And Everything is Going Fine

And Everything Is Going Fine

The irony is that when I lived downtown I tended to come north to see films. Now that I have moved close to Bloor St I find myself heading to the TIFF Bell Lightbox. The reason is simple. They show the best of the best. I often attend a film without knowing what it is about. If it plays at Lightbox I know it is a great film. Such was the case with And Everything Is Going Fine. I hadn’t even heard of Spalding Gray. When I left I felt I had a clear picture of the total life of this interesting storyteller

Stephen Soderbergh directed this documentary using clips from many of his performances.

Spalding Gray performed on a stage usually sitting behind a small table with a glass of water. He would tell tales about his childhood, his sexual experiences and his life. He had a wonderful voice and a dramatic presentation.

I could picture the barn and the garden of his childhood. His family was noted for having serious anxiety. It seems as if his mother was constantly in a mental deteriorating state. His brother suffered from high anxiety .He tells of one incident when his brother was struggling for breath. He kept asking his mother,” When I die is it forever?”

The audience laughs throughout. Yet I was aware that our laughter is always because of a negative experience of Spalding Gray.

As a child he burnt his arm from placing it on a hot radiator, His mother calmly and quietly said,” Put soap on it dear and know the truth.”

He laughs about the conversation with his father on the 4^th hole of the golf course. Spalding was only 14 and his father was trying to discuss sex with him. He later reminds his father about this incident while they are being filmed.

He freely talks about his sex life. He had a homosexual experience as a youth. He later lived with Renee for several years. When she discovered he also was seeing another woman and she was pregnant the relationship ended. He then moved in with Kathy and proceeded to have several children with her. He seemed to be a loving father and the children are often portrayed as they romp and play outdoors.

I was fascinated with his performances often using audience members. He would call someone from the audience to sit with him on stage. He asked the person questions and it turned out to be very interesting.

He did perform in a few films. A few were pornographic.

He discovered that his mother was dead when he asked his father about his mother. His father replied, “She is gone” One could clearly conclude that this was an unusual family.

We see Spalding getting older through the various film clips. I found him to be a fascinating character. If someone else talked about their life as he does it probably would be boring. His life was so out of the norm and his presentation style was absorbing.

He was known as a poetic journalist. It was an unusual life. It was an unusual film.