On July 30, 2024, the first performance of Infinite Jade took place at Brio Cafe, Tarifa. The hardest and the most interesting aspect of launching a project like Infinite Jade is that people have no idea what to expect. She demands a leap of faith.
She demands that people take a chance on a new voice that happens to be talking about taboo topics such as cannabis and addiction in an intimate way. Which means some people steer well clear, while for others it feels like coming home.
These are not things I can control. The only thing I can control is how well I know my material and how I deliver it. What’s most fascinated to me is how I’ve been reciting some of these poems for almost two years now and yet they still feel new.
And they’re certainly exposing me to new things. Taking the stage at Brio felt a sort of risky coming out. I already knew that many of the people who I’d hoped would come were not available. So I was expecting a small crowd and made my peace with it.
In fact, learning to let go has been one of the toughest lessons to endure over the course of project. Early on, when I was full of childish enthusiasm and nothing was going my way, I made the decision to approach everything head down, head-on.
So much so, the mantra that has carried me throughout and up until this point is: chop wood, carry water. No matter how hard it gets, I chop wood, carry water. And as the hour of curtains approached and it was clear how small my audience would be, I invoked my mantra and performed as if to a packed house.
It was an intimate affair to say the least. A small crowd of half a dozen. But they were the right people, absolutely rapt and wholly appreciative. They listened wide-eyed to each poem and even the non-English-speakers were transported into the world of Infinite Jade.
In the reviews, the word ‘stunning’ was used. This doesn’t surprise me. Since the beginning of this project, it had a life of its own, and I said continuously to my music producer, “this has magic in it!” I can’t tell you what makes the magic just that it’s there.
Despite the small audience, to my mind, this first performance of Infinite Jade was a roaring success. I owned that stage and fell in love with the microphone. Every time I perform them, the poems become more attached to me, embedded in me, part of me. I couldn’t ask for more.
The Healthy Hashhead 