JETSAM COUNTY
At the time of westward expansion, The American Frontier, 1861 — a space ship crashes into the Rockies, changing the lives of those settled there forever.
Sheriff Clay Everdean swears to bring order to the new frontier full of critters, creatures, portals and guns:
– an amnesiac hell beast born to track hunts for where on earth it belongs
– a lovesick prospector and his colicky son sort through the space ship wreckage luck landed in their laps
– outlaw Wesley Gorton schemes to reclaim the West from settlers and set it free and wild again
– a shape-shifting critter scours the county for a powerful crystal clear as lake water
– a bartered boy is brought into the Gorton gang and raised into legend
– an orphaned girl with all the grit of her father and strength of her mother embarks on a treacherous journey
From hill folk to ranch hands, bandits and tribes, the characters of Jetsam fit together like clockwork, in this sprawling tale of morals, borders and villains. When good and evil meet with locomotive force, nothing will ever be the same.
WHAT PEOPLE SAY
District 9 meets A Confederacy of Dunces set in the western frontier.
Imagine if Cormac McCarthy and the Coen Brothers were commissioned to write a western adventure for kids.
Fantastic. Funny. Dark and sprawling. Fantastic! I couldn't put it down.
Christian Capozzoli is a writer living in New York and Los Angeles. He is the author of “Dispatch“, a short non-fiction piece about his time spent as a garbage man. He has also written “The Aerodynamics of Yes: The Improviser’s Manual” a book on improvisation, as well as pilots, sketches, and screenplays.
He holds a BFA in Writing, Literature and Publishing from Emerson College and a Masters in Literature and Education from Harvard University.
“Jetsam County” is his first novel. His comedic work and writing has received rave reviews from both the New York Times and Post.
AERODYNAMICS of YES
Over the last decade long form improvisation has exploded – when an art form experiences a boom like this it should grow and evolve and change in how it is performed and how it is taught. Instead the art form and pedagogy has been institutionalized making something that should be organic more procedural. This is an understood reaction – as schools / enrollment booms, formalizing curriculum is a given, but those curriculums become more and more systematized and become more and more routine, which leads to an art form that is predictable and expected, more technician than musician. Often, within these institutional settings, the individual’s voice or sense of humor is what is compromised or sacrificed.
I've been lucky to have travelled around the world and worked with some truly inspirational improvisers, instructors, performers, clowns and educators who have shared their methods with me through workshops, intensives, symposiums, and shared classrooms and lesson plans, and it has totally changed me, my play and my teachings for the better.
We have a responsibility not only to our audience but to this art form. I want us to push improv in new directions and who knows maybe be a part of discovering long form cubism, and embrace techniques from around the world to ensure that we are exposed to multiple points of view creating spheroidal performers who can improvise with ease in any direction, who listen and celebrate their scene partners and their sense of humor with confidence.
WHAT PEOPLE SAY
Chris Roberti, Performer
An Instant Classic. More essential, immediate and inviting than any other improv book.
Dan Diggles, Marymount Professor
An improv Must. This book and Christian's teachings are a revelation.
Alistair Cook, Performer/Instructor
This is Ivy league improv instruction. Learn the aerodynamics of yes from one of the best emerging minds in New York improvisation.