Simpler and With More Laughter
Hello and welcome to Simpler and With More Laughter!
You're likely seeing this because you previously followed me on Substack. For a variety of reasons, I have migrated my writing from Substack to Ghost, the service you are reading on now. Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg has elucidated many of these reasons in this Bluesky thread, so I'll let her explain. Welcome to Ghost!
If you're seeing this because you follow me on Bluesky or Instagram, welcome! I hope you learn about something cool through my writing, or at least learn something. No promises, though.
Finally, if you're just stumbling upon this site/blog/newsletter, welcome! I might as well tell you about myself. I'm Rob Silverman Ascher, a Chicago-based writer and educator. I have bylines in the Chicago Reader, Howlround, and Little Village, as well as some self-published stuff. I bake bread, ride my bike sometimes, and live in an apartment with my wife and cat. My background is primarily in theatre and film, but I'll write about anything if it excites or bothers me enough (see my previous essay on the weird Green Day/American Dad! coffee cross-promotion).
I crave simplicity in both the art I consume and my own writing, hence the name of this site.
In his 2020 book This Is Not My Memoir, actor and theatre director André Gregory recounts a spell apprenticing at the legendary Berliner Ensemble in then-East Germany. The theatre, started in 1949 by actress Helene Weigel alongside her husband and collaborator playwright/theorist Bertolt Brecht, has been considered by many to be a leader in cutting-edge, socially engaged theater.
I took much of what Gregory shares in the book with a grain of salt. Again, it's called This Is Not My Memoir. Recounting his interactions with the now-widowed Weigel (including sexual overtures he maintains he was oblivious to), Gregory mentions that he had unlimited access to the building, including of Brecht's office, which lay untouched after his death.
He writes: "One... thing I learned from my German artistic daddy: Over his desk at the Berliner Ensemble hung a large banner, 'SIMPLER AND WITH MORE LAUGHTER.'"
After listening to Gregory's book, the phrase echoed in my head for a long time. I have been a Brechthead since undergrad, and even wrote my master's thesis on him, but I had never heard of this banner or this maxim. Over the next few years, I found myself scribbling it in notebooks and reflecting on it in journal entries. When it came time to name this site, it seemed the perfect choice.
Brecht's work is very simple. While he couched his Epic Theatre in materialist theory, his goals were plain. He wanted to create theater that encouraged his audience to think about the topics at play, not just feel particular emotions as dictated by the play. The set and lighting designs are uncomplicated, the dialogue is almost perfunctory, and the audience is never allowed to forget they are at the theatre. To Brecht, simplicity in presentation made for a politically engaged theatre.
I realized a few years ago that I had taken myself too seriously in my teens and early twenties and was over-explaining myself in grad school. "Simpler and with more laughter" became a guiding force for me, a reminder to keep digressions and big words to a minimum, and instead to explore what is affects me so much about whatever I am writing about. I don't want to write in order to show off that I'm smart. I want to write in order to express what excites me about a play, film, album, et cetera.
The other night, I drove a friend home from Thalia Hall after seeing Tim Heidecker in concert. We were marveling at how, in contrast to Heidecker's frenzied comedy, his music is so simple and earnest. By expressing his thoughts and feelings as plainly as possible (see "Well's Running Dry" from Slipping Away), Heidecker's music manages to be equally silly and serious. He doesn't try too hard, and his music perfectly captures the way he sees the world. If a subject is approached simply and cleanly, the ideas will express themselves. And that's what "simpler and with more laughter" stands for. The ideas at play can speak for themselves, you just need to challenge them.
So, that's what's rattling around in my head at this moment. Welcome to Simpler and With More Laughter. There's a lot more to come, and thanks for joining me!
