The Glow: a rare, awe-inspiring moment that hugely impacts and changes those who witness and accept it.

In a performance titled “The Glow,” Epiphany “Big Piph” Morrow presented a program which showcased his music, humor, goals and story through a unique multimedia format this past Saturday in May Auditorium. Tarrell Campbell, assistant dean in the College of Arts and Sciences, brought Morrow, a former classmate at Stanford, to campus through the College Writing Program.

The idea behind the performance was to tell the story of one man’s journey while inviting the audience to share in their own journeys along the way. Not one to shy away from heavy topics, Morrow used the program to discuss issues of identity, race, divided communities and inner conflict to express every aspect of the journey that brought him to the stage Saturday night. The show culminated in a message of hope and global community.

In an interview with Student Life, Morrow explained details of his creative process and the effect he hoped for the program to have.

Student Life:

This is a really unique format of performance and program. What would you say inspired you to create this kind of format and use these different kinds of mediums?

Epiphany Morrow:

I try to do big ambitious projects when I get inspired. I saw there was a stand-up comedy by Hasan Minhaj called ‘Homecoming King,’ and when I saw that—it wasn’t actually a stand-up special, it was more like a one-man show. It had a lot of visuals and it moved around with all these stories, and about 15 minutes into that, I realized I knew what my version of that would be. And even though it’s way different than his, from that sea I saw my own and that was my inspiration. Sometimes I have crazy ideas that don’t make sense, so I hit up my friend Corey [Harris] and sent it to him to make sure it would be great, and he hit me back and was like, ‘Let’s do it.’ And after that it was like a year-long process of shaping it and putting it together.

SL:

You use the phrase a lot in the program: ‘the journey.’ What would you say the words ‘the journey’ specifically mean for you?

EM:

So in the show I actually make it almost vague on purpose, because as the conclusion of the show was supposed to show, it’s always…changing to the point you are. Also I wanted to keep it open so that people saw their own journey—whatever it is—within it, right? It’s just kind of like the path when you think, when you believe you found a goal and you’re moving towards it, but then you might find the goals change or…you’re getting off of [the path]. So the journey for me was just like, I was being impacted by all these things to define what I wanted to do, but along the way I was redefined by what the goal actually should be.

SL:

You used a lot of audience participation in the show. Is that something that you always do, or is that something new? Why do you incorporate that?

EM:

So I still do a lot of regular music performances and there is some crowd participation, but it’s a lot more focused on me. I have several things, so I look at it like, ‘If I was in the audience, what could give me the dopest show,’ and then also as a performer, ‘What is something I want to be a dope performance.’ So I try to find that balance. And like I said before, it’s [the] journey that I’m trying to find for myself, but I kind of want the audience to think about their journey. So it’s like, I need to include the audience in my journey, right? So it’s just one of those things about how to keep them engaged, how to do different things and also pull them in and out of their comfort zone. And also it just makes it more fun when I design it.

SL:

What is your favorite part about performing? What makes you drawn to it?

EM:

There’s two parts: so sometimes while performing it just feels great…I tell people you feel huge and small at the same time; it’s a weird feeling. And then afterwards, after the show, having the people respond to your creations, right? Because this thing comes to life… from nothing, and then people spend their good times, sometimes paying to witness it and then react to it, and that just blows my mind! Because literally two years ago, this thing did not exist, and now I have cool interviews with the school newspaper, like it just blows my mind!

Based on the line of audience members waiting to talk to Morrow after the show, that impact was certainly felt by the Wash. U. community Saturday evening.