SNOWMENTUM
TABLE OF CONTENTS
VOL 1.
POST — Verbatim Performance / Best Roommate Ever
STOP — Comedic Fun Stations / Date Park
SPOT — Sponsored Content / Magic Bullet
OPTS — Snowball Requirements / 108
TOPSS — Wardrobe & Accessories / The Breat Mug
POTTS — What’s Growing & Donations / Big Green
SNOWPHOTO — 24 Shots, 1 Subject / Rosebowl Photos
EVENTS — Flurries to Big Snows / Snowballs
SPORTS — New Ways to Play / Two Basketballs
THEATER — Monologues & Dialogues / The Fan
FILM — Get Some Freshies / Reviews
FOOD — Reviews & Recipes / Avocado Toast
MUSIC — Tunes & Hits / 8 Track Recorder
AUDIO — Podcasts & Sounds
NATURE — Listen & Look
OBITUARY — Someone We’ve Lost
LOVE — Your Romantic Tale
POLITICAL — Vibes & Votes
TECH — New Tools, New Rules / #Crazytown
ART — The Visuals
HEALTH — Body & Mind
REAL ESTATE — Spaces to Be
TRAVEL — Where
MIDNIGHT — Where the Clock Strikes
THE EXTRA FRAME — Bingo
MASTER CONTENT
Dear Snowballers.
Hello there. My name is John Pick. I’m an actor living in Los Angeles, but I’m originally from Chicago.
Some time back, I created an event called The Snowball Party. I also created a series called the Best of Craigslist, where I take crazy Craigslist posts and play the characters who post them. And I’m putting them together with a new venture called Snowmentum. It’s a newspaper made by actors, with videos and live events, specializing in creating joy and connection. It’s a superspeader.
I’ll throw 9 tiny Snowballs a month, and also deliver beautiful and great content.
And I’m asking you to opt-in and fuel the Snowmentum.
Will you buy some freshies?
I had a realization a few years back that Snowball was all about stops, and. Craigslist was all about posts. The chief elements of both of my babies had the same letters. Maybe carried the same energy. And when adding these letters together they made other words... S O P T
Six combinations make up the verbal backbone of this here newspaper
STOP —a fun intersection where some fun streets meet
POST -- Real posts verbatim: comedic and/or poignant writing generated by the public and prompts.
SPOT -- Sketches and Commercials
POTS - The Snowball will donate a portion of each month’s Snowbank to someone or something great.
TOPS - The Snowball Party will give away great gear. Can we give you a mug?
OPTS - Will you buy some freshies?
There’s 16 more sections. That make 24 Frames in a Contact Sheet.
So lets get to it
I’m asking for your participation. First if simply for your ears and eyes. Can you Snowmentum, to headout for a Snowday and do Snow Angels.
Here’s how the Snowball works...
Each event starts with mulitple pairs of Snowballers meeting at a pre-determined starting location where they do something fun, After a short time they “snowball” into groups of 4. Then to tribes of 8. And into packs of 16. Before the snowball unites as one.
Each event runs on the clock at about an hour. It’s a scavenger hunt where the prize is the people that you meet, a happening for the digital age, a tournament shaped escalating adventure-show ... and it has always been a hit!
I’m currently in dress rehearsal/spring training on a new version and I’d love to have you Snowball with me. If you are interested, please sign up below or text“Snowball” to 1-888-531-SNOW. When you text you’ll get a menu of upcoming snowballs. Thanks so much and I’ll see you in the freshies.
Sincerely yours,
John Pick, Chief of the Snow Patrol
SCHEDULE OF SNOWBALLS.
“We’ve shed old rituals without coming up with new ones. We’ve robbed ourselves of opportunities to celebrate. Why do we willingly throw away chances to throw fun parties? It could be an occasion to tell a new version of the town story; a community is a group of people who share a common story.”
-David Brooks, New York Times.
I did a leadership conference called Activate LA.
ORGANIZING STATEMENT
I am organizing Actors and Writers and Audience to Pursue Connection, Laughter, Love and Anti Digital-age Socialization to Achieving a New Form of Ritual Based around Performance and Shared Action.
STORY OF ME + STORY OF US + STORY OF NOW
I grew up in a multicultural progressive environment in Chicago in the 1980s and that was the greatest lesson of my life. I fell in love with acting, storytelling and community building in Chicago. When I moved to Los Angeles, I chased stardom but was always grounded by the same things that Chicago taught me: storytelling and ensemble and how to activate a community. I also taught storytelling in the LA Public Schools as a side job. From 2010-2016, as multiculturalism and the Internet descended on our world, I produced the Snowball Party, a scavenger hunt where the prize is the people that you meet, and the Best of Craigslist, a series where we take crazy Craiglist ads and play the characters who post them. And over time, I found a similar thread, both are performative, activating rituals that produce joy, connection and catharsis, divided into bite sized nuggets of time. The Snowball Party resists the forces of isolation and combat the budding age of the Internet, and the Best of Craiglist is our collective story. It’s an analog experience for the digital world which serves to combat the empathy deficit.