It’s About GD Time Show
Talking Art with Guest John S. Rushton
On today's episode, GC and David speak with local artist, John S, Rushton. This local artist, with his fingers in every pie from theater to painting, joins us to discuss the urgency of creation. His life philosophy isn't just inspiring; it's a wakeup call to anyone who's ever felt the pull of a muse. We share laughter and poignant moments as we unravel his wide range of experiences, leaving no stone unturned in our pursuit of what it means to truly live an artistic life.
Our conversation flows from the symbiosis of personal growth and artistic evolution, touching on the richness that age and experience bring to the creative table. John's journey is a testament to the notion that art isn't just a static craft but a living, breathing extension of ourselves.
We cast our gaze toward the future, considering the significant role of theater and arts in community engagement and the pressing need for local investment in Winston-Salem's vibrant cultural scene.
We bid farewell with John's reflections on love, loss, and the ways in which they infuse our creative endeavors with a deeper sense of purpose, and what we can expect from him next.
And, in a final twist of levity with "That Dumb Shit", we debate the suitability of dog breeds for people of different heights and the potential insanity of eating a single potato chip with two hands.
On today's episode, GC and David speak with local artist, John S, Rushton. This local artist, with his fingers in every pie from theater to painting, joins us to discuss the urgency of creation. His life philosophy isn't just inspiring; it's a wakeup call to anyone who's ever felt the pull of a muse. We share laughter and poignant moments as we unravel his wide range of experiences, leaving no stone unturned in our pursuit of what it means to truly live an artistic life.
Our conversation flows from the symbiosis of personal growth and artistic evolution, touching on the richness that age and experience bring to the creative table. John's journey is a testament to the notion that art isn't just a static craft but a living, breathing extension of ourselves.
We cast our gaze toward the future, considering the significant role of theater and arts in community engagement and the pressing need for local investment in Winston-Salem's vibrant cultural scene.
We bid farewell with John's reflections on love, loss, and the ways in which they infuse our creative endeavors with a deeper sense of purpose, and what we can expect from him next.
And, in a final twist of levity with "That Dumb Shit", we debate the suitability of dog breeds for people of different heights and the potential insanity of eating a single potato chip with two hands.
Let's roll, here we go.
John Rushton:Oh, oh yeah.
David :Hey everybody, it's February 6, 2024. How you doing? It's about GD Time. Show how you doing GC. I'm good brother. How are you? I'm living the dream. I'm living the dream every day.
GC:Good Good. You look like you're wobbling. I'm still rolling. Still rolling I am. Why are you wobbling? Well, because, like I've told you before, before we screw this up, take two, take two. I got a wife and a bunch of kids and a bunch of grandkids. Still that's why I'm wobbling.
David :Yeah.
GC:How you doing?
David :I'm living the dream man. I'm feeling good, I am feeling good. You look good. Hey well, this is why I look good today. Today we have the guest that we were talking about last week we talked about him.
GC:Yes, we did.
David :We said that we had a great artist, a local artist, coming into our studio to talk to us about local art and this guy has done it all Seriously. Yes, he has done theater. He's been a bar, actually been a bartender, surfer, theater, film, video, directing, acting. Did I already say that Musician?
David :Bass player, and now a painter. I can't even talk about how many things this guy's done, right? I've known him for 27 years, 27. Yes, I'm tired just thinking about it, I know. So, without further ado, I've got to say let's give it up for our good friend John or Johann Sebastian the Rustin. Yes, yeah, all right.
John Rushton:Yeah, what an intro. I love that, fuck yeah.
David :That's it. There he is. Yes.
John Rushton:Yeah, do a second take on that.
David :That was fantastic, so it actually was take two. Everybody Sorry about that. Yes, we were rolling for a little bit, realized I hadn't hit record, but I have to say I feel like that was tighter.
John Rushton:We needed to warm up. It was a really nice warm up.
David :I feel like that was really good.
John Rushton:That was really good. Unfortunately, we've got mics and everything now.
David :Unfortunately, John's got to leave in five minutes.
John Rushton:I know right, it was a great, guys. Thanks so much.
David :Thank you so much All right, let's just get into it. Let's get into it Because we have been wanting to have you on for a long time. It's so nice that I'm the first guest.
John Rushton:Is that correct? You are the first. You are the first. Thanks so much. I'm honored.
David :You have broken my, because obviously I mean I screwed up. That's the first time I've screwed up like that. Now we're doing a take two. I'm sweating a little bit now. You know when you get real nervous.
John Rushton:I think you should be.
David :All of a sudden I felt like a drop from my armpit. It just hit my torso. Did you ever have that? I didn't even know, I was nervous and I just felt a drop.
GC:Does John make you nervous?
David :Well, screwing up like that makes me nervous.
GC:Does it? Yeah, I don't like that. I mean, John is probably one of the most laid back people I've met.
David :I don't know why he's super chill in front of you. I know it, it's until later.
John Rushton:Yeah, like waiting until my recordation is gone. He's escalating quickly, though. I mean, we're just going right.
David :I told him I would get him coffee. He ends up getting his own coffee.
GC:He doesn't trust me to get it Now.
David :I understand why.
GC:And then you got, I got peanuts and he doesn't eat peanuts, I know I got him peanuts.
David :Oh, it ain't peanuts though I got him roasted cashews.
John Rushton:Yeah that was very nice, thank you.
David :And then turns out I needed to get a mistake. Well, it's hard, yeah, it's hard to ask somebody to bring in a bowl of meat for you.
GC:You know, it's like you have like a bowl of raw meat.
John Rushton:please Steak tartar or whatever.
David :Oh yeah.
John Rushton:No, I appreciate that, thanks for having me.
David :I got some brown hammer. I actually like cashews very much.
John Rushton:Oh, do you.
GC:Yeah, I'm not sure that she's All right, well, I got a question for you.
John Rushton:Okay, let's try to start this thing, oh sorry, we've already done this one so this is going really well. Yeah, let's try it again. Let's do this. It's only the first few minutes. We're done.
David :John, as we already said, you're an actor, director, singer, musician, done theater film the Voice of the Thunderbirds hockey team at one time, right Now a painter you served. You lived in Virginia Beach. You lived in Huntington Beach, right.
John Rushton:California, california.
David :New.
GC:York.
David :You've been everywhere. You've been to Cannes Film Festival. Yeah, that's fantastic. We'll get to that later, I hope.
John Rushton:Yeah, that'd be great. Yeah, $20 for a cup of coffee, it's a great place, so what I? Got it. Yeah right, yeah, we'll talk about it. I would love to sure Cannes. That was a highlight.
David :So how? I will ask you again how do you bring energy to all these different things that you have done in your life? Because you've done so many different things and you're always hitting them like a boxer at full strength.
John Rushton:Yeah, that's a good analogy because I do work out Boxing, work out a lot.
John Rushton:So, yeah, well, you know, I think it goes back to my just feeling that time's going to run out and I'm not going to do all the stuff that I want to do. And I don't know if it's a fear or anything. I think it's more just a feeling that you know I want to do more. I mean I want to write more books, I want to do more shows, I want to paint more paintings. I just, you know, I wake up every day with that feeling. Don't get me wrong.
John Rushton:It doesn't mean I go out and write a book every day, I'm not saying that but it is just that general feeling of wanting to create every day. I really am very thankful that I have that. You know, it doesn't always bring you a lot of money or anything like that or make you a rich guy. It's more about that feeling that you're never really wasting time. But the other side of that is you really never feel like you have enough time. So I think that kind of especially as you get older, you get kind of that race against time kind of thing.
David :Yeah.
John Rushton:You know, and taking care of your body is really important. I think we touched on that earlier when we were doing the trial run.
David :Well then, why bring it up now? Skip it. Why does the audience need to hear? I know, I just you know I had a trial run.
John Rushton:I mean, even the Bobsled teams do that. So we're, it's an Olympic year.
David :Actually, it's good that we start over anyway, because your mic was so low half the time and then I finally bumped up your level. I couldn't tell that, hey. So look, you're going to be heard now oh good, that's a whole point.
John Rushton:Let's have a guest and we can actually hear. That's always a good. I know Now you guys work together. We did.
David :That's how you so GC and John actually know each other. They did West Side Story.
John Rushton:West Side Story. That's right, gary was a really good actor in that show. One of the Jets, yes, one of the great Jets. A lot of energy, did you?
GC:learn anything from her? I did. What did you learn? I'm not going to say this again, you know. If you're going to say that every time, I'm just going to cut down on the bottom.
David :I'm not going to take the abuse.
GC:I'm not going to take the abuse. I you know what?
John Rushton:Here's the thing.
David :This is. This is this is the table that I provide. This is the roof that I provide. I'm going to talk like a father right now. When you're under my roof. You better yeah.
John Rushton:When you're under my roof.
David :Yeah All right, so anyway did you?
GC:did you learn anything from John? I learned a lot from John. One of the things I take with me and I still apply to my acting is that John told me once you learn the script, get rid of it. And and I never forgot that because he was right because you would make the character your own it's just words on the paper until you put something into it. And so, with John, he just wasn't speaking to me. I think he was speaking to us as a whole group and he said get rid of it.
GC:I never pick it up again and I never have and I never will.
John Rushton:Yeah, I appreciate that. I'm glad it. I think it's important because I think you know you have to have that transference of creative energy. That guy or lady wrote that piece of material and with an intention of all these people doing it hopefully thousands of people, I guess- Sure.
John Rushton:I think that's the kind of story that I want thousands of people to do it. And then you know you take that and you're going to be completely different If I do your part. It's going to be different than you doing your part. It's just, that's just the way it happens. I mean it's going to happen that way, so you take it and make it your own and I think in life that's kind of a cool you know rule, right, it's just like I'm me. You know and hopefully you'll like me for who I am. But this is it. I mean you know, this is who I am. And same thing, you take that up on stage. I mean I'm not sure how he's doing his thing with that material.
John Rushton:I don't want to see that material. Well, I mean, I want to hear the words and songs and stuff like that. But I want to see your interpretation of that. That's what people are paying for.
GC:Yeah, and exactly. And that's how I felt when he you know, told me because initially I wasn't, I don't think I was anything and he moved me to a jet. You know, I don't think I was just filling in for someone and he said, no, I'm going to make you. He pulled me to the side of him and make you a jet. So you have three lines now.
David :Hey, that's featured extra. Huh, that's a featured extra, oh that's right, man.
GC:Oh, I was, you know, and I was glad to get it.
John Rushton:Well, you were in a lot of stuff, though he was dancing your butt off the whole time.
GC:So yeah, Well, yeah he does not, he does not like to dance. I do not like to dance, but I did it for John, because John inspired me, he made me feel like I do it, you know and I'm not now. I am not a stage dancer. I'm not going to do jazz hands Now. I will wear your ass out in the nightclub you know grabbing the girl, you know doing that.
David :That usually does translate very well to musical theater, exactly.
GC:Yeah, you think so.
David :No, exactly.
John Rushton:I don't Well sound of music, maybe, annie, but it's a hard nut like life bitches, yeah bitches, yeah, isn't there actually a rap song with that in it.
David :That's JZ.
GC:Yeah, there you go, so there you go. So it translates. But you know, that's right.
John Rushton:They do have that.
GC:Well, you know that kind of dancing, yes, but gloves, jazz, hands, tap dancing. What about Michael Jackson's glove, the one glove?
David :Yeah.
GC:You're going to call that a jazz hand. It is I did when he did it. His had glitter on his, though, but that's right. The point I'm making is that, John, I didn't feel like an idiot dancing on stage, you know, because we were out there for quite a while. I mean, we did a lot of numbers and you know a lot, yeah, yeah, so it was a good time and it was because John made it that way. It could have been really shitty if you had the wrong person.
John Rushton:But it wasn't. I appreciate that. Yeah, I mean that's one of those shows, that one and I think Brigadine comes to mind because the guys that aren't Scottish background and don't realize that what kilts are just have a really hard time, you know, dancing around on stage and kills and stuff. But once you get into that, that feeling that they belong to that heritage, you know, on stage, it's really takes off and I'm not sure what such stories like that?
GC:Yeah, one of my favorites.
John Rushton:It's a beautiful show.
GC:Yeah, and the stage the way you guys set the staging up, it was amazing. I mean I loved it.
John Rushton:Especially for that small space. Yes, I mean, we didn't have a lot of space.
David :Right? You talking about a West Side Story?
John Rushton:Yes.
David :Yeah, ah, yeah.
John Rushton:I saw it.
David :It was good. It was a very tight space and once you got punched in the face, didn't hear something.
John Rushton:That's what you said, but I don't remember him punching me, yeah.
David :I might have been. I might have been on. I might have been on too much volume at that moment or something.
GC:I don't know.
David :Maybe I had to drug myself.
GC:I don't know why, because I was in it.
David :I enjoy watching you. I enjoy watching you be uncomfortable on stage and dance, so and playing and playing part of a white, white gang, I think.
John Rushton:Tao Tao Wen was helping us with choreography.
David :He did a great job on that.
GC:He did amazing job.
John Rushton:One of his first things, he did a choreography for I think around here, Really, I mean around here. I mean he was young to still in school, but he did a great job.
GC:He did. You did an amazing job it was.
David :yeah, Tao was a great guy.
GC:Well, he's amazing, he does.
David :I think he's got his own channel now where he teaches singing and does all this different stuff? He does like wigs, makeup, singing choreography. So now, I'm just waiting for him to bust out directing.
John Rushton:He's already did direct.
GC:He did direct. He directed rent recently he did yeah, well, is he trying to be?
David :like John. Everyone, everyone tries to be like John. The focus on try yeah, try, try hey, so anyway. So I got a question for you. Do you think all these you've done, all these different art forms you know, and how do you feel like? Do you feel like they converge into one another, like film, video, theater, like, do you find inspiration from the same spot for each one of these, or is there always a different part of you that has to wake up for the different media?
John Rushton:Yeah, I mean, you know, not everybody can do everything. Of course. I mean that's a lot to ask. I think I'm a little unusual and just let me do a little bit of everything. But, um, yeah, art, you know the old saying art imitates life. I think that's real true and I think really good artists and when I say good people, that really connect well to what they're doing, um, no matter what the art form is, you just pour.
John Rushton:And I mean the word for me has always been passion. You know, if you, if you've got passion for what you're doing, um, it will, it will translate into what you're doing. You know, if you're a passionate actor, people will get it. If you're a passionate painter, people will get it. And, like I may have said before, you just kind of got to go for it and then they all connect. Now, as you get older I'm a little older than you guys You'll realize that all of it connects. Okay, there's very. It's right now.
John Rushton:I started out as a painter and now I'm a painter. So I started out all those years ago as a kid and now I'm doing it. And in between, all those things that happened to me going to canvas, I mean they just do. I don't always sit there and think, oh gee, that was when I was doing. No, it's not like that. It's just that everything that happens in your life goes into what you're doing. When I'm on stage now singing rock and roll or whatever and playing bass or whatever I'm doing, it's just like I'm having so much fun, mainly because I've lived all this other stuff and I can really appreciate what I'm doing. Now, if I'm 20 doing that I'm just thinking about, can I make living doing this?
David :Can I do this forever.
John Rushton:You know, can I write my own songs, can I put on an album, whatever? You know you're thinking when you're young, as you get older, you just I'm just having so much damn fun doing that and and I think all of that. And when I write something, I'm, you know, working on a novel right now, when you write a book, all of that stuff goes in there too. You know, the art, the football, the surfing, the, whatever everything goes into what you're doing, and it's, you know, it's, it's joyful to do that, I mean it's, it's really, it's a pleasure to do that. It's hard, don't get me wrong. It's hard work. I'm not saying it's easy to do, but I think as you get older, you appreciate everything a little bit more. But yes, they all connect.
David :Well, so you appreciate it more. But you also said the other day in the, in the pre-interview and and earlier before I hit record, that I know I was going to get busted. Somebody was going to bust my balls on that.
GC:No one's busted my balls.
John Rushton:I got ahead of it, I got ahead of it?
David :No one. That's great. You said that, cause you're saying how they all. You know you've learned to get the joy from them all, and but you also said that one of the best things you've learned is to not give a shit anymore about what people think about you.
John Rushton:Yeah.
David :It? It just what you flattened. Do you find that gives you an edge in your work?
John Rushton:Absolutely, I mean again, it's a weird way to say it, because you certainly care what people think you know, but not really. I mean it gives you that edge of, hey, I'm happy doing what I'm doing, and I don't mean exactly happy every time you walk out the door, but I'm saying I think you know, when you, when you're doing something passionately, you're putting it out there and then, yeah, you walk into an audition now.
John Rushton:Walk into an audition now. It's like I'm gonna do my thing. If you like it, great, if you don't, I don't care. It's not like you know, I'm gonna go first off. I'm not gonna starve if you don't give it to me, probably, and I'm not. When you're young, you walk into an audition, you don't get it, you're just devastated.
John Rushton:I remember that feeling, you know, you just like why? Where did I not wear the right thing? That I'm not practiced enough, that I Not you know what is it? Do I should I lose some weight? All that crap goes to your head, especially when you're in LA. You walking through an audition, you know sag audition or equity audition in LA Like 500 people sitting there look just like you. You know you look around the room, you go. I saw that guy on. You know lawn order. The other night.
John Rushton:I don't see that guy on a movie, whatever you know, you just you can see it like do you get like all freaked out?
David :Oh, you see it when you see Stanley Tucci across from you back then you're like I saw that fucking guy on that B movie. I'm not gonna get this shit. Let's stay in touch.
John Rushton:I mean, when I first went to LA, I would have just like passed out of us, like now I'd go up, I'd be like Stanley, what's up, you know? I mean, and we go to the audition, now let's go and get a drink. I don't. You know what this, that kind of thing. And you know, painting art is very hard. Art is hard because you do it. And then, how big is it? How much do you charge for it? You know where do you get it, what gallery? You know, pete, who's gonna take, I don't care. You know, you have to just kind of paint and you step back and go, I'm good with that. And then somebody buys it. Great, you know. And it's gonna cost us price, and if you don't like it, that's cool. No, that's hard to do In one hand, but on the other hand it's really the only way anything good happens.
David :Yeah, well, you know, I did read, you know, uh, recently, well, no, actually. So to learn how to do interviews, because this is our first.
GC:Yeah, but is it really a interview? We know, john, I mean.
David :I don't know the answer to all these questions. We don't talk every day, and then he'll bring that up all the time that I don't call him enough.
GC:Yeah, you don't. You don't know anyone. Well, you know why you don't call. You don't call me. You know why I gotta.
John Rushton:I did you with the whole pandemic and didn't.
GC:I did, I did.
David :And here's the thing about that story I did I text him several times. You and I was hoping to talk to you, but I wasn't gonna be that guy, so I was trying to text him. I'd have to wait and wait and wait and be like the next day He'd reply I'm like ain't got shit to do as a pandemic.
John Rushton:I took.
GC:I took the hint oh yeah, then here we are. Yeah then, here we are, I'm not my man. No, I'm not talking about him.
David :I think I thought I think I talked to you during the pandemic.
John Rushton:I think so, yeah, we did, we talked a lot. Actually, we had some late nights.
David :I just, I just don't stay up as late as I used to. My job has gotten busier than ever, and then that's a good thing earlier than I've ever gotten up, and then now I have a podcast edit.
John Rushton:So I mean there's a lot, you know, there's a lot going on, you know, I'm just, I just don't, I don't have, I have more of the spoon theory, and you've ever heard of the spoon theory?
David :Where everybody starts out with a certain number of spoons in a day to get projects done, and some people start with more spoons and other people. Well, john's got like 25 spoons, I have like three. So you know I got. I got three things I can get done in the day. Well, after that, my brain's fried, my body is hurting.
John Rushton:I need to figure out.
David :I haven't, you know, and I think I've, I you know I'm gonna bring back Because I realized I need to be more like you too. And I'm gonna bring back cocaine because I'm tired of feeling like this. So I'm just letting you know whence to Salem, all you people who would have a good hookup for some cocaine. Thanks, very much, thanks. Thanks. I will take some cocaine. None of that fentanyl laced Bullshit I want. I want the clean cut from Columbia. Well, let's go back to the spoons.
GC:This is more like this Every minute.
David :That's what I'm here for.
GC:I'm here for those awkward comments. Right, that was awkward, thank you. Thank you. I don't use spoons. I eat with my hands. I'm poor.
David :What that is? Yeah well, those are two big ass spoons Just Just slapping it up, that's what they're doing so well there for a while too. It was what I feel like. I feel like it's still going well. I'm sorry that you guys don't.
John Rushton:I'll try and bring it back. I'll try and bring it back. What's?
David :going on.
John Rushton:Let's talk about some Winston Sam, because John, you guys are doing coke, you know, two days later. So anyway, here's what I think about art.
David :Yeah, exactly, exactly.
John Rushton:What did you think you were getting? Obviously you didn't listen to the show before you came on.
David :Sorry, If you, if you had tuned in if you had any expectations. If you, yeah, if you thought this was gonna be like Joe Rogan experience, I'm sorry, I don't do roids, I don't have the hghm I and I don't have all the experience. That guy's been around forever yeah.
John Rushton:So you're back. You were taking, you took a course on how to do an interview.
David :Uh, yeah, no, yeah, I did so. Yeah, I was listening to. Uh, I don't remember what I was gonna say about that, though I, but I prepared for the interview. Did it start with push record?
John Rushton:Or did you pass that one and go right to pass chapter two?
David :I'm glad you brought that up because you see in in, uh in professional interviews they usually have a sound guy. They write exactly Uh in this one I'm the interviewer, the director, the sound guy.
GC:The light guy, the lighting guy the camera guy.
David :It's your play, and so the grip, and so the grip and apparently I didn't grip hard enough you did it's fantastic.
John Rushton:So, and we sound good, right, we sound good. Yeah, I think we sound fantastic.
David :Um, so you, when did you get to win? So I know you started Virginia Beach. Uh, yeah, portsmouth. Portsmouth you grew up like Mark Ruffalo the surfing that's right. Ruffalo's from the same spot, yep.
John Rushton:Is it really? Yeah, I didn't know that.
David :Yeah, um, and a surfer too. So did you know, mark?
John Rushton:I did not know him then, no, and he's not as good a surfer as I was so do you know now no, oh Gotcha. Well, I thought you were talking about them. No, I don't. Well, I would like to know.
David :I might think we'd get along really well, but when did you hit Winston sound first? What year was it?
John Rushton:I actually came here to do a dinner theater production of Oklahoma in 83. I think it was 83 man.
David :That was the year I moved down here. I know I never heard of.
John Rushton:well, that's not true. I'd heard of Winston said I've never really been here before and the director of that show was from here and, um, I was doing a Camelot on the coast Dinner theater there and she was like I'm gonna do, you know, oklahoma, I love you to come and audition for curly Winston Sam, north Carolina. I was like you know, of course, oh, that's where Wake Forest is right, you know right. And I think Brian, the Brian song was real popular and I saw you know.
John Rushton:I'm coming a little bit, but I actually hadn't been here and so I came and loved it.
David :Yeah, just really loved it here.
John Rushton:Really.
GC:Yeah, when it was it was tobacco town back then. Yeah, you could smell the sweet tobacco.
John Rushton:It was great. I mean not just the tobacco, but it was a really cool place. Everybody was, yeah, reynolds was going great and they were supporting arts and arts were fantastic everywhere you went. Really, arts, arts, arts, arts in the school was fantastic. It was yeah, it was a really cool time.
David :Dang man. So that was. That was a long time ago, you know, actually, and this is a true story. So I what? I don't remember what year was I'm, but we once talked about I might have seen you when I was a kid in Boy Scouts, but I can't remember what year, but I went down to the coast to watch the Outer Banks, the Lost Colony.
John Rushton:Which is one of the coolest shows when you're a kid, I don't think it's be cool.
David :I always wanted to be in that show when. I saw it, I was like I want to be in that show and one I want to play in Indian. You can't say Indian now, but they were Indians in the show. Okay, so that I wanted to play in Indian, but now I would like to play one of the indigenous people that runs through the show, and it was scary man. They would come at you like out of nowhere they're running full speed tomahawks Really take, taking down the colonists man.
John Rushton:I mean it's some violent shit. Yeah, they've unfortunately scaled it back.
David :It used to be about 150 people in the show it was one of the coolest damn things as a kid, this might have been one of the first Times that I knew that I wanted to be on stage as an actor. I always wanted to be a singer before that, but this was the first time it turns out. Mr Johann Sebastian Bachrushed in Was sir Walter Raleigh in the show.
John Rushton:I was a Simon Fernando, though.
David :Oh sir, yeah, that's right.
John Rushton:Yeah, all right, that's a bad guy which was great because I got the word, this black stuff. What you don't realize is they they're really into authenticity there, which is fantastic. So you're, it's none of these six degrees outside and you're wearing velvet back with muslin, these you know. Cape I had this long cape.
David :What was the smell like after like five days thigh?
John Rushton:high boots, leather boots, thigh high look awesome. But yeah, you would just like you lose like 10 pounds of show. Yeah and I came out from the side. Remember the side interest is about half the audience in front of me. I had this big blunder bust. That was real. I mean, it didn't shoot a bullet out of it, but we really put black powder in it. They loaded it and everything for me. I mean, that thing went off, it sounded like a shotgun and, you know, half the the audience had a heart attack.
David :Dude. This is what one of them was me one one of them was a 10 year old kid.
John Rushton:Who pissed his pants? I always wondered. I was like God, they should have warned them.
David :Dude they have the, they have the boat in the harbor right.
David :So you're watching it on the coast and the boat is in the harbor and when the boat is leaving for the colonists to go, they moved the boat out of the harbor, so you see the boat leaving. It is one of it's cool, the coolest shows I've ever seen. I'm sad that they scale it back because I feel like with less actors and I'm sure they just got tired of paying people. They they couldn't keep up with inflation. But, man, that was one of the coolest experiences. And to think when I met you years later I'm like, dude, I saw that show, probably there in the audience?
John Rushton:Probably there in the audience when we were playing it. Man.
GC:And uh, and that funny how things work out like that.
John Rushton:I know a lot of synchronicities the world is very small and when you're in the acting, any kind of you know, drama or any, any acting or painting or any of the arts world, you'd be surprised how small it is.
David :You're one of the people, oh yeah, man, I run Stanley tucci all the time.
John Rushton:Yeah, it's a I mean you literally run into it. I'm like talk to it. I mean just run into it, which is weird. I was wondering why you put a hat on Stanley.
David :You're blinding me. I couldn't see you coming. I just got. You know my eyes went.
GC:He's bald isn't Stanley doing cooking shows now?
David :Yeah, yeah, he's like Italian.
GC:I thought he was a great actor.
David :He's. He's always been one of my favorite actors.
John Rushton:I'm not. Oh yeah, he's great, he's very versatile. Yeah, he's very versatile. He plays, he's plays slimy Uh what is that dance movie?
David :that he did with Richard gear. Where I like the, they put the teeth in. I was like Jennifer Lopez Richard gear, dance with me, or something.
John Rushton:Oh yeah, I forgot about that.
David :I mean, he's been in so many things, man, I thought he was great.
John Rushton:He's pelican brief. Yeah, he's evil and he's great.
David :Yeah, and then what was he in that movie, tom hanks, where he plays the guy stuck in the airport and he's the airport security?
John Rushton:guy Devil war's private.
David :He's fantastic yeah then he, yeah, all of a sudden, then he's like a protagonist, or at least you know good guy, good guy, good guy.
John Rushton:Yeah, I met his wife doing that. I mean, I met his wife on that side.
GC:Well, you know, it's dust off almost like uh, what's your guy named Richard Jenkins, Mm-hmm the tall, bald guy, and that is named which one?
John Rushton:Yeah, six feet under, yeah, six feet under, everywhere I know and he's great.
GC:I mean character actors.
David :Yeah, that's what he is. He's one of the best I think I would. I would rather be. You know, I always got cast For a while as the romantic lead and I thought that was great. I did for a while there. I had a string of romantic leads and I was like man, this is just going so well, this is so fun, I'm gonna play all the best roles. But man, you miss out when you don't get to play the character actor. Like that's really some of the fun.
John Rushton:Yeah, no, I'm serious man and the character actors are going god if I could just be.
GC:That's what we're talking about.
David :I know.
John Rushton:That's the way life is right. I could just be that guy, yeah, but isn't it?
David :but. But I mean let's. You've been the romantic lead how many times in a life man? It, you gotta admit like yeah, it's great because you get the best songs. You probably get the biggest applause at the end, as long as you don't bomb the role. Um, but some of the parts you like you don't always get the funniest lines. You don't always get to really play anything different, you're just trying to emote, like usually it's the straight guy.
David :It's like uh, I don't know it. It's like dean and uh, uh, martin and uh jerry lewis right.
John Rushton:Well, classic examples is guys and dolls, because the leads are really kind of not boring, but I mean.
David :They got some nice song.
John Rushton:It's some nice songs and stuff and sky master son. I played that part before. It's a cool part but you know Nathan is, you know, way better part to play. Yeah and so is adelaide. I mean, you know the.
David :Which wasn't frank, like mad about not being sky, I think he was yeah, but he just, he was so much better.
John Rushton:I mean it was weird to see brando in a musical, but he actually did a great. I thought he did a great job.
David :You know it's like oh, how does it? What's that song? I never.
John Rushton:Oh, they talk about marlon brando. Yeah, marlon brando played the lead in the movie and, uh, frank sinatra played.
David :Would he consider the lesser part? But yeah, but it was the better part, better part by far it is a better part. There are certain sometimes where the lead is not the lead.
GC:Exactly. Well see, I didn't grow up watching that, grow up watching superfly.
David :We'll see the first, so the first. Well, you weren't allowed to watch anything else but superfly.
John Rushton:Just over, and over again. Yeah, Shaft.
David :Bad mother.
John Rushton:I was just talking about shaft, yeah.
David :Well, we can dig it.
John Rushton:Yeah.
David :When I so the first show I was in was anything goes. Well, it was the second show I was in. It was in cinderella, but I just was a dancer you in cinderella?
GC:I was in cinderella. Were you okay? Were you there? A romantic lead and Cinderella, oh god no.
David :No, I was a freshman in high school. Oh, I was tame and I didn't know anybody, but I did, so I got to play moon face, martin moon face.
John Rushton:You played that role. I played that role to little theater Love that role is way better than lead I cannot remember billy billy, something. I can't remember the last name, but billy face.
David :If you play it right, you only sing one song. It's a trash song. It's not even good, does it fantastic? Yeah, you like the blue boy with with every one liner that you come out with, the audience is pissing themselves. I come out like I didn't even know what I was doing, man, literally, because I didn't know what I was doing is why I did a good job.
John Rushton:Right because moon face.
David :Martin never knows that he said something funny. Well, I didn't either, because I didn't read the whole script. They told me to memorize my lines. I did. I didn't memorize anybody else's. And so you didn't put anything into it, dude I didn't even read the scenes, I just highlighted my lines and I would just go off the queue. So if somebody would miss their queue, we're lost man.
John Rushton:You screwed, oh, we're screwed this is the.
David :This is the acting what not to do in acting. But because I didn't know what I was saying, I come out and I'll send the audience jumps out of their seat. That's when I got hooked, because I was like holy crap, they liked me. Now, here's the problem. They liked me for all the wrong reasons. Like they liked, I did a great job. I'm gonna admit I did a great job only because I was funny, but funny is good. But the technique was the way I got there.
John Rushton:But they don't know that that's part of my audience. Yeah, that's right. The problem is, is I?
David :didn't figure out that that was the wrong way to do it until, like the pandemic, when I had a lot of time to reflect what which was 20 years later?
John Rushton:I had one of the best moments. I've had, some, you know, just great moments on stage, but one of the ones one of my that I always remember was doing that part at the little theater and you know the part where they're in jail. So then the jail cell, billy's in there with me and then the girl comes in and talks to Billy, and then she leaves the jail cell, closes the door and goes off, and then there's a little scene between Billy and Moonface, you know.
John Rushton:So she goes, the girl goes out, closes the door and it was wooden and it hits, but it opens back up. The audience is seeing all this right and then Billy has this line and Moonface's next line is but how are we gonna get out of here? So I go over and say my line as I'm closing the door on our own jail cell, but how are we gonna get out of?
John Rushton:here and I pull it closed. The audience went insane. I mean, they laughed for like two minutes I mean, and I'm up there and I just look at the audience and look back. You know, look at the audience, look back.
John Rushton:It was that long you know, and it just happened to be the night there used to be a guy named Jim Scherzer who was the theater critic in Winston Salem and everybody called him the Prince of Darkness. He was like a New York theater critic. I mean, if he didn't like you, he just told you you know, gary sucked in this role, blah, blah, blah. I mean it was awful, you know. So people would wait. We used to go down Friday night. We used to have a late paper here. It was a Winston Salem journal on the Sun.
John Rushton:So I think the Sun was the late one.
David :Yes, you're late.
John Rushton:So we'd wait till that came out and you know his review would be in there. Just like New York, like Friday night, all the little theater, people would go downtown and try to get the thing. You know, and Jim Scherzer gave me the best review, and mainly it was because of that stupid little thing. But it was just a matter of timing. If I were to closed it first and then said the line. But I mean, if I wouldn't have closed it first and then said the line, but I closed it, but how are we gonna get out of here? And that you know, is this one of those things.
David :That's one of those like rare moments and then of course you're like maybe we should do that every night, but you don't, you can't ever do it again. I mean it never works.
John Rushton:the second time it just not the way it works. It really doesn't, doesn't.
David :No, you can have a great spontaneous moment. You try and recreate it. It's almost.
John Rushton:it has to come out of that spontaneity and it's worse, it's terrible if somebody tells you that you know, oh God you were so good on your day Because I was doing a little theater show called Tea and Symphony and I had to play this part and I just got this bad news and it had sunk down on this like sofa, went through, did the show. The stage matter came in the way you sunk down tonight.
John Rushton:Oh so good. You just took the right amount of time. It was a little slower than it was before. I thought about that every night and then it just sucked from that point on. Every night I looked like what the hell's wrong with you? Why don't you just sit down?
David :I think the same thing happened in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. They were like I love how you know you're just the right amount of drunk. You know you really. You're growing every night. I see you really taking by the last day, man. I would take. Like there's a moment where Brick is by himself and I walk over to like get a drink or something. There's a record player and I put on a record and for some damn reason I decided I'm so drunk I got to lay down on the record player.
David :So I got up I'm thinking I'm having my Brando moment. Man Like, wow man, this guy he's into it, yeah. And they were like David, you went way too far.
John Rushton:Don't ever do that again. Like come on man yeah exactly.
David :Don't tell me I'm great. And then, yeah, it was probably a bad choice, but in the moment it felt right because I've been drinking so much tea, which isn't alcohol, but you know you're drinking tea to make it look like a drink.
GC:Isn't that what acting's about anyway? Yeah, but it's being present on stage.
David :You are supposed to go by what the director sets. Ah, fuck it. Well, wait until you're Broadway and you just say fuck it.
GC:Yeah, They'll be like oh, fire.
John Rushton:Yeah, gary hasn't worked in five years.
David :He had such promise such promise.
John Rushton:What happened to him? He said fuck it.
GC:He said fuck it he said fuck it, I do what I want.
John Rushton:No, I mean, there's never a right or wrong, by the way. When you do something, it's just better?
David :Is it a better choice? But do you think that's actually? I'm giving you a real question here.
John Rushton:Do you?
David :really, we always say that there are no wrong choices. I think there's to a degree right, but there are some absolute wrong choices.
John Rushton:Well, if I decided to just take my clothes off all of a sudden Take a gun out and shoot someone that you were supposed to. I mean, that's not good. We always say that.
David :So there's a parameter on which you're set, so what do you think that parameter is Like? There are no wrong choices within what Well?
John Rushton:within what you're supposed to do. Like you said, you were supposed to put on a record right.
John Rushton:I mean that's the direction Brick goes over, puts the record on, sits in the chair or whatever, and you decide at that moment. I don't know. I think Brick tonight would just lay on the record. It could have been my acting teacher, nina Foggs, up out in LA, wonderful person in all kinds of movies all through the 50s and 60s. She was. I mean, she was tough but she always said make the brave choice. That was her rule. It's not necessarily the good choice, it was make the brave choice and that was a brave choice. What you did, because you thought you know, I don't know, I just feel like Brick would do this.
John Rushton:Yeah the director may come up and say never do that again. It might not have worked, but it's still brave to go with it in that moment. Now you can't take if you take the record out and throw it against the wall or throw it at one of the other characters or something, that's wrong, because you know what I'm saying, that's different.
David :Yeah, yeah, yeah, but you're going to-. I just wanted to clarify that for the listeners, cause sometimes people are like no wrong choices, come on, of course they're wrong choices, but to me the genius of the whole thing.
GC:if you're working into parameters of the script, you know the directions, then you use your ability, your ability to navigate that and give yourself. You know you're into it and you're giving the audience what they want. That's the genius of acting to me. Yeah, because if you felt like taking that record, if you were in the mood at that time and you really feeling this guy, the character you're playing, I mean, and if you want to take the, not throw it in the audience, but you're working within the script, within the script, yeah, that to me is the genius of acting. If you could do that.
David :I don't. I don't feel that night. I've never had a genius acting moment Like I don't. I mean, I've had things that I'm more proud of than others, but I don't know if it's some sort of insecurity thing, cause you've always built me up Whenever we worked together, even when I was fucking up like you were, you were my first acting coach?
John Rushton:I hope so. It's one of my favorite things to do is make people believe in themselves. Well, that was the thing it worked for me.
David :That's the thing, though. You are kind to everybody. So then there's like is he just saying that?
John Rushton:No, you know I won't. You've worked on it. You know I won't let you do something.
David :Yeah, now, now but I don't feel like I'm ever. I don't know what I'm trying to say here. It's not insecurity, Maybe it's just an actor thing where you never feel like you're quite good at that. Maybe if I ever think that I'm cause I'm not. I mean, look, there are some people that like me, they want to see me on stage, and then other people like, oh fuck, david, you're on again, are you serious?
GC:But here's the thing. I'm sure that John taught you that, he taught me when I worked with him. You know, when I walk in I feel like I own the room. Oh, I've never.
David :I don't feel like that.
GC:I feel because, as John told me, that John told me when I walk in, if, after I get the part after the audition they want and you know what this is, david it's if they pick you for this part. I mean they saw something in you. So I remember what John told me. Besides the other jewels he gave me, I had like you on the room. So when I walk in, it's my stage.
David :What's that I?
GC:can do that, but that, if I do that, I have done it.
David :Yeah, you've done it, but that's but most of the time I'm a wallflower, like if I'm walking in, like I'm on in the room, that's cause I'm playing a part. I mean, I'm literally like if it's an audition, I'm playing a part, and that's always been the way it is, and so I'm going to bring up something off of that topic. This is how I do so this is how I do.
John Rushton:I lead it in. This is how I roll. This is how I roll.
David :So charisma. Talking about you, I've always said like and anything that you've ever heard that I've said about you, no matter who you've heard from, they'll all say the same thing. Because I say this about him, I said that is one of the most charismatic men I've ever met in my life. Like he does, walk into the room, everyone wants to say hi, everybody wants to shake your hand and I think it's that quality. And you. Winston Salem at one time was known as a film town because LA was bringing a lot of stuff here. They were shooting stuff here. Now we all know Things changed. Tax tax laws were changed and that all went away. After that went away, went to Georgia, produced and starred in a movie here in Winston Salem. You brought it here and actually at one time I think you were in talks with Christopher Walken. I know that didn't work out, but I mean we had said you had some big stars there. So yeah, and the movie was called Iborgs. Right, done about what? 15 years ago.
John Rushton:Yeah, I think we finally came out like 2008 Right starring.
David :Adrian Paul, one of my favorites from Highlander, highlander they can be only one.
John Rushton:He was the fantastic guy. Danny trail was in Danny trail was in it and we get to hang with him for three days, I guess right now.
David :I guess you could say he's the most recognizable of all the stars, I suppose I mean. Adrian's pretty big and you're pretty big, but I mean he's been on everything he was in the the Harley Harley show.
John Rushton:Yeah, yeah, he's been in all, yeah, and then he did the whole hatchet stuff and he does all of. Rodriguez's stuff. Anything that Richard Rodriguez does, rubber excuse me yeah he's in all of those movies.
David :But so how did you get this to happen? Because it was with Crimson Wolf Mm-hmm production company, your production company. You're with Richard Claypaw, richard and Fran, yeah and it's just.
John Rushton:You know it's interesting Because we started talking about how one thing leads to another thing leads to another thing. Okay, so I'll make this quick, but you know, I'm out directing in in Lewisville at Westside Civic Theater, and there's this real. I think we were doing Camelot no, before Camelot, it doesn't matter, we're doing this show and I noticed this really kind of unusual looking guy just sitting out in the where the audience would be Just kind of looking, you know, just really almost like a homeless guy, because he always had this intense look you know, and so he eventually came over and talked to me and his daughter was in the show and it was Richard, and Richard was saying you know, I'm in a Richard Clay, but anyway, he introduced himself and said I just love the way you take nothing and make something out of it.
John Rushton:You just put these shows together you're taking something from nothing.
John Rushton:Something from nothing, you know and you're incredible the way you just take these people, put these shows together in this park. And you know I've been thinking about getting I know you've got a movie background too and he said I've been thinking about getting a production company together and making movies. That's what, that's my dream, and I think you're the kind of guy I'm looking for. You know, I really want to make it happen kind of guy because I'm just like this, really super talent, and Richard is super talented cinematographer, producer himself, and and and director, and he really wanted to just do that. So we just started talking about it, and so the theater world led me once again back into, you know, the film world and we created Winston I'm crimson wolf there and Lewisville, and then they wrote the script for iBorgs and just kind of went from there. We start again with nothing and raised all that money and, you know, got all those people together and it was.
John Rushton:He shut down some streets for a while, didn't you like yeah, I guess I had like total total Collaboration with the city for a while to get that Well, I mean, I think yeah, the city was great, the film commission here was great, everybody was really cool about it. The mayor was cool. But you still have to get you know, you can't just blow over car, no, the street.
David :We did which. We did it like two o'clock in the morning.
John Rushton:You know you have to have the fire department there, yeah, police department there, and you know you get permits and do all those sort of things.
David :But you can still see that on the sci-fi channel, right?
John Rushton:Yeah, I saw a sony bought it. So when he's, you know wherever sony has their stuff. I think it's been on sci-fi channel. I think it's on Netflix. It's been on there, it's been on most of the yes, everybody should check it out. You could kill, yeah I mean I supposed to tell people?
GC:Let's talk about your. I want to talk about your death scene.
John Rushton:What is? It like to die, and over and over and over, like I'm recording is it a little weird to see yourself dead on on film? It is. The kids hated it, especially my youngest, just care, did not like seeing me. You know little guy, but you know it ended up being pretty cool. You know she's a little older, it's not so bad.
David :But I was just like play that scene again.
John Rushton:Oh See, dad, now it's like yeah thank God I can just watch it die every night.
David :Yeah, no, so that was that. I mean that's awesome, though they usually got. I mean, cuz you were, you were spearheading that thing. I remember when you were, you and Richard were working, I was not cast in it.
GC:Well, did you guys know each other at the time? Oh yeah, oh, that was on purpose then. Yeah, it was on purpose. Yeah, pretty much I.
John Rushton:I almost.
David :I almost had the. I almost wrote the, the title song. No, it was awesome, but the problem was somebody else, a friend of mine, chrissy Johnson.
GC:She had her own band, yeah and I didn't know that I was competing to get the title song. So what if John ever told you you were competing for the? Did he said? He said no, you know.
David :I know exactly where I was, I know exactly what happened. So he calls me up late at night and he's like hey, dude, I got a great. Okay, man, well, how about you write a? You know, I'd like to like give you a chance, man and Lee, you could write like a title. We're looking. I'm like what, are you serious? It's like, yeah, I was like. You know, I don't really write music for that sort of thing, right? Okay? So my ass stays up for like two days straight. Whoa, I'm not kidding, I was excited, man, I wrote these great lyrics. I still got the lyrics. Here's the thing. I didn't have a band. So I'm, I'm calling people. I'm like, hey, man, I need to get a studio, I need to get you on guitar.
David :Everybody's like well, you know, I'm like $500 an hour and there were a couple of people that I that you know that I'd contacted and so I didn't. I couldn't pitch the sound right. I had to come in with the lyrics. I had to kind of like sing it myself and say like and the guitar's gonna be like a while, like and I'm, like you know, doing and it was like a day later. It's like yeah.
David :I'm sorry man, we're going with that Chrissy Johnson's band because they already recorded it Like they're already done. I'm like wait what.
GC:I didn't know I was competing.
John Rushton:It was that cold, but it was cold, you let me down easy.
David :But I didn't know.
GC:I was. Well, that's John.
David :I didn't know, I was competing until that moment that I lost it and I was like but I got it.
GC:But I got this so you thought you already had it.
David :Yeah, well, I'm feeling like now the Sony owns it, I can contact Sony and say, hey, you want to put mine on the. Dvd.
John Rushton:I think I think you should.
David :that'd be great yeah on this, the soundtrack be be sound track that you sell afterward.
John Rushton:Eight days a week, and then this one's on the other side.
David :Yeah, I just want to be on the B side.
John Rushton:Can I just see that can actually.
David :Can you just make me the hidden track 30 seconds after the last track? He makes it sound like he's on the corner selling apples or something I am not a songwriter, really by trade, and I I have to say I think you put your heart.
GC:I did actually to it the.
David :The lyrics are freaking awesome for that, but they were lyrics like designed for that.
GC:Yeah, for I've worked for.
John Rushton:I've worked, so I can't really use it for anything. I forgot the lent. Yeah, so on the list. Cold-hearted producer. Honestly, yeah, I'm like to get you to write it was a producer with a heart who just didn't tell me my timetable.
David :You didn't tell me there's somebody more talented with abandoned recording studio that I was going up against.
John Rushton:But that's okay, because. I probably never would have gotten it in my own defense that producing a movie is probably one of the hardest things.
David :Oh, I bet you're stressed out. Yeah, you have no clue.
John Rushton:You know, you see that there's a reason they get to accept the best picture Oscar. You don't see the producer at all. And then, best picture, that's the producer. It goes up there because he's the one that, like people, were calling at four o'clock in the morning Screaming and yelling and we had half the people involved. You know we're now lay, we're making it here. You know they call you three o'clock in the morning. You know it's only midnight there right, they're just fine with that.
John Rushton:You know, there's no big deal, you know and then you got to be on the set at 6 am, so it's like you don't even I mean you don't even sleep.
David :Well, I would do it again Maybe, but that's true, you don't sleep anyway. Yep, you actually. You were always energetic when I saw you, I come see it. You showed me an early screening, early cut. Yeah, it was really exciting. Man went into his office and I think Richard Richard was there and you're like, yeah, man, you want to see it. Well, the music, you know it doesn't have all the sound, doesn't have everything done. It was pretty cool.
John Rushton:It was so it's not a big screen.
David :You had a big screen, the office big screen. Yeah, it was very exciting, which, back then, I mean, come on man, you know, back then you didn't have screens that big, I mean now we all see screens and everybody's house. But back then I was like yeah, it's like the whole wall.
John Rushton:Yeah, we were building that office, we got, we got that screen built the day before the Super Bowl, so we put the dude, you had to be done by the Super Bowl. Yeah, that's right, I mean there was, like I don't think there was any paneling on the walls but we had that screen.
David :Yeah, what's nice, that is nice, all right. So so see, you done the film now. You've done that, you've done the, you've been in theater for your forever and I think you wanted to ask let's go, I do and I want your honest input on this now.
GC:How do you feel Today? Yeah the theater community is, is it thriving? How do you feel Direction is going? What do you feel it's?
John Rushton:you mean in general?
GC:in general here. Oh, I think it was to sell them.
John Rushton:Okay, I'm gonna sell well, I think Winston-Salem is kind of a dichotomy of what's going on everywhere. Um, I think, theaters it's a rough time for theater in one way.
David :Here's a good thing.
John Rushton:The digital age, you know it's kind of taken over and I think live theater is becoming really cool again, just like albums. You notice people were in the vinyl. Now all it's all coming back people. I mean, you know you can only get so much downloading crap and then you don't have, you don't touch anything, you don't feel a relationship with it and really what we're talking about tonight, well, it's all about relationships.
GC:Mm-hmm.
John Rushton:You know, just like relationships in your own life, you know you have a relationship with what you do, especially in the arts. It's a real relationship kind of thing. And I think I think community theater around here is doing great. I think some of the people I know and the individuals that are doing community theater, it's really really good. I mean it's driving in a different way Maybe than it did before, but I think you know shows are doing good. I mean I think if you talk to To Jamie and them over the Winston theater lines, they probably tell you they're doing really well financially. I haven't talked to them about that, but I think you know they're doing good. All the people I talked to now professionally, you know we're taking a lot of hits tried stage closing.
John Rushton:Yes it was a big deal. Any of the professional theaters in the region are doing Dismarkably not that great, you know from what I hear. So I think that's that's unusual for me, that one's working and the other's not right. Community theater I've always thought it's one of the greatest things ever. I don't know if David told you one time I had a. I was lucky enough to eat dinner with James Earl Jones and his wife and Washington DC. A little table to. That's probably one of those nights that went into it a little nervous, you know, because it's sure Dars Vader.
GC:Yes, the voice.
John Rushton:Of course he is probably top five nicest guys I've ever met, oh, anywhere. And I, the cool saying remember from that whole dinner all the stuff we talked about was we were talking about life, you know community theater and went and say I'm especially that was when I was doing the outdoor shows and in Louisville and he just thought that was the coolest thing you never heard about. You mean, you do Outdoor theater and it's sponsored by the town parks and rec department and people can come for free, bring picnics.
John Rushton:He said that's, that's the future, you know. Community theater of life theater.
GC:So and so you think the professional aspect of acting fell off because of money, or you know, like like tri stage you know, they closed their doors Right for the soul, because they didn't cast me in one of their damn plays. So fuck them.
John Rushton:Yeah, so you see this is going right. Sugar-coated Gary, come right out with it, yeah.
GC:So you, what do you think is why is there such a gap, john, between People are going back into live theater, community theater, and the professional you know aspect of it is not thriving. Is it because of big budgets or salaries, or I think so. I think why is there such a gap?
John Rushton:Yeah, I think partly. I mean, you know you do a show where you have to pay equity wages to everybody, and so your first thought is let's only have three equity people in it, because if we have 20 that's a lot of money. So the first thing you do if you're trying stage is you get a couple of people from New York and then the rest of the case you cast locally or somewhere, so yeah, that's part of it, and then I think it's just you have to have a, an area that supports that.
John Rushton:I mean, people have to get in the car, go to the tried stage. There's a lot to it and, quite frankly, I thought some of the professional theaters throughout the years were a little snobby about the way they did theater locally. The Shakespeare Festival was great in the old days. The old director there was fantastic. And then they got another director. He was a little different. One director wants to reach out and supports the community and the next director doesn't want to. They want to be like oh no, we're New York.
John Rushton:We can't lend you a throne. We don't do that. Got any Pedro? That was there Anytime I called him it was like John, yeah, sure, I'll be glad to help you guys, because he saw it that the community supports what he does. If I support the community theaters around here, they're gonna support their people, are gonna support me when I do whatever with the Shakespeare. Shakespeare is hard to do, it's expensive. The next guy comes in doesn't feel that way. So that has a lot to do with it. I think cost. I think the cost of doing shows. I think the desire to do those kind of cool shows where people get naked or pee on stage or something. It's a little. Let's do Sam Shepard instead of Oklahoma, which I get that you want to see that too, but your audience lessons. So that's why you see like the opera company every once in a while, do South Pacific. I mean it's gorgeous singing and it's a well-known Broadway show.
John Rushton:So it works for everybody. Piedmont Opera does South Pacific. It's all out.
GC:Let me ask you a question, the one last question I'm gonna turn to later. I'm gonna sell out everything you lived in New York. Is that right? Yeah, and I'm a New Yorker, okay, so do you ever see? And Winston Selam is supposed to be the city of the arts, right?
David :I mean, that's the tagline for the city.
GC:Do you ever see them like? Maybe they'd be like New York as far as your theater and Broadway off-Broadway not necessarily that, because they have a long history but do you ever see it getting to the place where you have a theater on every other block downtown, on Tray Street. Then you go to Sixth Street and you have a theater there. Do you see that?
John Rushton:foresee that. I mean I'd love to say yes. I think that's really hard to do in any city. I mean Atlanta's not even like that. So Winston used to have Reynolds and Haynes and all those wonderful people sponsoring our town and a lot of that stuff moved out. So it would be great if those type of people were to get involved again, because that corporate money is real important.
David :There is a lot of money in Winston that does not seem to go very far to the arts.
John Rushton:I agree, and the Arts District downtown is cool. I used to have a gallery down there and the Arts for Arts Stake Building Associated Artists. This is a really great arts groups downtown for Friday and those people and they're doing these really cool things very active and it's just different. I mean, I sell art here too, and it's a tough place Now in the art world. Unfortunately, around here people want something for $200 that in New York would sell for $2,000. I mean that's understandable, but at the same time it's the same piece of art.
John Rushton:Right right, I mean it is. So yeah, I think what David said you gotta get behind. The people here have to want it to be the city of the arts. It's not good enough just to call it that. You can call it the city of Led Zeppelin, but if they're not here, it's not real. If the arts are not here and not supported, it's not enough just to call it that, and I agree with both of y'all.
David :now, yeah, well, I think that name when I looked it up, because it always confused me and it started with the Moravians because they were so good at pottery and woodwork.
GC:Is that where that come from?
David :Originally. Yeah, I think that's where it's from. But, I mean, the moniker is not, that's not what it means today, that's not what people think of today. That might be how it started, but they've kept the name, they've kept the yes where the city of the arts, and I think they used to have I mean, it's the oldest, is it just the Southeast? Anyway, the little theater of Winston-Salem is the oldest continuously running.
John Rushton:And in the country and they lost funding.
David :Charlie Babcock Jr died and they lost that endowment. I never really made up for that. And then the arts council went through a weird phase.
GC:Oh, Haynes was a big contributor to Haynes was big.
John Rushton:Yeah, Haynes.
David :Yeah, so you lose all these big, big endowments. And then the arts council kind of made it hard for the little theater to thrive. And it got rid of the arts council theater, which I'll never get over. That.
GC:I have always been up about that. I loved that place.
David :It's got history and now it's a church. It just I can't tell you how I can't even talk about it.
GC:You know what? Can I just say one thing about it before we move on. Yeah, you felt like a professional actor when you went in that place Because you felt like you know, you had a dressing room, you had that stage and that atmosphere and all the people who went before you. Yeah, you had the costume shop downstairs.
David :You had the scene shop in the back Right behind the back and it was just amazing.
John Rushton:It was. It was really well run, I think. Don't get me wrong.
David :I think Phillip Powell's doing a great job with oh, absolutely, Joel is there, and then he's the artistic director and Joel is the executive, but they're taking over after it's already done.
GC:Yeah right, you know what I mean.
David :The dirt has been done over the years and it was a lot of. It was a lot of just from what I understand. I can't sit here and act like I can talk too intelligently on it because I wasn't in on the meetings. I wasn't in the room where it happens.
John Rushton:I didn't see the sausage get made.
David :I just tasted the sausage after it was burnt and I was like wait, that's burnt sausage.
GC:And then but you, david, you felt John, you guys know what I'm talking about you felt that you were varsity.
David :When you went there there's a distinct difference.
GC:There was JV and there was varsity. And when you went to the Little Theater. You, I'm varsity.
John Rushton:I know, when I first moved in the 80s the Little Theater did they brought in directors from New York and so they had this little apartment, kind of like this. They had a townhouse right near, right around the corner from the Old Little Theater and they would bring these guys in from New York and girls to direct shows. So you would go up there and maybe do three shows in a row at the Little Theater.
John Rushton:But you'd have a different feel. You know, some guy would come in or some woman would come in and direct a show. Never been here before. New York mentality Sometimes it worked great, Sometimes it didn't work that great. Most of the time, though, it worked pretty good.
David :It would definitely keep you on your A-game though and keep you from getting into that rut where it's just like you get a favorite you know so directors will always get a favorite. And then I mean, yeah, I probably benefited that from that for a little while because there was always the same director. So I would go into the audition and they'd be like, well, he sucked in the audition.
GC:But I'll tell you what that guy can deliver in the end, that's right.
David :You know, and that look that that sounds like a funny joke but I'm not actually kidding. I am one of the worst auditioners. I freeze up like a deer in headlights. You know you gotta give me. If I only have one shot, I can waste my shot you know, pretty. You know, I can't.
John Rushton:No, you're good on stage. I mean, I know what you mean.
David :Once I get into it, but going in cold, especially because sometimes I was asked to audition for something like last minute, like hey, will you go audition for this? I'm like, yeah sure, I don't know it. I don't even know what the show's about. They're handing me a side. I don't know anything, which is not the way to go into an audition no, everybody knows that you should read the whole thing, yeah, and I benefited, because sometimes I were now.
David :But the bad part is is that you're not meeting the new people, You're not getting the new experiences and sometimes you don't get the fair shot. You know, Because sometimes, yeah, somebody's just a favorite and somebody really loves this person.
GC:Well, I wouldn't know anything about that. You know A bad favor, no.
David :I was always a fart huh.
GC:What are you talking about? No director ever looked at me and said well, You've been acting for like what?
David :two years? Yeah, it's like.
John Rushton:I don't know.
David :I don't know, it's like five years, you're more successful than I was in 20 years.
GC:What are you talking about? That's bullshit.
David :I'm talking about what, what, what? Look at your IMDP page, Sagman.
GC:Well, you know the thing I'm talking about Sagman. Yeah, that is a great movie.
David :That's a great movie, which one Sagman?
GC:Sagman. Well, the point I was making is that I know how to.
David :It's not gonna be about balls, don't worry, I won't make it about balls, please don't.
GC:You know, I was just saying the point. I've never had a director say, well, we're gonna cast. You know I never had those problems that you. You know I had to go. You've never had a director. I had to go in there and earn everything I got.
David :Wait, it's all right, I didn't set in earn shit.
GC:You see what I did there, John.
David :What you've never and, be honest, you never had somebody say Gary, I would really like your audition for my show.
GC:No.
David :Really no.
GC:No, why, why would they?
David :No one ever was looking for, just like a guy of your you know favorite.
John Rushton:you know, you weren't just gonna drink coffee over here, what you guys.
David :They weren't saying like, hey, I need a middle-aged black man to play the father. No, and I can't have a white man, they never called you. No shit, no Well maybe he did earn everything Apparently. I didn't earn everything Right Apparently, I just skated by on my looks in my beautiful voice.
GC:So back to John. Yes, ha, ha ha.
John Rushton:Yeah, so the Little Theater was cool to have that in those days and really you're right, it was really well-supported.
GC:It was.
John Rushton:Everybody. I mean, you know, and, like I said, real critics, real orchestra. I mean you know, it was a really big deal to be. It was as professional as any professional theater.
GC:Absolutely. I miss it. The Little Theater was in those days.
John Rushton:I miss it and the money around here, for that was great. And so, yes, david's right, if we got back to that point where the people really just in this town said, look, we're going to make this, not just going to say it, it's going to be the city of these arts, we're going to build this downtown, we're going to do that. I mean, even then, though, we had the North Carolina dance theater here. Those people were fabulous, they were amazing and they needed about 100,000, I think it was I don't want to be misquoted to stay here and you know we didn't come up with the money and they sent them to Charlotte.
GC:They went to Charlotte.
John Rushton:I was like why would you let them go? They were fantastic. Yes they were so you know it's hard to do.
David :People want the arts but they don't want to pay for the arts a lot, and that's true because I mean ticket prices. I think people look at ticket prices and they're like, well, I can stay home and I can stream.
John Rushton:People have gotten lazy about theater. They really have, but here's.
David :It's a circle, though, because you have less money for arts, so you can't put on as good of art you know, your costumes are worse, your set's worse, your space is worse. So people are like, well, I don't want to go to the theater because it's not as good. Well, it's like it's not as good, it's just like. Art is much like this NIL deal in football. It's a good analogy, right? Because the schools that are gonna get the best talent and have the best programs from here on out are gonna have to have the best donors, because the schools aren't allowed to run the NIL.
David :They're not allowed to. Actually, they can promote it, but they can't put money into it.
GC:Money into it, I think it's terrible, but the donors can.
David :oh, I do too.
GC:You don't like NIL.
David :But I also think that I don't. That's why the analogy is perfect, because that's what art is. Art is now. You have to have the donors. You can't just put on art. It's not funded by the town, it's not gonna be funded by the state.
GC:But good Lord, guys, think about this. You have the North Carolina School of the Arts and our backyard.
John Rushton:And it's fantastic.
GC:And it is. It's like they're in a cocoon over there, yeah. It's always listed in the top five of the drama schools in the world they spit out.
David :Yeah, the tops, it's fantastic. It's like they're very close to a Juilliard, you know. I mean some people would argue with that but, because Juilliard's a conservatory, whereas the School of the Arts it is a university.
GC:University, so they have to take.
David :They don't just get to focus on one thing.
John Rushton:They have to take English 101. And it's a state school, so, yeah, yeah. So I mean, which is good and bad?
David :Yeah, so hopefully one day, hopefully, whoever's listening you billionaire that's on the other side of this microphone Right?
John Rushton:Give us money Pass.
David :Actually don't Do not support the Arts Council. Please just send the check directly to me and I will decide how it is divvied up after I take my cut.
John Rushton:Yes, just saying I think that's fair.
David :Took a lot of money to buy this mic.
John Rushton:They just call you. Anyway, you don't have to audition, so I think you know they should just send you the money.
David :You know that's actually not true.
GC:I mean okay, look, he said it. He said it.
David :He was the one that said it, look yes, For a little while I said for a little while I benefited from that. That was a few shows, but I'm not saying that I never auditioned, and actually a lot of times I auditioned. Speaking of Triad Stage, I'll give you a little story and then we'll move on because I want to talk to you. We'll wrap this up. But Triad Stage, you were talking about that. You know, one time I went to audition for them for Tic-Tic Boom. I had just done Rent, oh okay, and it was their Black Box Theater, so it wasn't the main stage, but I go in there, man, I rocked that audition because I had just done Roger. So my voice is up in my register.
John Rushton:Yeah, that show was good. The rent was very good.
David :Yeah, I did a really good audition. They were like thank you so much, wow, this is great. You know, we were really looking. Well, I don't hear anything from them. So I'm like man, I'm dejected, I'm hurting. You know, I'm like, I mean because my ego was a little down. I was like man, I thought I rocked it they're stroking me.
David :Well, what happened was and I don't know why the director decided to send me an email a few weeks later to tell me this, because it would have been better not to know. But the story was is that they had an actor lined up for the part in New York. He was asking for too much money. They didn't want to pay him. I was brought in to drive down the price, saying hey, we got a perfect guy if you don't want to take it? So now I don't know how that negotiation went, but they literally said that. They said, like we were waiting for the guy from New York to drop his price. I don't know how it works, because I don't know if you can drop your price in an equity. I mean, well, I guess he could have been asking for more than the base, but they probably I mean professionally probably shouldn't have told you that.
GC:No, they shouldn't have told me I was really upset about it, and that's the reason why their doors are closed to this day. They should have given you that part. They should have given me that part. They would still be around if I had been in Tick-A-Poo None of the others.
David :Well, the money thing's hitting Broadway too.
John Rushton:I mean you're seeing a lot of shows that are real small. Now you get Sweeney Todd with 12 people. They did Camelot last year with eight people, eight people or something. I mean how can you do Camelot with eight people? I mean, I heard it was very good. I'm sure the people were super, but that's my favorite show. I don't want to see Camelot with eight people Me personally.
John Rushton:But, so they're doing a lot of that stuff. And then, of course, disney owns everything now. So if it's Disney, it's probably going to be pretty. But even Disney's starting to think are we really making that much money on?
David :Broadway. Well, they really screwed it with Spider-Man. I mean, spider-man was a big, just that money pit, that kind of. I feel like that was a turning point.
GC:But then they came back with Michael Jackson, and that did very well.
David :Oh yeah, I mean, there's always things that go well, but like Spider-Man was going to be like this big spectacle Amazing thing.
John Rushton:Yeah, but it was such a grand it was. Yeah, you know, just people fell from the sky. It was grand, yeah.
David :You had people get injured you had all this delay.
John Rushton:Oh yeah, that's right, it was not good.
David :Yeah, and you had delays and things like that and they ended up losing so much money and by the time they closed. They were still in the red, I think, and that was one of those shows that was. It wasn't just like they lost a little money.
John Rushton:This is where they put their ass in and they only got like half a cheek back. Well, they opened with Lion King and everybody in the world went to see it. So they thought you know.
David :If we do it, they'll Well. And you had YouTube right in the music, so like, how could this not work? That work Well, easily Kill a few stuntmen.
John Rushton:Kill a few stuntmen.
David :Spider-Man's not supposed to die at all. Thank you what? That's why you have several stuntmen. I say just pull them off stage.
John Rushton:Yes.
David :Get the next one in. So all right, let's get to the last topic. I really wanted to, because what a lot of people may or may not know about Johann Sebastian Rushton. That's a great, don't you think you should change it to that?
John Rushton:Well, I think I'm a. There is another.
David :John S Rushton on Google, because when I Googled you, another guy comes up.
John Rushton:He's an author. He works for Sony. Does he? He's like an author man, or did he used to yeah?
David :Yeah, and he's like writing books and stuff. So this is going to lead into the next topic, which is why I want to call you Johann Sebastian.
GC:Okay, rushton, I'll go with it.
David :Can we roll the R?
GC:We can roll Rushton, we can roll Rushton, Johann Sebastian Rushton.
David :It turns out that you're not only All these things that we've talked about, you're also a writer. Yeah, so what are you writing? Oh, I'm still Wait. Can you give that away? At least what it's like? Yeah, I kind of.
John Rushton:I mean I'm writing this book that's kind of based on my Rule, loosely based on my life, you know, but it's kind of it was I was really affected by my mother passing away and so I got this idea for the book and I won't say too much about it, but it was kind of about that love just kind of never really dies. You know, that's kind of an old yeah, share I guess.
John Rushton:But love, you know, just goes on. I mean, just because somebody passes on doesn't mean anything like that stops. In fact it's gotten even. You know, the relationship between my mother and I has gotten stronger since she passed on.
David :I can really Because now, oh wow.
John Rushton:Yeah, because now it's all. You know, inside me, you know, it's not really like picking up the phone and calling. Maybe she's not bad, maybe she's not. Now it's all just that passionate feeling about what she was in my life.
David :You know my father too.
John Rushton:My father passed away right after that, so it's kind of a within a month. It was a terrible year. Mother passed away in November, father in December. You know it was an awful year. But still that whole feeling of them and me and how they affect me and how that passion that they gave to me, that I give to other people, whatever, all of that's kind of in the book, but it's about that connection that we keep, everybody's got it. You know some people feel it more than others, but you know it's about signs, it's about, you know, relationships that go on. I think it's kind of. It's really kind of cool, I mean, you know yeah.
GC:So what'd you say is like an energy, that love and all that support they gave you once they go to the next realm. You think you're talking about that energy that still maybe leave behind. I think it's a good word for it.
John Rushton:Yeah, energy is a good word. I mean, what does you know? Everything we do think about prayer, positive thoughts, negative thoughts it's all energy, you know, and it all affects everything that we do every day. We get up and we're in a bad mood, you know, we try to get out of it or we don't, we wallow in it, but it affects us throughout the whole, you know, and then it maybe starts to affect our health, maybe it starts to affect our relationship.
John Rushton:It starts to affect everything. It is an energy, it's a great word for it. And, yeah, I think it is an energy. You know, I think we think of it as oh, that person needs to be here or that dog needs to be here.
John Rushton:You know, whatever we love with a great passion, we really love that thing and it doesn't I mean, it doesn't end you know, because we carry it on and hopefully somebody else carries it on, and that's the way you know, that's the way anything that we read or think about it goes on. You know, it's just like it is the energy of the thought of it more than it is anything.
John Rushton:And that goes right back to the arts, where we started you know the passion to do those things, that energy that we take into it comes from all of our experiences, and wherever we came from, wherever we went through, you know, a lot of stuff sucks. We take that on stage too. You need it Right. You can't just use it.
David :Yeah, use it.
John Rushton:Yeah, you know there's gonna be some time. Yeah, my life, yeah, that's suck. And wow, I can feel that. I can remember that. You know I can use that. It's like you said, it's all tools big there. We're just like this big toolbox is take it out. You know what do we need man, that's beautiful.
GC:That is, that is beautiful. Well, that's why we had him on the show. That's why I got him on the show John yeah. John said John things.
David :Yeah, man, no, seriously yeah this is great.
GC:I can do this all day.
David :That's a very good well it's. I mean, I know other people have set up, but that's very profound. I mean yeah, I mean I believe in the energy thing, where we're all pure energy. I mean I mean there's a massage there, but I said it, damn you did. I'm not supposed to tell people that no, and anyway as a healthcare worker.
David :I mean, you know your heart, everything it's all electrons, man. That's how it goes, and so it is thought, thought, but the way you said it was, that was more profound, more beautiful, so that'll have to become a TikTok something.
GC:That's just beautiful. That's gonna be accurate. I don't know how to do it, but that's a promo. Yeah, I don't know how to do that We'll make somebody else do that.
David :I do the edits. I do the edits a little bit yeah.
GC:Come go and get the edit, that's good.
David :When is this coming out? Do you know? Do you have a? I mean, obviously, it's probably like when it's done.
John Rushton:Thank you very much. Yeah, I mean it's done. I don't know if you've ever written anything, but it's really hard. Just about anything else I do. I don't have a, and you know, when I make a, when I do a painting, there's a point I reach and I go yeah, that's good, it's done. You know, a book is hard, you know, especially if it's based loosely on what you do, what you want, and you just really it didn't come. I read the, I can write that differently.
John Rushton:I just it's at the point it's done for me. You know I've got a couple of editors interested in it. I need to get that to them. It's been a long time writing it and thinking about it and I just need to let. It's like a kid going to college. I mean just gonna let it go.
David :And let it take life of its own. So can this show help you? Help you, help me, let it go Help you, help me, help you, help me, help me, let me get so you think let me get on this show with these two foul mouth chuckle heads. Oh, make no mistake, he's doing this for us, not us. Yeah, I know, yeah, I know I'm a foul mouth.
GC:chuckle head To give me inspiration to finish my book.
David :I well, I don't know if you need inspiration, but I think you need a little encouragement to let you know like yeah, it's, maybe it's close to time.
John Rushton:I mean every writer I've ever read about or heard about has the same problem.
David :It's not just just be like Hemingway man.
John Rushton:I mean just, you know, thomas Wolfe used to write, you know, like 80 pages describing a guy standing at the bus stop, and his editor would say have to say that, dude, you got 88 pages describing a guy standing at the bus stop. Can we just go ahead and put that in one?
David :page, page. Yeah. Do you feel like it's too long? Do you feel like you just want to change the pros, as you're supposed to?
John Rushton:No, I, just, you know it's kind of like. You know we're performers, right, all of us are. You know you never think you did it perfect, right, you go out, you go. God, I could, if I could sing that song a little bit different. You know, maybe next, or let me, let me just go ahead and, you know, lay on the record player tonight or whatever it is. Whatever your business.
John Rushton:Yeah, but there is that moment where you need somebody else to just say it's done, it's done, it's done, and you'll argue, You'll be like no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no no no Cause.
David :no art is ever finished. Yeah, I'm there.
John Rushton:But how do?
David :you okay? So let me ask you this I'll tie it into the last thing and then we're gonna. I'm sorry you're here, for that dumb shit's coming up, this dumb shit coming up.
David :Yeah, you're gonna be here for the segment, so so we'll find out. We don't know. He said he came up with it today, so we'll find out. But so how do so with the book? I can understand that, you know, like man, you know. I feel like that sentence didn't hit. But what about a painting? Like cause, all art is the similar right. So how do you know you're done when you're done?
John Rushton:I'm not really sure. I mean yeah, it's just a feeling. I mean, painting is, you know, wonderful. It's a blank canvas. This is my favorite part is just staring at a blank canvas, and sometimes I'll stare for 10 minutes, sometimes I'll stare for a day and just, you know, imagine what's gonna be on there.
John Rushton:And it's kind of like you guys worked with me. When I direct a show, I have to get to the point where I've seen the whole show before I even started. Now it has to evolve into the animal that it is, but I mean I try to block it. Think about, you know, I have to have. You know I'm pretty hard core about my blocking. I want you to go over there. I want you to do that Because I feel like if I can portray my vision if I can, you know, come in the room with my vision the actor's gonna feel a lot more comfortable and a lot more confident in what's going on.
John Rushton:Instead of I'm just a traffic cop, oh, let me see what you do. You know, just try it over there. No, because I want to do my homework. So they know that I know what the hell I'm talking about and where we're going with this, where this character's going, where this show's going. I'm gonna do the same thing with the painting. A book is a little more evolving. You kind of know what you want to write about, but as you're writing I mean you're in the middle of page 102 and you thought you were gonna be here, but all of a sudden you remember this thing. Oh, yeah, you know.
David :I just want to just keep adding and adding, and adding and adding and taking away, and adding and adding and adding.
John Rushton:Yeah, and it's never bad necessarily. It's just like Do you ever feel like?
David :oh, if I don't say that story, right, mom would be upset, you know like, because it's based on her.
John Rushton:That's the hardest thing about being a writer about anything that's true which is most, let's face it, everybody writes about their life.
David :Yeah, sure, I mean, even if it's fiction, it's got something Everybody does. Tolkien might be writing about, you know.
John Rushton:Lord of the Rings, but his life's in there somewhere. I mean it's based on Frodo, somebody that he knew or something, or maybe it's him that's cool man. That's the way everybody writes about it. So you're always like, what if my sister reads this? What if exactly?
David :Well, I mean, that's how I feel about every podcast. I'm always like, what if my mom you know?
John Rushton:and then she does, and she's like oh my God, yeah, but obviously from when I've heard it doesn't bother you that much.
David :I mean you guys can't, oh, you know what? Yeah, I think it does a little bit.
GC:Does it bother you?
David :Well, because I play a part. I play a part, and you know I mean. So sometimes I'm like why did I say that?
John Rushton:Why did I go that?
David :far. That's not how you are, that's not what I'm saying, you know. And there was one time I was talking about Michigan. I'm not gonna get into that, but I was talking about Michigan. I sounded angry the whole time and I was like why did I sound angry? You looked at the video.
John Rushton:I wasn't angry, but you thought you were yeah yeah, but I'm listening to it. I'm like damn damn.
David :So what's next? What can we expect from you next? What's the thing that's coming up? My favorite thing.
John Rushton:I'm doing now is playing a lot of music. I'm in a band called Stranger Strings. You know real quickly I met a guy named Tim Fogarty through getting some guitar lessons over in High Point for my youngest, for Kira, and then we just became really good friends and he's one of those guys who play anything on a guitar and so I started taking bass lessons from him, because I played bass but I just hadn't played in a while. I wanted to kind of like get better, that's hard I started playing that.
John Rushton:I love it. And then you know, we got to a point where we were just good boys and he said, hey, our bass player quit, you want to be in our band? I'm like, yes, I do Something I've always wanted to do.
David :And then bam, I know so I'm doing that.
John Rushton:And then I've been singing a lot of the Doors, one of my favorite bands. I'm doing a lot of Jim Morrison stuff on the team.
David :Please do love her madly, man. I'm doing that. I'm loving her madly.
John Rushton:This Thursday. So I'm you know I'm doing that and we're thinking about getting another band together and doing some Doors stuff. So I'm loving live music. I've always loved it there. Again, coming from my you know stuff I did earlier in life. Now that I've come full circle now and I perform the Doors, it's different than it would have been if I was 24 doing it.
David :Well then, for our listeners and people on TikTok and YouTube and all those places, where can we find you? Where can we find your information on the web? I know you have rushed in abstracts.
John Rushton:Yeah, yeah, on Facebook it's John S Rustin Artist, so please hook up there on it's Rustin Abstracts on Instagram. That's a great place to get it.
David :There you go, do you have?
John Rushton:a website, yes, russianabstractscom. Perfect.
David :And for your band.
John Rushton:Just come through me on. We don't really have Stranger Strings website yet. Well, we're working on that, but you know getting in touch with me Awesome.
David :Where can we see next Book me, where are we gonna see your band next?
John Rushton:February 23rd at Plank Street Tavern in High Point.
David :All right, everybody, that's where you gotta be on February 23rd.
GC:We're sitting across from Mr Mojo Rising himself, Right Mojo.
John Rushton:Rising.
David :I love that man. I've always wanted to be the Doris.
GC:I can't sing like that, oh, jim Morrison was amazing.
David :When you started an Elvis tribute band then.
John Rushton:I know, man, there you go. We should do it. We need a keyboard player for no reason I need some horns.
David :I need some horns.
GC:Why do you need horns?
David :You never watched Elvis Ta-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. Oh, see, See see, right, okay, anyway, that's enough of that All right Well. John, you are here. You have made it through the interview, but you haven't made it through this. So here we are. Everybody, you know it's time for that dumb shit. Yeah, woo, woo Woo. All right, calm down, calm down. All right, here we go, we're gonna give it over to GC. What is that dumb shit today?
GC:All right, guys. I just want you to observe something, Not.
David :Wait, can I hear you Were you muted?
GC:No, I was, I wasn't. Yeah, here we go.
David :There you go. Okay, go ahead.
GC:I'll edit that later All right, so next time you're out, I just want you to observe something. See when I drop these gems.
David :Yeah, here we go.
GC:No, they're life lessons, life lessons. So I'm glad you're here, john.
David :Yeah.
John Rushton:I am. Should I write this down or?
David :Well, I'll hear it later. It'll be recorded, okay, yeah, so you can always refer back to it.
GC:You know, I have three things that I taught my daughters to recognize when you know someone's crazy right, oh God, here we go.
David :Potato chips with two hands. Keep going go ahead, go ahead.
GC:You know, it is to potato chips. If you observe someone eating potato chips, a potato chip, just one Just one with two hands. That's a sign of insanity.
David :Like a mouse, right?
GC:Oh, if you see someone walking and they don't swing their arms. That's another sign of insanity. Okay, so my wife and I were walking in the park. Wait, what's the third thing? I'm coming to it, oh, okay, good, oh look, and this is dumb right here. My wife and I were walking in the park this afternoon, this morning, taking our stroll, swinging your arms.
David :We both were swinging arms.
GC:I think if you're over 5'10" then you're a grown adult male. You shouldn't have a poodle.
David :What the dog? Yes, If you're over 5'10".
GC:If you're over 5'10".
David :I'm 5'9" and three quarters Can.
GC:I have a poodle. You're good Poodle's, good for you.
David :Fantastic, they're hypoallergenic. Keep going.
GC:They are hypoallergenic. They are oh, I know someone that's over 6'3".
John Rushton:Yeah.
GC:And has a labrado, okay.
John Rushton:You shouldn't have it. That's bad too.
GC:That's bad. What if you're like what?
David :That's that is it weirder if you're 6'4" and you have a chihuahua?
GC:Oh God, yeah, who has one? Who has one?
David :Well, I'm not 6'4".
GC:Do you have a chihuahua? No, I just no. I don't.
David :Here's the thing, are we?
John Rushton:talking toy poodle or are we talking full-size poodle? Full-size poodle, it's actually a very big dog.
GC:Yes, the labradoodle. Yeah, I saw a man that was clearly, clearly 6'3", with a labradoodle.
John Rushton:Okay, you shouldn't have it. Did you mention this to him, or no? He had it. I would advise against it if he's 6'3" Right.
David :Is he built like Gronkowski? And you're going to say like, hey man, who was it? He was it.
GC:He wasn't built like Gronk. I have a friend that's 6'8" and has a labradoodle, and you told him. I told him, you know. I said well, dude, you have a poodle. He said it's not a damn poodle. I said it is a poodle. He said it's a labradoodle.
John Rushton:Yeah.
GC:I said wasn't that a big poodle?
David :Well, I mean, no, it's a cross between a labrador and a poodle. What so I mean?
GC:why do you have?
David :a thing against poodles.
GC:Okay, if you over 5'10", do you need a poodle? What?
David :What does the height?
GC:have to do with that.
David :I'm going to say what if I'm 5'2" and I want to ride that poodle like a horse?
GC:Well, that's your paragana, that's not a problem, it's my paragana.
John Rushton:But literally an inch more than you can't.
David :Right, he said 5'9" and 3 quarters. I'm good Dude, that's definitely.
John Rushton:You can't have any dog. Actually this tall, I can ride that ride.
GC:OK, I just want you to observe that. That's all I'm saying.
David :So wait, so wait, just so the audience knows there are three things in life that show that you're insane Eating a chip, two hands With two hands, walking with your arms down by your sides.
GC:And three. No, what else you didn't finish it Without swinging them.
David :Without swinging them. I'm sorry, I apologize. Which rules?
John Rushton:out all Irish dancers, by the way, the River Dancers, literally all of them. Oh, michael Flatley, michael Flatley is insane.
David :We all know that. We all know that.
John Rushton:It's River Dunst instead, because you yeah but that was I mean.
David :Come on, why did that go away? That's one of the most amazing things.
GC:I've ever seen in my life. You think they weren't swinging their arms. You can't go anywhere without swinging your arms. That wasn't going to last.
David :You should see me eat chips. Is that your right? They actually used three because they had two and then someone had to help them with a third.
John Rushton:So I mean, they were really, really insane. And backstage there's a shitload of poodles, shitload.
GC:So, you know, I'm telling all of them.
David :The shit was everywhere and they were like all right, that's it, that's it, it's a fly in Ireland, yeah exactly, it's a fly in Ireland. It fertilizes potatoes in Ireland, but here it just smells bad. Someone told me to chip them Exactly.
GC:I'm just saying, I just love.
John Rushton:So can we go back to theater now? I mean, that was that was really cool, that was pure energy. Yeah, it was energy, but I take your duly noted.
David :I'm not in the market for any poodles, but at least I know if I am, I can have one.
John Rushton:And that's what I like. I like to know that I can have things. They do get a bad rep because you know the real poodles are big.
David :The giant, the standard poodles, yes man yeah, yeah, I mean, I've seen some big poodles Like Carmen has a poodle next door. It's big, it's very big, but it's the sweetest dog. It's a Labradoodle, I think. Yeah, it's a Labradoodle.
GC:Okay, but it's sweet.
David :It's not, it's not as big as how tall is the owner?
John Rushton:Short of it Five, nine, I don't actually I don't know how tall he is.
David :He might, he actually might be taller than me. Most people are, I mean, I think, average height of the American male is 5'10". 5'10" I'm 5'9" and 3 quarter, so that's the first time I've emitted it in public. Fine, fine, I'm cool with that. You seem to be.
John Rushton:You know what I think you should be?
David :Yeah, totally fine, you just, you know I always want to be on top of it, and it was a good thing.
John Rushton:You can own literally any breed of dog at 5'9" and 3 quarter According to their scene.
David :Not a great day.
John Rushton:Well, that's just because he towers on me, why? But?
David :he's too, big of a dog man. That's just too big of a dog. See, John is understanding what I'm saying.
GC:You're not. I mean you like what am I saying?
David :What am I saying?
GC:See, John immediately got it. He was like well, you can own a breed, you're good Wait wait, wait, wait, wait.
David :You're saying that John agrees with you.
GC:I think he does.
David :I want you to say on the record do you agree with GC?
John Rushton:I'm not going that far. I'm saying that I'm understanding what he's saying.
David :I understand it. That's right, I comprehend it. I'm agreeing. I don't know. I mean, yo comprendo, I just get this yeah, me and me go.
John Rushton:Peter Dinklage with an Irish wolfhound comes to him, it's like weird, but that's cool. I mean you know, I mean yeah. I'm glad to know that he can own any breed of dog he wants as well as you can.
GC:Where did you see this cat? At Renolda Village. Why were you at Renolda Village, did you not?
David :Wait, I kind of zoned out for a second because I muted you.
GC:OK.
David :Yeah, I was trying to make sure that the sound was OK. Sorry, I'm playing like three parts here.
GC:No, I'm good, I totally get it. I was walking to take a little stroll with the wife.
John Rushton:OK, wait, ok, OK, ok, ok and this guy.
GC:And I was going to do something totally different. I was going to do the raccoon story.
David :But that would have been a good one. This is good for another time, yeah this is good.
GC:I mean, this is real. These are real gems that I'm giving.
David :They are, and you know when, with that, gary's gems that's what we should call them from Gary's gems, gary's gems, that dumb shit, yeah, that's dumb shit.
John Rushton:And of course we've lost Perina as a sponsor now.
David :So yeah, yeah.
John Rushton:For the good folks at Perina Dollars, dollars.
David :Dollars. Sorry, sorry about that man. We almost had that sponsor and we were so close. That was within reach, damn it. So yeah, hey, that is our show that is it you know? What.
GC:I was just saying.
David :For a first interview. I want to thank you because you made it easy.
GC:Thank you.
David :John. Oh good, I had a blast I mean doing it a second time didn't seem to phase you that hard. Actually it was a nice warm up, I know, that. I know that took a little. Took a little time extra I'm sorry to take out of your day.
GC:John was being very gracious with us, Was he not very gracious?
David :very, very informative Thank you Good?
John Rushton:I hope so.
David :And toward the end it turned into a Buddha session. I was getting some pearls man, ok, I can go with that. Yeah, well, thanks.
John Rushton:So you know yeah, this is very cool. I know I'm going to send everybody out there that knows me and we'll start following the show.
David :I hope so, because that would be great yeah, especially people from Purina Dog Food.
John Rushton:Company. Please, if you know anyone Well for all these short employees at Purina, please send us a check.
David :Anyone under 5'10" who owns a poodle probably just lost their check. But you know what? Hey, only a few of you out there anyway, because you're all insane. Thank you for coming on.
GC:I'd like to have you out here. Thanks for having me. It's good to see you again, buddy.
David :If you'd like to come all the way back to the dungeon one day.
John Rushton:Yes, anytime. This is great.
David :Next time I will have steak prepared for you A bowl of meat and coffee. A bowl of meat, just like I would feed a poodle, and that's it. Are you guys ready?
GC:Yes, we're ready, we have a little tradition here.
David :You got to do a little something, something during the last song.
GC:Here we go. I know Well, it's the intro music. Ok, so you just kind of just listen to him and decide whether.
David :Go ahead, just come on in. Just come on in when you're ready, here we go, if you feel like it. If you feel it, you're going to feel it.
GC:I that didn't fit.
David :I thought it was going to fit. It didn't.
John Rushton:That's what she said.
David :That's what she said.
John Rushton:We're still recording.