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This is the Creativity Podcast, episode 38.
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Hello, and welcome to this latest edition of Creativity.
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If you feel you're too old to be creative or you're too creative to be old, this is the podcast for you, Creativity.
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My name is Adrienne Thomas, and I live on the south coast of England in a wonderful place called Brighton.
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And with me this evening is Hi, my name's Harlan.
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I'm in Hungary, somewhere near Budapest.
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And what number is this?
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Number 38 or 37.
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Yes, number 38 of Creativity.
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Yeah.
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And we've been all around the world really.
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We've done a lot of programmes from Canada, Portugal, France, Scotland, America, England, Czechia, Ireland, Hungary.
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That's quite a list, isn't it?
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Pretty impressive.
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Yeah, and now we're going to go to a place which I was once told is not actually in America.
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It's a separate country.
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Los Angeles, LA.
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We'll find out what our guest has to say about that.
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So a huge welcome to Maya Waterman.
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Hello there.
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Hello there.
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Hello, Maya.
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Lovely to see you and hear you.
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Lovely to see you and hear you.
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Wow.
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So we're here to talk about your life and your work and your art and your creativity.
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I knew that your beginnings were difficult because you were adopted, but then I read recently that you have traced your ancestry and discovered this colourful and intriguing background.
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Yeah, I remember many years ago thinking about tracing my lineage, and then I let it go and forgot about it.
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And then somebody on Facebook suddenly contacted me and said, I think I'm your cousin.
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Wow.
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It turned out she was my mother's sister's daughter in Washington, and apparently her adopted parents had emigrated to America.
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Yeah, so I discovered my mother was a showgirl in London on the Edgware Road in 19 whenever it was.
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That's amazing.
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Yeah, my Julian therapist at the time said uh there were stage door johnies that used to go to the theatres because they weren't allowed to date.
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And they used to wait for the showgirls to come out.
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What's a showgirl?
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Uh like a gayety girl.
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What's a gay girl?
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Gaiety girls, they sometimes it's still um, what do you say, tableaus or whatever, probably slightly suggestive, I would imagine.
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And or dancing.
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Yeah, the gayety theatres.
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I used to fantasize about being the daughter of an aristocrat.
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I suppose it's a form of aristocracy, because that form of gaiety and and No, I mean she wasn't an ar uh she wasn't an aristocrat.
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It was your father.
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The stage or Johnny.
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Can you feel that influence in you?
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Yeah, I'm very good with rhythm.
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Yes, I was doing a music, I was doing a music video once, and uh this very famous music director came up to me and we had to dance.
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He said, I think you have better rhythm than younger people, he said.
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So fantastic.
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I do feel the rhythm in me, but yeah, I don't know if that's doing my mother because I have no clue.
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So you can shake your shimmy.
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Okay, so looking at the rich tapestry of your life and all the threads woven into it, we have an entrepreneur, an art student, and a teacher, a graphic designer, a poet, an actress.
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It goes on and on.
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Should we go back to your early entrepreneurial life?
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In I believe it was Tunbridge Wells.
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I've done so many things.
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I was looking, it was so confusing looking at all these things.
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I think, oh Maya, why haven't you done one thing?
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I would love to have just done one thing, but seems like I've jumped into everything.
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Anyway, moving to Tunbridge Wells was a bit of a serendipitous event.
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A good friend in London said, I feel you and your children should move to Tunbridge Wells.
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And I thought, oh, that's interesting.
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So I got on a train to Tunbridge Wells one day, went into an estate agent, and he looked in his list and he said, Oh, there's one here.
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And he said, Oh, but I'm sorry, it's being rented.
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And so I thought, oh, okay.
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So I went home and then two weeks later he he calls me and says, Oh, by the way, it's available.
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So I moved to Tombridge Wells to this shop property.
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So I don't know how I decided to do this, but I um always loved cooking.
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And I don't know, one day I must have suddenly thought, well, I'm gonna turn the basement into a bakery.
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So then I um pulled down a wall, bought all the stuff from junkyards, and then as it grew, various shops in the town they wanted the quiche and they wanted the pizzas and they wanted the energy bars.
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So basically it was like schlepping stuff from Marks and Spencer's and where you buy wholesale tomato sauce and all the rest of it.
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And I designed the labels for the energy bars.
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How do we get from there to LA?
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Yeah, I met m my next husband in Canada, and then he came over to Cumbridge Wells and we got married.
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I had two more children, then I stopped baking.
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I don't know why.
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It seems my heart and my practical side get very mixed up.
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Um, but then we moved to um LA and eventually we got divorced, and then being alone in the house with two kids and no money, I decided to start baking again.
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And we started making food and delivering them to the studios.
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All these guys in dark rooms in the studios doing video editing and everything, got the energy bars and they got salads and quiche and everything.
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And um it seems out of that offering the energy bars were very popular.
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We stopped taking food to the studios and I took off doing the energy bars.
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So then I turned to making uh gift baskets with the packaged energy bars and English China, and that went really well.
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To what extent would you say that you were using your creativity throughout this whole period?
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I mean, is cooking creative, in other words?
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Oh yeah, it's very creative.
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In those days, yeah, I was constantly uh designing things.
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Right.
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I still am to a certain degree, you know.
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I still have all these ideas, and yeah, so it's like an ongoing thing.
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Yeah.
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How much of a stranger in a strange land were you at this point?
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I mean, somehow you've jumped from Tunbridge Wells, which is a funny little town in the south of England.
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Now you're in LA.
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It was terrifying.
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It was absolutely terrifying.
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I I remember driving on the freeway thinking, where am I?
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Why am I in this crazy place?
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And then now I'm a beast on the freeway.
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I don't know why.
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In England I thought I don't think they have anything in America.
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I mean, I used to think, well, how am I going to clothe the children?
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I brought out much of the stuff from England, furniture and stuff, and um now there's like, okay, America has more than everything.
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So yeah.
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So then in England I was always designing um posters for Ronnie Scott's jazz club.
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They hired me to design all their posters, which I did for Bill Evans and Jerry Mulligan and then Webster.
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And so they went on the underground, all these posters.
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So that was quite fun to see all that.
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Yeah.
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Yeah, it was fun.
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And then I always wanted to be an actress, but and I remember in the wartime sitting under a table, big oak table, and my kittens dressed up in my mum's finery, imagining I was a famous actress.
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And wow, the bombs are dropping.
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Wow.
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Actually, you're a poet as well.
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You've got a war poem, I think.
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Not to eat that for us?
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That would be great.
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I have never been thrown out of my home or ordered to leave now or else.
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Never caressed my child's body pulled from the rubble.
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Never had a gun pressed against my temple.
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Never witnessed my family slaughtered or blown apart.
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Never seen my neighborhood in ruins.
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Never begged for food, money, or mercy.
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Never been oppressed or persecuted for my gender, race, or belief.
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Have watched giant silver birds flying over my backyard blanket tank.
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With Flopsy the rabbit and Timmy the cat.
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Have slept awake under a heavy oak table when the sirens went off.
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Heard the whirring silence and then the have ingested sudden loud noises, a jump.
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The saying goes, out of your skin.
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I still have my skin and legs.
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Have run to the corner store clutching ration books and sweets.
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Have seen London fires far, far away, lighting up the night sky.
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And at five years old, street bonfires, fireworks on a day called Victory Day.
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The world in my eyes is a perfectly round fruit with so many seeds, each capable of new life, purpose, pure intentions.
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A pomegranate in pain.
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Thank you.
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It was very moving, Maya.
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I'm fortunate to have a visual of the poem you've just read, which I think you were posting some poems on Instagram, is that right?
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It's very designed.
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What do you mean?
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Design?
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You use different typographies and different colours and shapes.
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So I love typography.
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I love typefaces, and that's what I do.
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I'm not very good at the rest of it, but I like doing that, putting them up like that.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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Would you ever think of producing a book of your poems?
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Illustrated book.
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So I'd somehow feel if everybody's not reading books nowadays.
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Oh, I don't know about that.
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I did think of doing a a small chap book.
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I did think of that, you know.
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I could donate it because when I started acting, I ran a non-profit organization helping youth at risk and people in recovery.
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So we definitely would like to do that and just donate it to various organizations.
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Yeah.
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On my copy of the poem, it says at the bottom of the poem, dedicated to peace for Ukraine.
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So it's relatively recent, I guess.
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Recent as in the last four years, yeah.
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Yeah, and I think it's applicable to what's going on, I guess.
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Absolutely.
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Oh yes.
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So it was like a week when I woke up in the middle of the night and writing, and then all these poems came out, you know.
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So then that started me off on a writing thing.
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Yeah.
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You were talking about your acting, and you've got a very impressive resume.
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But it began with Jean Buer.
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Jean Buer and Tony Buhr.
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They changed my whole life.
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And it was so there again, another serendipitous event where I was driving past this theater and seeing actors with their scripts, learning their words.
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And I thought, oh, yeah, this is what I really want to do.
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And uh I can't afford it because I knew it was expensive, so I liked driving on doing my day.
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And then I was working at a sandwich shop, and one day this lady comes in with dark glasses and a baseball hat and really pretty woman, and she said, Would you like to work my box office at my theatre?
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And I said, Oh, yes, I'd love to.
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And um, it turns out it was exactly the same theatre that I used to drive by.
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So then I went, did the box office, met a lot of wonderful people.
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They offered me acting lessons, which I got gratis for 12 years, and I was taking over their nonprofit foundation because I really wanted to help people, and ended up teaching myself to write grants proposals.
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That was interesting, but very successful.
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It worked, and I brought them in quite a bit of money.
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But the whole experience of being there, meeting all these wonderful people, definitely changed my life for the better.
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I'm so grateful.
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Tell us a little bit about Jean's work, because I had the privilege of witnessing him once work with this very young boy, and what he did in five minutes was astounding.
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He produced, you know, Al Pacino out of this young boy who was just mumbling and looking down.
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Because he had a very specific way of working, didn't he?
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Can you elaborate on that?
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I can elaborate from my point of view, which was when I was up there, he'd like yell at me in a nice way and tell me to relax my jaw.
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You know, he'd notice things about trauma that you had in your body, anything that was um informing the way you were, the way you were speaking the script.
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He would like get it, he'd like zoom in and um dissect it and in a nice way, actually.
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I think Tony was more, she was very spiritual and she kind of like pray before we kind of even did a class.
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She'd like close her eyes and pray, and then she'd say something like, This is a day I will break out of my skin and touch the clouds, for example.
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She'd say, Drop that in and go with the words.
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So every time we had a class, it was something like that.
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You drop it in, you wouldn't think in your head about the script or anything, and you'd move forward with that.
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And it worked like a dream, I swear.
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You know, you weren't thinking, thinking, what do I do?
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Who should I be?
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How do I do this?
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No, no, it was like perfect.
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The session that I saw and was a part of it was Gene that was working with us, and he just made you count to 10.
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You couldn't look at the script at all.
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Yeah, and at that too.
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Yeah.
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Until by the time you're at 10, you were absolutely at full pelt energy, and then you had to run on and just do this thing.
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Yeah, you didn't have time to think.
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One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, twelve.
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So take us from incredibly exciting, energizing classes to the fact that you then become an actor and a voiceover.
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We know that you were dancing in a commercial uh with great sense of rhythm.
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How did always wanting to be an actor turn into actually being an actor?
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What happened?
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I think I found an agent eventually, and then I booked three commercials in the first year, and that was pretty cool.
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And then one day I actually was working part-time at a high-end uh fancy goods store, and I came into work, and there was a letter waiting for me from these two guys that were customers, and they said, Um, would you like to meet?
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We think you'd be great for the part in our project with the Made for TV series, first of its kind at the time.
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And I ended up being the matriarch of this series.
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And apparently they were in the car park saying, Oh, I think we found our matriarch the day before.
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So, yeah, that was interesting.
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And so I had lots of fun doing that.
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Did you play American or or British?
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I was British, yeah.
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Do you do American?
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I don't do American very well.
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Very well, no.
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Not very well.
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In fact, somebody wanted me to ask me yesterday because uh they thought I'd be good in their movie.
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And then they said, Can you do American?
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I said, Well, not very well, but I would try, of course.
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And I did Dracula's guest this uh movie.
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Um, I went in for the role of an English nanny, but they hired me to do a French shanty woman.
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So I had to learn to do a French accent.
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And then another one was um oh yes, Scottish.
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Yeah, it was um I did it with uh Brian Cox and uh Peter Madden.
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I was the grandmother of one of the main characters, but I was Scottish, so I had to learn Scottish.
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Has your acting career been primarily in your later years?
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Very much so.
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I mean, I started acting when I was 62.
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Now I'm 86, so go figure.
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Okay.
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In between, when I was 60 something, I kind of adopted my granddaughter, who was like three at the time, and I brought her up.
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And so um she's now 23, so she left my home when she was 18 and um lives with now living with her dad, my son.
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And um, yeah, that was uh she went through high school and went backwards and forwards to her mother, but spent many years with me.
00:19:15.759 --> 00:19:37.519
And then I've been working with homeless people as well, because uh I think part of me has got this really need to be part of giving and non-profit, and then the other bits, the creative bit, so I guess the instinct of many people who prepare food is that thing of feeding people, of giving to others, of nourishing others.
00:19:37.839 --> 00:19:38.799
Probably, yes.
00:19:39.039 --> 00:19:42.400
I never used to think much about money at the time.
00:19:42.640 --> 00:19:47.359
I must say, when I was baking, and um even when acting really.
00:19:47.599 --> 00:19:53.279
And I'm terrible at math, so even baking, I don't know how I even did it, but it it worked.
00:19:53.440 --> 00:19:58.240
And then math isn't necessary in acting, just memory.
00:19:58.640 --> 00:19:59.759
How do you manage that?
00:19:59.920 --> 00:20:02.799
Oh, I love not I love not speaking.
00:20:03.279 --> 00:20:12.240
I've just decided I can only be a background artist now because you know, even remembering hello, my name is gets a bit complex for me to remember.
00:20:12.400 --> 00:20:13.759
So can you manage a script?
00:20:14.000 --> 00:20:21.039
Yeah, I've just got a script yesterday, um, three pages, nice character, sci-fi movie.
00:20:21.279 --> 00:20:28.880
Yeah, I think I can manage that because I think if you relate to the character and what the character's getting through, it's much easier.
00:20:29.359 --> 00:20:37.279
But the Amazon commercial I did, there was no speech at all whatsoever, and it went it was global, and it's just been this huge success.
00:20:37.599 --> 00:20:38.160
Tell us more.
00:20:38.400 --> 00:20:39.359
Yes, yum yum.
00:20:39.440 --> 00:20:41.599
But what I'm dreaming of is getting an ad.
00:20:42.000 --> 00:20:52.559
In 2023, I went to an audition in LA, and I said, chatting to a couple of ladies, chatting away, you know, as you do when you're waiting.
00:20:52.880 --> 00:20:58.240
Then you get called in, and I was with two guys, and I did my thing.
00:20:58.400 --> 00:21:03.599
And then they call me in again, but this time with two ladies, the two ladies I was chatting to.
00:21:03.920 --> 00:21:04.160
Okay.
00:21:04.319 --> 00:21:15.119
And apparently the director had been looking, and he suddenly said, These are the ones, and picked us three to be the stars of this gigantic Amazon commercial.
00:21:15.359 --> 00:21:18.079
We had that magic interaction he liked.
00:21:18.319 --> 00:21:19.440
It was a lovely ad.
00:21:19.519 --> 00:21:20.799
I watched it over and over.
00:21:20.960 --> 00:21:22.480
It was quite magical.
00:21:22.720 --> 00:21:24.400
Was it like that to actually do it?
00:21:24.640 --> 00:21:25.519
It was amazing.
00:21:25.680 --> 00:21:28.400
The whole experience was quite magical.
00:21:28.799 --> 00:21:30.880
And we went to Mammoth for a whole week.
00:21:30.960 --> 00:21:32.480
I got picked up in the limo.
00:21:33.440 --> 00:21:34.480
Mammoth's a place.
00:21:34.799 --> 00:21:44.079
Oh, mammoth is this amazing 10,000 feet mountain area where the skiing and the slopes and okay, yeah.
00:21:44.319 --> 00:21:44.960
What were you doing?
00:21:45.359 --> 00:21:48.000
Three of us were on sleds going down the mountain.
00:21:48.160 --> 00:21:52.880
So it went global and apparently it's become a classic.
00:21:53.200 --> 00:21:53.920
What's it called?
00:21:54.079 --> 00:21:56.319
Because our listeners will want to check this out.
00:21:56.559 --> 00:21:57.839
It's called Joyride.
00:21:58.160 --> 00:21:59.440
Joyride on YouTube.
00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:00.400
Right.
00:22:00.880 --> 00:22:13.759
So for people listening, approaching possibly their sixties, you might, in your conversation and telling of your story, have opened up a whole new world to them that's accessible for people as they age.
00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:17.680
They do need us, don't they, in film and television and ads.
00:22:17.839 --> 00:22:18.319
Oh, absolutely.
00:22:19.359 --> 00:22:26.079
So, you know, a word of encouragement to all them and thank you for being so inspirational in that regard, Maya.
00:22:27.119 --> 00:22:32.480
I mentioned I was told once that LA is not America, it's a different country.
00:22:32.720 --> 00:22:36.240
And that was certainly my experience, actually, of being in LA.
00:22:36.480 --> 00:22:38.640
So do you feel at home there now?
00:22:38.720 --> 00:22:40.880
I mean, you've been there for a very long time.
00:22:41.279 --> 00:22:44.480
Well, I guess it is really, because my kids and grandkids are here.
00:22:44.559 --> 00:22:48.160
Um but I feel um lately I've been feeling a bit, I don't know.
00:22:48.240 --> 00:22:54.079
I think when you get to be older, you kind of like wonder about where you're going next.
00:22:54.319 --> 00:23:05.279
But I guess I'll stay where I am and just got to pick it up and get going again, you know, because I've been a bit down about the world situation because of my OCD and everything.
00:23:05.519 --> 00:23:07.519
I was always unsure of myself.
00:23:07.680 --> 00:23:14.240
And I even presented myself in a London hospital when I was 18 because I thought something was wrong with me.
00:23:14.319 --> 00:23:21.440
But then I looked back when I was my parents were alive and they had speech therapy for me, physical therapy.
00:23:21.599 --> 00:23:26.319
I thought, why they didn't do that in the 40s, you know, in early 40s.
00:23:26.559 --> 00:23:29.920
And I've always felt really separate from people.
00:23:30.079 --> 00:23:37.119
But now, because of the acting, that's brought me into a place of much, much, much better.
00:23:37.359 --> 00:23:45.680
So now I don't feel that isolation and um uh I don't know the words to express it really.
00:23:45.759 --> 00:23:46.960
And anyway.
00:23:47.839 --> 00:23:50.480
Essentially, you're American now, yeah?
00:23:50.799 --> 00:23:52.640
I am American, yes.
00:23:52.720 --> 00:23:53.440
I'm English.
00:23:53.519 --> 00:23:55.119
I have dual citizenship.
00:23:55.359 --> 00:23:56.000
Yeah.
00:23:56.400 --> 00:23:56.799
Yeah.
00:23:57.119 --> 00:24:03.279
So back to acting, it was always fun being on different sets, and you learn so much.
00:24:03.519 --> 00:24:25.759
See, you start off one and you gain experience, and then by the time you got to like 21 or whatever, you're you've got this a lot more under your belt to know what to ask for, where to be, how to respond, follow directions, ask questions, the director, you know, you get so much more information.
00:24:26.400 --> 00:24:43.039
If people only knew exactly what goes into even a moderate or a modest rather film, when that walking onto a film set, and there are like hundreds of people and machines and huge things everywhere, it's quite stunning.
00:24:43.200 --> 00:24:46.720
And the the amount of money that's thrown around.
00:24:46.960 --> 00:24:50.480
The commercial was huge, and the music videos.
00:24:50.640 --> 00:24:54.000
I've done like six music videos, they were quite big.
00:24:54.319 --> 00:24:55.920
Come on, do a bit of name-dropping.
00:24:56.000 --> 00:24:57.200
Who are your music videoing?
00:24:57.759 --> 00:24:58.160
Come on.
00:24:58.400 --> 00:25:00.400
Um Imagine Dragons.
00:25:00.640 --> 00:25:01.359
Oh, right.
00:25:01.680 --> 00:25:05.920
I played Dan's um mother, 32nd to Mars.
00:25:06.559 --> 00:25:08.559
Um crazy woman.
00:25:08.880 --> 00:25:14.720
Colby Kaye, um Dolly Rotts, that was a smaller group, but great.
00:25:14.880 --> 00:25:17.839
Um oh um Sam Fender.
00:25:18.160 --> 00:25:20.079
Sam Fender, he's a god.
00:25:20.240 --> 00:25:22.799
He's amazing, he's so amazing.
00:25:23.279 --> 00:25:27.359
I remember in the bar where we were thinking he was like sitting in front of me looking.
00:25:27.519 --> 00:25:30.640
I don't know what was going on, but we we weren't even shooting.
00:25:30.799 --> 00:25:30.960
Right.
00:25:31.119 --> 00:25:33.920
And we were like having this intense eye contact.
00:25:34.079 --> 00:25:38.240
It was like it was so like I don't know what was going on.
00:25:38.559 --> 00:25:41.039
Which of his videos is that that you're in?
00:25:41.279 --> 00:25:41.920
Play God.
00:25:42.160 --> 00:25:44.640
Oh, I said he's a god, and there you go, play god.
00:25:44.880 --> 00:25:46.559
But I mean it was a great experience.
00:25:46.880 --> 00:25:50.079
I'm gonna try a very contrived segue here.
00:25:50.240 --> 00:25:52.000
You're talking about Sam Fender.
00:25:52.640 --> 00:25:59.920
He's quite well known for his stories and his tales about bullying and repression as a youth.
00:26:00.079 --> 00:26:02.319
So, how about your poem The Bully?
00:26:02.559 --> 00:26:03.680
Oh, right, yeah, okay.
00:26:03.839 --> 00:26:04.240
Brilliant.
00:26:04.319 --> 00:26:04.559
Yeah.
00:26:04.799 --> 00:26:05.759
Can you take us there?
00:26:06.079 --> 00:26:06.400
Okay.
00:26:07.519 --> 00:26:08.559
The bully.
00:26:11.359 --> 00:26:13.200
Popularity escapes.
00:26:14.000 --> 00:26:16.559
Attraction binds to the crowd.
00:26:17.519 --> 00:26:18.799
Leave them behind.
00:26:19.680 --> 00:26:21.039
You in a bind?
00:26:22.000 --> 00:26:24.079
Bully, we know your secret.
00:26:24.640 --> 00:26:30.559
Stand out from the crowd who badmouth, belittle, delight in humiliation.
00:26:31.359 --> 00:26:33.839
Away from the crowd, you're aloner.
00:26:34.720 --> 00:26:37.440
Powers within you to be one of a kind.
00:26:38.240 --> 00:26:39.680
Where's there to go now?
00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:40.880
In a bind?
00:26:41.759 --> 00:26:43.599
Did someone take your power?
00:26:44.400 --> 00:26:45.759
Deem your light?
00:26:46.640 --> 00:26:50.400
Control, blame, shame, hurt you?
00:26:51.359 --> 00:26:54.240
Did they ignore your pleas, needs?
00:26:54.799 --> 00:26:57.599
Rewrite your story before it's too late.
00:26:58.319 --> 00:27:01.119
One true friend can't be so bad now.
00:27:01.599 --> 00:27:07.759
If you see a kid that's different, lonely, make, not break, their self-esteem.
00:27:08.079 --> 00:27:09.200
Change it up.
00:27:09.519 --> 00:27:10.799
You have permission.
00:27:11.440 --> 00:27:12.960
Differences accept.
00:27:13.279 --> 00:27:14.720
No room for hate.
00:27:15.119 --> 00:27:16.240
Look around.
00:27:16.480 --> 00:27:17.839
You'll be losing.
00:27:18.319 --> 00:27:20.960
No chantings around religion, race.
00:27:21.680 --> 00:27:23.920
Granny thinks that's way off base.
00:27:24.559 --> 00:27:26.640
Move to make amends now.
00:27:27.039 --> 00:27:30.640
Speak kind words, they will define you.
00:27:31.279 --> 00:27:33.680
No suicides in this community.
00:27:34.319 --> 00:27:35.839
Be kind, be kind.
00:27:36.240 --> 00:27:37.839
Create a different fate.
00:27:38.319 --> 00:27:39.680
Never too late.
00:27:40.160 --> 00:27:42.640
Focus on positive interaction.
00:27:43.200 --> 00:27:47.519
Bash song, bash dance, bash paint, bash word.
00:27:47.920 --> 00:27:48.880
Be mindful.
00:27:49.359 --> 00:27:50.000
Gentle.
00:27:50.400 --> 00:27:51.200
Create.
00:27:51.519 --> 00:27:52.240
Create.
00:27:52.559 --> 00:27:53.200
Create.
00:27:57.599 --> 00:27:58.079
Lovely.
00:27:58.240 --> 00:27:58.799
Beautiful.
00:27:58.880 --> 00:27:59.200
Thank you.
00:27:59.680 --> 00:28:02.480
Mai, have you ever thought of performing your poems?
00:28:02.720 --> 00:28:04.160
Yeah, but I can't remember them.
00:28:04.400 --> 00:28:06.559
You'd have a piece of paper in front of you, you'd be right.
00:28:06.720 --> 00:28:07.279
Yeah, I know.
00:28:07.519 --> 00:28:07.839
Okay.
00:28:08.240 --> 00:28:10.640
I'd like to go back to the bully.
00:28:10.880 --> 00:28:19.200
It seemed to me really interesting that you were empathizing or thinking kindly of this person who was the bully.
00:28:19.519 --> 00:28:20.720
Because I was one myself.
00:28:20.960 --> 00:28:21.759
Oh, okay.
00:28:21.920 --> 00:28:22.319
How so?
00:28:22.559 --> 00:28:23.920
Slightly when I was in school.
00:28:25.519 --> 00:28:31.440
I was so um weakened by my lack of self-esteem and all that stuff.
00:28:31.599 --> 00:28:36.000
I tended to hang out with the girls that were quite nasty, actually.
00:28:36.480 --> 00:28:38.559
And they were trying to find their way.
00:28:38.720 --> 00:28:43.359
And then I got bullied, and I sort of turned into a little bit of a bully myself.
00:28:43.759 --> 00:28:50.000
I may be overthinking this, but I'm really getting this Sam Fender connection and why he was looking at you.
00:28:50.079 --> 00:28:51.759
There's this kind of thing going on.
00:28:52.319 --> 00:28:54.799
It was really weird, I swear honestly.
00:28:54.960 --> 00:28:58.319
If you'd have seen us, you'd have think this is very strange.
00:28:58.640 --> 00:28:59.440
I can believe it.
00:28:59.680 --> 00:29:02.400
It's big blue eyes and they're like we're like this.
00:29:02.480 --> 00:29:03.519
And oh gosh.
00:29:04.160 --> 00:29:06.160
Yeah, I wanted to read one on mental own.
00:29:06.319 --> 00:29:08.640
Oh, it's a a relative, I should say.
00:29:08.960 --> 00:29:11.680
She was using drugs, and uh I wrote this.
00:29:11.759 --> 00:29:13.119
It's a short one.
00:29:13.839 --> 00:29:14.880
Can I read it?
00:29:15.119 --> 00:29:15.920
Yeah, of course.
00:29:16.079 --> 00:29:18.000
You were raptily waiting.
00:29:18.319 --> 00:29:19.680
It's called Love Me.
00:29:20.240 --> 00:29:20.960
Love Me.
00:29:21.359 --> 00:29:22.720
It's called Love Me.
00:29:23.839 --> 00:29:35.599
She was a radiant, shimmering jewel, encased in a net, broke out into hell, a rational blur, jumbled synapses in a haze of meth.
00:29:36.160 --> 00:29:37.680
Pure and sassy.
00:29:38.240 --> 00:29:39.200
Don't fret.
00:29:39.440 --> 00:29:41.279
The journey was incredible.
00:29:41.599 --> 00:29:50.000
She, expendable, soul lost, sucked in, trapped in the creation, numb, unaware.
00:29:50.319 --> 00:29:52.960
Oh the sorrow of the shimmering jewel.
00:29:53.839 --> 00:30:02.319
She was a pure white porcelain pearl, stuck in her shell, born into royalty, broke out into hell.
00:30:02.799 --> 00:30:08.880
Not some fairy story, waiting to be inhabited, heartache and broken dreams.
00:30:09.119 --> 00:30:24.240
In crevices, corners, humanity lurks, unseen, unknown, embracing dirt, gravel, amaze, trapped in her mind, struggle, sadness, broken dreams.
00:30:24.720 --> 00:30:28.799
Love me, love me, don't retouch me.
00:30:30.720 --> 00:30:31.119
Wow.
00:30:31.759 --> 00:30:34.240
Well, that was probably needs editing.
00:30:34.319 --> 00:30:34.960
I don't know.
00:30:35.200 --> 00:30:36.480
I want to edit everything.
00:30:36.559 --> 00:30:40.559
I write something and then I I want to change everything all the time.
00:30:40.720 --> 00:30:41.440
So never mind.
00:30:41.920 --> 00:30:42.880
Nothing is ever finished.
00:30:43.119 --> 00:30:45.279
And they're all rather bit depressing, aren't they?
00:30:45.359 --> 00:30:45.519
Really?
00:30:45.920 --> 00:30:47.039
It sounds like a rap.
00:30:47.200 --> 00:30:49.519
I can imagine the red hot chili peppers doing that.
00:30:49.599 --> 00:30:51.599
It's very there's a lot of internal rhyming.
00:30:52.799 --> 00:30:53.920
I've always wanted to rap.
00:30:54.079 --> 00:30:55.440
I've always wanted to rap.
00:30:55.680 --> 00:30:57.359
Okay, well, it's not beyond you.
00:30:57.599 --> 00:30:59.519
I can imagine that's the next thing.
00:30:59.839 --> 00:31:01.200
Oh, I must read you this.
00:31:01.359 --> 00:31:04.400
I know there's no time and you probably won't use it, but do you want to hear it?
00:31:04.559 --> 00:31:04.960
Go on then.
00:31:05.599 --> 00:31:07.119
Are we okay for time, Haaland?
00:31:07.200 --> 00:31:07.599
Just check in.
00:31:07.839 --> 00:31:09.440
Yeah, we'll need to finish soon.
00:31:09.599 --> 00:31:15.200
Maya, your headphone has flipped and it's broadcasting your That's lovely.
00:31:15.359 --> 00:31:15.759
Yeah.
00:31:16.000 --> 00:31:16.799
Thank you.
00:31:20.319 --> 00:31:22.799
How do I know for sure this is real?
00:31:23.039 --> 00:31:24.559
Why did you fail her?
00:31:24.799 --> 00:31:40.079
Impale her with multiple drugs and many descriptions, attempting to stop her manic predictions, police, paramedics, psychiatric detentions, doctors guessing what works in her brain, each time making her more insane.
00:31:40.400 --> 00:31:49.440
No passing along of historical informations to work with on a daily basis, hoping to achieve poignant homeostasis.
00:31:49.680 --> 00:31:56.480
Follow through one hospital to another, paper trails, why not, if everything else hits a drain?
00:31:56.799 --> 00:32:01.599
Bitch or father, mother, sister, brother, just look around, see many others.
00:32:01.839 --> 00:32:06.079
Family becoming nurses, everyone else lining their purses.
00:32:06.799 --> 00:32:11.359
I hate the strife of mental illness, digging, ripping us apart.
00:32:11.599 --> 00:32:13.519
You can tell this woman's pissed.
00:32:13.759 --> 00:32:15.759
Oh my god, what have we missed?
00:32:16.079 --> 00:32:18.400
Hippola's keeping us silent.
00:32:18.640 --> 00:32:22.559
Meanwhile, they are quiet, manic or violent.
00:32:22.880 --> 00:32:25.759
God help if you challenge the status quo.
00:32:25.920 --> 00:32:27.519
They'll point a finger at you.
00:32:27.759 --> 00:32:28.640
Go, go.
00:32:29.200 --> 00:32:32.640
Up and down, merry go round and round and round.
00:32:32.880 --> 00:32:34.319
Can you hear the sound?
00:32:34.559 --> 00:32:36.240
See the writing on the wall?
00:32:36.559 --> 00:32:37.680
But it's in blood.
00:32:37.839 --> 00:32:39.200
You are appalled.
00:32:39.440 --> 00:32:41.599
Psychiatric eunuchs care.
00:32:41.839 --> 00:32:43.599
Are you trying to make me stare?
00:32:43.920 --> 00:32:46.319
Blank walls suffocating spirit.
00:32:46.559 --> 00:32:47.680
No colour here.
00:32:48.000 --> 00:32:50.079
No music or appreciation.
00:32:50.400 --> 00:32:52.400
Sanitation rules the day.
00:32:52.720 --> 00:32:54.319
Clinical ideation.
00:32:54.799 --> 00:32:58.799
Mission, Olive View, Pacific, Adventist, White Memorial.
00:32:58.960 --> 00:33:01.119
Sounds like a bloody tutorial.
00:33:01.440 --> 00:33:06.240
Evaluating an illness, many complications, misinterpretations.
00:33:06.640 --> 00:33:09.759
How can they pick up on the pieces left behind?
00:33:10.000 --> 00:33:12.240
Reinventing the wheels each time.
00:33:12.480 --> 00:33:14.720
And then effing with body and mind.
00:33:14.960 --> 00:33:16.000
Don't get me wrong.
00:33:16.400 --> 00:33:23.440
Archery of the brain hitting bullseye, sometimes on target, like a shopping spree at the market.
00:33:24.000 --> 00:33:28.480
5150, 72 hours will discharge them at noon.
00:33:28.640 --> 00:33:30.559
The street many cases.
00:33:30.799 --> 00:33:32.240
Where are the faces?
00:33:32.480 --> 00:33:36.559
Stumbling in pebbles of innocuous concoctions.
00:33:36.799 --> 00:33:41.839
Such seductions, depict haldol, diprexa, respiradol.
00:33:42.079 --> 00:33:52.720
Science, take the stage, deliver for individual brains, hooked up to measure delicate neurotransmitters, just as thought gives me the shivers.
00:33:53.119 --> 00:34:00.160
Pathways of stimulation, genetics reveal a whole person standing before you in glory.
00:34:00.559 --> 00:34:03.599
This sounds like the end of a Cinderella story.
00:34:04.319 --> 00:34:07.759
20 through 50, same old, same old.
00:34:08.000 --> 00:34:11.280
Who knew this would be a story to be told?
00:34:13.360 --> 00:34:13.920
Thank you.
00:34:14.639 --> 00:34:24.079
I had a vision of everybody being, when they get genetics sorted out, everybody would be balanced because it would be so individual instead of guesswork, you know.
00:34:24.239 --> 00:34:24.480
Yeah.
00:34:25.360 --> 00:34:37.840
Well, Maya, you've taken us on an amazing journey from Johnny's and the Gaiety Theatre and Ancestors and hiding under the table and so on.
00:34:38.320 --> 00:34:46.880
I wish I talked more about um, I don't know, acting, I guess, but uh I think you've covered off acting pretty effectively.
00:34:47.199 --> 00:34:47.440
Yes.
00:34:47.760 --> 00:34:48.320
You think so?
00:34:48.400 --> 00:34:53.360
I I really love that you um saw Gene Buer teaching that little boy.
00:34:53.920 --> 00:34:54.480
So do I.
00:34:54.800 --> 00:34:56.800
It it's always stay with me.
00:34:57.119 --> 00:34:58.239
Really life-changing.
00:34:58.320 --> 00:34:59.360
Yeah, I was there with you.
00:34:59.440 --> 00:35:02.159
You've you've took me there and said, come sit and watch.
00:35:02.320 --> 00:35:05.039
And then I was in it, and it was it was really something.
00:35:05.119 --> 00:35:06.400
It was very special.
00:35:06.719 --> 00:35:06.960
Yeah.
00:35:07.039 --> 00:35:11.039
So now so now I shall go and OCD about all the things that I left out.
00:35:11.280 --> 00:35:12.079
Of course you will.
00:35:12.239 --> 00:35:12.800
Of course you will.
00:35:13.119 --> 00:35:13.360
I will.
00:35:13.679 --> 00:35:17.599
But we'll just ignore you and just edit and send it.
00:35:17.920 --> 00:35:19.039
Edit, edit, edit.
00:35:19.360 --> 00:35:22.559
A zillion thanks for your time and your energy and your stories.
00:35:22.800 --> 00:35:23.039
Yeah.
00:35:23.199 --> 00:35:26.400
So we're gonna finish with you reading Pulse and Spark.
00:35:26.639 --> 00:35:28.400
And thank you so much.
00:35:28.639 --> 00:35:28.800
Yeah.
00:35:29.039 --> 00:35:30.320
Million thanks, Maya.
00:35:30.480 --> 00:35:30.960
Okay, thank you.
00:35:31.199 --> 00:35:31.920
Thank you, guys.
00:35:32.239 --> 00:35:32.639
Thank you.
00:35:32.960 --> 00:35:33.360
Love you.
00:35:33.840 --> 00:35:34.079
Bye.
00:35:34.400 --> 00:35:34.719
Bye.
00:35:35.280 --> 00:35:35.840
Bye.
00:35:38.000 --> 00:35:39.920
Pulse and spark.
00:35:40.159 --> 00:35:43.440
In school I was tortured by monsters and spirits.
00:35:43.760 --> 00:35:46.880
So bad to this day, I still have the fidgets.
00:35:47.199 --> 00:35:50.480
Drew blood from my hands, never the same.
00:35:50.719 --> 00:35:54.480
Let it go, move on, create a different song.
00:35:54.800 --> 00:35:57.039
It's never that bad, you have to die.
00:35:57.280 --> 00:36:00.159
Better perhaps to become a stoner.
00:36:00.400 --> 00:36:01.760
I'm kidding you all.
00:36:01.920 --> 00:36:03.599
I never turn to drugs.
00:36:03.840 --> 00:36:09.519
Friends in impossible situations, many tripping chemical complications.
00:36:10.239 --> 00:36:15.440
Don't get lost in haze of the brain, giving parents a dose of the same.
00:36:15.760 --> 00:36:17.039
Wanna hurt someone?
00:36:17.280 --> 00:36:18.400
It's only you.
00:36:18.880 --> 00:36:20.960
Violating your self-esteem?
00:36:21.199 --> 00:36:22.159
Speak up.
00:36:22.400 --> 00:36:23.280
Reach out.
00:36:23.519 --> 00:36:26.639
Hug friends, make it real, look into their eyes.
00:36:27.119 --> 00:36:33.039
Forget screens that separate, connect to thousands and thousands of online illusions.
00:36:33.519 --> 00:36:36.239
Position yourself in a stronger pace.
00:36:36.639 --> 00:36:38.880
No apparitions by definition.
00:36:39.360 --> 00:36:42.719
This is to jails, too many to mention.
00:36:43.039 --> 00:36:45.519
Did I mention the rules of detention?
00:36:46.320 --> 00:36:55.280
Cries, lies, bible wise, judges damn you, Uncle Sam you, chain you up, sing the blues.
00:36:55.760 --> 00:36:58.880
No money for rehab, throw away the key.
00:36:59.199 --> 00:37:01.760
High fives, hold up your head.
00:37:02.000 --> 00:37:04.559
Have you forgotten the comfy bed?
00:37:05.119 --> 00:37:08.800
Oh, and while we're in the subject, don't whine and moan.
00:37:09.039 --> 00:37:10.559
You can use that phone.
00:37:10.800 --> 00:37:13.599
So stay out of jail and similar situations.
00:37:14.000 --> 00:37:18.000
Granish chant, creation, creation, creation.
00:37:18.480 --> 00:37:21.360
You'll be the perfect, you, you, you.
00:37:21.840 --> 00:37:24.480
Forget the old woman, she's full of shit.
00:37:24.800 --> 00:37:26.639
Ah, but she's strong.
00:37:26.960 --> 00:37:28.719
Her bones are well worn.
00:37:28.960 --> 00:37:32.320
Weathered storms flash in desert a long time.
00:37:33.119 --> 00:37:35.519
Position to be your line of compassion.
00:37:36.079 --> 00:37:38.159
Maybe you'll make her your fashion.
00:37:42.480 --> 00:37:43.280
Creativity.
00:37:43.599 --> 00:37:50.719
If you think you're too old to be creative or too creative to be old, tune in to the Creativity Podcast.
00:37:52.880 --> 00:37:59.519
Maya and Adrienne have left the airwaves, but I've been doing a little bit of editing on the podcast.
00:37:59.920 --> 00:38:06.000
And I was intrigued by what I was saying about Maya's inherent musicality of her poetry.
00:38:06.079 --> 00:38:09.039
And I thought, oh I wonder, I just wonder.
00:38:09.280 --> 00:38:18.400
So I grabbed a few loops off my supply of loops and noises that I have on my computer, and I've just thrown them down on the timeline.
00:38:18.639 --> 00:38:25.119
See what happens when you put a small fragment of Maya's poetry to a bit of music.
00:38:25.440 --> 00:38:31.199
Here's Grandmistress Meyer and a short excerpt from Al Spark.
00:38:38.559 --> 00:38:46.960
Don't get lost in haze of the brain, giving parents a dose of the thing that wanna hurt someone, it's only you.
00:00:02.000 --> 00:00:05.599
This is the Creativity Podcast, episode 38.
00:00:48.960 --> 00:00:55.439
Hello, and welcome to this latest edition of Creativity.
00:00:56.079 --> 00:01:04.879
If you feel you're too old to be creative or you're too creative to be old, this is the podcast for you, Creativity.
00:01:05.120 --> 00:01:11.120
My name is Adrienne Thomas, and I live on the south coast of England in a wonderful place called Brighton.
00:01:11.280 --> 00:01:14.560
And with me this evening is Hi, my name's Harlan.
00:01:14.640 --> 00:01:17.040
I'm in Hungary, somewhere near Budapest.
00:01:17.439 --> 00:01:19.280
And what number is this?
00:01:19.519 --> 00:01:21.200
Number 38 or 37.
00:01:22.239 --> 00:01:24.879
Yes, number 38 of Creativity.
00:01:25.120 --> 00:01:25.280
Yeah.
00:01:25.519 --> 00:01:28.079
And we've been all around the world really.
00:01:28.159 --> 00:01:36.719
We've done a lot of programmes from Canada, Portugal, France, Scotland, America, England, Czechia, Ireland, Hungary.
00:01:36.879 --> 00:01:38.480
That's quite a list, isn't it?
00:01:38.799 --> 00:01:39.439
Pretty impressive.
00:01:39.680 --> 00:01:44.799
Yeah, and now we're going to go to a place which I was once told is not actually in America.
00:01:45.200 --> 00:01:46.959
It's a separate country.
00:01:47.280 --> 00:01:49.200
Los Angeles, LA.
00:01:50.560 --> 00:01:53.280
We'll find out what our guest has to say about that.
00:01:53.519 --> 00:01:56.640
So a huge welcome to Maya Waterman.
00:01:56.719 --> 00:01:57.439
Hello there.
00:01:58.000 --> 00:01:58.799
Hello there.
00:01:59.040 --> 00:01:59.680
Hello, Maya.
00:01:59.920 --> 00:02:01.200
Lovely to see you and hear you.
00:02:01.439 --> 00:02:03.439
Lovely to see you and hear you.
00:02:03.760 --> 00:02:04.400
Wow.
00:02:05.359 --> 00:02:11.280
So we're here to talk about your life and your work and your art and your creativity.
00:02:11.599 --> 00:02:27.520
I knew that your beginnings were difficult because you were adopted, but then I read recently that you have traced your ancestry and discovered this colourful and intriguing background.
00:02:27.840 --> 00:02:36.000
Yeah, I remember many years ago thinking about tracing my lineage, and then I let it go and forgot about it.
00:02:36.080 --> 00:02:41.759
And then somebody on Facebook suddenly contacted me and said, I think I'm your cousin.
00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:42.400
Wow.
00:02:42.639 --> 00:02:52.800
It turned out she was my mother's sister's daughter in Washington, and apparently her adopted parents had emigrated to America.
00:02:53.039 --> 00:03:00.159
Yeah, so I discovered my mother was a showgirl in London on the Edgware Road in 19 whenever it was.
00:03:00.479 --> 00:03:01.039
That's amazing.
00:03:01.280 --> 00:03:10.560
Yeah, my Julian therapist at the time said uh there were stage door johnies that used to go to the theatres because they weren't allowed to date.
00:03:10.800 --> 00:03:13.439
And they used to wait for the showgirls to come out.
00:03:13.759 --> 00:03:14.800
What's a showgirl?
00:03:14.960 --> 00:03:16.560
Uh like a gayety girl.
00:03:16.879 --> 00:03:18.159
What's a gay girl?
00:03:18.479 --> 00:03:26.719
Gaiety girls, they sometimes it's still um, what do you say, tableaus or whatever, probably slightly suggestive, I would imagine.
00:03:27.439 --> 00:03:28.719
And or dancing.
00:03:29.280 --> 00:03:30.879
Yeah, the gayety theatres.
00:03:30.960 --> 00:03:35.120
I used to fantasize about being the daughter of an aristocrat.
00:03:36.080 --> 00:03:44.479
I suppose it's a form of aristocracy, because that form of gaiety and and No, I mean she wasn't an ar uh she wasn't an aristocrat.
00:03:44.719 --> 00:03:45.599
It was your father.
00:03:45.840 --> 00:03:47.199
The stage or Johnny.
00:03:47.520 --> 00:03:50.240
Can you feel that influence in you?
00:03:50.479 --> 00:03:52.719
Yeah, I'm very good with rhythm.
00:03:55.280 --> 00:04:04.400
Yes, I was doing a music, I was doing a music video once, and uh this very famous music director came up to me and we had to dance.
00:04:04.560 --> 00:04:08.800
He said, I think you have better rhythm than younger people, he said.
00:04:08.879 --> 00:04:10.159
So fantastic.
00:04:10.479 --> 00:04:15.680
I do feel the rhythm in me, but yeah, I don't know if that's doing my mother because I have no clue.
00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:17.600
So you can shake your shimmy.
00:04:17.839 --> 00:04:31.920
Okay, so looking at the rich tapestry of your life and all the threads woven into it, we have an entrepreneur, an art student, and a teacher, a graphic designer, a poet, an actress.
00:04:32.160 --> 00:04:33.680
It goes on and on.
00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:38.160
Should we go back to your early entrepreneurial life?
00:04:38.319 --> 00:04:40.160
In I believe it was Tunbridge Wells.
00:04:40.560 --> 00:04:41.920
I've done so many things.
00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:44.959
I was looking, it was so confusing looking at all these things.
00:04:45.040 --> 00:04:47.839
I think, oh Maya, why haven't you done one thing?
00:04:48.079 --> 00:04:53.120
I would love to have just done one thing, but seems like I've jumped into everything.
00:04:53.839 --> 00:04:59.199
Anyway, moving to Tunbridge Wells was a bit of a serendipitous event.
00:04:59.519 --> 00:05:05.600
A good friend in London said, I feel you and your children should move to Tunbridge Wells.
00:05:05.759 --> 00:05:07.360
And I thought, oh, that's interesting.
00:05:07.519 --> 00:05:16.639
So I got on a train to Tunbridge Wells one day, went into an estate agent, and he looked in his list and he said, Oh, there's one here.
00:05:16.800 --> 00:05:19.680
And he said, Oh, but I'm sorry, it's being rented.
00:05:19.839 --> 00:05:21.199
And so I thought, oh, okay.
00:05:21.279 --> 00:05:29.120
So I went home and then two weeks later he he calls me and says, Oh, by the way, it's available.
00:05:29.360 --> 00:05:33.360
So I moved to Tombridge Wells to this shop property.
00:05:33.600 --> 00:05:38.879
So I don't know how I decided to do this, but I um always loved cooking.
00:05:39.040 --> 00:05:45.439
And I don't know, one day I must have suddenly thought, well, I'm gonna turn the basement into a bakery.
00:05:46.160 --> 00:06:00.480
So then I um pulled down a wall, bought all the stuff from junkyards, and then as it grew, various shops in the town they wanted the quiche and they wanted the pizzas and they wanted the energy bars.
00:06:01.040 --> 00:06:11.279
So basically it was like schlepping stuff from Marks and Spencer's and where you buy wholesale tomato sauce and all the rest of it.
00:06:11.519 --> 00:06:14.800
And I designed the labels for the energy bars.
00:06:15.120 --> 00:06:18.480
How do we get from there to LA?
00:06:19.360 --> 00:06:26.480
Yeah, I met m my next husband in Canada, and then he came over to Cumbridge Wells and we got married.
00:06:26.720 --> 00:06:30.000
I had two more children, then I stopped baking.
00:06:30.240 --> 00:06:31.120
I don't know why.
00:06:31.279 --> 00:06:35.199
It seems my heart and my practical side get very mixed up.
00:06:35.759 --> 00:06:49.920
Um, but then we moved to um LA and eventually we got divorced, and then being alone in the house with two kids and no money, I decided to start baking again.
00:06:50.240 --> 00:06:54.319
And we started making food and delivering them to the studios.
00:06:54.800 --> 00:07:04.879
All these guys in dark rooms in the studios doing video editing and everything, got the energy bars and they got salads and quiche and everything.
00:07:05.120 --> 00:07:11.680
And um it seems out of that offering the energy bars were very popular.
00:07:12.079 --> 00:07:18.240
We stopped taking food to the studios and I took off doing the energy bars.
00:07:19.360 --> 00:07:30.000
So then I turned to making uh gift baskets with the packaged energy bars and English China, and that went really well.
00:07:30.720 --> 00:07:36.240
To what extent would you say that you were using your creativity throughout this whole period?
00:07:36.399 --> 00:07:39.120
I mean, is cooking creative, in other words?
00:07:39.519 --> 00:07:41.839
Oh yeah, it's very creative.
00:07:42.560 --> 00:07:45.759
In those days, yeah, I was constantly uh designing things.
00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:46.319
Right.
00:07:46.560 --> 00:07:48.720
I still am to a certain degree, you know.
00:07:48.800 --> 00:07:53.439
I still have all these ideas, and yeah, so it's like an ongoing thing.
00:07:53.600 --> 00:07:54.079
Yeah.
00:07:54.800 --> 00:07:58.160
How much of a stranger in a strange land were you at this point?
00:07:58.319 --> 00:08:03.519
I mean, somehow you've jumped from Tunbridge Wells, which is a funny little town in the south of England.
00:08:03.680 --> 00:08:05.040
Now you're in LA.
00:08:05.439 --> 00:08:06.399
It was terrifying.
00:08:06.480 --> 00:08:08.160
It was absolutely terrifying.
00:08:08.319 --> 00:08:12.560
I I remember driving on the freeway thinking, where am I?
00:08:12.720 --> 00:08:14.560
Why am I in this crazy place?
00:08:14.720 --> 00:08:18.319
And then now I'm a beast on the freeway.
00:08:18.800 --> 00:08:19.759
I don't know why.
00:08:19.839 --> 00:08:23.120
In England I thought I don't think they have anything in America.
00:08:23.279 --> 00:08:27.360
I mean, I used to think, well, how am I going to clothe the children?
00:08:27.600 --> 00:08:35.919
I brought out much of the stuff from England, furniture and stuff, and um now there's like, okay, America has more than everything.
00:08:37.440 --> 00:08:39.919
So yeah.
00:08:40.159 --> 00:08:46.080
So then in England I was always designing um posters for Ronnie Scott's jazz club.
00:08:46.320 --> 00:08:54.399
They hired me to design all their posters, which I did for Bill Evans and Jerry Mulligan and then Webster.
00:08:54.480 --> 00:08:57.519
And so they went on the underground, all these posters.
00:08:57.600 --> 00:08:59.840
So that was quite fun to see all that.
00:08:59.919 --> 00:09:00.080
Yeah.
00:09:01.120 --> 00:09:02.320
Yeah, it was fun.
00:09:02.559 --> 00:09:18.799
And then I always wanted to be an actress, but and I remember in the wartime sitting under a table, big oak table, and my kittens dressed up in my mum's finery, imagining I was a famous actress.
00:09:18.960 --> 00:09:20.720
And wow, the bombs are dropping.
00:09:21.039 --> 00:09:21.600
Wow.
00:09:22.240 --> 00:09:24.159
Actually, you're a poet as well.
00:09:24.320 --> 00:09:25.759
You've got a war poem, I think.
00:09:26.159 --> 00:09:27.279
Not to eat that for us?
00:09:27.360 --> 00:09:28.399
That would be great.
00:09:30.399 --> 00:09:36.720
I have never been thrown out of my home or ordered to leave now or else.
00:09:37.519 --> 00:09:41.120
Never caressed my child's body pulled from the rubble.
00:09:41.360 --> 00:09:44.320
Never had a gun pressed against my temple.
00:09:44.960 --> 00:09:49.519
Never witnessed my family slaughtered or blown apart.
00:09:50.480 --> 00:09:53.279
Never seen my neighborhood in ruins.
00:09:54.000 --> 00:09:58.000
Never begged for food, money, or mercy.
00:09:59.679 --> 00:10:05.840
Never been oppressed or persecuted for my gender, race, or belief.
00:10:06.879 --> 00:10:12.639
Have watched giant silver birds flying over my backyard blanket tank.
00:10:12.960 --> 00:10:16.080
With Flopsy the rabbit and Timmy the cat.
00:10:16.879 --> 00:10:22.240
Have slept awake under a heavy oak table when the sirens went off.
00:10:23.440 --> 00:10:34.639
Heard the whirring silence and then the have ingested sudden loud noises, a jump.
00:10:35.519 --> 00:10:38.159
The saying goes, out of your skin.
00:10:39.200 --> 00:10:41.919
I still have my skin and legs.
00:10:43.039 --> 00:10:47.120
Have run to the corner store clutching ration books and sweets.
00:10:48.399 --> 00:10:54.240
Have seen London fires far, far away, lighting up the night sky.
00:10:55.120 --> 00:11:03.120
And at five years old, street bonfires, fireworks on a day called Victory Day.
00:11:04.320 --> 00:11:16.000
The world in my eyes is a perfectly round fruit with so many seeds, each capable of new life, purpose, pure intentions.
00:11:16.960 --> 00:11:19.360
A pomegranate in pain.
00:11:24.480 --> 00:11:24.879
Thank you.
00:11:25.200 --> 00:11:26.720
It was very moving, Maya.
00:11:27.519 --> 00:11:36.080
I'm fortunate to have a visual of the poem you've just read, which I think you were posting some poems on Instagram, is that right?
00:11:36.240 --> 00:11:37.360
It's very designed.
00:11:37.600 --> 00:11:38.000
What do you mean?
00:11:38.159 --> 00:11:38.399
Design?
00:11:38.960 --> 00:11:42.720
You use different typographies and different colours and shapes.
00:11:43.120 --> 00:11:44.720
So I love typography.
00:11:44.879 --> 00:11:48.080
I love typefaces, and that's what I do.
00:11:48.159 --> 00:11:52.960
I'm not very good at the rest of it, but I like doing that, putting them up like that.
00:11:53.039 --> 00:11:53.360
Yeah.
00:11:53.919 --> 00:11:54.080
Yeah.
00:11:54.320 --> 00:11:57.759
Would you ever think of producing a book of your poems?
00:11:58.240 --> 00:11:59.360
Illustrated book.
00:11:59.679 --> 00:12:04.399
So I'd somehow feel if everybody's not reading books nowadays.
00:12:05.039 --> 00:12:06.720
Oh, I don't know about that.
00:12:07.279 --> 00:12:10.000
I did think of doing a a small chap book.
00:12:10.080 --> 00:12:11.519
I did think of that, you know.
00:12:12.000 --> 00:12:21.200
I could donate it because when I started acting, I ran a non-profit organization helping youth at risk and people in recovery.
00:12:21.360 --> 00:12:25.919
So we definitely would like to do that and just donate it to various organizations.
00:12:26.080 --> 00:12:26.399
Yeah.
00:12:26.879 --> 00:12:31.600
On my copy of the poem, it says at the bottom of the poem, dedicated to peace for Ukraine.
00:12:31.759 --> 00:12:34.240
So it's relatively recent, I guess.
00:12:34.480 --> 00:12:36.320
Recent as in the last four years, yeah.
00:12:36.559 --> 00:12:40.480
Yeah, and I think it's applicable to what's going on, I guess.
00:12:40.799 --> 00:12:41.360
Absolutely.
00:12:41.519 --> 00:12:41.919
Oh yes.
00:12:42.240 --> 00:12:50.159
So it was like a week when I woke up in the middle of the night and writing, and then all these poems came out, you know.
00:12:50.320 --> 00:12:53.600
So then that started me off on a writing thing.
00:12:54.000 --> 00:12:54.320
Yeah.
00:12:54.639 --> 00:12:58.960
You were talking about your acting, and you've got a very impressive resume.
00:12:59.519 --> 00:13:01.840
But it began with Jean Buer.
00:13:02.159 --> 00:13:04.320
Jean Buer and Tony Buhr.
00:13:04.480 --> 00:13:05.919
They changed my whole life.
00:13:06.080 --> 00:13:15.279
And it was so there again, another serendipitous event where I was driving past this theater and seeing actors with their scripts, learning their words.
00:13:15.440 --> 00:13:19.039
And I thought, oh, yeah, this is what I really want to do.
00:13:19.200 --> 00:13:25.279
And uh I can't afford it because I knew it was expensive, so I liked driving on doing my day.
00:13:25.360 --> 00:13:38.720
And then I was working at a sandwich shop, and one day this lady comes in with dark glasses and a baseball hat and really pretty woman, and she said, Would you like to work my box office at my theatre?
00:13:38.799 --> 00:13:41.200
And I said, Oh, yes, I'd love to.
00:13:41.440 --> 00:13:46.320
And um, it turns out it was exactly the same theatre that I used to drive by.
00:13:46.799 --> 00:13:51.120
So then I went, did the box office, met a lot of wonderful people.
00:13:51.600 --> 00:14:07.279
They offered me acting lessons, which I got gratis for 12 years, and I was taking over their nonprofit foundation because I really wanted to help people, and ended up teaching myself to write grants proposals.
00:14:07.519 --> 00:14:10.399
That was interesting, but very successful.
00:14:10.480 --> 00:14:14.159
It worked, and I brought them in quite a bit of money.
00:14:15.200 --> 00:14:22.879
But the whole experience of being there, meeting all these wonderful people, definitely changed my life for the better.
00:14:22.960 --> 00:14:24.080
I'm so grateful.
00:14:24.559 --> 00:14:35.679
Tell us a little bit about Jean's work, because I had the privilege of witnessing him once work with this very young boy, and what he did in five minutes was astounding.
00:14:35.759 --> 00:14:42.159
He produced, you know, Al Pacino out of this young boy who was just mumbling and looking down.
00:14:42.399 --> 00:14:45.200
Because he had a very specific way of working, didn't he?
00:14:45.360 --> 00:14:47.039
Can you elaborate on that?
00:14:47.440 --> 00:14:56.240
I can elaborate from my point of view, which was when I was up there, he'd like yell at me in a nice way and tell me to relax my jaw.
00:14:56.320 --> 00:15:06.240
You know, he'd notice things about trauma that you had in your body, anything that was um informing the way you were, the way you were speaking the script.
00:15:06.320 --> 00:15:15.759
He would like get it, he'd like zoom in and um dissect it and in a nice way, actually.
00:15:16.240 --> 00:15:24.320
I think Tony was more, she was very spiritual and she kind of like pray before we kind of even did a class.
00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:40.080
She'd like close her eyes and pray, and then she'd say something like, This is a day I will break out of my skin and touch the clouds, for example.
00:15:40.399 --> 00:15:44.080
She'd say, Drop that in and go with the words.
00:15:44.399 --> 00:15:48.000
So every time we had a class, it was something like that.
00:15:48.159 --> 00:15:55.279
You drop it in, you wouldn't think in your head about the script or anything, and you'd move forward with that.
00:15:55.360 --> 00:15:57.440
And it worked like a dream, I swear.
00:15:57.759 --> 00:16:00.960
You know, you weren't thinking, thinking, what do I do?
00:16:01.120 --> 00:16:02.159
Who should I be?
00:16:02.399 --> 00:16:03.600
How do I do this?
00:16:04.159 --> 00:16:06.799
No, no, it was like perfect.
00:16:07.120 --> 00:16:13.679
The session that I saw and was a part of it was Gene that was working with us, and he just made you count to 10.
00:16:13.840 --> 00:16:15.360
You couldn't look at the script at all.
00:16:15.679 --> 00:16:16.639
Yeah, and at that too.
00:16:16.720 --> 00:16:16.960
Yeah.
00:16:17.440 --> 00:16:25.039
Until by the time you're at 10, you were absolutely at full pelt energy, and then you had to run on and just do this thing.
00:16:25.279 --> 00:16:26.559
Yeah, you didn't have time to think.
00:16:27.679 --> 00:16:31.519
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, twelve.
00:16:33.519 --> 00:16:42.480
So take us from incredibly exciting, energizing classes to the fact that you then become an actor and a voiceover.
00:16:42.879 --> 00:16:46.559
We know that you were dancing in a commercial uh with great sense of rhythm.
00:16:46.799 --> 00:16:50.960
How did always wanting to be an actor turn into actually being an actor?
00:16:51.039 --> 00:16:51.840
What happened?
00:16:52.240 --> 00:17:01.759
I think I found an agent eventually, and then I booked three commercials in the first year, and that was pretty cool.
00:17:01.919 --> 00:17:19.359
And then one day I actually was working part-time at a high-end uh fancy goods store, and I came into work, and there was a letter waiting for me from these two guys that were customers, and they said, Um, would you like to meet?
00:17:19.759 --> 00:17:28.799
We think you'd be great for the part in our project with the Made for TV series, first of its kind at the time.
00:17:29.039 --> 00:17:32.559
And I ended up being the matriarch of this series.
00:17:32.880 --> 00:17:39.759
And apparently they were in the car park saying, Oh, I think we found our matriarch the day before.
00:17:39.920 --> 00:17:42.319
So, yeah, that was interesting.
00:17:42.480 --> 00:17:44.480
And so I had lots of fun doing that.
00:17:44.799 --> 00:17:46.559
Did you play American or or British?
00:17:46.880 --> 00:17:47.839
I was British, yeah.
00:17:48.079 --> 00:17:48.880
Do you do American?
00:17:49.039 --> 00:17:50.880
I don't do American very well.
00:17:51.279 --> 00:17:52.319
Very well, no.
00:17:52.640 --> 00:17:53.279
Not very well.
00:17:53.359 --> 00:17:58.559
In fact, somebody wanted me to ask me yesterday because uh they thought I'd be good in their movie.
00:17:58.640 --> 00:18:00.480
And then they said, Can you do American?
00:18:00.640 --> 00:18:04.160
I said, Well, not very well, but I would try, of course.
00:18:04.319 --> 00:18:07.920
And I did Dracula's guest this uh movie.
00:18:08.079 --> 00:18:15.599
Um, I went in for the role of an English nanny, but they hired me to do a French shanty woman.
00:18:15.839 --> 00:18:18.160
So I had to learn to do a French accent.
00:18:18.400 --> 00:18:22.079
And then another one was um oh yes, Scottish.
00:18:22.160 --> 00:18:27.119
Yeah, it was um I did it with uh Brian Cox and uh Peter Madden.
00:18:27.759 --> 00:18:34.640
I was the grandmother of one of the main characters, but I was Scottish, so I had to learn Scottish.
00:18:35.119 --> 00:18:39.279
Has your acting career been primarily in your later years?
00:18:39.680 --> 00:18:40.559
Very much so.
00:18:40.720 --> 00:18:43.920
I mean, I started acting when I was 62.
00:18:44.319 --> 00:18:47.039
Now I'm 86, so go figure.
00:18:48.240 --> 00:18:48.480
Okay.
00:18:49.039 --> 00:18:57.839
In between, when I was 60 something, I kind of adopted my granddaughter, who was like three at the time, and I brought her up.
00:18:58.240 --> 00:19:07.279
And so um she's now 23, so she left my home when she was 18 and um lives with now living with her dad, my son.
00:19:07.680 --> 00:19:15.519
And um, yeah, that was uh she went through high school and went backwards and forwards to her mother, but spent many years with me.
00:19:15.759 --> 00:19:37.519
And then I've been working with homeless people as well, because uh I think part of me has got this really need to be part of giving and non-profit, and then the other bits, the creative bit, so I guess the instinct of many people who prepare food is that thing of feeding people, of giving to others, of nourishing others.
00:19:37.839 --> 00:19:38.799
Probably, yes.
00:19:39.039 --> 00:19:42.400
I never used to think much about money at the time.
00:19:42.640 --> 00:19:47.359
I must say, when I was baking, and um even when acting really.
00:19:47.599 --> 00:19:53.279
And I'm terrible at math, so even baking, I don't know how I even did it, but it it worked.
00:19:53.440 --> 00:19:58.240
And then math isn't necessary in acting, just memory.
00:19:58.640 --> 00:19:59.759
How do you manage that?
00:19:59.920 --> 00:20:02.799
Oh, I love not I love not speaking.
00:20:03.279 --> 00:20:12.240
I've just decided I can only be a background artist now because you know, even remembering hello, my name is gets a bit complex for me to remember.
00:20:12.400 --> 00:20:13.759
So can you manage a script?
00:20:14.000 --> 00:20:21.039
Yeah, I've just got a script yesterday, um, three pages, nice character, sci-fi movie.
00:20:21.279 --> 00:20:28.880
Yeah, I think I can manage that because I think if you relate to the character and what the character's getting through, it's much easier.
00:20:29.359 --> 00:20:37.279
But the Amazon commercial I did, there was no speech at all whatsoever, and it went it was global, and it's just been this huge success.
00:20:37.599 --> 00:20:38.160
Tell us more.
00:20:38.400 --> 00:20:39.359
Yes, yum yum.
00:20:39.440 --> 00:20:41.599
But what I'm dreaming of is getting an ad.
00:20:42.000 --> 00:20:52.559
In 2023, I went to an audition in LA, and I said, chatting to a couple of ladies, chatting away, you know, as you do when you're waiting.
00:20:52.880 --> 00:20:58.240
Then you get called in, and I was with two guys, and I did my thing.
00:20:58.400 --> 00:21:03.599
And then they call me in again, but this time with two ladies, the two ladies I was chatting to.
00:21:03.920 --> 00:21:04.160
Okay.
00:21:04.319 --> 00:21:15.119
And apparently the director had been looking, and he suddenly said, These are the ones, and picked us three to be the stars of this gigantic Amazon commercial.
00:21:15.359 --> 00:21:18.079
We had that magic interaction he liked.
00:21:18.319 --> 00:21:19.440
It was a lovely ad.
00:21:19.519 --> 00:21:20.799
I watched it over and over.
00:21:20.960 --> 00:21:22.480
It was quite magical.
00:21:22.720 --> 00:21:24.400
Was it like that to actually do it?
00:21:24.640 --> 00:21:25.519
It was amazing.
00:21:25.680 --> 00:21:28.400
The whole experience was quite magical.
00:21:28.799 --> 00:21:30.880
And we went to Mammoth for a whole week.
00:21:30.960 --> 00:21:32.480
I got picked up in the limo.
00:21:33.440 --> 00:21:34.480
Mammoth's a place.
00:21:34.799 --> 00:21:44.079
Oh, mammoth is this amazing 10,000 feet mountain area where the skiing and the slopes and okay, yeah.
00:21:44.319 --> 00:21:44.960
What were you doing?
00:21:45.359 --> 00:21:48.000
Three of us were on sleds going down the mountain.
00:21:48.160 --> 00:21:52.880
So it went global and apparently it's become a classic.
00:21:53.200 --> 00:21:53.920
What's it called?
00:21:54.079 --> 00:21:56.319
Because our listeners will want to check this out.
00:21:56.559 --> 00:21:57.839
It's called Joyride.
00:21:58.160 --> 00:21:59.440
Joyride on YouTube.
00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:00.400
Right.
00:22:00.880 --> 00:22:13.759
So for people listening, approaching possibly their sixties, you might, in your conversation and telling of your story, have opened up a whole new world to them that's accessible for people as they age.
00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:17.680
They do need us, don't they, in film and television and ads.
00:22:17.839 --> 00:22:18.319
Oh, absolutely.
00:22:19.359 --> 00:22:26.079
So, you know, a word of encouragement to all them and thank you for being so inspirational in that regard, Maya.
00:22:27.119 --> 00:22:32.480
I mentioned I was told once that LA is not America, it's a different country.
00:22:32.720 --> 00:22:36.240
And that was certainly my experience, actually, of being in LA.
00:22:36.480 --> 00:22:38.640
So do you feel at home there now?
00:22:38.720 --> 00:22:40.880
I mean, you've been there for a very long time.
00:22:41.279 --> 00:22:44.480
Well, I guess it is really, because my kids and grandkids are here.
00:22:44.559 --> 00:22:48.160
Um but I feel um lately I've been feeling a bit, I don't know.
00:22:48.240 --> 00:22:54.079
I think when you get to be older, you kind of like wonder about where you're going next.
00:22:54.319 --> 00:23:05.279
But I guess I'll stay where I am and just got to pick it up and get going again, you know, because I've been a bit down about the world situation because of my OCD and everything.
00:23:05.519 --> 00:23:07.519
I was always unsure of myself.
00:23:07.680 --> 00:23:14.240
And I even presented myself in a London hospital when I was 18 because I thought something was wrong with me.
00:23:14.319 --> 00:23:21.440
But then I looked back when I was my parents were alive and they had speech therapy for me, physical therapy.
00:23:21.599 --> 00:23:26.319
I thought, why they didn't do that in the 40s, you know, in early 40s.
00:23:26.559 --> 00:23:29.920
And I've always felt really separate from people.
00:23:30.079 --> 00:23:37.119
But now, because of the acting, that's brought me into a place of much, much, much better.
00:23:37.359 --> 00:23:45.680
So now I don't feel that isolation and um uh I don't know the words to express it really.
00:23:45.759 --> 00:23:46.960
And anyway.
00:23:47.839 --> 00:23:50.480
Essentially, you're American now, yeah?
00:23:50.799 --> 00:23:52.640
I am American, yes.
00:23:52.720 --> 00:23:53.440
I'm English.
00:23:53.519 --> 00:23:55.119
I have dual citizenship.
00:23:55.359 --> 00:23:56.000
Yeah.
00:23:56.400 --> 00:23:56.799
Yeah.
00:23:57.119 --> 00:24:03.279
So back to acting, it was always fun being on different sets, and you learn so much.
00:24:03.519 --> 00:24:25.759
See, you start off one and you gain experience, and then by the time you got to like 21 or whatever, you're you've got this a lot more under your belt to know what to ask for, where to be, how to respond, follow directions, ask questions, the director, you know, you get so much more information.
00:24:26.400 --> 00:24:43.039
If people only knew exactly what goes into even a moderate or a modest rather film, when that walking onto a film set, and there are like hundreds of people and machines and huge things everywhere, it's quite stunning.
00:24:43.200 --> 00:24:46.720
And the the amount of money that's thrown around.
00:24:46.960 --> 00:24:50.480
The commercial was huge, and the music videos.
00:24:50.640 --> 00:24:54.000
I've done like six music videos, they were quite big.
00:24:54.319 --> 00:24:55.920
Come on, do a bit of name-dropping.
00:24:56.000 --> 00:24:57.200
Who are your music videoing?
00:24:57.759 --> 00:24:58.160
Come on.
00:24:58.400 --> 00:25:00.400
Um Imagine Dragons.
00:25:00.640 --> 00:25:01.359
Oh, right.
00:25:01.680 --> 00:25:05.920
I played Dan's um mother, 32nd to Mars.
00:25:06.559 --> 00:25:08.559
Um crazy woman.
00:25:08.880 --> 00:25:14.720
Colby Kaye, um Dolly Rotts, that was a smaller group, but great.
00:25:14.880 --> 00:25:17.839
Um oh um Sam Fender.
00:25:18.160 --> 00:25:20.079
Sam Fender, he's a god.
00:25:20.240 --> 00:25:22.799
He's amazing, he's so amazing.
00:25:23.279 --> 00:25:27.359
I remember in the bar where we were thinking he was like sitting in front of me looking.
00:25:27.519 --> 00:25:30.640
I don't know what was going on, but we we weren't even shooting.
00:25:30.799 --> 00:25:30.960
Right.
00:25:31.119 --> 00:25:33.920
And we were like having this intense eye contact.
00:25:34.079 --> 00:25:38.240
It was like it was so like I don't know what was going on.
00:25:38.559 --> 00:25:41.039
Which of his videos is that that you're in?
00:25:41.279 --> 00:25:41.920
Play God.
00:25:42.160 --> 00:25:44.640
Oh, I said he's a god, and there you go, play god.
00:25:44.880 --> 00:25:46.559
But I mean it was a great experience.
00:25:46.880 --> 00:25:50.079
I'm gonna try a very contrived segue here.
00:25:50.240 --> 00:25:52.000
You're talking about Sam Fender.
00:25:52.640 --> 00:25:59.920
He's quite well known for his stories and his tales about bullying and repression as a youth.
00:26:00.079 --> 00:26:02.319
So, how about your poem The Bully?
00:26:02.559 --> 00:26:03.680
Oh, right, yeah, okay.
00:26:03.839 --> 00:26:04.240
Brilliant.
00:26:04.319 --> 00:26:04.559
Yeah.
00:26:04.799 --> 00:26:05.759
Can you take us there?
00:26:06.079 --> 00:26:06.400
Okay.
00:26:07.519 --> 00:26:08.559
The bully.
00:26:11.359 --> 00:26:13.200
Popularity escapes.
00:26:14.000 --> 00:26:16.559
Attraction binds to the crowd.
00:26:17.519 --> 00:26:18.799
Leave them behind.
00:26:19.680 --> 00:26:21.039
You in a bind?
00:26:22.000 --> 00:26:24.079
Bully, we know your secret.
00:26:24.640 --> 00:26:30.559
Stand out from the crowd who badmouth, belittle, delight in humiliation.
00:26:31.359 --> 00:26:33.839
Away from the crowd, you're aloner.
00:26:34.720 --> 00:26:37.440
Powers within you to be one of a kind.
00:26:38.240 --> 00:26:39.680
Where's there to go now?
00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:40.880
In a bind?
00:26:41.759 --> 00:26:43.599
Did someone take your power?
00:26:44.400 --> 00:26:45.759
Deem your light?
00:26:46.640 --> 00:26:50.400
Control, blame, shame, hurt you?
00:26:51.359 --> 00:26:54.240
Did they ignore your pleas, needs?
00:26:54.799 --> 00:26:57.599
Rewrite your story before it's too late.
00:26:58.319 --> 00:27:01.119
One true friend can't be so bad now.
00:27:01.599 --> 00:27:07.759
If you see a kid that's different, lonely, make, not break, their self-esteem.
00:27:08.079 --> 00:27:09.200
Change it up.
00:27:09.519 --> 00:27:10.799
You have permission.
00:27:11.440 --> 00:27:12.960
Differences accept.
00:27:13.279 --> 00:27:14.720
No room for hate.
00:27:15.119 --> 00:27:16.240
Look around.
00:27:16.480 --> 00:27:17.839
You'll be losing.
00:27:18.319 --> 00:27:20.960
No chantings around religion, race.
00:27:21.680 --> 00:27:23.920
Granny thinks that's way off base.
00:27:24.559 --> 00:27:26.640
Move to make amends now.
00:27:27.039 --> 00:27:30.640
Speak kind words, they will define you.
00:27:31.279 --> 00:27:33.680
No suicides in this community.
00:27:34.319 --> 00:27:35.839
Be kind, be kind.
00:27:36.240 --> 00:27:37.839
Create a different fate.
00:27:38.319 --> 00:27:39.680
Never too late.
00:27:40.160 --> 00:27:42.640
Focus on positive interaction.
00:27:43.200 --> 00:27:47.519
Bash song, bash dance, bash paint, bash word.
00:27:47.920 --> 00:27:48.880
Be mindful.
00:27:49.359 --> 00:27:50.000
Gentle.
00:27:50.400 --> 00:27:51.200
Create.
00:27:51.519 --> 00:27:52.240
Create.
00:27:52.559 --> 00:27:53.200
Create.
00:27:57.599 --> 00:27:58.079
Lovely.
00:27:58.240 --> 00:27:58.799
Beautiful.
00:27:58.880 --> 00:27:59.200
Thank you.
00:27:59.680 --> 00:28:02.480
Mai, have you ever thought of performing your poems?
00:28:02.720 --> 00:28:04.160
Yeah, but I can't remember them.
00:28:04.400 --> 00:28:06.559
You'd have a piece of paper in front of you, you'd be right.
00:28:06.720 --> 00:28:07.279
Yeah, I know.
00:28:07.519 --> 00:28:07.839
Okay.
00:28:08.240 --> 00:28:10.640
I'd like to go back to the bully.
00:28:10.880 --> 00:28:19.200
It seemed to me really interesting that you were empathizing or thinking kindly of this person who was the bully.
00:28:19.519 --> 00:28:20.720
Because I was one myself.
00:28:20.960 --> 00:28:21.759
Oh, okay.
00:28:21.920 --> 00:28:22.319
How so?
00:28:22.559 --> 00:28:23.920
Slightly when I was in school.
00:28:25.519 --> 00:28:31.440
I was so um weakened by my lack of self-esteem and all that stuff.
00:28:31.599 --> 00:28:36.000
I tended to hang out with the girls that were quite nasty, actually.
00:28:36.480 --> 00:28:38.559
And they were trying to find their way.
00:28:38.720 --> 00:28:43.359
And then I got bullied, and I sort of turned into a little bit of a bully myself.
00:28:43.759 --> 00:28:50.000
I may be overthinking this, but I'm really getting this Sam Fender connection and why he was looking at you.
00:28:50.079 --> 00:28:51.759
There's this kind of thing going on.
00:28:52.319 --> 00:28:54.799
It was really weird, I swear honestly.
00:28:54.960 --> 00:28:58.319
If you'd have seen us, you'd have think this is very strange.
00:28:58.640 --> 00:28:59.440
I can believe it.
00:28:59.680 --> 00:29:02.400
It's big blue eyes and they're like we're like this.
00:29:02.480 --> 00:29:03.519
And oh gosh.
00:29:04.160 --> 00:29:06.160
Yeah, I wanted to read one on mental own.
00:29:06.319 --> 00:29:08.640
Oh, it's a a relative, I should say.
00:29:08.960 --> 00:29:11.680
She was using drugs, and uh I wrote this.
00:29:11.759 --> 00:29:13.119
It's a short one.
00:29:13.839 --> 00:29:14.880
Can I read it?
00:29:15.119 --> 00:29:15.920
Yeah, of course.
00:29:16.079 --> 00:29:18.000
You were raptily waiting.
00:29:18.319 --> 00:29:19.680
It's called Love Me.
00:29:20.240 --> 00:29:20.960
Love Me.
00:29:21.359 --> 00:29:22.720
It's called Love Me.
00:29:23.839 --> 00:29:35.599
She was a radiant, shimmering jewel, encased in a net, broke out into hell, a rational blur, jumbled synapses in a haze of meth.
00:29:36.160 --> 00:29:37.680
Pure and sassy.
00:29:38.240 --> 00:29:39.200
Don't fret.
00:29:39.440 --> 00:29:41.279
The journey was incredible.
00:29:41.599 --> 00:29:50.000
She, expendable, soul lost, sucked in, trapped in the creation, numb, unaware.
00:29:50.319 --> 00:29:52.960
Oh the sorrow of the shimmering jewel.
00:29:53.839 --> 00:30:02.319
She was a pure white porcelain pearl, stuck in her shell, born into royalty, broke out into hell.
00:30:02.799 --> 00:30:08.880
Not some fairy story, waiting to be inhabited, heartache and broken dreams.
00:30:09.119 --> 00:30:24.240
In crevices, corners, humanity lurks, unseen, unknown, embracing dirt, gravel, amaze, trapped in her mind, struggle, sadness, broken dreams.
00:30:24.720 --> 00:30:28.799
Love me, love me, don't retouch me.
00:30:30.720 --> 00:30:31.119
Wow.
00:30:31.759 --> 00:30:34.240
Well, that was probably needs editing.
00:30:34.319 --> 00:30:34.960
I don't know.
00:30:35.200 --> 00:30:36.480
I want to edit everything.
00:30:36.559 --> 00:30:40.559
I write something and then I I want to change everything all the time.
00:30:40.720 --> 00:30:41.440
So never mind.
00:30:41.920 --> 00:30:42.880
Nothing is ever finished.
00:30:43.119 --> 00:30:45.279
And they're all rather bit depressing, aren't they?
00:30:45.359 --> 00:30:45.519
Really?
00:30:45.920 --> 00:30:47.039
It sounds like a rap.
00:30:47.200 --> 00:30:49.519
I can imagine the red hot chili peppers doing that.
00:30:49.599 --> 00:30:51.599
It's very there's a lot of internal rhyming.
00:30:52.799 --> 00:30:53.920
I've always wanted to rap.
00:30:54.079 --> 00:30:55.440
I've always wanted to rap.
00:30:55.680 --> 00:30:57.359
Okay, well, it's not beyond you.
00:30:57.599 --> 00:30:59.519
I can imagine that's the next thing.
00:30:59.839 --> 00:31:01.200
Oh, I must read you this.
00:31:01.359 --> 00:31:04.400
I know there's no time and you probably won't use it, but do you want to hear it?
00:31:04.559 --> 00:31:04.960
Go on then.
00:31:05.599 --> 00:31:07.119
Are we okay for time, Haaland?
00:31:07.200 --> 00:31:07.599
Just check in.
00:31:07.839 --> 00:31:09.440
Yeah, we'll need to finish soon.
00:31:09.599 --> 00:31:15.200
Maya, your headphone has flipped and it's broadcasting your That's lovely.
00:31:15.359 --> 00:31:15.759
Yeah.
00:31:16.000 --> 00:31:16.799
Thank you.
00:31:20.319 --> 00:31:22.799
How do I know for sure this is real?
00:31:23.039 --> 00:31:24.559
Why did you fail her?
00:31:24.799 --> 00:31:40.079
Impale her with multiple drugs and many descriptions, attempting to stop her manic predictions, police, paramedics, psychiatric detentions, doctors guessing what works in her brain, each time making her more insane.
00:31:40.400 --> 00:31:49.440
No passing along of historical informations to work with on a daily basis, hoping to achieve poignant homeostasis.
00:31:49.680 --> 00:31:56.480
Follow through one hospital to another, paper trails, why not, if everything else hits a drain?
00:31:56.799 --> 00:32:01.599
Bitch or father, mother, sister, brother, just look around, see many others.
00:32:01.839 --> 00:32:06.079
Family becoming nurses, everyone else lining their purses.
00:32:06.799 --> 00:32:11.359
I hate the strife of mental illness, digging, ripping us apart.
00:32:11.599 --> 00:32:13.519
You can tell this woman's pissed.
00:32:13.759 --> 00:32:15.759
Oh my god, what have we missed?
00:32:16.079 --> 00:32:18.400
Hippola's keeping us silent.
00:32:18.640 --> 00:32:22.559
Meanwhile, they are quiet, manic or violent.
00:32:22.880 --> 00:32:25.759
God help if you challenge the status quo.
00:32:25.920 --> 00:32:27.519
They'll point a finger at you.
00:32:27.759 --> 00:32:28.640
Go, go.
00:32:29.200 --> 00:32:32.640
Up and down, merry go round and round and round.
00:32:32.880 --> 00:32:34.319
Can you hear the sound?
00:32:34.559 --> 00:32:36.240
See the writing on the wall?
00:32:36.559 --> 00:32:37.680
But it's in blood.
00:32:37.839 --> 00:32:39.200
You are appalled.
00:32:39.440 --> 00:32:41.599
Psychiatric eunuchs care.
00:32:41.839 --> 00:32:43.599
Are you trying to make me stare?
00:32:43.920 --> 00:32:46.319
Blank walls suffocating spirit.
00:32:46.559 --> 00:32:47.680
No colour here.
00:32:48.000 --> 00:32:50.079
No music or appreciation.
00:32:50.400 --> 00:32:52.400
Sanitation rules the day.
00:32:52.720 --> 00:32:54.319
Clinical ideation.
00:32:54.799 --> 00:32:58.799
Mission, Olive View, Pacific, Adventist, White Memorial.
00:32:58.960 --> 00:33:01.119
Sounds like a bloody tutorial.
00:33:01.440 --> 00:33:06.240
Evaluating an illness, many complications, misinterpretations.
00:33:06.640 --> 00:33:09.759
How can they pick up on the pieces left behind?
00:33:10.000 --> 00:33:12.240
Reinventing the wheels each time.
00:33:12.480 --> 00:33:14.720
And then effing with body and mind.
00:33:14.960 --> 00:33:16.000
Don't get me wrong.
00:33:16.400 --> 00:33:23.440
Archery of the brain hitting bullseye, sometimes on target, like a shopping spree at the market.
00:33:24.000 --> 00:33:28.480
5150, 72 hours will discharge them at noon.
00:33:28.640 --> 00:33:30.559
The street many cases.
00:33:30.799 --> 00:33:32.240
Where are the faces?
00:33:32.480 --> 00:33:36.559
Stumbling in pebbles of innocuous concoctions.
00:33:36.799 --> 00:33:41.839
Such seductions, depict haldol, diprexa, respiradol.
00:33:42.079 --> 00:33:52.720
Science, take the stage, deliver for individual brains, hooked up to measure delicate neurotransmitters, just as thought gives me the shivers.
00:33:53.119 --> 00:34:00.160
Pathways of stimulation, genetics reveal a whole person standing before you in glory.
00:34:00.559 --> 00:34:03.599
This sounds like the end of a Cinderella story.
00:34:04.319 --> 00:34:07.759
20 through 50, same old, same old.
00:34:08.000 --> 00:34:11.280
Who knew this would be a story to be told?
00:34:13.360 --> 00:34:13.920
Thank you.
00:34:14.639 --> 00:34:24.079
I had a vision of everybody being, when they get genetics sorted out, everybody would be balanced because it would be so individual instead of guesswork, you know.
00:34:24.239 --> 00:34:24.480
Yeah.
00:34:25.360 --> 00:34:37.840
Well, Maya, you've taken us on an amazing journey from Johnny's and the Gaiety Theatre and Ancestors and hiding under the table and so on.
00:34:38.320 --> 00:34:46.880
I wish I talked more about um, I don't know, acting, I guess, but uh I think you've covered off acting pretty effectively.
00:34:47.199 --> 00:34:47.440
Yes.
00:34:47.760 --> 00:34:48.320
You think so?
00:34:48.400 --> 00:34:53.360
I I really love that you um saw Gene Buer teaching that little boy.
00:34:53.920 --> 00:34:54.480
So do I.
00:34:54.800 --> 00:34:56.800
It it's always stay with me.
00:34:57.119 --> 00:34:58.239
Really life-changing.
00:34:58.320 --> 00:34:59.360
Yeah, I was there with you.
00:34:59.440 --> 00:35:02.159
You've you've took me there and said, come sit and watch.
00:35:02.320 --> 00:35:05.039
And then I was in it, and it was it was really something.
00:35:05.119 --> 00:35:06.400
It was very special.
00:35:06.719 --> 00:35:06.960
Yeah.
00:35:07.039 --> 00:35:11.039
So now so now I shall go and OCD about all the things that I left out.
00:35:11.280 --> 00:35:12.079
Of course you will.
00:35:12.239 --> 00:35:12.800
Of course you will.
00:35:13.119 --> 00:35:13.360
I will.
00:35:13.679 --> 00:35:17.599
But we'll just ignore you and just edit and send it.
00:35:17.920 --> 00:35:19.039
Edit, edit, edit.
00:35:19.360 --> 00:35:22.559
A zillion thanks for your time and your energy and your stories.
00:35:22.800 --> 00:35:23.039
Yeah.
00:35:23.199 --> 00:35:26.400
So we're gonna finish with you reading Pulse and Spark.
00:35:26.639 --> 00:35:28.400
And thank you so much.
00:35:28.639 --> 00:35:28.800
Yeah.
00:35:29.039 --> 00:35:30.320
Million thanks, Maya.
00:35:30.480 --> 00:35:30.960
Okay, thank you.
00:35:31.199 --> 00:35:31.920
Thank you, guys.
00:35:32.239 --> 00:35:32.639
Thank you.
00:35:32.960 --> 00:35:33.360
Love you.
00:35:33.840 --> 00:35:34.079
Bye.
00:35:34.400 --> 00:35:34.719
Bye.
00:35:35.280 --> 00:35:35.840
Bye.
00:35:38.000 --> 00:35:39.920
Pulse and spark.
00:35:40.159 --> 00:35:43.440
In school I was tortured by monsters and spirits.
00:35:43.760 --> 00:35:46.880
So bad to this day, I still have the fidgets.
00:35:47.199 --> 00:35:50.480
Drew blood from my hands, never the same.
00:35:50.719 --> 00:35:54.480
Let it go, move on, create a different song.
00:35:54.800 --> 00:35:57.039
It's never that bad, you have to die.
00:35:57.280 --> 00:36:00.159
Better perhaps to become a stoner.
00:36:00.400 --> 00:36:01.760
I'm kidding you all.
00:36:01.920 --> 00:36:03.599
I never turn to drugs.
00:36:03.840 --> 00:36:09.519
Friends in impossible situations, many tripping chemical complications.
00:36:10.239 --> 00:36:15.440
Don't get lost in haze of the brain, giving parents a dose of the same.
00:36:15.760 --> 00:36:17.039
Wanna hurt someone?
00:36:17.280 --> 00:36:18.400
It's only you.
00:36:18.880 --> 00:36:20.960
Violating your self-esteem?
00:36:21.199 --> 00:36:22.159
Speak up.
00:36:22.400 --> 00:36:23.280
Reach out.
00:36:23.519 --> 00:36:26.639
Hug friends, make it real, look into their eyes.
00:36:27.119 --> 00:36:33.039
Forget screens that separate, connect to thousands and thousands of online illusions.
00:36:33.519 --> 00:36:36.239
Position yourself in a stronger pace.
00:36:36.639 --> 00:36:38.880
No apparitions by definition.
00:36:39.360 --> 00:36:42.719
This is to jails, too many to mention.
00:36:43.039 --> 00:36:45.519
Did I mention the rules of detention?
00:36:46.320 --> 00:36:55.280
Cries, lies, bible wise, judges damn you, Uncle Sam you, chain you up, sing the blues.
00:36:55.760 --> 00:36:58.880
No money for rehab, throw away the key.
00:36:59.199 --> 00:37:01.760
High fives, hold up your head.
00:37:02.000 --> 00:37:04.559
Have you forgotten the comfy bed?
00:37:05.119 --> 00:37:08.800
Oh, and while we're in the subject, don't whine and moan.
00:37:09.039 --> 00:37:10.559
You can use that phone.
00:37:10.800 --> 00:37:13.599
So stay out of jail and similar situations.
00:37:14.000 --> 00:37:18.000
Granish chant, creation, creation, creation.
00:37:18.480 --> 00:37:21.360
You'll be the perfect, you, you, you.
00:37:21.840 --> 00:37:24.480
Forget the old woman, she's full of shit.
00:37:24.800 --> 00:37:26.639
Ah, but she's strong.
00:37:26.960 --> 00:37:28.719
Her bones are well worn.
00:37:28.960 --> 00:37:32.320
Weathered storms flash in desert a long time.
00:37:33.119 --> 00:37:35.519
Position to be your line of compassion.
00:37:36.079 --> 00:37:38.159
Maybe you'll make her your fashion.
00:37:42.480 --> 00:37:43.280
Creativity.
00:37:43.599 --> 00:37:50.719
If you think you're too old to be creative or too creative to be old, tune in to the Creativity Podcast.
00:37:52.880 --> 00:37:59.519
Maya and Adrienne have left the airwaves, but I've been doing a little bit of editing on the podcast.
00:37:59.920 --> 00:38:06.000
And I was intrigued by what I was saying about Maya's inherent musicality of her poetry.
00:38:06.079 --> 00:38:09.039
And I thought, oh I wonder, I just wonder.
00:38:09.280 --> 00:38:18.400
So I grabbed a few loops off my supply of loops and noises that I have on my computer, and I've just thrown them down on the timeline.
00:38:18.639 --> 00:38:25.119
See what happens when you put a small fragment of Maya's poetry to a bit of music.
00:38:25.440 --> 00:38:31.199
Here's Grandmistress Meyer and a short excerpt from Al Spark.
00:38:38.559 --> 00:38:46.960
Don't get lost in haze of the brain, giving parents a dose of the thing that wanna hurt someone, it's only you.
