Marchetto - Living Cartoon

If you’re an avid watcher of the Royal Variety Performance Show, circa 1998, here’s a face you might recognise, if not the name – Ennio Marchetto. Described by some as a living cartoon, and by others as human origami… on a cold and wet October Sunday I went to see if he could brighten up the dark evening (and cheer up my hangover from the night before) with his colourful performance.

For one night only, Marchetto was performing at the Lowry Theatre in Salford Quays. The show opened as the low murmur from the audience settled in, curtains already open and a bright light lit stage that looked like the cleaner had forgotten to sweep. From around the corner, a sleepy paper caricature (paper pyjamas, paper wig, paper candle) yawned and stretched its way to the front of the stage. The audience had silenced themselves for the evening’s performance and as Marchetto blew his paper candle out, the lights in the auditorium switched off. The show had begun. Read more…

What do you think of when you hear the words YouTube?  How about, the good, the bad, and the ugly? Sometimes it’s really ugly, sometimes confusingly, you get all 3 in one movie. While YouTube is undoubtedly the place to go to get as many eyeballs on your video as possible, I’m sure I’m not the only one who wishes there was a magical button to filter out the mobile phone uploads of last nights party, the offensive comments and get straight to the really good stuff.  Well, there isn’t.  But there is Vimeo, a place where you can find a community of passionate filmmakers, along with the likes of Moby, Royksopp, Kanye West, film director Michael Bay, and even the White House, uploading their stuff in high definition.