Engine Number Nine, a Multi-Powered Metaphor, Clown College and Coaching Strategies for Stragglers, Written by Raymond King Shurtz.

The Hidden Gems Podcast (The Best Short Stories You've Never Heard)

Episode: 8

Warning: Content Marked Explicit.

Published on Sep 9th at 10:30am

A roller-coaster ride on steroid-rails that explores the meaning of life, serial killers, and "an overhaul rethinking for the strategic management of the clown college" - because contemporary clown college is not your mother's clown college anymore! 

Today's short story was written by Raymond King Shurtz who is a Director, Designer, Playwright, Teacher, Actor, and Musician. He was the Founder and Artistic Director of Playwright's Workshop Theatre in 1988 and he produced over 80 plays during his 12-year tenure.

From 1998 to 2008, Raymond was the director of theatre at Metro Arts Institute, in Phoenix, Arizona, while simultaneously producing new plays with Theatre 4S. After leaving Metro Arts in 2008, Raymond wrote, acted, and produced his one-man show, Bohemian Cowboy which was selected as the 'pick of the week' in the LA Weekly in Los Angeles. He also performed the show in San Francisco, Southern Utah, and Austin Texas, and is currently on hiatus before he tours the show again. As a playwright, Raymond has written thirty plays, all of them produced in various parts of the country. Three of his plays are published, one with Samuel French, and two plays with Dramatic Publishing/Anchorage Press. Raymond is the recipient of the 2002 fellowship for playwriting from The Arizona Commission on the Arts and, during the last 2 years, he is becoming known for producing plays in obscure places in his home turf of Boulder, Utah. His play, Under the Desert is produced on a high mesa to capacity audiences, who had to hike or four-wheel to the desert site to see the play. Raymond is also a singer/songwriter, and puts together bands to play old honky-tonk music and his music can be found on SoundCloud.

Currently, Raymond has embarked on a tour with his new one person show, Lounge, which is his personal riff on playing lounges for two years. Raymond plans to produce a full season of experimental theatre, with some classic theatre to give a different challenge to the company.

Follow Raymond on Facebook at:
https://www.facebook.com/rkshurtz

Listen to Raymond's music on SoundCloud:
https://soundcloud.com/raymond-king-shurtz

Check out Raymond's book "Seven Plays of the American West" at:
https://www.amazon.com/Seven-Plays-American-Raymond-Shurtz/dp/0997045736

A big THANK YOU to John Bell for his stellar narration! For more of John's creative genius, check out his family friendly podcast at:
https://thebatfry.com/

For more information on The Hidden Gems Podcast or to submit your own short story for the opprotunity to be featured on this podcast, go to:
https://www.thehiddengemspodcast.com/