A night with Ian Thal

by Amanda F. Fitzpatrick

At Willoughby and Baltic, on Feb. 9th, Ian Thal performed an evening of mime, poetry, and masks.

“People should come for the Don Quote experience” said Ian Thal, an actor, poet, and mime performer.

Performing is Thal’s passion, which makes interacting with the audience fun he said. “Why wouldn’t anybody want to do this, it is internally gratifying.”

Audience member, Shannon B. O’ Connor said she “enjoyed the show because it was different.” 

Thal said his journey becoming a performer started with poetry, as he developed his voice and began attending open-mics.  Later, Thal was introduced to William J. Barnum, who taught him the art of mime.

“That is when I started to incorporate acting, poetry and mime in my performances,” he said.   

After learning from Barnum, Thal worked with another teacher of mime, James Von Looy.  Together they collaborated to create the Cosmic Splunker, which Thal said is still an ongoing concern.

Ian Thal

Thal’s last performance was several months ago, in which time he has taken classes, refined his skills, and create new material, he said.

Thal said the time he puts into the performances are well worth the effort.

“He fits in well,” said Meredith L. Garniss, the owner of Willoughby and Baltic.

Comments

[Ian Thal]

There's another picture from the same show and links to even more here:

http://ianthal.blogspot.com/2008/02/photos-from-february-9th-show.html

My allusion was to Don Quixote in that I acknowledge I might be tilting at windmills in my dedication to an artform with such a small audience.