Althouse: "I'm both grateful and happy that I was the only one there... but once I stepped out of the theater, all confused and dizzy..."

December 15, 2014

"I'm both grateful and happy that I was the only one there... but once I stepped out of the theater, all confused and dizzy..."

"... it could have been more intense if I had someone to share it with. In that way, I'm torn about the experience. It was incredibly intense then and there, but after the fact and forever after, I miss having someone to share it with," said the man who had his own private Bob Dylan concert (for a Swedish reality show in which someone does something alone that is almost always not done alone). I blogged about this last month, but now we have the video:

14 comments:

rhhardin said...: Imus used to tell a story of a famous speaker who arrived at a hall to find only one person in the audience (bad weather or someting).

The speaker said that he was a little embarrassed by the situation and asked the audience guy what he should do.

The audience guy said that if he goes out to feed the cattle and there's only one head of cattle in the barn, well, he feeds him.

So the speaker gave his talk.

Then the audience guy said that he doesn't dump all the feed he has there though.; 12/15/14, 5:24 PM
Amexpat said...: I would have brought a bottle of something with me to the concert. That way I would not have felt so all alone.; 12/15/14, 5:28 PM
Chef Mojo said...: Thanks, Althouse! That made my day.; 12/15/14, 5:34 PM
Anonymous said...: I've always enjoyed Bob Dylan.

There is an episode of Pawn Stars where they go to get something autographed by him, they hear he is in Vegas.

It's completely contrived and in no way is it "reality tv" but it's still cute and one of my favorite moments on the show.; 12/15/14, 6:02 PM
William said...: It seemed more gimmicky than experimental or surreal.; 12/15/14, 6:28 PM
Ann Althouse said...: It wasn't really a good test of aloneness, since the cameras were with him, and he had everyone in TV world to share it with. But I did find the quote I quoted touching, even though it seemed as though the whole thing was a set-up to show people how important other people are.; 12/15/14, 6:33 PM
SteveR said...: Well this was not just one guy alone, he was a bit too much into Dylan for it to be relatable to me.; 12/15/14, 6:54 PM
Anonymous said...: Chicago Sun Times technology columnist Andy Ihnatko once attended a tech conference that was poorly promoted, therefore led to only about six or so people showing up to his particular speech, at a hall that could hold hundreds.

He didn't give the speech, as it was silly to treat an audience of 6 as if it were one of 60. So he took the group to the hotel bar and had a Q&A with them there for the allotted time.; 12/15/14, 6:55 PM
m stone said...: Sometimes, we play to an audience of one, regardless of the crowd.

John Wright wrote about the author who may sell only a couple hundred of his books, even self-published, and there remains one reader who will be profoundly affected by that book ---his Book of Gold!

Art accomplished!; 12/15/14, 7:52 PM
ganderson said...: Konstig!; 12/15/14, 7:55 PM
Anonymous said...: I have to admit that I would love to be at a gathering with Dylan and just let the guy touch on the blues, folk, country, storytelling, the American songbook, poetry, that kind of thing.

But then I think of all the people who like Dylan.

Inchoate folk-howls, Althouse. Inchoate folk-howls.; 12/15/14, 8:54 PM
tim maguire said...: Three Cups of Tea, a memoir about a (somewhat discredited) ski bum who stumbles into forming a charity that builds schools in poor communities in Muslim countries provided they commit to allowing girls to attend, told a story of one fundraising event where he set up hundreds of chairs with hundreds of fliers in a large hall and 2 people attended. 1 sat in the front and gave moral support, the other sat in the back and gave the full amount he hoped to raise.

So you never know.

On the other hand, one of my favorite podcasts, "You Are Not So Smart" does an episode on the energy of crowds. In it, the narrator plays a series of clips of barnburners--the St. Crispin's Day speech, Braveheart, Game of Thrones, that are so inspiring that even sitting there in my living room, knowing I am watching actors reading lines from a script, I want to run out into a field and hit somebody over the head with a mallet.

The point of the podcast is that this is due as much to the crowd as to the speech---that, if it were just one bored guy listening, the speech would seem silly, would be unmoving. It works not just because of the words or the delivery, but because of the crowd itself and how the reaction of the crowd is not just a result of, but actually feeds and expands, the reactions of every person in it.; 12/16/14, 6:37 AM
Steve said...: A concert like this would certainly overcome the People With Enough Disposable Income To Ignore The Event They Paid For [PWEDITITETPF] issue.

http://gothamist.com/2014/07/10/do_shut_up_during_concerts.php; 12/16/14, 9:55 AM
mikee said...: I had the delightful experience of seeing the recent remake of Godzilla with my two college aged kids and wife, a birthday treat from them to me, in a theater empty of anyone else but us four.

Mystery Science Theater 3000 was played joyfully by the entire audience for the entire movie.; 12/16/14, 3:51 PM