‘43 years he’s been on air, the bloke with the beard and the bushy hair’. So begins the opening number of ‘The Bob Ross Effect’.
It introduces the much loved painter of happy clouds and happy trees to anyone who might not already be aware of his incredible legacy.
In the States there has never been a time since his death 30 years ago when he’s been off air. But in the UK, a lot of fans only discovered him during lockdown when the BBC decided to re-run episodes of his hit TV programme, ‘The Joy Of Painting’.
He became a soothing voice of calm and reassurance when the world turned upside down; the Grandfather of ASMR who taught us that there are “no mistakes in life, only happy accidents”.
I first came across him back in 2015, when streaming platform Twitch ran all 403 episodes of ‘The Joy Of Painting’ back to back. Amazingly over 5 million people tuned in around the globe. What’s even more amazing, is that for most of us, we weren’t painting along.
We came for the art, but we stayed for the man.
The term ‘The Bob Ross Effect’ refers to the clinically proven discovery that watching Bob reduces stress and anxiety. People literally feel better after spending half an hour with this kind, gentle and yes, I’ll say it, strangely sexy-in-an-innocent-sort-of-way, man.
Bob said that when he was filming, he was only ever talking to one person at a time – and he was crazy about them. That’s what it felt like to me. Like was speaking just for me.
I had a similar experience with my good friend Lynn Ruth Miller when we first met at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2006.
A Fringe legend, Lynn Ruth burst onto the comedy stage at the tender age of 70, picking up a microphone for the first time, cracking jokes, telling stories and throwing incontinence pants at the audience.
I loved her instantly.
Although she and Bob never met, they had a lot in common. Lynn Ruth was an accomplished painter and like Bob, believed that there was an artist hidden in every single one of us. She also loved an audience and as a late bloomer, was the living embodiment of “it’s never too late to follow your dreams”.
But whilst Bob encouraged us to take our time, Lynn Ruth was always in a hurry. Starting comedy later in life, she felt she had a lot of catching up to do.
When she passed away unexpectedly just shy of her 88th birthday, I found myself as her next of kin. Looking at her tiny flat, filled with over 300 paintings, I decided to give her one final art exhibition to honour her rich and creative life. The story of how this memorial came about and the community of friends who made it happen, is told in our show.
Over the years I began to realise that Bob and Lynn Ruth had become my unlikely mentors and guides – their words of wisdom coming to me especially in times of trouble.
They taught me to believe in myself, to look for kindness in others and to embrace failure. As Bob said, “Anything that you try and don’t succeed at, if you learn from it, it’s not a failure”.
And I have been embracing failure big time in the making of this show! It’s been my most ambitious project yet; as well as writing original songs, I’ve had to learn to fan dance and paint. Before last year I hadn’t picked up a paint brush since I was a child, let alone done it on stage in front of 200 people!
As children we create instinctively. But a lot of us stop making art as soon as we get to school. When we feel judged, we lose the joy.
We’re hoping to re-ignite some of that joy with our show. Audiences will be given the opportunity to draw if they want, but there is no pressure to participate. I don’t want to give away too many spoilers, but if you think you can’t draw, then this show is definitely for you.
Working in cabaret for over 30 years (most recently with ‘An Evening Without Kate Bush’ has taught me how powerful it can be when we gather together united by a shared passion. So often we’re encouraged to define ourselves by our differences. But I genuinely believe, as Bob did, that art can help us come together and heal.
My art is storytelling, and whilst I can’t promise my paintings will be hung on gallery walls any time soon, it’s not about being ‘good’, it’s about discovering the joy of taking part.
Maybe that’s Bob’s biggest legacy. He may be gone, but his message still lives on. Inspiring us, motivating us to give it a try.
The Bob Ross Effect by Sarah-Louise Young, Assembly Gardens (Piccolo), 5-31 Aug (not 18th), 16:05 (70 mins)
https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/the-bob-ross-effect
