Pulp Magazine

Big Nuts

A character has escaped from TV and become flesh.

Beau Tyler, the self-help guru from the Memphis Meltdown commercial has taken on a life of his own swelling from a 30-second blip to a 60-minute voyage of self-parody.

The self-help industry is already entertaining to us non-believers, overly energetic, insufferably smug, self-satisfied showmen; stuffed into nylon suits they explode with obvious statements and circular arguments. So how do you parody something that is already a parody of itself? Peter Feeney has managed to do so – magnificently.

In order to even attend the Beau Tyler self-help workshop I had to confront two of my worst fears: the twin terrors of audience participation and intimate venues. Upstairs at the Classic on Queen Street is a cozy venue and even sitting near the back I was close enough for some of Feeney’s spittle to reach me, but the size worked in favour of the production and made it easier for me to confront my second fear.

It wasn’t possible to avoid the “everybody on your feet” sections because anyone who tried to was personally chastised from the stage. The only thing worse than participating is being seen not to participate. This led to an all-pervading atmosphere of relaxed fun.

The way Beau Tyler propounds his “surround yourself with losers” theory is utterly convincing, I am a follower, I believed, I was reaching for my credit card to book the bogus, full length Beau Tyler workshop. It was as simple and straightforward as the preaching of a real self-help motivator, perhaps that is why they fill stadiums.

The Beau Tyler character, fallen guru, rising phoenix-like was a perfect balance of pathos with self-love and ultimately explained why the genre he is subverting works: all the arguments used by genuine gurus justify where you are now and promise where you will be, foolproof – as long as you pay for the CDs, DVDs, books and workshops.

Go and see A Night With Beau Tyler, it’s funny, clever and original – and you get a free ice-cream on the way out, I think you can guess the brand.

Story by: Rob Connigale Published on 13 Nov 2007 |

THEATRE VIEW

A Night with Beau Tyler
Directed by Greg Cooper and Jim McLarty
Produced by Nicola Feeney
FEENEY MCSWEENEY PRODUCTIONS

at The Classic, Auckland
From 2 Nov 2007 to 18 Nov 2007

Reviewed by Nik Smythe, THEATRE VIEW, 4 Nov 2007

Many will already be familiar with Beau from the Memphis Meltdown television commercial - a brilliant marketing teaser campaign played on primetime national TV since possibly even before the live show was thought of.

As the audience convenes in the auditorium we are greeted with a series of inspirational quotes from the literary hall of fame - Churchill, Nietsche, Wilde, etc, on the topic of the symbiotic relationship of success and failure, culminating in an impressive testimonial from President Bush of how Beau's unique programme helped him through the darkest hours of his second term. After the appropriate hyper-introduction the self-styled self help evangelist, cheesily attired by those male fashion dinosaurs Hallensteins, emerges to the voluminous applause of the crowd (as instructed via the big screen).

Without giving away the entire system and risking an injunction, suffice to say the basis of Tyler's self-help technology is that accepting defeat is the key to fulfillment, not focussing on success and thereby setting yourself up for failure. There's more to it than that, in terms of arranging one's social environment and so-on, but you'll have to see the show or else read Tyler's alleged no. 1 bestseller 'Feel the Fear and Fail Anyway!'

Expat American Beau and his institutional power-style ('Great to meet you, welcome to the rest of your life!) are recognisable to anyone who's seen a Tony Robbins ad, and the bones of his self-help shtick is so on the money that one wonders whether writer/Tyler Peter Feeney has done a number of these courses for material. Or is the stereotype just that two dimensional that you only need to watch the infomercial to figure out the whole shtick?

Once we've had an eyebrow-raising taste of one of his key patented and trademarked exercises, we settle into a heartfelt account of Beau's life story,. At first with only minor sinister undercurrents. He knew he'd hit rock bottom when he got a job as an impersonator of himself, hoping no-one would realise it's actually him ... That kind of thing. From there, as Tyler describes the events leading up to his massive personal turnaround, the scenario develops in a direction that really brings home the inherent pitfalls and traps of the self-improvement industry.

Peter Feeney is backed by an inspired and committed crew without whom Tyler could never have made this glorious 'comeback'. Directed by Greg Cooper and Jim McLarty, Cooper also takes dramaturge credit whilst McLarty supplies the necessary vocal intro skills - after all, celebrity is nothing without a cheesy deep-voice introducing it. Krista Nobilo provides the disingenuously cheerful voice of the manager of Tyler's corporate enterprise.

The exemplary PowerPoint presentation designed and operated by Michael Craven is the backbone of the seminar: the smoke and mirrors of the modern day public speaker. Produced by Feeney's wife Nicola, the whole power-package is complete with the perfect power-photos of Beau by Geoff Short, and the power-theme tune of Peter Hobbs.

There are genuine insights to be gleaned from this parody, and for some people it could arguably be more beneficial than any serious brand of personal development. It's inevitable that a percentage of the audience, myself included, will have attended something resembling what is being inflicted upon us here, so the relative merits between the genuine article and the implications of this outstanding satire can be explored. In any case, if laughter is indeed the best medicine, then A Night With Beau Tyler is efficacious therapy indeed.

THE GUARDIAN Palmerston North - FROLICS OF FAILURE - FULL ON FUNNY!

A Night with Beau Tyler
By Peter Feeney & Greg Cooper
Directed by Greg Cooper

Globe Theatre, June 3

The Guardian, Palmerston North
Reviewed by Rob Mildon

Richard Nixon. David Richwhite. Stain. Rarely does noe get to follow in the footsteps of 20th Century luminaries like these, but here we stand in the presence of their mentor. Beau Tyler has burst onto the Globe stage, raising us all to our feet to being actualising our potential, as part of his revolutionary Failure Access Revitalisation Technique. Before long, he has us performing eye-straining Power Purges, releasing our negative energy all over those next to us.

It’s not often that theatre has such full-on audience participation, but it works, overcoming our embarrassment to play off our need to not let the side down. Actor Peter Feeney rises to the challenge of energising an audience on his own, brimming with vigour as he strides about the stage, befriending individual people and telling us all about his personal journey.

A lot of one-person shows have many characters to draw on, but Feeney has just one, and has to invest Beau with many different levels. It’s a task he handles admirably: the character ranges from bellowing enthusiasm to child-like self pity. The over-the-top nature of the performance fits the theatre setting well.

There’s a Powerpoint presentation taking place during the “seminar”, and this adds a lot of the comedy by mixing the sublime with the mundane, the possible with the blatantly implausible. It allows us to take in jokes at our own pace, ones that are image-based or simply too wordy to speak.

Where the show works best is in the subtle things, such as Feeny’s well-executed improvisation, and in the big juxtapositions. Funny by their very ridiculousness.
The energy from this show should be capable of powering a small city for a month!

SOUTHLAND TIMES

“Self-help satirist makes jafa jokes but message is spot on”

Reviewed by NICOLA KEAN - The Southland Times | Friday, 27 June 2008

The Failure Assisted Revitalisation Technique was just one of the satirical motivational tools peddled by actor Peter Feeney in his one-man show A Night with Beau Tyler.

Based on Feeney's character from the Memphis Meltdown ads, the show took the idea to the logical next step.

Washed-out motivational speaker Tyler arrives in New Zealand looking for inspiration after the failure of his "power arrow" system of self-help.

In a moment of brilliance he realises that embracing your inner averageness is the key to success.

During the seminar-style show, Tyler runs us through his new FART system and teaches the audience how to "power purge".

While Feeney's humour may have been Auckland-centric, his satire was spot on.

As Tyler's system begins to crumble mid-show, Feeney's message becomes more explicit: don't believe self-help gurus and certainly don't give them your money.

Feeney himself is flawless as Tyler, complete with American accent and wig.

He dominated the stage, bullying reluctant audience members to participate, prancing, power purging and generally terrifying the crowd.

A pants-wettingly hilarious night out. 5/5.

The Timaru Herald

The Timaru Herald
Reviewed by Emma Bailey

Nothing starts a show like hand holding - especially when the audience is predominantly male.

Last night Peter Feeney was Beau Tyler, teaching his faithful followers how to feel the fear and fail anyway!

The talented actor took a swipe at every self appointed self help guru America has ever produced.

Diligently showing success does not prevent us from the three C's: crime, cancer and Celine Dion. We are asked to hold the hand of our failure buddy and feel good by comparison.

Ahh bless, finally I can stop reading text from new age types, in fact the best way to make money from self help books Beau prophesized, was to write one.

The show lasted an hour which was the right length, which was the right length. We learnt how Beau had once been a self help man of success until his life crumbled and he got so low he ended up doing impersonations of himself. While the genre is well deserving of skepticism, he could not have gone much further in it.

This show inspired laughs, full audience participation, with just the right amount of tragedy.

A night with Beau Tyler finishes tonight at the Landing Services Building.

OTAGO DAILY TIMES - FAILURE KEY TO SATIRICAL SUCCESS

FAILURE KEY TO SATIRICAL SUCCESS

WELCOME to the rest of your life. Other self-help experts, you see, have it all wrong.

Aiming for success doesn’t work because it just sets you up for failure. Beau Tyler knows much better. On the basis of an afternoon in the public library, he knows that the secret is to embrace and welcome defeat. In fact Beau’s failure strategy is so successful that he’s an adviser to some of the biggest names on the planet, include George W himself. His marketing enterprises include wildly expensive residential courses, CD sets that may appear way overpriced but in fact are specially reduced this week, his best-selling book Feel the Fear and Fail anyway – maybe even steak knives.

Written and performed by Peter Feeney, and directed by Greg Cooper, A Night with Beau Tyler is splendid satire, starting with the (intentionally) clunky video introduction complete with applause cues. Beau’s mistimed entrance is delayed long enough for the expectation to be wearing off. The parody is sustained through to the ending, speeded up because Beau has run out of steam, and the relentless but amateurish sales pitch as the audiences wonders whether to leave or not.

Peter Feeney does it well, drawing shamelessly on the manipulation tactics and fake sincerity of motivational speakers; conviction of televangelists; the slick insistence of advertorial writers.

There’s audience involvement, include some activities which oblige people to stand up and carry out quite ridiculous exercises to the point of co-operation fatigue.

Last evening, the Fortune Studio was full, and everyone seemed entertained, rather than edified, by this ingenious, if not necessarily life-changing, hour-long send up.

On the way out, the foyer wasn’t full of tacky merchandise – instead, we were all treated to a delicious frozen confection. You’ll never guest what.

Reviewed by Barbara Frame
Tuesday July 29, 2008