Chris Thrash and creative energy

A while back, I stumbled across the Youtube page of Chris Thrash, a guy who purchased a set of the animatronic equipment once used by Showbiz Pizza to entertain guests. There was a Showbiz near where I grew up, and I have fond memories of eating pizza there with my dad, watching the ultra-campy but pretty fun robot animals singing songs by the likes of Billy Joel and Cindy Lauper. Thrash has apparently set up the equipment in his house, and he programs the characters, via a very outmoded-by-today's-standard interface, to sing and dance to contemporary songs. For a while, his page had a video in which he explained the set-up and how the characters are programmed. For some reason, he's removed most of the videos from his original page, but there are many new ones on a new page that seems designed to accommodate viewer requests. In any case, my original discovery of the page led me to learn a lot of very interesting facts about Showbiz's entertainment: apparently the Rock-afire Explosion band was not proprietary to Showbiz, but was made by an independent company who sold it to Showbiz stores. More great info here.

Anyway, I was directed to a great new video he did, in which he programmed the characters to sing the Usher hit "Love In This Club." The programming is highly meticulous, brilliant almost, and I especially like the way the puppet performs Young Jeezy's rap part, while the puppeteer delivers Jeezy's famous ad libs.

Anyway, the point of all this: As I wandered over to Thrash's original page, I read this profile information, in which he described his "hobbies and interests" as follows: "I love coming home after work to my loving wife, my 2 cats, and of course my Rock-afire!" Something about this was touching to me. I remembered watching this very normal guy in the old "behind the scenes" video, taking us around his studio and describing with pride his very strange hobby. I thought about how great it was that he had found this outlet for himself, as odd as it may be, and poured his creative energy into it and produced something unique that people really enjoy. And he was able to maintain and enjoy this creative pursuit while also enjoying a healthy relationship with his family. 

This sentiment spoke to me, because I often struggle with my own desire to create something special that people will find touching and memorable. Over the years, I've invested a great deal of time and energy into various creative pursuits: filmmaking, writing music, writing short stories. I've done some things I'm proud of, and much of the music I've written has been at least good enough to impress my friends, but somewhere short of that level of special-ness that makes a song catch on with a large audience. The thing is, even though I fail again and again, I'm still possessed by this incessant impulse to create, as well as a strong desire to touch an audience and be appreciated for my work. But I also value my responsibility to my family and my community, such that I can't just "drop everything" and dedicate myself entirely to some work of art.

So I think it's great that Chris Thrash has stumbled onto something in which he can pour his creative energies and that others really enjoy. I'll keep looking for my own Rock-afire Explosion, and I hope very much that I can find it.