THE ART OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY

Any of you nerd out smartypants kids out there are wellfamiliar with the Ted Talks. My favorite is Elizabeth Gilbert’s talk on Creativity.

With humor & great Tom Waits stories, she breaks downthe ancient and destructive myths we have about being an artist.

#1,Unless I’m a raging alcoholic, I can’t be a good artist.

#2,Unless I’m an asshole to my boyfriend/girlfriend, I can’t be a good artist.

#3,No matter how good I am, I’ll probably never be good enough.

(Before it was a bestseller, I’d bought Eat, Pray, Love for 10 people – friends struggling w/ creativity,self-transformation, my aunt who was trying to beat cancer. No matter howOprah’ed out it got, that book is awesome.)

Last night, this Ted Talk caught my eye…. “The Art of Living Dangerously.”

Now I was hoping I’d learn to set myself on fire, wrestle a shark, flip off a policeman without getting a ticket. But it’s slightly more cerebral.

The thesis goes like this – it’s been scientifically proven that PEOPLE WHO TAKE MORE RISKS ARE HAPPIER.

I like this… because I knew there was a reason for the crazy things I do, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Because let’s face it, whenyou break off from the pack & get rid of the safety net… life can sometimes be HARD.

But yes, MORE REWARDING. Especially if you keep going.

The talk is cool – many of our groundbreaking inventors were so entranced by discovery, they didn’t even realize they were playing w/explosives ‘til they lost a finger.

Of course, if you fall off the cliff completely – end up dead, homeless, addicted to heroin – you probably won’t be more happy. The art is how to live dangerously safely.

So at the end, William Gurstelle give ideas for “living dangerously” in regular life. Only one problem: does this guy (who I bet really wanted to wear a bowtie for the speech) look like he knows danger????

So here are my suggestions:

Dress up like you would never –wigs, leather pants – and go dancing.

Skip work and go swimming… surfing, hiking, skydiving.

Leave your cellphone at home. (this isn’t danger, so much as salvation)

Go to the highest point you can get to & SHOUT AS LOUD AS YOU CAN.

Ride on the back of someone’s motorcycle.

On the front of the roller coaster.

Dress up like you would never –wigs, leather pants – and go to the grocery store.

Have sex somewhere that’s not your bed.

Next time you go on a date, say all the things you never say out of politeness, shyness, to meet someone else’s expectations.

Dress up like you would never –wigs, leather pants – and go to your parents’ house.

If all else fails, join a band.

At least jump onstage & kazoo w/ the Please, Please Me.

What’s yours????

* * * * *

The Please, Please Me hit the Big Easy

Mementos from our last trip: June 15-17

Alissa w/ beignets at Cafe du Monde (while talking on the cellphone & balancing her cello against a trashcan)


Getting ready to play Cannonball live on WWOZ



Bloody Mary's (how else are we to wash down the beignets??)




Loney Abrams's birthday bash at our Circle Bar show

The tradition of pinning dollar bills to your shirt on your birthday never fails to crack me up



Wild crowd. We do our best to whip up the energy; they took it & ran with it so fast, we weren't quite sure what had happened after. Never seen so many broken kazoos.

Wish i had pictures of us climbing the statue in Lee's Circle and looking out at the city after.

ps-- Alissa's new wig & the necklace I got off the mannequin are to die for.

Thanks Zack Smith (host with the most), George Ingmire (radio DJ who let us crash his show), Lu Rojas (the one & only... be back to record soon), Luke Huddleston (Silent Cinema & our guest trombonist) and Jason Songe (the Circle Bar) for making magic happen.

Back in Action: New Rolling Stone Q&A

David Fricke/RS: Dear jessie, what's up? Why no blogs recently?

Jessie Torrisi/PlsPlsMe: Well David, ironically, the better things are going, the less time i have to blog. I've been a busy rock 'n roller as of late. Doing shows in Bryan, New Orleans, we finally broke into the Parish in Austin. Demo'ing some new stuff with the band. And, get this, I'm also a college professor. I've been teaching an Intro to Mass Media class at ACC.

David Fricke/RS: Inculcating young minds?

Jessie Torrisi/PlsPlsMe: While I've been playing rock star & trying to make sense of how the whole world is charging, I'm also getting to study the digital revolution in communications, new business models and teach students how to make the most of how the world is changing. *Blog all about it.* But sadly, or apologetically, by time I get home at night, the last thing I want to do is log on. I'd much rather strum a few chords and finish that new song that's been nagging. Or have a beer with friends. Or read a good book.

David Fricke/RS: Did I hear you say studio? Do tell... what's brewing with the band? Are you working on the 2nd record?

Jessie Torrisi/PlsPlsMe: Well, let's start with the good news. We've been recording four brand spankin' new songs out of Carlos Mendoza's living room studio the last few weeks. These are songs that have really evolved with the band -- having the drummer decide to give the whole thing a James Bond soundtrack twist, or having the cello & trombone come to me with harmonies that make the hairs on my neck stand up. And 6th & A, the one heartbreaker ballad, an ode to New York City, being lonely & drunk in the East Village (think Ryan Adams) would have probably never seen the light of day had Carlos not helped me rewrite it. So for once, it's a real band effort. I mean, I came up with The Please, Please Me as a name because I wanted people to think of me & the whole experience we create as that of a band, not a singer-songwriter. But now it's happening. As a result, I think I'll measure up to some of my indie songstress heroes with these in a whole new way.


The Impromptu Please, Please Me Kazoo Chorus

RS: What are you going to do with these recordings???

JT: That's the $20 million question. We're still waiting to see if the results will sound hi-fi album ready, or that we need to go into a fancier studio or grab William Berlind (my producer in NYC), and find a way to lure him out here to record it. I would really like to go that route, but it seems I've spent all my money on touring and kazoos as of late. Am hoping that by having these demos a few interested labels or possible sponsors of the arts might come forward and decide to really make this happen. Y'know what Prince says? Money changes everything. I'd like to start working on a 2nd record, but if it's not in the stars, we'll release an EP, or give away new tracks one by one in exchange for fans support/email addresses/help in other arenas.
*** like if you can silkscreen Please, Please Me panties or make a cool video, we'll prob show up at your house every morning for a month and serenade you.

RS: Does the uncertainty worry or frustrate you?

JT: Definitely. But when I lived in New York, I had not near enough time to really live art, make music my life. In just a year in Texas, I feel i've truly become a musician & a performer, not just someone who wants to be one. I'm a much more masterful songwriter. I have a kick-ass bands, fans, songs I'm really proud of. But I had more better ways to make money in New York, and here, I'm still trying to find my way in the marketplace.

RS: But you'll be back in New York soon, I hear.

JT: Oh well yes, one summer in Texas was enough for me. 60 days over 100 degrees last year. Besides you can take the girl out of the city but not the city out of the girl. Last summer, I happened to be in NYC when they did a 20th anniversary sing-along screening on Purple Rain in Prospect Park in Brooklyn. These kinds of things -- the experience of shouting Purple Rain into a night with 10,000 other New Yorkers from all conceivable walks of life -- they change you. They make you feel unity that can only come from art & diversity & a certain electric current that runs through the city. I can't live without that completely.

RS: Ok, yes yes, I get that. I mean, sometimes you think the price of working at a major magazine is having to live in a crowded, dirty, noisy city. And other times, you think Thank God, I'm stuck here.

JT: Yes, it's the question that never answers itself. If i can't find peace of mind in New York City, can I manage to feel fully alive elsewhere?


Jessie Torrisi & the Please, Please Me at The Parish

RS: So you're hitting the road again soon. What do you want to leave readers with?

JT: Well, to everyone I've met this year.... in Colorado, Portland, Philly, and TEXAS, especially all those dancing easy-going fools here Austin who turned out at SxSW, who kazoo their hearts out, who show up to the Parish on last-minute notice, THANK YOU.

(If you want to hear the new EP, or catch us live, just drop a line to rockstar@jessietorrisi.com. Our new website's not up yet, so for now, this is the best way. If you have a vote for what song we should make a video for, or live somewhere we should come play, we'd love to hear that too.)

The record's only been out 6 months, but it feels like more. And y'know, If a rock 'n roller gives the show of her life & no one's there to hear it... it doesn't make a sound. It might be perverse to measure success in comments on my Facebook page, or fans who send me annoyed emails b/c I didn't send an invite out in time & they missed the show, or how many kazoos I need to rush to print, but I do.

Tour Photos: NYC- As Dark Lit & Lovely as Ever

We here at Please, Please Me headquarters are finally recovering from the SxSW plague, sweeping that scruffy indie rock boy (crashing in the living room by the amps) dust out & reveling in SPRING in TEXAS.

Over the next few weeks, we'll be rolling out the awesome footage we collected on the Winter '010 tour. If you missed it...East Coast, Pacific Northwest, then Colorado en route back to Austin.

It all started in New York City! Where else...Neither blizzards nor back pain from hauling guitars onto subway platforms could stop the rock.

Thanks to David Bowles from MTV for capturing the magic at the Living Room.

(Will Berlind-piano, Ryland Kelly-upright bass, John Brodeur-drums, Matt McDonald-trombone, All of You-kazoos!)

Photos: 1) setting up, 2) audience kazooing on Cannonball (nyc still holds the record for # onstage), 3) me drumming & singing on Runaway Train (how long before a reviewer compares me to Levon Helm??), 4) the band, incl. Josh Wise (electric guitar on record) 5) Me showing off a red-shot kazoo (matches the Living Room walls!)

THANK YOU NYC! SEE YOU SOON.

merci beaucoup!

THANK YOU to everyone who made friday rock 'n roll greatness.

a few pics.

in my kazoo ectasy, i may have forgotten to sell stuff or pass around the list. email rockstar@jessietorrisi.com

& i'll put you on the list in exchange for the song of your choice... just write it in the subject line.