LIFE’S A PITCH

I recently had the great chance to be present at a seminar by the co-author of Life’s a Pitch – Stephen Bayley, at the Cornerhouse in Manchester.

After arriving stylishly late at the venue we took our seats, eagerly awaiting to hear the pearls of wisdom that were about to be spoken in front of us. Instantly I was smiling from ear to ear hearing about the day-to-day life of this extraordinary commentator of modern culture, how he approaches his work, the anecdotes, poems and historical references he can pull at will from his memory to back up everything he was saying. The seminar didn’t really centre around the ‘LAP’ book, it was more of an informal insight into his life, how he’s trying to merge the lines of work and leisure which I think is what every professional strives to achieve.

Mid-way through the talk I’m sure everyone could see why S.B was once described as ‘the second most intelligent man in Britain’, exuding passion, professionalism and an insightful nature that will blow your socks off. I came across a quote by Tom Wolfe who couldn’t have put it any better “I don’t know anybody with more interesting observations about style, taste and contemporary design.”.

A minor detail from the night was how S.B tore his notes from his pad, scrunched them up into a small snowball shape and tossed them aside adding leaps and bounds to his already charismatic nature. With each tear it appeared as though the audience fell more and more in love with the gent that stood in front of them and his charismatic nature.

Luckily enough by the end of the night, I was able to meet S.B and ask him about his ‘merging of work and leisure’ a quote which made my ears prick up and want to know more. Being a creative individual in both work and life – the quote defines I suppose what every creative is looking to achieve. He explained that if you truly enjoy what it is that you do then it’s only natural for you to want to merge them both. Really straight-forward, but it’s the kind of answer I was expecting.

A big thank-you to the Cornerhouse for putting on such a fantastic night, even though I did get told off by S.B for having the second edition and not the first (-:

(I’ve now bought a 1st edition copy)

Go and buy his book here

For a look at what’s coming up at the Cornerhouse click here