Archive for the ‘Performance’ Category
 Where in the world am I today?: Red Deer, AB, Canada
So I’m debuting a new show at this year’s Pacific National Exhibition. The idea for the show which I’ve dubbed “The Hot Dog Show” started to germinate in my head five years ago while I was performing at the Windsor International Busker’s Festival. I started telling a story about my boys which culminated in the audience joining me in making a hand gesture to represent a “Hot Dog Bun.”
I was bizarrely fascinated by how this story struck a chord with the audience and so started the journey to build a partner show teaming my experience as a street performer with the spectacular dare devil stunts of William T. Wiener, the most Fearless Flying Frankfurter the world has ever seen. There will be thrills, there will be spills there will be comedy, improvised theatrics, and lots of audience participation.
There will not, however, be any juggling in this show.
I’ve taken departures away from the comfort of working with the familiar juggling props that I’ve used for years before, but I find myself scratching my head a bit as this particular idea seems like the biggest departure I’ve taken to date and I’m hoping the audience will enjoy the show as much as I think I’m going to.
I sold the idea of debuting this show at the PNE to the creative director months ago and shortly there after started assembling costume pieces and props to pull the idea together. It’s been a wonderful adventure as I’ve watch some ideas evolve, other ideas get scrapped and ideas I never considered pop up unexpectedly.
Not since I played my ukulele for the first time at the Vancouver Ukulele Circle have I been this nervous and excited about my performance and I’m loving it. Taking a step or two or three outside of my regular comfort zone is making me re-examine why I like performing and approach things with refreshed interest which is really amazing.
I’m well aware that it’ll be a bumpy ride at the beginning of the run as bits and pieces fall into place and the show really starts finding it’s feet in front of a live audience, but the sign that I’m on to something (at least for me) is that everyone I show bits to looks at the props and stunts with the same child-like-wonder that makes me giggle like a kid every time I picture putting them in front of a crowd. This is going to be scary and it’s going to be a whole heck of a lot of fun!
Alright every one… Put your hands up above your head and pretend it’s a roller coaster… Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Posted in General, Performance, Stunts, Thoughts | 1 Comment »
 Where in the world am I today?: North Vancouver, BC, Canada
I’ve had a busy week one way or another. Flew home from Peace River, Alberta where I got to shoot guns after my performances at Peacefest – what a bizarre experience that was. Made it home on Tuesday and dove into the process of arriving home from one trip and prepping for another. Actually I’m prepping for a couple of different trips. I’ll be heading to Red Deer, Alberta for Centrefest on Wednesday next week, but have a couple of local shows in the Vancouver area this weekend so need to pause before packing up for that trip until after the shows are done.
The bigger prep however is for a trip I’m taking to Peru. I got a wild opportunity thrown at me to go to Peru for about two and a half weeks. Some time in Lima, some time in Cusco, a ten-day horse back riding trip along the Incan Trail and some time at Machu Picchu. This is not the sort of thing I do everyday and the company that’s leading much of the expedition gave me a list of things I should bring for the trip. Bit by bit I’m getting it all together, but I find it incredibly useful to have a sort of ‘staging area’ to lay everything out to make sure I’ve got it all organized and I don’t inadvertently forget something.
It’s no doubt part of my obsessive-compulsive nature, but the last thing I want to do is leave something critical behind. I’d likely be able to pick up anything I’m missing when I get to Peru, but there’s a certain satisfaction in showing up prepared. What’s that old boy scout motto – “Be Prepared” – well I get a good feeling when I leave for a trip with out that sneaking suspicion that I forgot to pack something really important.
This is even more important when packing up for a show because if you show up at a gig having forgotten the power adaptor for your music source or having left a key part of your costume behind you’ll have to scramble to make things work. Sometimes the excitement of having something go wrong can work in your favour in a performance situation, but if you’re making your living as a professional entertainer, you owe it to your client (even if that client is the audience you gather on the street) to walk into the venue prepared.
When I did a theatrical show which was particularly prop intensive a few years back I actually had a prop list and checked and double checked to make sure I had everything and that everything was in it’s pre-set location before each show. It was sort of meditation, or ritual that helped me prep before the show and allowed me to play more successfully knowing that when I reaches for such-and-such a prop it would be there.
Again… Walking in prepared will make you look more professional and serve you well when you step on stage to perform.
Posted in Performance, Thoughts, Travel | Comments Off on Trip Prep…
 Where in the world am I today?: North Vancouver, BC, Canada
While hanging out in Edmonton at the Edmonton International Street Performer’s Festival I got to hang out with my friends ‘The Flaming Idiots.’ I originally met the boys at the 1989 Edmonton Streetfest and loved working with them for a number of years at the Edmonton Fringe Festival. Apart from their work at Street Festivals and Fringe Festivals, the Idiots spent a lot of time working the Renaissance Festival Circuit.
I’ve never actually worked at a Renaissance Festival myself but know lots of performers who have and have attended a couple, one in Minnesota near the Twin Cities when I was just a kid and lived in St. Paul, and another near Denver, Colorado when I was traveling across country in the mid-eighties.
The concept behind Renaissance Festivals is to recreate a medieval village complete with Lords, Ladies, Knights, Jousters, and activities including a pretty diverse collection of live performances – jugglers, sword swallowers, jesters, sword play shows, interactive plays, you name it. Obviously all of these shows needed to fit into the ‘Renaissance World’ created at these festivals, but most performers who I’ve talked to about this said that the modifications that they needed to do to their shows didn’t amount to a whole lot and that the environment was a pretty great one to perform in.
A quick Google Search turned up several that might be worth checking out –
Posted in Job Opportunities, Performance | 3 Comments »
 Where in the world am I today?: Edmonton, AB, Canada
So…the opening weekend of the Edmonton International Street Performer’s Festival was a huge success and we’re just over the hump of the run. The shot that accompanies this post was taken yesterday (Tuesday) mid-afternoon in Winston Churchill Square, the performance venue where all of the shows take place… Obviously the weather presented some challenges yesterday. Everyone made it down for a cast/group photo at 10:30 am dancing between the raindrops to get from the hotel to City Hall (seen in the background) where the picture was taken.
Things cleared up a bit in the evening and some people did get shows in, but the weather is very much an issue when performing at Street Performing Festivals and certainly something to take into consideration before booking a tour who’s revenues are directly tied to the amount that the sun shines…
That being said, weather can even have a serious effect on contracted gigs. Last year during the Pacific National Exhibition the Fair had the wettest run on record. Often in Vancouver you’ll get a day where it rains in the morning and then clears up in the afternoon and people will still come out in support of an event if the weather clears. At last year’s PNE we had several days when the weather just got socked in and it rained all day and kept fair patrons away all day. Although this didn’t impact on the performers who were performing at the fair last year (2008) what happened as a result of decreased revenues was that the fees offered to the cast of the 2009 Street Stars Program took a pretty significant cut.
So what can you do on a day when an event gets hit by bad weather? Roll with the punches. At the PNE we looked into finding alternate rain venues so at least some of the shows could go up. Yesterday at the Edmonton International Street Performer’s Festival people remained in a holding pattern waiting for the weather to clear then got out and made the magic happen in spite of the conditions not being ideal.
Audiences can tell when you’re making an extra effort to overcome challenging situations and the bigger the attempt to make things work the more appreciative crowds tend to be. Of equal or possibly greater importance though is the impression you leave on your employer when you make an extra effort to make a show happen in spite of challenging circumstances. This sort of dedication will often lead to repeat bookings and long term business relationships.
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Posted in Job Opportunities, Performance, Thoughts | Comments Off on Dealing with the Weather…
 Where in the world am I today?: Ottawa, ON, Canada
So… Ottawa… Canada Day… As it so happens this is my 25th year of performing in the Nation’s Capital on Canada Day. I’ve been performing for 28 years, but I missed three in there, so it’s a bit hard to actually call this a ‘Silver Anniversary’ but still 25 years does represent a milestone of sorts…
My first few years working on Canada Day I came out and did straight ahead street shows and passed the hat for tips… For what ever reason I gravitated to Major’s Hill Park as a place to do this and it wasn’t very long before the NCC decided to give me a contract to perform in this very same location. For what ever reason, I seem to have become a fixture that certain people search out as part of their Canada Day experience and the couple of times that I haven’t been performing the NCC has actually had people call in to ask why I wasn’t there – very flattering, but also somewhat bizarre.
I’m a firm believer that performers are taught how to perform by the first audiences that they have the privilege of performing in front of. I started in Ottawa, so for me returning to Ottawa to perform for this crowd is always a sort of home coming, and my show often works better here than in any other place on the planet. For so many reason’s it just feels effortless to do my show in Ottawa. Last year this video of one of my shows got posted to you tube –
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmFycEowtSQ
All this to say that most countries have some sort of national holiday which is well worth investigating as an opportunity to work. Some examples that I’ve been introduced to are –
I’m sure that with a bit of poking around you’ll be able to find that most countries have some sort of day on which they celebrate being a nation and the parties are usually a blast and if you can’t get an official invitation (ie a contracted job) you can always crash the party (street perform) and will likely do exponentially better than were you to be performing on a non-holiday day.
If you find yourself performing in Canada today, be it in Ottawa or some other part of the country, I hope you have a great time helping celebrate Canada’s 142nd Birthday and bring lots of laughter to those who will be watching you work!
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Posted in Job Opportunities, Performance | 2 Comments »
 Where in the world am I today?: In Juneau, AK aboard the STAR Princess
Now I have to admit that I’m not the hugest fan in the world of performing at Fairs and Exhibitions… This is likely because the majority of my experience at these events has been performing in environments where I’m competing fairly aggressively for attention amongst the sights, sounds and smells of your typical Fair. Having to go head to head with a game barker or compete as half the crowd watch as someone gets launched in some sort of human sling-shot isn’t my ideal performance environment.
That being said, I’ve also had great experiences performing at Fairs where pulling focus isn’t such a challenge. The Pacific National Exhibition in Vancouver re-instated their Street Performer’s Program in 2005 and dubbed it the PNE Street Stars. Performers were given a fighting chance with decent sound systems and staging provided by the fair. I was asked to come in and consult and manage the program 2005 – 2008 and will be back in 2009 with a brand new show as well.
My relationship with this particular Fair has been excellent and I think the experience for the performers who’ve come in and participated in the PNE’s Street Star Program have had a pretty good experience as well. Fancy checking out a bit more about what the program’s been like over the past few years? Then head over to the video area of my site and check out the digest videos I’ve created for each year of the program located at the bottom of the page.
One of the best things about this type of venue is that their are Fairs and Exhibitions all across Canada and the United States, so the sheer volume of work that’s available is quite impressive. In Canada the “Canadian Association of Fairs and Exhibitions” (C.A.F.E.) hosts an annual conference around the middle of November. The convention takes place in a different city every year, but getting to the convention is an excellent opportunity to mix, mingle and strut your stuff to the players in the industry. More information about the conference and about C.A.F.E can be found on their website –
http://www.canadian-fairs.ca
The International Association of Fairs and Exhibitions (I.A.F.E.) is the biggy though. This organization helps fairs from all over the United States and Canada stay connected and their annual convention in Las Vegas is THE place to schmooze with the players in the industry. Meeting face to face with potential employers is an amazing opportunity which, if done right can lead to a very full calendar of work. More information about I.A.F.E. and their convention can be accessed on their website –
http://www.fairsandexpos.com/
I know some performers who work almost exclusively at Fairs and Exhibitions and swear by it as they love the crowds love the environment and love the atmosphere. If this is the right venue for you and your show then there certainly is a lot of opportunities in this world if you can craft a show and promo to convince both audiences and buyers that you’re the answer to their entertainment needs.
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Posted in Job Opportunities, Performance | 2 Comments »
 Where in the world am I today?: Juneau, AK, USA joining the STAR Princess
I haven’t worked a lot in restaurants, but I do remember my first contract working a restaurant gig very clearly. From May – July 1988, I was contracted to perform at the Sunday Brunch at the Chateau Laurier in Ottawa (the building in the background of the picture that accompanies this post). The Chateau Laurier is one of the many Hotels across the country which were regarded as the peak of luxury for travelers of the Canadian National Railway back in the early part of the 1900s and has remained a prominent landmark in Ottawa as it’s situated right next to the Parliament Buildings.
Prior to my contract a husband/wife juggling duo (Jean Besnard and Nicolette Naum) had enjoyed a long time association with the Chateau Laurier having worked there for years. I never actually saw them work because the idea of going to a Sunday Brunch was a bit out of my field of vision as a young juggler in Ottawa, but I had seen them work in other venues.
Enough of the stroll down memory lane though… The real point of this post was to say that some restaurants still seek out live performers to help liven up the atmosphere of their establishments. This seems to be a particularly popular pursuit for practitioners of close-up magic because the nature of close-up lends itself so well to tricks performed in front of a small group of people. Especially if you’re working in a reasonably popular restaurant a small case containing a dozen or so tricks is likely all you’ll need to keep the joint hopping and people thinking that you’ve got an endless supply of tricks to entertain them with.
Now… Chances are that the fee offered by a restaurant for such performances isn’t going to allow you to retire anytime soon, but having a steady local job once or twice a week can allow you to cover your bills and provide you with an amazing opportunity to workshop new tricks and material. The simple act of repeating things over and over again over the course of an evening will allow you to polish existing material and work new bits into your regular repertoire much faster than were you only doing the bit once or twice a week. Nothing beats working bits in front of a crowd in terms of increasing your confidence and making the bits better and there are few other venues that will allow you the opportunity to work material so diligently.
Another great aspect of doing strolling restaurant work is that it often leads to other opportunities. Someone sees you at the restaurant and brings you in for a private function. One job leads to the next and then to another etc. The exposure you’ll get from doing what you do over and over again and getting better and better at it will pay huge dividends that the actual performance fee you receive may not reflect. But what price can you put on the polish that you’re act will get from the opportunity to repeat it over and over again.
I was lucky to fall into a gig that was well established when I was asked to do the Sunday Brunch shows at the Chateau Laurier. You may need to look around a bit more before finding a similar opportunity where you live, but do some checking with local performers in your area and you’ll likely turn something up. If not, perhaps you could approach a restaurant or club owner directly and see if you could create an opportunity.
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 Where in the world am I today?: North Vancouver, BC, Canada
I’m in the middle of a prop building blitz at the moment as I try to get things in place for a new show that I’ll be debuting in a couple of months… A couple of months??? What’s the rush in trying to get it all together now? Well I’ve got a rather busy schedule in June, July and the beginning of August, so my best bet for getting everything done is to have as much done as possible in May and if possible, June. I’m building a show around three stunt parodies and my partner in crime for this show is a six inch long stuffed Hot Dog that I’m calling Willie.
I’m a huge fan of giving myself more time than I actually need or think I’m going to need to get jobs done because my experience is that something inevitably goes sideways… This week for example, I set out to pick up a couple of costume pieces at a used tuxedo shop that I’d been to a number of times. I drove out to Richmond (about a 45 minute drive from where I live) and when I got out there I was dumfounded to discover that the shop had closed down… What? How could they? They didn’t ask me or anything… Well a day of pondering and I ventured over to ebay and found a reseller of used tux stuff there, so hopefully I’ll be able to order everything off the internet… We’ll see…
The other night I got together with my next door neighbour who’s got a fantastic wood working shop to work on a piece I wanted built for Stunt #2 – The High Dive of Death… I’ve got a 12 foot telescoping ladder that I’m attaching a mini diving board to and will have Willie dive from the board into a mere wet sponge… The stuff of legend’s I tell you! So initially I just clamped a saw to the top run of the ladder to see if it would work thinking that I’d eventually replace the saw blade with an actual piece of springy steel… A trip out to the Metal Supermarket out in Burnaby later and the guy behind the counter suggests that I just take the saw blade into a machine shop and have the teeth cut off… It’ll be cheaper and it’ll work… Right… So a trip to my favorite machine shop and they confirm that yes they’ll be able to make the modifications… Right… Before I hand over the saw blade I need to also build a piece of wood into the equation that can handle some additional hardware for a release mechanism for the diving board so it can actually sprong to life on command…
Yesterday was all about the construction of the Willie Cannon Mark II. This required a trip out to a special plumping supply shop to pick up an additional 2 1/2 inch coupling joint and a bunch of time spent cutting and shaping PVC pipe and a trip to the local tire store to have a valve stem installed… Next came the glueing it all together process which was a bit trickier than I would have liked. I wrote to a friend afterwards expressing my frustration with only being about a quarter as good as I’d like to be on the construction side of things, but how great it is to be building things myself… I have to wait about 24 hours to see if the air pressure chamber is actually air tight, so I’ve got my fingers crossed that it works. If not… Well I’ll go buy the ten or twelve dollars worth of bits and piece and spend the time to do it again. I can say with out a doubt that if I do have to do it again the second time around will go more smoothly than the first, but I’m hoping that the first time around version works…
Like I said near the top I like to give myself lots of time in case things go sideways…
It’s a both rewarding and gratifying to see the bits and piece of the show coming together, but on the flip side I sometimes find myself wondering if anyone apart from me will find this silly premise of a show as much fun as I’m hoping it’ll be to perform… I’m buying, building, writing, creating with the hope that it’s going to work, but who knows if it will. Ah the joys of show business and boldly going where you’ve never gone before…
Yahoo… Preliminary tests indicate that we have air tightness in my first attempt with the air pressure chamber… Happy Good Good!
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Posted in Performance, Thoughts | 2 Comments »
 Where in the world am I today?: North Vancouver, BC, Canada
The classic scene from “This is Spinal Tap” goes like this –
Nigel Tufnel: The numbers all go to eleven. Look, right across the board, eleven, eleven, eleven and…
Marty DiBergi: Oh, I see. And most amps go up to ten?
Nigel Tufnel: Exactly.
Marty DiBergi: Does that mean it’s louder? Is it any louder?
Nigel Tufnel: Well, it’s one louder, isn’t it? It’s not ten. You see, most blokes, you know, will be playing at ten. You’re on ten here, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up, you’re on ten on your guitar. Where can you go from there? Where?
Marty DiBergi: I don’t know.
Nigel Tufnel: Nowhere. Exactly. What we do is, if we need that extra push over the cliff, you know what we do?
Marty DiBergi: Put it up to eleven.
Nigel Tufnel: Eleven. Exactly. One louder.
Marty DiBergi: Why don’t you just make ten louder and make ten be the top number and make that a little louder?
Nigel Tufnel: [pause] These go to eleven.
It’s one of those classic movie scenes that gets quoted over and over and over or at least it does in my world. Just the thought of being able to take one’s performance that extra notch, to have the ability to ‘Put it up to eleven’ has a mythical property that I think everyone feels they’d like to have in there arsenal.
There are those shows when the planets align, when there’s a convergence of the energy that you’re putting out and the way that the audience responds, when you as a performer seemingly can do no wrong… Those heady moments are the stuff of dreams and semi-addictive reason why many performers keep walking out on stage in the first place.
In situations like that there’s almost no need for putting it to eleven… The magic comes seemingly from no where. I’ve actually found that it’s the times when the magic isn’t flowing that having that eleven in your back pocket comes in most useful. One of those days when you’re just not ‘Feeling it’ what ever the reason. The audience doesn’t know that this day is different for you and they should still get a great show.
I’ve actually found that I learn more from my show when I do shows on days like these. Something about being in an off mood lets me look at my show in a different way and either take risks or do things that I might not otherwise do. Taking my show into new territory forces me to react differently and this breaths new life into old routines. Sometimes it’s great, sometimes it’s now, but the simple act of having to think on my feet and figure out a way to make things work usually makes the performance more immediate and spontaneous which means I’m not just dialing it in.
So… On those days when the magic isn’t coming, when you’re just not feeling it, keep a little something extra hidden a way so you can Put it to eleven and thank Nigel Tufnel for not accepting a louder ten as a substitute for those times when you need to push over the cliff!
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 Where in the world am I today?: Aboard the Serenade of the Seas cruising the Inside Passage.
OK… In the foreground of the picture… A prototype rocket I’m looking at using in a show I’m building. In the background a large pine tree that towers something like a hundred plus feet in the air… Inadvertently put the two together – possible Darwin Awards here I come!
Right off the bat I must admit that this isn’t he first time that I’ve used a rocket like this. Back in 2002 I teamed up with John Ullyatt and Iori Mikumo to for a group we called The Executives. In that show we launched the rocket and had it pull underwear out of our pants… Oh yeah… Totally highbrow humor…
This time around the rocket is being used to demonstrate the super strength of my new show partner – William T. Wiener, The Worlds Most Fearless Flying Frankfurter who will attempt to hold back lift off of the rocket with just his super strength and his teeth…
Now with The Executives Show I think we actually used 1.5 litre bottles from Japan for the body of the rocket. I have since used 2 litre bottles for these rockets in a more recreational setting, but for this show I wanted to try and used 1 litre bottles for the rocket’s construction. Step one – buy 5 one litre bottles and drink the contents… Step two build the rocket… Step three test the rocket…
It all seemed so easy… Steps one and two came off with out a hitch, but it was when I got to step three that I really didn’t quite think things through…
I should probably also mention at this point that Willie the Wiener is a stuffed dog toy with a squeaker in it… I’m still questioning the sanity of the decision to make him my partner, but that’s a completely different story…
Rocket’s Built… Lets test things out. Now in the context of the show I envision strapping Willie into his Super Hero Restraining Station. Some sort of chair like device with lots of seat belts… For the purposes of the test launch… A string tied to a loop in his fabric – Done!
Haven’t built a mouth for him to hold a ring attached to the string that’ll be attached to the rocket in yet… Hmmmm… No problem… This safety pin should do the trick – right?!? Done.
Rocket? Check! • Hot Dog? Check! • Restraining Device? Check! Every thing is ready to go (or so I thought). Fill the rocket with water, attached it to the launch pad, pump it up with air – All is good. Recheck to make sure things are secure – Good!
And launch…
OK… I have to admit that it came as a bit of a surprise that Willie wasn’t able to actually prevent the rocket from lifting off… Not that it was his fault though… The weak link in the mock up test launch was the safety pin instead of the mouth ring as it really didn’t take all that much force to pull the safety pin open and allow the rocket to go flying. That safe safety pin attached to the string attached to the rocket also acted as a nice grappling hook so as the rocket hit the tree in the back yard around 80 feet off the ground and started to make it’s way down the pin quite happily hooked onto a branch preventing the rocket from falling down the rest of the way to the ground… DOH!
So there I am looking at the launch pad, making sure that my partner Willie is OK.Then turning my head and seeing the rocket dangling about 70 feet off the ground in the pine tree in the back and all I can think of is –
“Hey… I can just climb up the tree and get the rocket back.”
First step – Get a ladder that’ll reach up to the lower branches – done.
Second step – Repeat over and over in my head the following statement –
“I was an idiot to launch the rocket into the tree in the first place I’ll be an even bigger idiot of I fall out of the tree trying to get the rocket back!”
Step Three – Realize that this mantra I’ve repeated over and over again as I climb the tree, retrieve the rocket and make my way back down the tree has actually had the effect of tensing up my muscles WAY WAY more than had I simply climbed up, grabbed it and climbed back down… That or I’m just getting old, but I like the former explanation better.
Step Four – take the rest of the day off and feel my leg muscles just throbbing!!!
Several important lessons were learned by this test launch and I’m pleased to report that subsequent launches have been far more successful than the very first one that had the rocket end up in the tree…
I highly recommend pushing yourself with new artistic challenges as they often shed light on all sorts of unseen possibilities and opportunities for artistic growth. I anticipate as I get closer to the debut of the Willie the Wiener Show at this year’s PNE I may have some other stories to tell of lessons learned. For the time being though know this –
A safety pin isn’t really strong enough to hold back the lift off of a pop bottle water rocket.
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Posted in Performance, Stunts, Thoughts | Comments Off on There’s a reason to pre-test things…
 Where in the world am I today?: North Vancouver in the morning, Prince Rupert joining the Serenade of the Seas in the afternoon
So lets say you’ve worked for a specific client or in a specific market a number of times… How do you keep the interest up in continuing to bring you back again? Why not create a brand new show. I’ve done this on a number of different occasions. In part to challenge myself artistically, but also to ensure that I get to work for certain clients repeatedly.
Likely the best example I can give is the relationship I’ve had with the Edmonton Street Performers Festival over the years. I first got to the event in 1989 with the show I’d been doing for years. I had a blast and attempted to get myself back to the event for a number of years. Finally in 1995 armed with a new finale and some other new material I was brought back to perform at the Festival again.
Flash forward to 1997, I contact the Festival Producer with an idea for one of the Late Night Madness Performances. These theatre shows were made up of cast members from the festival who were asked to do something new or different on stage. I pitched an entire theme for the show and offered to direct it and boom, I was asked back to the festival again and a once in a lifetime opportunity to craft a show that started off with a version of The Dating Game and ended with my wife and I getting married by The Butterfly Man.
The year is 2000… I have a crazy idea to retell the story of King Kong using audience members to play the parts in the story and directing them as an ‘on the scenes reporter.’ The show starts off with a crazy Banana Relay Race and end with a mini-Kong puppet being launched up to the top of the Empire State Building (which I’m wearing) with a teeter board. Huge thanks to Richard Berg for joining me on that little adventure…
2002 I team up with Iori Mikumo from Yokohama, Japan and John Ullyatt to form “The Executives” a three man show where grown men got to play with toys… We had a blast!
2006 I team up with Geoff Cobb to create the ‘Juggling Sherpas’ and play the festival yet again.
By creating new works on a regular basis and by having a festival so willing to take a chance on me playing with a new idea or a new partner or both, I was not only given the chance to spread my wings artistically, I was also given the opportunity to return to one of the best Street Performers Festivals in North America repeatedly and have a blast hanging with some of the best in the business.
It’s not always easy to push yourself into the unknown on these new projects and adventures, but I can state whole heartedly that these experiments have made my adventure as a performer so much richer and have taught me an enormous amount about who I am and how I get my best work done.
So… Got an idea floating around in your head for something new? Perhaps it’s time to contact one of your favorite clients and see if they’d be willing to take a chance on it.
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Posted in Job Opportunities, Performance | Comments Off on Commissions/New Works…
 Where in the world am I today?: North Vancouver, BC, Canada
I’ve been lucky to play in a variety of different venues for a variety of different clients for a whole lotta years. I count myself very lucky to have been able to find something I enjoy so much and can make a living at. Over the first few months of this blog I discussed various venues and offered up information on some of the ways to get into these venues be they Cruise Ships, Street Performer’s Festival or other venues… Perhaps even before you start trying to get jobs as a performer, you should examine what you’re version of success is so you can set the wheels in motion to achieve your goals… This may well mean that you gravitate towards a certain kind of venue more than others and to a certain extent dictate how you conduct yourself in all aspects of the business…
Many moons ago I was working at an Expo in Japan and was one of several entertainers hired for the job. At the time, The Passing Zone were just getting started as a team and took the gig as a way to keep working on their show and as an opportunity to travel to Japan (I guess). They later went on to perform on the Tonight Show, America’s Got Talent and have a resume a mile long of REALLY GREAT gigs that they’ve done.
I remember thinking when we were working together at that Expo in Japan that they were destined for great things… Why? Well, I just saw them building material that was TV friendly and that was catering to a certain career path. They lived in LA a the time. They were making appearances at the Hermosa Beach Comedy and Magic Club, they were playing the game to take what they did to a level of success, or perceived success, that would allow them to write their own ticket in terms of the fees they charged and the sorts of gigs they wanted to do.
From the beginning it felt like they had a destination in mind. They had a version of ‘success’ that they were aiming to achieve. If you check out the Passing Zone’s promotional video It’s a remarkable testament to what perceived success in the United States is all about. Appear on the biggest TV shows, Work for the largest corporations, deliver a very specific kind of performance. I’m a HUGE fan of their work and love that they’ve achieved all that they have.
Is it for me? Well, that version of success was never the target that I set out for myself. It just wasn’t what drove me to perform or do what I do. I recall being asked the question – “What do you want to be when you grow up” – and always answering “Happy!” I have no doubt that I’ve achieved that!
I scratch my head sometimes and wonder if (career-wise)I might have been able to achieve a degree of perceived success that of The Passing Zone have, had I set my target accordingly earlier in my career, but it’s a completely rhetorical question because it wasn’t my goal. It wasn’t the destination that I was shooting for. Some might say I should have set that sort of goal because they view success in the same terms that the Passing Zone do/did or in fact that North American Society does, and that’s fair enough. Everyone’s entitled to their opinion. I just don’t think it was for me.
Choose your target carefully because once you’ve picked your destination, you might be amazed with how quickly you get there… Just make sure you’re going to be happy when you do.
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Posted in Job Opportunities, Performance | Comments Off on Pick your target…
 Where in the world am I today?: North Vancouver, BC, Canada
I have very vivid memories of a conversation I had with Andre Vincent about twenty years ago about the importance of giving due respect to the venue you’re playing in. We were performing at the Edmonton Street Performer’s Festival together and we got to talking about the various venues a variety performer could play at. At that time I’d already been performing for about eight years or so and mentioned that I though that perhaps I’d move on to trying my hand at Film and Television. It was then that he stopped me dead in my tracks and made a point that has stuck with me ever since.
The Street is just as valid a performance venue as the screen (be it the large screen or the small screen) or the stage and treating it with anything other than the respect it deserves does a disservice to both you and your audience.
Something in the tone of his voice, the focus look he had as he said this to me and the deliberate nature of the show that he performed on the street really left a huge impression on me and it’s something I’ve passed on to many other young performers who might perhaps be looking at ‘Street Performing’ as a stepping stone to ‘Bigger Things.’ That term ‘Bigger Things’ is all in the eye of the beholder. It may well be that ‘Street Performers’ are considered by some as second-class citizens in the world of variety artists, but wasn’t it a small band of street performers in Quebec who founded the Cirque du Soleil? The imagination and ingenuity it takes to make it on the street attracts a special bread of performer and I can say from experience that they are some of the most interesting and innovative performers I’ve ever met. Well the ones who treat the venue with the respect it deserves.
There’s no doubt that it’s not the venue for everyone, and I’ve certainly had my share of dabbling with other venues (Cruise Ships, Trade Shows, Theaters) but this past week of performing at the Oklahoma City Festival of the Arts reinforced how great a venue the Street is. Being able to create something where there was nothing, to take a open sheet of concrete or asphalt and craft it into a performance venue, one where people are lined up to see what the excitement is all about – there’s a magic in that that’s beyond compare.
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Posted in Performance | Comments Off on Respect the Venue
 Where in the world am I today?: Oklahoma City, OK, USA
I’m not entirely sure why this popped into my head recently, but years ago while performing at the Shizuoka Daidogei World Cup Street Performers Festival in Japan I distinctly remember having a conversation with Jean-Michel Pare of the Flying Dutchmen in which he claimed that as a performer you were either a ‘Has-Been’ or a ‘Wanna-Be.’ This thesis was supported by many examples of performers who were either climbing the ladder trying to get their show to where they wanted it (The Wanna-Bes) or had made it, succeeded and were on the way down (The Has-Beens). The way he described it, it didn’t feel as though you were given very much time at the apex between these two states – you were either on your way up or on your way down… When I asked which he was he laughed and said he figured he was a has-been which made me laugh as I’ve always loved watching him work no matter what he said.
This image has remained with me long after that original conversation and continues to push me to work on my show because, given a choice, I’d rather been on the ‘Wanna-Be’ side than the ‘Has-Been’ side. I still love what I do and would hate to feel as though my best work is over. Certainly a lot has changed over the years and my approach to performing and interacting with an audience has shifted as various other things in my life changed. Getting married, becoming a father, needing to pay a mortgage… All of these things had an effect on how I performed my show and how I handled myself both on and off stage.
I remember having conversations with basketball fans who followed Michael Jordan’s career and enjoyed watching as his career and game evolve from being all about doing amazing things with his body to being it being more of a thinking man’s game. This may well have been because as the years went by he could no longer perform at the same physical level that he had, but it may also have been because as he gained experience in the game he figured out ways to play smarter that wouldn’t be as hard on his body and allow him to extend his career for more years than had he tried to maintain the pace he established early in his career.
In much the same way I think for me, it’s becomes more about the thought process behind the show as opposed to just muscling my way through a performance with youthful exuberance. I miss those reckless youthful days sometimes, but have a lot now that I didn’t have then in terms of the way I perform my show and the way I live my life. This might make me a ‘Has-Been’ to some, but I very much still ‘Wanna-Be!’
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Posted in Performance, Thoughts | 1 Comment »
 Where in the world am I today?: Oklahoma City, OK, USA
Up until now I’ve really focused on trying to provide a variety of venues and options for work. These are all venues that I’ve worked and continue to work, but I thought I’d change tack a bit today and discuss the motivation behind taking certain gigs.
I currently find myself in Oklahoma City performing at their Festival of the Arts. It’s a fine arts festival that features a hundred and forty four artisans selling everything from Handbags to Sculpture to Ceramics to Framed Prints to Wooden Toys. The variety and quality of the arts that’s on display and for sale is great. Having performed at similar events in the past I was aware of the sort of thing to expect and walked in ready to play and have a great time.
Beyond just knowing the gig and enjoying the environment and settling upon a fee that seemed reasonable though, the chance to come to Oklahoma City meant a chance to enjoy some Good Old Southern US BBQ. Ever since my friend Geoff Cobb taught me the difference between ‘Grilling’ and ‘BBQing’ I’ve been hooked and the trip to Oklahoma meant a chance to experience some authentic smoked meats. I arrived here on Monday and found this place called the Rib Crib just down the street from the hotel. It was so good that I went back for all you can eat ribs on Tuesday… Not sure how many more times I’ll get there but I think there may be a bit more BBQ worth enjoying before my time in Oklahoma City is over.
BBQ is what did it for me on this particular trip. A visit to the Suntory Whisky Distillery near Osaka back in September of 2008 was the cherry on top of an already great experience in Japan. The chance to do a bit of Christmas shopping in Shanghai was the icing on the cake for my trip to the Nanjing Clown Carnival, Picking up vanilla in Mexico has been the extra motivation for taking some of the cruise gigs I’ve done over the years.
It doesn’t really matter what your reasons are for wanting to visit a certain place, but the fact that this line of work not only provides you with a source of income, but also allows you to visit some incredible places in the world and seek out the things that really appeal to you as an individual means that this is quite possibly the greatest job EVER! That or it’s gotta be right up there anyway…
Always wanted to visit Australia? I did, so I looked up a bunch of Festivals around the country and then hopped from one to the next just passing my hat for tips for three months and quite successfully managed to pay for the trip and have some amazing adventures along the way too.
What ever the motivation, where ever the destination, enjoy the adventure!
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Posted in General, Job Opportunities, Performance | Comments Off on Motivation
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