Who is Harvey Pollock?
Well, among many other things, (lawyer, art-collector, entrepreneur...) Harvey Pollock is a former world-champion whistler. For those of you unacquainted with the world of competitive whistling, it's a lot like American Idol except, you know, with whistling instead of the singing.
On the heels of his victory back in 1977, Harvey became something of a national celebrity, performing with the Winnipeg and Toronto symphony orchestras and appearing on radio and television variety programs across the country.
But that all came to a shuddering halt in 1982 when Harvey's son, Nathan, was killed by a drunk driver. In Harvey's own words, "In whistling there is no filter between you and the audience, no instrument to hide behind. You are the instrument. You can't fake it. A person who isn't happy can't achieve the transcendence necessary for a winning performance."
This April, after a thirty-two year hiatus, Harvey will once again return to the world stage of competitive whistling.
Why do I know all of these seemingly obscure facts? Because I had the great pleasure of interviewing Harvey in Winnipeg last December, and this week the documentary script I wrote from those interviews was greenlit for production by Omni TV.
More soon.
On the heels of his victory back in 1977, Harvey became something of a national celebrity, performing with the Winnipeg and Toronto symphony orchestras and appearing on radio and television variety programs across the country.
But that all came to a shuddering halt in 1982 when Harvey's son, Nathan, was killed by a drunk driver. In Harvey's own words, "In whistling there is no filter between you and the audience, no instrument to hide behind. You are the instrument. You can't fake it. A person who isn't happy can't achieve the transcendence necessary for a winning performance."
This April, after a thirty-two year hiatus, Harvey will once again return to the world stage of competitive whistling.
Why do I know all of these seemingly obscure facts? Because I had the great pleasure of interviewing Harvey in Winnipeg last December, and this week the documentary script I wrote from those interviews was greenlit for production by Omni TV.
More soon.
10 Comments:
As a bit of an amateur whistling geek, I'm totally looking forward to seeing this. Neat project...
Yeah, and a lot of fun to work on! I thought of you often during my research, which included listening to hours of whistling. Check out current reigning Grand Champion Geert Chatrou's website.
Thanks for the link -- it makes surprisingly good background music. And the guy is an incredible whistler. Although really, it's a bit hard to take it seriously, isn't it? I like it, but it automatically sounds sort of jokey or campy to me.
I know, that first track on Geert's site almost seems like self-parody.
These professional whistlers all lament not being taken more seriously. In nearly every interview I've seen or read they try to make the case that their art is as Important as any other.
I'm not sure what it is about whistling that makes it seem jokey. Maybe it's because people only seem to whistle when they're in a good mood. I find myself whistling a lot to entertain or distract children.
Yeah, I think you've nailed it. There are those associations with the aww-shucks-Andy Griffith era, for sure.
Not sure if you heard this indie-pop hit from a couple of years ago: Peter, Bjorn & John - Young Folks. The whistling is prominent, but it's hard not to take it as sort of ironic. Never mind this classic from our era (obviously not meant to be ironic, but now seems kinda funny).
One of my producers brought up that Peter, Bjorn & John song during development, but I never looked it up. Thanks for the link. It's fun, and popular, but the whistling itself isn't great.
And Patience, yeah, wow. I remember thinking I was pretty cool whistling that back in the day. That video is amazing. I particularly love all the shots of Slash in bed playing with a boa constrictor, wearing black leather gloves, no less!
But I digress...
I am really looking forward to seeing this. We've talked about it a bit and I am very interested in seeing final result. Hooray, good for you!
Thanks for checking in, dee! It's been a lot of fun to work on so far, and it's about to get a whole lot funner. All of which, hopefully, will make the end result a lot of fun to watch. Although, with a documentary, the ending is unwritten... so I guess time will tell!
When exactly is the big competition? Any idea how long the editing/production will take after that?
The 36th International Whistlers Convention takes place in Louisburg, North Carolina from April 23rd - 26th. And no, I have no idea how long it will take to come together after that. The broadcaster probably has a delivery/airing date in mind, but I haven't heard it yet.
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