Where in the world am I today?: Headed towards Victoria, BC, Canada aboard the Golden Princess
Prologue: My first ‘Official’ face to face encounter with Jay Gilligan came in 1997 at the Winnipeg International Children’s Festival. Jay was traveling with his then girlfriend and her family and just happened to be at the Festival. I had heard of Jay before this first face to face encounter and knew a bit about his work, but ya never know how personalities will mesh before you actually get the chance to spend some time hanging out. Jay endeared himself immediately to me by offering my wife Emiko (originally from Japan) and I ‘Pocky Sticks’ (a chocolate covered cookie snack from Japan). Our time together at that Festival proved to be so much fun that we decided to put a show together the following year and performed as “The Instigators” about a year after having first met. The goal that we set was to try and mesh or performance styles together and also wear shorts made out of Fake Fur. In hind sight it might have been fun to set slightly different goals, but we did achieve what we set out to do and have been friends ever since.
STATS
Name: Jay Gilligan.
Birthday: February 18, 1977.
Place of Birth: Arcadia, Ohio, USA.
Started Performing/Working in the Industry: First show at the age of 8!
Discipline: Started with unicycling which lead to juggling.
Websites: www.renegadesignlab.com • www.buildingweight.com • www.shoeboxtour.com • www.instantjuggler.com
Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYxDgzMWqQE
Venues Worked: My favorite place to perform in the whole world is The Pirate House in Patreksfjordur, Iceland!
Hot 10 Questions:
- What’s your favorite flavor of ice cream and why? • Chocolate – because it tastes like chocolate and also this flavor contributes greatly to the existence of chocolate milkshakes…
- Name one movie that would make it to your Top 10 all-time great films. • How about three: Lost in Translation, Waiting for Guffman and True Stories
- What was your favorite toy from childhood? • Lego.
- Who were your biggest inspirations when you got started? • Anthony Gatto, Dana Tison, Michael Moschen.
- From the world of animation what one character do you most identify with or see yourself in? • Jack Skellington – from the world of stop motion animation.
- Name something that scares you. • Train tracks.
- Apart from the entertainment industry, name one other job you’ve had. • Sleeping?
- What’s something you haven’t done yet that you’d like to try? • Play professionally in a band.
- What’s your least favourite thing about being a performer? • Not enough time to do everything in the world!!!
- If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? • “You get to go back down and do it all again!”
The Nugget:
Pick one nugget of wisdom you’ve picked up from your career in Show Business to share with the World.
“If you can’t make it good, make it big. If you can’t make it big, paint it red!”
&
“Pro gear, pro attitude. No drugs, no ego.”
–Jay Gilligan
