Famed Agony and Ecstasy of Steve Jobs monologuist Mike Daisey’s next project? Rob Ford
Anyone who knows Mike Daisey at all probably knows him from The Agony and Ecstasy of Steve Jobs, a fantastically entertaining monologue about Apple’s labour practices in China that managed to inspire some justified public uproar over low-wage electronics assembly after it aired on NPR’s This American Life. Daisey became even better known, although not in a good way, when it turned out that many of Agony and Ecstasy’s supposedly true details were entirely made up.
The scorn Daisey faced following This American Life’s hour-long retraction of his story puts him in a unique position when it comes to Rob Ford. Both men became famous by breaking sacred rules, and now Daisey plans to capitalize on that connection. He’ll be debuting Dreaming of Rob Ford, his newest monologue, at Crow’s Theatre’s East-End Performance Crawl in May.
Daisey tells the New York Times that the show will explore the intersection of celebrity and politics, particularly as it relates to Ford’s rise from political obscurity to crack-smoking notoriety. “The public discourse is the story,” Daisey told the Times. “I find myself really interested in how fully he embodies the archetype of the fool.” In a separate interview, he told the Star that the show’s three Toronto performances will be a kind of workshop for the production, which he hopes to refine and presumably tour.
“I’ll admit it,” Daisey told the Star, “I’m obsessed with Rob Ford. I’ve even been having some very vivid dreams about him. I took that as a sign I should write about him and that’s where the title of the piece comes from.” We hear a little Ambien really helps with that.
May 21–23. $40. Big Picture Cinema, 1035 Gerrard St. E, ticketwise.ca
