Cover of Found Magazine
Audio By Carbonatix
For 20 years, Davy Rothbart and his brother Peter have been a two-man, real-world environmental storytelling phenomenon. They’ll bring their collection of found letters to the Texas Theatre on July 30.
“We do this rowdy, energetic show where I read the found notes people have sent me, and my brother is this really beautiful musician that writes based on the notes,” Davy Rothbart says.
They will be joined on stage by magician and sword-swallower Brett Loudermilk.
Found is a stage show, a collection of songs, a magazine, a series of books, and an example of a simple human need given context and form. Rothbart started collecting random letters and notes in 2004 and began publishing them after founding Found magazine. Since then, people all over the world have sent him their finds.
Similar to the Post-Secret project started by Frank Warren that same year, Rothbart’s collection of often anonymous correspondence reveals some strange, sad and delightful inner lives of our fellow humans.
“I think I’ve learned how interconnected we all are,” says Rothbart. “On the outside, we look different, talk differently, can be from different areas, but we’re all wrestling with the same human emotions. It’s powerful to read a note written by a stranger. It makes me feel connected to all people. We’re all going through universal experiences.”
After two decades, Rothbart is still innovating the way he presents the letters. While in Dallas, he will interview and film a man named Chuck, whose note about wanting to be a filmmaker is one of Rothbart’s favorites. Rothbart is looking forward to putting a face with the letter and adding some additional context to Found in an upcoming TV documentary he is working on. Additional footage will be shot at the Dallas show.
Texas has always provided some interesting fodder for Found. One note from Dallas came out of a pile of papers from someone named Edward detailing the reasons he admires pimps.
1. boy
2. max on girls
3. have girls work for money
4. has alot of girlfriends
5. COOL CARS
6. pimped out clothes
7. Have alot of money
8. SELL DRUGS
Another disturbing entry came in the form of an object. Someone sent Rothbart a burnt and partially melted toothbrush they found while visiting the site of the Branch Davidian compound in Waco after it caught on fire during a standoff with federal agents in 1993. Others are humorous, such as a love letter by an Austin middle schooler who wrote a manifesto on behalf of all the boys in his class to a girl named Erica they all had a crush on. The phrase “we the boys” stands out as it extolls her virtues and asks for her overall availability.
The handwritten note is becoming less common in 2024, but the overall concept of Found has remained. It just changes form.
“The ways people find things have changed,” says Rothbart. “Less handwritten letters or notes, more Snapchat and Instagram messages. I have a friend who’s a real purist who says a real note is one that is blowing down the street, but these still have the same feel.”
He cites as an example an 80-year-old woman who got her first cellphone and was immediately hit with dozens of texts from the previous owner of the phone number’s former romantic partner. Another involved a man with an ordinary name (think John Smith) who nabbed johnsmith@gmail.com. He got hundreds of emails from people searching for a completely different person, often ones of a very personal nature.
But even then, the handwritten note has a power that persists into the present.
“In general, when people want to write an important note, end a marriage after 20 years or show something powerful, they put pen to paper,” Rothbart says. “You can sometimes feel that person’s pen tip scratching the paper, their face pressed close. Their emotion is there.”
The Found magazine’s “Get S**t Done” Tour 2024 plays the Texas Theatre, 231 Jefferson Blvd., on Tuesday, July 30, at 7 p.m. Tickets are available at the Texas Theatre website.
