I guess this is a teaser for a lamentation
Thoughts/FEELINGS, peculiar music, and actions to improve our world, from Dave Maher.
A small moment of gratitude in remembrance of Elijah McClain
I hate seeing people post the suicide hotline number on social media. I see how it could be helpful, but I wish instead they’d call one mentally ill friend.
That’s the idea behind (actually more to the side of) next week’s essay. It’s been cooking for a while, and it’s almost ready but not quite. Problem is, I banked on it flowing out this week to the neglect of any other ideas, so I’m left with a full head and empty hands for the essay portion of this Hella Immaculate.
There’s a bunch of other good shit here in the meantime, including my rave about Enya and another weekly fundraiser. Enjoy it all, and meet me at this exact spot next week for my lamentation about how we fail in supporting people in crisis.
This Week’s “This Is Your Afterlife”
Episode 8 features Max Thomas. He’s a Chicago stand-up, actor, and improviser with the group PREACH! He’s also an organizer with BYP100. I’m happy to make good on my promise to talk to artists and activists with Max, who’s both.
I’m excited for what I see This Is Your Afterlife becoming. I can’t fully put it into words yet, and that’s part of why I’m excited. But the quick tonal shift and cornucopia of feelings Max expresses in this clip symbolize that vision.
Wamp Wamp (What to Do)
Don’t kick yourself if you didn’t make it to Saturday’s “FriendCon” reading. We recorded it, and we might make the video softly public. If so, you’ll hear about it! And THANK YOU, THANK YOU to those of you who came. It was so fun and valuable, and Daniel and I are excited to keep working on the show. Stay tuned for updates!
Celebrate! Last week, we raised a total of $135 for Brave Space Alliance, the first Black-led, trans-led LGBTQ Center on Chicago’s South Side.
Doing these weekly fundraisers is becoming a highlight of my week. Speaking of…Donate to Mask Oakland, an organization in the Bay Area that’s been distributing masks to homeless communities and other vulnerable folks since 2017. They started in response to a fire season (apparently California has these. fuck) and ramped up their efforts when COVID hit. Now, their masks serve double duty, protecting against coronavirus and making it easier to breathe in the Bay Area during the devastating fires we’re seeing there now.
I just donated $15. Reply with what you donate, and I’ll post our total next week!
May I Play You a Sound?
I’m a bit ashamed of how much of a follower I can be when it comes to music. I’m ahead enough of trends to seem hip to people with limited new-music-discovery mechanisms, but to others, I sound pretty basic when I say, “Yeah, I’ve been really open to new age music the past couple years, and I really like some of it.”
So yeah, I’ve been digging some “new age” music the past couple years! But the slow creep of the Enya Renaissance has missed me until the past couple weeks.
I read Pitchfork’s “Enya Is Everywhere” post, but I gotta point out that my boy Calvero beat them to the punch by big-upping Enya in his Instagram “Controversial Music Opinions” a couple weeks ago.
All that to say I’m aware of the spectrum of opinions on Enya. You are too. But put all that out of your mind for just 6 seconds. Literally.
Listen to the first 6 seconds of “Only Time,” listen loud, forget how the rest of it goes, and as if hearing it for the first time, imagine what comes next. What is it? I feel like it’s maybe a metal song? But you might hear the beginning of a score. A Christmas song. Cocteau Twins?
That first, kinda dissonant deep note is HEAVY. I live for hearing music differently like this. It’s one of a couple things that make my sober ass feel stoned these days (another is staring at heavily iced “British Bake Show” cakes).
Join me. Get high off this Enya!
‘Til the lamentation (I was trying to think of this word forever, and it’s exactly what next week’s thing is, so TRUST I am going to run it into the ground),
DM
Yo, thanks so much for reading! Hella Immaculate is a free newsletter, and I bust my ass to make it great. I’m a DIY operation, which means we’re in this together. If you love and believe in my work, please consider supporting me, so I can keep dedicating my life to it. I believe direct support for the artists we love is the way past celebrity, blandness, and corporate control and into a future where there’s an abundance of vital and varied art. Here’s how you can support me.
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Who is Dave Maher?
I’m a writer/performer and comedian who creates one-man shows that combine standup, theater, improvisation, storytelling, and performance art. I also teach, act, and do voiceover. I've appeared on/at/with This American Life, the Edinburgh Fringe, Steppenwolf Theatre, the Annoyance Theatre, and the Neo-Futurists, and I used to write for Pitchfork.