Third Wheeling Dan Goodwin and Nathan Joe
Today I learnt that checking your fly is an effective and acceptable way of getting a crowd to pay attention.
Dan Goodwin and Nathan Joe are a pair of poetry and drama geeks, who know how to captivate, stimulate, and hold an audience. Dan is a JAFA Poetry board member and Nathan is Aoteroa’s reigning National Slam Champion. I call them powerehouses for a reason.
I wanted to talk to this pair because they inspire me. I usually want to Third Wheel people I admire, and there’s just so much to love about them both. They work incredibly hard to make poetry and theatre a more inclusive space. Nathan recently curated Dirty Passports; a showcase of minority voices at Basement Theatre. Dan took their 3×3 Poetry Showcase across Auckland during Pride. When they are together, their energy pops. They build each other up, compliment each other uncomfortably, and cuddle and cuddle and cuddle.
Something we spoke about on the couch is the idea of privilege. Both Nathan and Dan see themselves as performers that tend to lean into a frenetic energy, and yet poetry is something that we usually associate with calm. Dan points out that being calm in a performance space is a privilege. Not everyone has the tools they need to breathe through the stress of speaking your truth.
But speak their truth they do. And Nathan tells me it’s something he has actively had to rethink. As creatives we often shy away from the word “brand,” because it currently belongs to the world of commerce. But Nathan reckons owning your brand is learning to speak your truth. Learning to be your truth.
And in order to find that truth, we often need a champion along the way. Someone who hypes you up, and gives you excessive compliments, and feeds your wairua. That’s what Dan and Nathan are to each other right now.
Listen in as I try to keep up with their puns and jabs and stories of alien dildos this week on Third Wheel.
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