growing plants we will go far.
Chorus
Reduce the waste you make each day, Reuse what you don’t throw out
Recycle what you can so we can help the world revive
Each little thing we do each day helps build a good tomorrow
So do your best, it all adds up, help us survive.
Chorus
Click here to hear Go Green
Go Green by Harvey Heilbrun is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Family history
The Hoffmann family circa 1915 - Gerte, Jeanette Mansbach (my great grandmother), Edith (on lap: my mother), Joe, Susi, Lina (my grandmother), Hugo
Learning about my family history has always been an interest of mine. When I was born my grandparents were dead already, so I didn’t get the advantage that most kids have of having family stories shared from two generations past. My parents weren’t much for sharing stories of their childhood, unless you questioned them. This was not something that I tended to do when I was young.
The exception was my father sharing all of his sports exploits with us. It wasn’t until I was much older and started looking for some verification of his claims of playing soccer for a German National team that I discovered that most of his stories were less than truthful.
Most of the information I’ve gathered unfortunately came after my parents had already died. The unfortunate loss of a great source of information.
New material
In searching out new story material for my performances I came across a great collection of stories. The stories are in the book Le cercle des menteurs: Contes philosophiques du monde entire by Jean-Claude Carriére. My difficulty as you can see is that the book is written in French. The English translation of the title is: The Circle of Liars: Philosophical tales from the entire world. There is also a Spanish translation of the book. Of course I neither read nor speak either language.