Local Foods Dinner Theater

Wren and I were invited to perform at the Bellingham Coop, along with a few other circus folks, for a Local Foods Dinner Theater Show. We would be accompanied by a local accordion player, Josh, in the dining area of the coop. I was asked to perform the chair dance, and boy, is that a tough act to perform for a small, close-up group of people not knowing what they've gotten theselves into. But other than the chair dance, Wren and I performed an updated "improvised" version of our rope act,

 and our slowly-growing high-five club-juggling act. It was petty fun. Clay, Andrea, and Jason Quick were the other performers, and they had some fun acts as well...like a swing dance coffee bit, and a pie making table bit. Here is a photo of us at the end of the night.

 What a great thing to be advertising, local foods, local music, and local nuts! Ha! That's us!

A Joyful Reuinon

I have recently been in contact with my favorite high school teacher, Gorge Talman. He was my Spanish teacher and a great inspiration to me... he was fun and funny, caring and generous, and interested in fitness. We were gym and racketball partners, he lived just a few blocks from my house, he called me Big D. He was always supportive and encouraging, full of pep talks and positivity. We recently met up in Anacortes, along with Marcus Sather, the high school counselor and another genuinely great guy, and what a treat it was to see them after 18 years!

So here we are, Marcus, myself, and George... a full lifetime (my lifetime anyway, I was almost 18 when we last saw each other) we meet again. I feel so blessed!

Phillipe Gaullier Workshop

Los Angeles. I took Phillipe Gauleir's two week Master Clown class. He was an apprentice of Lecoq, a well-know clown and clown instructor. He typically teaches at his own school, outside Paris. He teaches in the style "La Negativa", which essentially means through giving negative feedback.

Here is Hollywood Boulevard! I had to go there because it is next to the Value Village where I got my dress for the class. Phillipe assigns you a character, and I was appointed "Madam".

The lineup... Phillipe would line us up and have us do a task, like make a sound like a coffee grinder. The ones who did it the "best", typically meaning with the most enjoyment/delight/pleasure,  would get to stay and play longer, or more, or different games.

One of our warm-ups... Mr. Hit.

 Teams played jump rope. If you (as an individual) lost for your team 3 times in a session, you were in the handicap group. Here is the handicap group... barely making it here...

 ...struggling there.

 A chorus of vaccume-cleaner sounds.

 Game where competing teams try to win the ball.

Me (as a Babushka...Phillipe had me change from Madam toward the end of the workshop) and Ned Brauer.

It was a challenging class. There were 30 of us, so limited solo time in front of Phillipe. It was scary, and eye-opening. I learned a lot about play, lying as a tool to play, and my face/smile. My smile can be a mask, and his job was to peel off our masks. My favorite message from Phillipe, and I quote, "Your smile is an international catastrophe!" I love it.

The Happy Little Farm Show

The Happy Little Farm is a place where once a year a most adorable couple and community come together for a short celebratory festival called  "Giver by the River". The couple happens to be one part of a family I was close to almost 20 years ago as a soccer player at Skagit Valley College. They are a delightful and welcoming family, and I wasn't surprised in the least that they were the ones behind this great event. This is my third year going, first as a participant where I got to see the Cody Rivers boys perform, Hooray!

Then Last year as part of the show (Wren and I performed our rope act) with these fine folks (so blurry!).

Then this year where I was scheduled to perform the chair dance and the Frank Wiley Trio juggling act with Wren and Justin, but due to my torn calf, I was a viewer instead. But here's a photo of the group in front of the truck with the New Klezmer Army playing in the background.

This is such a wholesome event, I definitely plan to keep it an annual tradition to attend no matter what shape I'm in.

More on The New Old Time Chautauqua Tour 2013

Here are a few photo snippets from the shows. This first one is me MCing at the Lincoln Theater in Mt.Vernon, the jugglers around me are foreshadowing for the big juggle finale.

 This is the Reverend Chumley at our show, on his property Chumlyland (where we have been staying for the first week of tour), performing his "spiritual" key-bending act.

 The Flying Karamazov Brothers at the Lincoln Theater (Amiel, Steven, Harry, and Rod).

 One of my favorite and funniest people, Sam Smyrdikov Williams Karamazov, performing his translation of "La Bamba" at Maritime Park in Bellingham.

 Another of my favorite performers is Pokie, performing his mime and hoop illusions act for folks at Project Homeless in Bellingham.

The Big Juggle! Wren has been organizing this the last two years, and boy is it awesome to see so many jugglers on stage at once!

 That's all for now, but more fun to come!

New Old Time Chautauqua Tour

This year our tour is in the Northwest along the I-5 corridor... Seattle, Mt. Vernon, Concrete, Olympia, Camano Island and more-idore! Here's a jumble of the goings-on of the tour, like Wren and I after roving at Bellinghams Project Homeless event.

 This is how our meals are served on Chautauqua... we're so lucky!

 Our friends and long-time Chautauquins Harry Levine and Anne Gavzer got married on tour this year!

Part of the swag they handed out was clown noses for the guests!

 I've been performing the Chair Dance for around 5 years now...

and this is my first injury from it... a pulled calf muscle. It's pretty hilarious to me, as the routine is extremely un-athletic. It's crutches for me for a while now... maybe an act will transpire...

Anyhoo, so far the tour has been super fun... I'll have more posts with photos from shows, etc. soon!

Ball and Bones 2013

Wrens dad lives at a place known as Bobland, and every year they have a quaint festival known as Ball and Bones. This is the first year Wren and I have been able to go, and boy were we delighted with the folks and activities there.

 The name comes from so much of the outdoor art being stone carvings of balls and bones.

As you can see, we had a lot of fun... especially on the ball tower.

 There was an evening of performance including a fashion show, an accordion trio, musicians, poetry, palm and hand-writing reading, and Wren and I performed our rope act while Robin (Wren's dad) played his accordion.

But most of all, Wren's favorite trick was balancing his new baby nephew Soren.

 We had an awesomely delightful time wit sun, wonderful people, wildly fun entertainment, music, great food, and a squishy adorable baby to smooch over. I can't wait till next year.