He looks at life at a different angle from most, and that allows Butch Maxwell to accomplish what he enjoys doing most.
Making people laugh along with him.
His professional career has covered many bases, including employment in marketing, education, and theatre, too. Not only has he performed on the stage at Oglebay Institute’s Towngate Theatre, but he also is one of the creators of Mystery Theatre Unlimited and has co-authored and performed with other local actors for more than two decades.
Butch does local radio, too, on The Watchdog (97.7 FM WVLY) once a week and generally he focuses his topics on national and state politics, and no, he’s not shy concerning his feelings about the country’s current leadership.
He and his wife, Vera, have played it safe during the coronavirus pandemic by working from home and isolating away from their usual social circles. They have enjoyed the slowdown, too, and have come to realize just how overloaded they structured their schedules.
How have you and your wife remained safe during the coronavirus pandemic?
We’ve been fortunate. Vera worked remotely, from home, long before this, and since mid-March, the courses I teach have all migrated to online, so we have been able to work. Before the pandemic, we were pretty socially active people. We were always on the run, whether for a rehearsal, or a performance, or supporting someone else’s performance, or a going to a gathering or an event, and so on. But, of course, the social distancing response to the pandemic has left us to amuse ourselves with each other.
And the good news is, we are loving how we’ve slowed down to enjoy ourselves and the world around us even more. One example: Only months ago, Vera was terrified of birds. Like Tippi Hedren in “The Birds” terrified. Yet, something happened this spring. Her kids sent her a birdfeeder. And these days, one of our favorite evening pastimes is watching the birds at the feeders she placed in our garden. She has learned every species by name and migration cycle. It’s a long way from the Hitchcockian terror of just months ago. So, there’s your lemonade from life’s lemon.
You and other Centre Players took to technology to create “ZOOM-Prov” in order to have some fun with many others. Please explain how that event came to be and how long you plan to continue.
The Left of Centre Players is the ensemble name of adult improvisers who perform live short-form improv shows at Oglebay Institute’s Towngate Theatre. But since March, the theatre has been unable to present live performances. We were scheduled to do a show in May, and we are scheduled to do shows in the 2020-21 season on November 21, February 20, and May 1. But, of course, right now, we don’t know if that will be possible. Vera and I pitched the idea to Towngate’s Tim Thompson, who runs the improv group, that we could do an improv show entirely using the Zoom platform. He was eager to try it, so about seven of us began to play some improv games using Zoom. We couldn’t do some of the very physical games we do onstage, but we could play a lot of others, and even found new games that work better on screen than on a stage.
Zoom has a feature that is vital to improvisation: audience input. People watching in Zoom can make suggestions when the moderator calls for ideas the improvisers must use. We have done one invited audience performance and one public performance so far. I think things went well, but we are all over 30 years old – some of us well over 30 – so navigating the technology is challenging, but we are getting better at it. We plan to do another Zoomprov show in August and if we still cannot perform live during the regular season, we will do them on Zoom on our scheduled dates.
As one of the authors of the hysterical plays you and several others perform with the Mystery Theatre Unlimited, have you used the pandemic to work on others?
I’ve been writing and directing those shows for 24 years, but no, I haven’t used this time to work on new shows. Bert Furioli and I wrote our 50th Mystery Theatre show together last year, “Popguy the Sailor Man.” We have so many shows, we probably never have to write another one again. But we probably will because we enjoy the process.
And luckily, people seem to enjoy the performances. Meanwhile, as Mystery Theatre is unable to perform live, I’ve posted a couple of full-length videos of our shows on YouTube and Facebook, which are accessible from our website. The good news is the shows are free; the bad news is, you have to provide your own dinner.
You have been hosting a one-hour radio show on The Watchdog (97.7 FM WVLY) at Noon on Wednesdays and you named it, “Butch Maxwell’s Complete Waste of Air Time.” Please explain why you decided to name it that way.
The name of the show sets expectations low, so I can easily exceed them, even if accidentally. And I find a little self-deprecation attractive. And I’ve long had a website called “Butch Maxwell’s Complete Waste of Webspace.”
Actually, of course, I hope listeners do not find it a waste of time because I do put effort into the content each week. Generally, I don’t have guests, but bring a particular theme or issue to discuss. Even though the audience is relatively small, I’m grateful to have the opportunity to stimulate listeners’ thinking in a little different way. If so, I’ve wasted nothing.
What do you see in the city of Wheeling’s future?
I want to be optimistic, but I’m also pragmatic. Wheeling is a small city, and it just keeps getting smaller. Losing a hospital is demoralizing and dangerous. Most industries are long gone. Times are changing, and the way this pandemic has changed all of our lifestyles will affect how we go forward – regardless of where we live.
Wheeling has historically not always been on the winning side of change. Still, I think there are a lot of intelligent, energetic and honorable people continuing to make this a wonderful community to live in. And there is much evidence to suggest that Wheeling has lately been committed to positive progressive social change, and that lets me feel optimistic. Both of my kids have left Wheeling for other opportunities. Few things please me more than when they come back and are impressed with the developments in the area. They are not likely to move back, but I like the feeling of “made you think about it.”
