Phil Spencer has worked professionally as a writer, performer, director and creative producer. Phil is the 2017 Griffin Studio Artist, co-artistic director of Sydney-based Tin Shed Theatre Company, regularly performs at events such as Sydney Writers’ Festival, Story Club and The Moth and is a regular contributor to the radio show VERSUS on FBi (with Eddie Sharp) and ABC Radiontonic (without Eddie Sharp).
What led you into writing for performance?
I am terrible at the guitar. So writing stories for the stage seemed like the only viable path to a dizzying life of decadent international stardom. I wish I had stuck with my guitar lessons.
How do you know when a story is ready to be performed?
You don’t know if a story is ready to be performed until you force a group of strangers to sit and listen whilst you read it out loud. And then, there is a tiny indescribable moment that bubbles in the audience, around 30 seconds into your story. And at this moment your internal monologue says ‘oh, great, they’re listening, they want to hear this’ or alternatively your internal monologue says ‘oh, no, I shouldn’t have picked this one, I should have told the story about the Goanna at Christmas, oh well it’s too late now…’
How can someone become 15% funnier?
By wearing a weird hat. Probably. Or attending my upcoming workshop for the day. Ah hem.
Join Phil for The Horse’s Mouth: Storytelling at the NSW Writers’ Centre, Saturday 11 February, 10am-4pm.