Where in the world am I today?: Aboard the Serenade of the Seas which is docked in Vicotria, BC at the moment.
Prologue: It’s a bit of a blur really, but I have vague memories of seeing David Lichtenstein at the 1987 Juggling Convention in Saints, France… Though I could be wrong. I do however remember that our paths crossed at the Festival D’été De Québec in 1993. We were both hired to perform at the gig and I remember bumping into Dave and chatting with him between shows. I was struck immediately with not only his impressive repertoire of skills, but also his easy going nature with his audience. The combination of these assets and the cowboy theme to his show made him an obvious choice for the Street Stars Program at the PNE, and it was great to have him be a part of the program in 2008.
Stats:
Name: David Lichtenstein – “Leapin‘ Louie Lichtenstein the most explosive Lithuanian Jewish Cowboy Juggling Comedian to ever come out of Oregon.“
Birthday: 6/5/1960 please update every year starting 2010 to keep me perpetually 49
Place of Birth: Michigan
Started Performing/Working in the Industry: 1983
Discipline: Cowboy Comedy Show
Website: http://www.comedytricks.com
Video Link: http://www.comedytricks.com/Leapin_Louie/Leapin_Louie_Promo_Videos.html
Venues Worked: 22 countries around the world
Hot 10 Questions:
- What’s your favorite flavor of ice cream and why? • Coffee almond fudge. The greatest juggling feat of my life was when I was 11-years old. I was riding my bike with a double scoop of jamocha almond fudge and coconut when both scoops fell off the cone separately. My hand came off the handlebars, scooped one scoop, the other, back on the cone, and back to the handlebars without crashing. (I could not ride without hands at the time.) It’s been down hill ever since that juggling peak of my life. Perhaps I’ve never faced that degree of life or death need in a moment again.
- Name one movie that would make it to your Top 10 all-time great films • Funny Bones
- What was your favorite toy from childhood? • GI Joe doll. Play ranged from domestic scenes, eating cereal with GI Joe, to torture.
- Who were your biggest inspirations when you got started? • Oregon Country Fair performers like The Flying Karamazovs and Waldo– Paul Burke.
- From the world of animation what one character do you most identify with or see yourself in? • Gaston LaGaffe, a french comic book character is a favorite influence.
- Name something that scares you. • Scared of snakes even though we have two in the house.
- Apart from the entertainment industry, name one other job you’ve had. • Treeplanter. There’s a good hard Northwest job. Busboy, disherwasher, line cook, bean canner, strawberry picker, school teacher; bad jobs.
- What’s something you haven’t done yet that you’d like to try? • Scuba diving, surfing, parachuting, novel writing, kiwi farmer, sailing.
- What’s your least favourite thing about being a performer? • Always looking for work, for the next job.
- If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? • “Good try.”
The Nugget:
Pick one nugget of wisdom you’ve picked up from your career in Show Business to share with the World.
“Time is the only coin of your life. Dont’ let others spend it for you!”
–David Lichtenstein
