I started doing solo performance thirteen years ago after becoming stable on medication for bipolar disorder. After being hospitalized for my last manic episode I was committed to staying on medication. My depressions were gone but so were my bipolar highs. I was stuck by feeling normal all the time. After knowing the ecstasy for hypomania feeling normal couldn’t compare. I didn’t want to return to untreated bipolar disorder, but I missed appreciated the intensity of experience I had known.
Solo performance was a way of celebrating of my bipolar identity. I began by telling humorous and outrageous stories that before I’d only shared with my closest friends. As my storytelling progressed I included the darker side of my experiences as well eventually leading to my first full length show,“My First Miracle - Adventures in Bipolar Disorder,” which I performed to critical acclaim at fringe festivals across the US and Canada. Currently I have performed second show “Orange You Glad to be in Miami?” at the Nanaimo, Oregon, San Diego, Fresno, Orlando and Tampa fringe festivals.
My intention in performing is to bring audiences with me showing them a reality they could never know on their own. i aim is to entertain, but in the process friends and family of people with bipolar disorder have appreciated my performances for giving them a unique insight into the condition. And persons with bipolar disorder have completed my shows for portraying the condition with accuracy and humor.