The fall after finishing my undergrad, I worked for a children’s theatre in Columbus, Ohio. It was a magical year. I learned so much about myself as an artist and I think the lessons I learned there still inform the work I do with young audiences today. While I was there, I would tell these stories of my life growing up. The artistic director of the theatre loved my stories and told me I needed to take all of these wonderful stories and make a show! For the next four years, I told anyone who would listen that I have this great idea for a show – but I never… read more →
One of my favorite books to read to my son is I Like Myself by Karen Beaumont with wonderful illustrations by David Catrow. It was given to us by my Aunt Carol and really celebrates the idea of accepting ourselves for who we are. The exuberance the young girl the book uses to express that, no matter what, she is truly happy to be who she is and there is no one else she’d rather be, transcends into a universality of self-acceptance. I am often asked after performances or presentations if I ever wonder or wish what it would be like to have both my hands. I always tell the… read more →
Not long ago, I was taking questions after a school performance of my solo play. I was asked, “What is your proudest personal moment?” I thought about it and replied, “Being able to witness the birth of my son.” There was a large general response of “Ahhh…” from the audience. Then a rapid succession of questions: “What is your son’s name?” “Abner David Harrell, IV” (poor kid) “Does your son have a hand like yours?” “No, my son was born with both his hands.” “Are you happy your son will not have the same challenges as you because he has two hands?” “Um….” I wasn’t sure how to answer that… read more →
The first day of school always started the same for me. “Abner Harrell” the teacher would say. (Even though I made sure to get to class early and request they use my middle name, David, when they called attendance). Every year it was the same story, all the way through high school. The first day of school would remind this guy, Chris Reed, of my first name and I’d spend the next two weeks relentlessly getting “Abner” cat calls. He’d soon forget about it and I’d go back to being “David” for the rest of the year. I did not like my name very much. I wondered why my father… read more →
A few months ago I performed a portion of my solo play A Little Potato and Hard to Peel for a morning assembly at a high school in Nashville, TN. I had to cut the show to 25 minutes and felt good about the cutting and thought it had gone well with the audience. It was a tough audience; a high school in a morning assembly is never the easiest audience, but they were with me. They were laughing and I felt a good energy. The assembly ended and the kids were shuffling out for the remainder of their day. I started to put away my props. “Excuse me sir,… read more →
Last year, I was at a bar in New York City talking shop with a few other actors and artists from my alma mater, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. We were talking about creating our own work and brainstorming on ways we could collaborate together. I soon found out about the 48-hour Disability Film Challenge. It was created to encourage artists with disabilities to collaborate with each other and other working artists without disabilities to make fun and engaging short films. I went back to the UNC-G folks I was talking with at the bar and pitched the idea that we should work on making a film for… read more →
I am so grateful for this New Year and for what the future holds! I’m excited that my speaking manager, Kate Holgate, will be launching a brand new website soon for Alliance for Success Speaker Management and for the additional exposure I’ll receive to even more meeting planners. My wish is that my work continues to remind audiences that we all have differences, but it is in the acceptance of our own differences that allow us to see our shared humanity in others. I saw this quote from Bill Nye recently and it has stayed with me, it is something we need to remind ourselves of these days. “We are one… read more →
Over 7,000 individuals submitted their materials to the ABC Discovers Talent showcase this year; the 7,000 were cut down to 70, then to 35 and finally to 14. Six of the last seven years I’ve been one of the 7,000 to submit my materials. Six of those years I was one of the 6,986 individuals to not be cast in the showcase but this year I was one of the fourteen individuals to be cast. I’ve pondered this over the past few weeks. Did I do anything different? Was I a much worse actor last year? Or was it just the right time? The day before my audition this year… read more →
A few weeks ago I was volunteering at a camp for young kids with limb loss, Camp No Limits. I love coming to camp because I meet amazing individuals who refuse to accept limitations no matter what their circumstances. One of the favorite games in camp is “Rubber Chicken Baseball.” Here are the rules: one team will throw the rubber chicken to the fielding team. They will then form a tight circle and their “runner” will run around the circle, each full trip around the circle equals a run or point. The fielding team will retrieve the thrown rubber chicken and quickly form a single file line. Once the line… read more →