Hello friends,
So, while at One World this year in Reading, Abi and I got a surprise workshop exclusively for us with Danny Shine. Danny is the man behind the 'Everything is OK' series of street performance video's that are quite popular on youtube. His channel is http://www.youtube.com/user/spiritualentertainer and it is well worth a visit to see many of his funny and crazy video's.
Danny Shine has been a regular One Worlder for a while, and I remember him from 4 years ago (which was the last time I went to One World, before this year). It was an absolute pleasure to spend time with him this year, he is a very funny guy. He put on a workshop called 'Friends of Bill W', which began as a big performance piece in which Danny and Joao (the main guy running One World) switched identities. This was mainly done to confuse people, and it worked a treat, many people were utterly perplexed by it. Both Abi and I knew Danny enough to know that it was one elaborate ruse sent to screw with peoples minds, so we went along for the ride, knowing it would be worth it.
'Friends of Bill W' was about addiction, and the 12 step programme, which Bill W was the creator of. No one in the group present knew this, so we sat in a room all laughing confused at the situation as it unfolded. Once Danny revealed the purpose of the group, he invited us to leave, so Abi and I left.
On the last day of the festival, we met Danny on the main field in the afternoon. He was trying to drum up some people to go into Reading with him to make an 'Everything is OK' video. No one wanted to go, except for Abi and me. So into Danny's car we got and into Reading we drove. It was the funniest car journey I have ever been on, with Danny on top form, jokes flying left right and centre. We disobeyed the sat nav and went on an exciting round trip of Reading, before parking in the centre.
We exited the car park and walked up the road a tiny way, turning the corner and being right in front of Reading train station. Danny had his megaphone, I held his 'Everything is ok' sign, and Abi filmed the whole thing from across the pavement.
This is what happened....
After the Jesus brigade, Danny turned his attention to the suspicious yellow drinks being handed out
The camera ran out of juice, but the adventure didn't end there. A guy from the Mountain Dew company came over and started filming Danny, getting shirty with him and storming off back over to the giant radioactive looking van. We followed him across and had a discussion with the police that were standing there. Abi and I both got into the spirit of it and helped Danny question the police about the situation. The police kept staring at Abi and me, thinking we were filming them, or recording them, but we weren't. It was a powerful moment, and on the way back to One World, Danny dropped us off near the festival and shot off to another festival.
We got back to One World and quickly got ready for the cabaret ending to the whole thing. It was a crazy day, but one we won't ever forget.
Big props to Danny Shine for challenging convention.
Peace and infinite free radioactive drinks
[adj] - Andy D Jackson
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