[NoHo Arts District, CA] – A NoHo Arts theatre article about the solo show Intellectual Mind Candy, written and performed by Jovian Deadees, and directed by Charlene Ward, heading to the Whitefire Theatre Solofest 2025 on Sunday, April 13.
Intellectual Mind Candy is a show created directly because of the near-death experience of its writer and performer, Jovian Deadees. After suffering a cardiac arrest, he wakes up and nothing is as it was. Something changed radically for Jovian, and this play is a record of that change and the effect it has had on his life and his art.
I honestly couldn’t think of a more intriguing premise for a solo show, and I love solo shows!! While I am really looking forward to experiencing Intellectual Mind Candy immensely, of course, I had a ton of questions for Jovian. So….we asked him!
What inspired you to create a solo show about your experiences with death?
When I woke up from my coma after my cardiac arrest, I thought I was in a dream, just like a dream, moments kept repeating, nothing seemed real. A large part of this was that my brain was turning back on, and I only had a 10-15 minute span then my memory would reset. I was fortunate in that I remembered my core memory, but everything else was fluid. Once I discovered the telephone I would call my girlfriend Charlene Ward, who also happens to be my director for this show, every 20 or so minutes, saying, “Where am I? Do you know what happened?” This went on for about a day. Through all of this was an intense core memory of an hour or so of time. By the second day, I was able to get a pen and paper and record that memory. From that day forward it became a matter of, “where do I even begin?” In my months of recovery, I began taking acting classes at Mary Kennedy’s ‘The Biz Studio’ (for information email mary@youthactingbiz.com ). I started doing this because acting is something that was always enjoyable, and challenging myself mentally in the process of memorizing lines helped get my mind back up to speed. One of the classes that Mary offers is the one-person show. I started taking that class to help to try and focus my story. It was in the discovery of writing ‘Intellectual Mind Candy’ that I thought to discuss my many experiences in the arena of Metaphysics throughout my life and how that interplayed in the way I navigated my death.
Tell me about your journey with writing and performing.
I grew up in a family where pursuit in the arts was not prized. Additionally, I kept my study of Metaphysics and subjects like reincarnation very private. I wrote my first book, “The Pharoah’s Voice.” In 1988-1989. I started it while I was still a teenager. The book is a Divination System (think tarot cards). When my father found out that I was writing a book, his exact words were a laugh, followed by “He’ll never finish it.” I had the satisfaction of telling him at that moment that it was already complete and copyrighted. Experiences like that had made me very critical of my own skills and I’m sure they had impacted the course of my life. Over the years I have written and had poetry published. Learned screenwriting, even writing a script and a few treatments, but never connecting with anything. My incident gave me renewed vigor to try again.
As far as performing, I was a Civil War reenactor in the late 80s to early 90s. The group I belonged to was very heavy on the living history aspect, which appealed to me. Through that, I had my first opportunity to work on set in the film “Gettysburg” in the early nineties. Acting was something that I enjoyed, and over the years, especially after moving to Los Angeles, gave me the opportunity to participate as an extra. I didn’t start really considering pursuing acting until after my incident. Before I died, I lacked the courage to really be a performer. I didn’t believe in myself. Death has released my ”What’s the worst that’s going to happen?” attitude and has been very liberating and the source of unknown courage in me.
Why a solo show and not a larger play or a film or anything else?
Something that we saw as I was developing the solo show is that I would discuss Metaphysical experiences that I’ve had decades to contemplate and my after(this)life experience provided even deeper insight, but in relaying that to my classmates, it was like I was speaking Ancient Egyptian. So we worked on the show to convey the heart of my story as kind of an introduction to the deeper mystery that I’ve been living, and limiting the time to about 45 minutes, which seemed like a good amount of time so as not to be too overwhelming as well as to be able to leave some time afterwards for a Q&A with the audience. I’m writing a book of my experiences, which the development of, “Intellectual Mind Candy” has helped to show me the structure that it is taking, and I hope to have the book completed by the end of 2025.
I have considered adapting my experiences to film. Even though for me the experience has been an incredible, enlightening and amazing positive adventure, I think the story would best be told from the vantage of a Psychological Horror film. I sometimes feel that so many of the things I experienced in my lucid unconscious state would be lost because CGI has been able to bring so many fantastic worlds to life. It’s like trying to capture the overwhelming awe of standing on the rim of the Grand Canyon at sunrise for the first time and translate it into a two-dimensional experience; then multiplying the intensity of that experience by 1000. I’ve looked at the way filmmakers like Ignacio Maiso utilize a psychological way of storytelling in movies like “T H E M” where he doesn’t rely on any special effects, and think this may be the way of telling my story. I’m open to ideas.
I haven’t put thought into the idea of doing this story as a play, but while writing my response to you, I could see how that may be a possibility as almost a modern “Myth of Er”. Without giving too much away about my death experience, for almost two years post death I thought my experience was equal to about an hour of living memories. Then, in speaking with my medical doctor, I came to the realization that I have almost two weeks of life memory, that never happened in this reality. These memories are a combination of events that are slightly off what this world is like, coupled with intense lucid dreams within that time. But unless I was being precognitive about my death (which I don’t believe I was), these memories happened after I died, but before my brain turned back on while I was comatose. A potential play could be found in those 2 weeks of memory.
What is your process in writing and creating?
I visualize my story before I begin writing it. I start with the core idea and then build it from there. Once I feel that I have something to build on I’ll write a basic step outline, then fill in the gaps. I have a lot of step outlines floating around. My hardest part is believing that the story is interesting for people to watch or read, but I guess that’s something a lot of creatives battle with. The step outline is something that helps keep me focused and on track.
What have you learned about yourself and your art through this process?
That there is value in what I think and believe and I shouldn’t be afraid to share it.
Why is this play so important to you?
My death, as for most, was completely unexpected. However, before I died, I came to a personal enlightenment, an ember I carried through life, that erupted into a fire at the end of it. I was OK and at peace with taking that epiphany to the grave.
Then I died, and then came back.
I have a hard time believing that these events are only a coincidence, and I have to at least try to tell my story. Intellectual Mind Candy is the first of what will hopefully be many steps to fulfilling that fire that’s now burning in me.
What advice can you give any aspiring writers and solo artists?
Don’t wait until you die to have the courage to live.
Thank you, Jovian! Best of luck with the show this weekend, we love Solofest! Now the second largest solo theatre festival in the country! https://www.whitefiretheatre.com/
Intellectual Mind Candy will be performed at the Whitefire Theatre on April 13, 2025 at 7 PM.
Tickets:
https://whitefire.stagey.net/projects/11315?tab=tickets
Where:
The Whitefire Theatre
13500 Ventura Blvd, Sherman Oaks, CA 91423
When:
Sunday, April 13 at 7PM