Local talent a cause for Wonderment

Seaton Kay-Smith has come a long way since his days as the dancing mascot for his university rugby team, a role played out in the blistering heat of a Lismore summer. Back then, having abandoned the game after a broken arm ended his three-year playing career, he had taken up supporting his old teammates from the sidelines dressed as a blue rat, dancing the full 90 minutes of each game and gaining dozens of young fans who would copy his moves.

These days, though, he’s back home in Sydney’s inner west, where his creativity is still winning him fans – most recently for his six-piece audio series, Do You Ever Wonderment?

The collection of 10-minute clips showcases Kay-Smith’s edgy, dark humour, sharp observations and wickedly-observed sense of the mundane.

The 24-year-old Leichhardt local has written, starred in and produced the series from his home studio and released it exclusively online, to the positive reviews of his grassroots community following.

His talent belies his training as a graduate in Human Movement Science – his university buddies now work as physiotherapists and exercise psychologists. But the writer, performer, musician and producer says that even through his rugby-playing university years, he maintained a love of creative expression.

“When I was at uni, most of my friends were from my rugby team, so we spent time drinking rum and watching sport,” he said. “But while I was up there I still loved writing and film.

“My group of friends down here is more filmic and I’ve started to carve myself into that. There’s more bouncing of ideas around down here and that keeps the flame alive. You do adapt to the people you’re hanging around with.”

Since returning to Sydney, Kay-Smith has pursued his creative talents by co-founding video production company Paper Moose Productions, where he works as head writer alongside a team of specialists to make video clips, commercials, television programs and films.

Do You Ever Wonderment? was an opportunity to set his own creative challenge and explore his darker brand of humour independently of his creative friends and colleagues.

“I get very bored if I’m not making something, and Wonderment was a goal that I set for myself,” he said. “I was inspired by the potential of the end product, so I set a deadline and I promoted it online before the first episode giving the number of shows I planned to do. I had no choice then but to follow through.”

But given his creative energy, the challenge was easily met.

“I’m constantly doing things, I spend maybe eight hours a day writing, or drawing, or doing music stuff, just because that’s what I enjoy doing.

“Do You Ever Wonderment? was a chance for me to do that stuff in my own time.”

As for where he draws inspiration from, Kay-Smith says it’s simply a matter of listening to the voices in his head.

“A method for writing a lot of these sketches is to just have a conversation by myself in the dark into my dictaphone, and then listen to that and make it into a coherent script. So a lot of it is just insanity, I guess…”

The question is though – will this insanity stop him pursuing a career in Human Movement Science?

“I wouldn’t mind doing that kind of thing, but at the moment I’m following this stream.”

His fans will be pleased to hear that.

Do You Ever Wonderment? can be found online at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Do-You-Ever-Wonderment/149567985074919?ref=ts

by Amy Kelly