By the Numbers: Jessie McCall

Jessie McCall is a queer movement artist and performance maker based in Tāmaki Makaurau. Her work harnesses visual design, sound, and distinct movement vocabularies to build darkly humorous worlds that are slippery, disruptive, and human. She is the choreographer of Big Low Dream with Footnote New Zealand Dance on 25 & 26 Sept, co-choreographer of WHITE NOISE on 15 Oct and performs in The Room Would Split Open on 17 & 18 Oct – all on at Q Theatre as part of Tempo Dance Festival.

1. How many podcasts do you subscribe to?

23.

2. How many podcast episodes do you listen to on average each week?

Week to week my life can look quite different, so some weeks 0, but when I have more time in my own company I'd say that can spike to around 10?

3. How many people do you follow on TikTok/Instagram/Twitter/Letterboxd (choose/add applicable)?

0. For me life is a better place without socials.

4. How many caffeinated beverages do you consume, on average, daily?

Only 1 coffee, but I likely average 10 cups of tea.

5. How many books do you currently have checked out from the library?

3, but they're all audiobooks.

6. How many books do you have on hold from the library?

2, also both audiobooks.

7. How many photos do you have in your camera roll?

882.

8. How many screenshots do you have in your screenshot folder?

I do not know about this folder.. they would likely all be accidental screenshots of my homescreen - I'm not sure what buttons wake up my phone so I just mash the side and see what happens.

9. How many selfies do you have saved?

None of me, many of my 4 year old.

10. How many films have you watched so far this year?

Maybe 10.

11. How many books have you read so far this year?

I've probably read 3 with my own eyes, but I've been read 23 by someone else's disembodied dulcet tones. Authors reading their own books into my ears is definitely my favorite form.

12. How many games have you played so far this year?

So many, but none involving a board or a dice if that's what you mean.

13. How many songs do you have saved/liked on your music app of choice (Spotify/Apple Music/Tidal/Youtube Music et. al.)?

783.

14. How many playlists do you have saved?

Many many.. maybe 60% personal listening 40% choreography related scheming.

15. How many shows or live performances have you been to this year?

30? 40? 50? Where does live art end and life begin?

16. How many Discord servers are you in?

I had to Google what this is, and thus I believe 0?

17. How many streaming services do you pay for a subscription to?

3.

18. How many apps do you have a paid subscription for?

2.

19. How many newsletters do you subscribe to?

6.

20. How many news outlets or online magazines do you pay for a subscription to?

0.

21. How many unread emails do you currently have in your inbox?

0. But maybe it's cheating that I have a second inbox where I send things I don't want to encounter unless I'm looking for them...that one has 5686.

22. How many total emails do you have in your inbox?

35,679.

23. How many emails do you receive on the average workday?

10.

24. How many emails would you send on the average workday?

8.

25. How many contacts do you have saved on your phone?

416.

26. How many apps do you have on your phone?

16.

27. How many tabs do you currently have open on your main browsing device?

6.

28. How many voice memos have you sent in the last 24 hours?

0. I've tried my best to make use of this format, but generally If I'm going to yarn then I want to hear a voice back in the immediate.

29. How long was the last voice memo you sent?

Probably a long inadvertent pocket dial.

30. How many times do you go to the supermarket in a week on average?

0 – I get them delivered and I'm not proud of it.

31. How many items would you purchase in an average supermarket shop?

I'm going to go with 30.

32. How many unread notifications do you currently have on your phone?

1 – I only have notifications on for calls and texts

33. How many instruments can you play?

I can play Tears in Heaven on the piano, so I'm ambitiously going to put 1 for this.

34. How many languages can you speak/understand?

1 reliably.

35. How many devices do you personally own that can connect to the internet? (eg. phone, laptop, console, smartwatch, tablet)

2 – phone and computer. I bought a dehumidifier that kept trying to connect to the internet so I took it back. It's not right.

36. How many screens are in your household? (If separate from previous answer)

Other than phones, 2 - my computer and my partner's computer.

37. How many financial transactions would you make on the average day? (incl. one-off purchases, recurring payments, bank transfers, etc.)

5?

38. How many birthdays can you remember off the top of your head?

Not enough.

39. How many passages of text can you remember or recite by heart?

Ooh.. actually quite a few, but not all of a high literary standard. I had to learn Jabberwocky for some sort of atrocious am-dram audition as a 10 year old and can rustle that up on cue.

40. How many keys (or equivalent) are on your keychain?

Incredibly I do not have one as our front door has a keypad. I'm living in the future. And the car key just floats in the bottom of my bag to keep me on edge.

41. How many passwords do you have saved on an app that saves passwords? (as in accounts, not individual passwords)?

There's an app that saves passwords?

42. How many kitchen appliances do you have in your household?

6.

43. How many pairs of shoes do you have?

5.

44. How many pairs of socks do you have?

In constant flux depending on how many pairs my partner claims to have.

45. How many condiments do you have in your fridge?

6. We just moved to a new whare so executed a cut-throat condiment cleanse in the process. Now we have satisfyingly few condiments, none of which are even expired (flex).

46. How many pets do you have?

0.5. My ex and I co-own a sweet sweet SPCA-medley dog.

47. How many plants do you have?

17.

48. How many steps are in your skincare routine?

1. My face gets washed in the shower with water. Works pretty good.

49. How many skincare products do you use on a daily basis?

1 - moisturizer. Or 2 if it's sunny and you gotta slip slop slap.

50. How many cushions/pillows do you sleep with?

I sleep with a strange hard little wave of foam that somehow keeps my neck out of constant trouble.. And then I put a normal pillow between my knees. I'm not even 40.

51. How many times have you been in love?

3.

52. How many hours on average do you sleep in a night?

4-6. It's terrible and I know I'm going to die early. I've been working on it for 20 years with little progress.

53. How many schools have you attended?

7. We moved a lot when I was a child - probably somewhat related to the abysmal relationship to sleep.

54. How many addresses have you had in your life?

16.

55. How many qualifications do you have?

I have 3 University qualifications. Most of the learning I have done have been fairly unrelated to those - I don't think University qualifications necessarily describe much.

56. How many times have you broken a bone?

4. I currently have a broken sesamoid, which is one of two tiny bones embedded in the tendon beneath your big toe. It's wild to have a bone the size of a sesame seed stop you from walking properly for months.

57. How many standing weekly appointments do you have?

I have many because I see my therapy clients weekly.

58. How many people do you message or check in with on a daily/weekly basis (choose most appropriate)?

5.

59. How many YouTube channels do you subscribe to?

0.

60. How long did it take you to fill out this questionnaire?

20 minutes.

Big Low Dream with Footnote New Zealand Dance runs on 25 & 26 Sept, WHITE NOISE runs 15 Oct and The Room Would Split Open on 17 & 18 Oct runs at Q Theatre as part of Tempo Dance Festival.