Anyone not familiar with Andrew Bailey‘s work may find Brain Machine disjointed and seemingly randomly transitioning from one story to another. It’s like those monologues one sees on a late night talk show, where the host can talk about anything, and audiences will laugh. Although I stopped watching these types of shows when Arsenio Hall’s show went off the air, this spoken word comedy caught my attention because I liked the title.
As a result, I paid more attention to his thoughts on the growth of Silicon Valley. Although he lived nowhere near, the stuff he had to say about the development of ARPANET to distributed data in a network and eventually the Internet, makes up one third of the show.
In the other parts, what’s revealed is about him having a rough go at life. When he was younger, this wannabe moved to Toronto to be with a woman, but when she dumped him, he was pretty much alone. Thankfully, he had ideas to be a career screenwriter, and got his foot in the door (the television industry) while in this big city.
But even then, the criticisms he faced, and his own self-doubt, would cause him to leave this big city and seek isolation on Bowen Island, British Columbia. While living in a cabin owned by his family, he continued developing his craft, and despite criticisms about what he wrote, he preserved. When he experimented with this coming thing known as the World Wide Web (and a YouTube video that went viral), he became a sudden sensation. Since he wasn’t technically savvy, he did not know what to do as a follow up!
Part of the show is about him, connections, lost opportunities and Internet fame. This writer is better known for his work for Atomic Vaudeville and what he’s brought into a solo show is a wonderfully complex tale about life, love, and hate for this service we all use. As for the smartphone. I’m glad he admits to talk about that is a separate show in itself! This playwright said nothing about BlackBerry devices because the war between that and Steve Job’s vision may well be too overwhelming, surpassing the playwright’s original vision for this show.
The only head scratcher concerns the Axis Powers and why World War II matters. Unless I fell asleep, that’s an element that felt left field in an otherwise straightforward narrative about him dealing with technology. As for all that material regarding sexism in the workplace, it’s something that doesn’t jibe with the overall theme.
Ultimately, his monologue ponders if society formed through Internet connections is the future. Berners-Lee did not envision his invention to adhere to Unitarian Universalist philosophy; what’s discussed is too brief, and this host only distinguishes the difference with the letter u in lower case, than upper case. I caught on to this detail because my Computer History 101 textbook mentioned it. However, for the common audience, this association needs to be expanded on. Although Brain Machine is about a fictional version of Bailey finding a place to belong in society, what’s explored requires a lot more processing power to make sense of it all.
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