MANNY ASL: The DVD clips!

The link for the clip is at the bottom of the page. But first, a note about the DVD from Raymond Luczak, the director:

After a few hours of shooting the breeze about the digital video projects I had worked on, Manny proposed that I work with him on creating his first DVD. It was too exciting an opportunity to pass up, for many reasons.

The few ASL videos I saw during my college years at Gallaudet University ('84 - '88) didn't excite me. Oh, to be sure, their stories and poems were magnificent, but there was hardly anything compelling about watching a person stand in the same spot in front of drapery for a total of 30 minutes. While my eyes took in their stories, my soul craved for a little more visual stimulation, a little more variety.

It was painful at times to observe how some of these ASL storytellers and poets seemed so divorced from where they normally shared and expanded their work--in front of friends. The camera didn't seem friendly to them, nor they with the camera! I knew that I did not want that slightly uncomfortable vibe from Manny, so when I set up my tripod and digital video camera to shoot, I made sure that I was casual about the whole thing and chatting with him while the camera was running so there was no separation between rehearsing, performing, and directing. The comfort level between Manny and the camera was phenomenal; there is a lovely rapport of casualness, as if Manny is your confidante, sharing his stories with you, and only you.

I also wanted to take ASL out of the studio and let it explode in motion, unafraid of the potentially distracting environment around the signer. I was so blessed that Manny was willing to trust me on this point, because as you will see, it makes ASL part of our everyday lives, which it always has been. We need to remember this crucial point: Without ASL, many of us deaf people will die a slow, lingering death.

I didn't learn ASL until I was a skinny and insecure 18-year-old freshman at Gallaudet. I had been exposed to Signing Exact English (SEE), but I knew it didn't feel right on my hands. Still, after having been raised on a diet of speech therapy lessons all my life, I felt it was better than nothing. The dangerously thrilling power of ASL is that one does not need to compromise; one can finally live when one's own communication emanates naturally through the entire body from the hands. Learning ASL enabled me, a shy wallflower, to take root and bloom rather brazenly in a springtime of colorful expressions that I'd waited a whole lifetime to share. I didn't need to be ashamed of my imperfect speech. I was one with everyone, and more importantly, I became my own person--me!--once I saw that a deaf person could be as different as possibly can be and still have friends. ASL taught me that, and so much more. This is why I've always maintained that even though I can speak well with others, my true language of emotion is ASL. Nothing else comes close. Nothing.

Upon seeing Manny's work for the first time, many uninitiated viewers will wonder: Who knew that ASL could be so powerful, funny, concise, heartbreaking all at once? But of course, we deaf people have always known this, which is why we are always at home with our organic hands, not with our speech therapist-indoctrinated voices. It is not through mere political lobbying but more through the undeniable joy of sharing with people like Manny that we signers can push for a greater acceptance of ASL.

Likewise, I hope you will celebrate Manny's talent and boundless joy that is barely contained in his expressive hands. Check out a sneak preview of his work here. (The free QuickTime player is required.)

Thanks for "listening with your eyes."

Don't forget to check out the stills from his stories!