Doug Skinner (born January 7, 1955) is an American composer, writer, and performer.

Music

Skinner has written music for many dance companies, including

ODC/Dance ODC, formerly the Oberlin Dance Collective, is a contemporary dance and arts organization founded in 1971, in Oberlin, Ohio, by current artistic director Brenda Way. ODC relocated to San Francisco in 1976 and in 1979 became the first modern dance ...

in San Francisco and Margaret Jenkins.mjdc.org
/ref> He has often written for the theater: in particular, he has had a long association with the actor/clown

Bill Irwin William Mills Irwin (born April 11, 1950) is an American actor, choreographer, clown, and comedian. He began as a vaudeville-style stage performer and has been noted for his contribution to the renaissance of American circus during the 1970s. ...

; he wrote and performed the music for Irwin's ''Murdoch'' ('81), ''The Regard of Flight'' ('82), ''The Courtroom'' ('85), ''The Clown Lecture'' ('02), ''The Harlequin Studies'' ('03), and ''The Regard Evening'' ('04). He often performs his songs in NYC clubs. In the '90s, he frequently gigged with the ukulele and vocal trio White Knuckle Sandwich.

Performance

As a performer, he has been active as

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

, monologist, and occasional

ventriloquist Ventriloquism or ventriloquy is an act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) speaks in such a way that it seems like their voice is coming from a different location, usually through a puppet known as a "dummy". The act of ventrilo ...

. His full shows include ''Pay Attention'' (1984), ''An Attractive Production'' (1985), and ''Eddie Unchained'' (1993). He regularly shows cartoon slide shows on

Robert Sikoryak Robert Sikoryak (born 1964) is an American artist whose work is usually signed R. Sikoryak. He specializes in making comic adaptations of literature classics. Under the series title ''Masterpiece Comics'', these include ''Crime and Punishment'' re ...

's long-running

Carousel A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (International English), or galloper (British English) is a type of amusement ride consisting of a rotating circular platform with seats for riders. The seats are tradit ...

. He has also created many puppet shows and videos with performance/video artist Michael Smith. According to the online magazine ''nth position'', for which he occasionally writes, Doug Skinner has also played piano on the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, cello at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

, and ukulele on the '' Joe Franklin Show''. He also appeared as the character referred to as "Toilet Citizen" in the

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

film ''

Crocodile Dundee II ''Crocodile Dundee II'' is a 1988 action comedy film and the second installment of the ''Crocodile Dundee'' film series. It is a sequel to '' Crocodile Dundee'' (1986) and was followed by ''Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles'' (2001). Actors Pau ...

''.

Writing

In recent years, Skinner has devoted more time to writing and lecturing, particularly on Fortean subjects. He has contributed to ''

Fortean Times ''Fortean Times'' is a British monthly magazine devoted to the anomalous phenomena popularised by Charles Fort. Previously published by John Brown Publishing (from 1991 to 2001), I Feel Good Publishing (from 2001 to 2005), Dennis Publishing (from ...

'', ''

Fate Destiny, sometimes also called fate (), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predeterminism, predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often used interchangeably, the words wiktionary ...

'', '' The Anomalist'', '' INFO Journal'', ''Strange Attractor Journal'', '' Weirdo'', ''Nickelodeon'', and other publications, writing on such subjects as Richard Shaver,

John Keel John Alva Keel, born Alva John Kiehle (March 25, 1930 – July 3, 2009), was an American journalist and influential ufologist who is known best as author of '' The Mothman Prophecies''. Early life Keel was born in Hornell, New York, the son ...

, the early Fortean Society,

John Dee John Dee (13 July 1527 – 1608 or 1609) was an English mathematician, astronomer, teacher, astrologer, occultist, and alchemist. He was the court astronomer for, and advisor to, Elizabeth I, and spent much of his time on alchemy, divination, ...

Boris Vian Boris Vian (; 10 March 1920 – 23 June 1959) was a French polymath who is primarily remembered for his novels. Those published under the pseudonym Vernon Sullivan were bizarre parodies of criminal fiction, highly controversial at the time of th ...

, the scientific method, the cultural history of Darwinism in the US, and hoaxes. Regular features have included the column ''Let's Ask Skinner'' for Crimewave USA and the comic strip ''It's Fortean'' for the kids' paper '' ZUZU''. His translation of the alchemical text ''Three Dreams'', by Giovanni Battista Nazari, was published in 2003 by Opus Magnum Hermetic Sourceworks in Glasgow. He has also been a frequent speaker at the

International Fortean Organization The International Fortean Organization (INFO) is a network of professional Fortean researchers and writers. John Keel, author and parapsychologist, in both his writings and at his appearances at INFO's FortFest, said "the International Fortean ...

(INFO) Fortfests and the ''Fortean Times'' UnConventions.

Bibliography

*
Visions of a Subterranean Wonderworld
, ''The Anomalist'', 1995, about Richard Shaver's art * "The Immortal Count", ''Fortean Times'' #146, 2001, about the Count of St Germain *
What's This? A Shaver Revival?
, ''Fate'', June 2005, about Richard Shaver * "Doubting Tiffany", ''Fortean Times'' #200, 2005, about the Fortean Society *
The Blood Still Boils
, ''Fate'', July 2006, about

Saint Januarius Januarius ( ; ; Neapolitan and ), also known as , was Bishop of Benevento and is a martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing ...

* "A Fortean Album from the papers of Theodore Dreiser", ''Fortean Times'' #207, 2006, about recent finds of early photographs of

Charles Fort Charles Hoy Fort (August 6, 1874 – May 3, 1932) was an American writer and researcher who specialized in anomalous phenomena. The terms "Fortean" and "Forteana" are sometimes used to characterize various such phenomena. Fort's books sold w ...

* ''Considerations on the Death and Burial of Tristan Tzara'' by Isidore Isou. Translated from the French by Doug Skinner. (Black Scat Books: Absurdist Texts & Document Series No. 8, 2012) * ''How I Became an Idiot by Francisque Sarcey'' by

Alphonse Allais Alphonse Allais (20 October 1854 in Honfleur – 28 October 1905 in Paris) was a French writer, journalist and humorist. He was also the editor of the '' Chat Noir,'' a satirical magazine. Life From 1879, Alphonse Allais attended the ″Hydrop ...

. Translated from the French by Doug Skinner. (Black Scat Books: Absurdist Texts & Documents, Interim Edition: No. 00, 2013) * ''Captain Cap (Vol. I): Captain Cap Before the Electorate'' by Alphonse Allais. Translated from the French by Doug Skinner. (Black Scat Books: Absurdist Texts & Document Series No. 11, 2013) * ''Captain Cap (Vol. II): The Apparent Symbiosis Between the Boa and Giraffe'' by Alphonse Allais. Translated from the French by Doug Skinner. (Black Scat Books: Absurdist Texts & Document Series No. 14, 2013) * ''Captain Cap (Vol. III): The Antifilter & Other Inventions'' by Alphonse Allais. Translated from the French by Doug Skinner. (Black Scat Books: Absurdist Texts & Document Series No. 17, 2013) * ''Captain Cap (Vol. IV): The Sanatorium of the Future'' by Alphonse Allais. Translated from the French by Doug Skinner. (Black Scat Books: Absurdist Texts & Document Series No. 20, 2013) * ''Captain Cap: His Adventures, His Ideas, His Drinks'' by Alphonse Allais. Translated from the French by Doug Skinner. (Black Scat Books, , 2013) * ''Selected Plays of Alphonse Allais'' by Alphonse Allais. Translated from the French by Doug Skinner. (Black Scat Books, , 2014) * ''The Unknown Adjective and Other Stories'' by Doug Skinner. (Black Scat Books, , 2014) * ''Horoscrapes'' by Doug Skinner. (Black Scat Books, 2014) * ''The Zombie of Great Peru'' by Pierre-Corneille Blessebois. Translated from the French by Doug Skinner. (Black Scat Books, 2015) * ''The Doug Skinner Dossier'' by Doug Skinner. (Black Scat Books, 2015) * ''Sleepytime Cemetery: 40 Stories'' by Doug Skinner. (Black Scat Books, 2016) * ''I Am Sarcey'' by Alphonse Allais. Translated from the French by Doug Skinner. (Black Scat Books: 2017) * ''The Doug Skinner Songbook'' by Doug Skinner. (Black Scat Books: 2017) * ''Charles Cros: Collected Monologues'' by Charles Cros. Translated from the French by Doug Skinner. (Black Scat Books:2018) * ''The Alphonse Allais Reader'' by Alphonse Allais. Compiled & translated by Doug Skinner. (Black Scat Books: 2018) * ''2 + 2 = 5'' by Alphonse Allais. Translated by Doug Skinner. (Black Scat Books: 2021) * ''Upside-Down Stories'' by Charles Cros & Émile Goudeau. Translated from the French by Doug Skinner. (Black Scat Books: Absurdist Texts & Documents Series No. 35, 2019) * ''The Pope's Mustard-Maker'' by Alfred Jarry. Translated from the French by Doug Skinner. (Black Scat Books: Absurdist Texts & Documents Series No. 37, 2019) * ''Let's Not Hit Each Other'' by Alphonse Allais. Translated from the French by Doug Skinner. (Black Scat Books: 2023)

References

External links

*
Doug Skinner
at the

Internet Theatre Database The Internet Theatre Database (ITDb) is an online database with information about plays, playwrights, actors, legitimate theatre, musical theatre, Broadway shows, and similar theatrical information. The website is run by several volunteer thea ...

*
Profile at the Film and Video Art Web Site

Nth Position profile

FortFest Tapes featuring Doug Skinner

Reviews

from ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' (1984)
An Attractive Production
from ''The New York Times'' (1985)

(2003) {{DEFAULTSORT:Skinner, Doug American male composers 21st-century American composers American fortean writers Ventriloquists 1955 births Living people 21st-century American male musicians