Since far too often we only publicly say nice things about people when they are dead I’ve decided to randomly pick a Facebook friend every day and say something nice about them.
May 25, 2019
Today’s person: Kelvin Han Yee!
His eyes were open as I walked around him, studying him from every angle. As my colleague flipped switches and pushed button, I examined him up close trying to figure out why our robot wasn’t activating. Not a move made, not an eyelid fluttered. We were at a loss before our magnificent creation. Finally, having tried everything else, I put hands on either side of his head, pulled him to me, and planted a long, hard, passionate kiss squarely on his lips. I then turned to my colleague. “Try it now,” I barked.
Kissing Kelvin Han Ye was not a dream come true for me. Sure, for many people the chance to lock lips with this ruggedly handsome hunk of extraordinary talent would be heaven, but for me it was just business. That’s not to say he’s a bad kisser, but he’s no Velina. And since, at every rehearsal of the short play we were working on he cracked up after the kiss, I was starting to worry about my own kissing ability.
“That was so wet! You are a wet kisser!” he said through his laughter.
Kelvin is a great actor AND a great performer. Those are two different things, and not everyone gets that. He is a master actor, clown, and presenter who can delve into a broad character for a crowd of thousands in the park, has the dramatic chops to break your heart in a theatre, do comedy improv in a small nightclub, or have the laser precision and focus needed when a movie camera is inches from his face. He is great and real regardless of the scale. He was fun and intimidating to work with, a blast to tour with, and always an explosion of exciting possibilities when you ran into him on the street. Yes, his resting face was that of a serial killer, but he lit up like a kid at Christmas in conversations about just about anything, and onstage it was like the world was not big enough for his soul. His Jacob Marley at ACT was a vision of self-torture that would turn any Scrooge into a saint.
And despite my apparently wet kiss which my wife does not complain about I’ll have you know wait oh Gods what is she saying behind my back Kelvin did not crack in our performance.
He was an inactivated robot being kissed by Dr. Wet Kiss it seems, but my moistness was not going to get in the way of yet another great performance by a great actor.
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