Category: Circus Geeks Blog

The CircusGeek blog, from kitten juggling to plasticine tight-wire. Circus and other odd things.

Repetition

Luke Wilson5 Comments

True story.

Some years back I met with a friend, a clown and juggler, who was educated in the French new circus system of the 1980/90s. We talked of a mutual friend from the same background. I asked if this friend was still performing a specific act (in my opinion, one of the greatest and most important pieces of “modern” juggling (or even circus)). “Well”, came the reply, “he doesn’t really do it anymore. I mean, he did it a hundred times or so!”

Just a few days later I visited a magician friend, who was performing his manipulation act in the Apollo Varieté in Düsseldorf, Germany. I told him how much tighter his act was looking compared to when I had seen it last. “Well”, came the reply, “I have done it a hundred times now, so I start to understand it.”

Last night I performed my “new” club juggling act for the 97th time.

Video of the week – Penn

arronsparks2 Comments

Penn & Teller are my favourite magic act, their art is thought provoking, accessible and entertaining. I recently read Jillette‘s book ‘God No‘ which I really enjoyed and would recommend to anyone who is not overly offended by swearing.

Here is a nice interview with half of arguably the greatest double act of all time:

Player vs. Character Knowledge

Luke WilsonLeave a comment

Much as I would love to preface this blog with a declaration of my long love for Dungeons & Dragons, with a nostalgic description of the hours spent painting tiny figurines in my parent’s basement, of the creative and social skills I learnt through the fine crafting of stories and situations as Dungeon Master: I can’t.

I did have a short phase of building models from the Warhammer series, but frankly, I was busy practicing my Centre Deal at the time that I would have (should have?) been getting into role-playing.

Like many other geek-centric activites however, it fascinates me deeply and I try on occasion to peer into the rabbit-hole that is it’s home. Just recently I spent over an hour watching Youtube videos of a Dungeons & Dragons game being played. Yes, I did that. And it was fucking fantastic!

Penny Arcade “is a webcomic focused on video games and video game culture, written by Jerry Holkins and illustrated by Mike Krahulik”. They “also created… PAX, an annual gaming convention”, where (amongst many other activities) they sometimes play (and film) celebrity D&D sessions.

Anyway…

An interesting aspect to me of D&D culture is the crossover between play and performance, and one specific thing that makes me very excited to think about is the concept of “player vs. character knowledge”. This concept basically establishes that the character you are playing does not share the same knowledge as you yourself in reality. This is a two-way street: although she probably knows far less than you do about eg motor vehicles and the internet, her understanding of eg magic and fighting probably eclipses your own.

This seems so basic and obvious as a fact when sitting around a table-top role-playing game, but surely the same applies to any moment we step onto a stage? Let’s assume for the moment that at any point that we find ourselves on stage we are assuming a “character”, accepting that that character may be EXTREMELY close to our normal “player” self (and perhaps indistinguishable in some cases).

The amount of knowledge shared between our two identities depends on the style and technique of our performance. It is something which is accepted (but maybe not always clearly stated) by the actor and the magician, but less so by circus artists. The usual way that this aspect is explored in the circus arts is by the juggler “discovering” that she can throw and catch the ball. By the aerialist “accidently” getting onto the trapeze whilst trying to change a lightbulb. I think (hope?) we can discount such examples for now.

If I am playing the part of an actual mindreader on stage, then obviously that character (let’s switch at this point to use the word “persona” instead, it has less connotations of fantastical oddness (and let’s use “performer” instead of “player” from here on in!)) has no knowledge of the magical technique that I am actually using to accomplish the apparent feats of ESP. The persona believes himself that he is reading minds, and I as performer must be able to use the magic technique so imperceptibly that perhaps I too can forget it is there. But what of presenting myself in the persona of “a juggler”?

How much of my performer (real life) knowledge is neccesary or desirable? Obvious things can be cast aside: the sad death of my hamster that morning, the shockingly high fee I am receiving, not knowing if the technician will hit my cues at the right moment. But more related to the performance itself: if I am about to juggle dangerous objects, then perhaps the persona should not know that he has done it 500 times before, or that the knife blades are dull and harmless. If one prepares for a drop on corde lisse, perhaps the persona should only be in that moment, not in anticipation of an (to them) unknown future?

Almost any act should appear to be fresh and new and never done before: is performer vs. persona knowledge a key part of that illusion? When discussing learning lines, we often talk about learning the text, and then “forgetting” it, so that when we speak it is as if spontaneous. Can we apply that to all our skills, at every moment?

Perhaps there is a finer distinction too? What about “audience vs. persona knowledge”? We can expect the persona to know more about the actual performance (the actual moment) than the audience does, and they should trust us with that. But perhaps the audience knows more about performance in general? If the persona is telling some story, then perhaps they don’t even know that they are on a stage, or in a theatre? If they are fourth wall up, then clearly the knowledge of the audience is at some odds with their own knowledge! But if the audience trusts the persona, then they too will play the game, and allow themselves to succomb as well to their role in the performance.

So it all comes down to that? Establishing that we all have roles to fulfil, that the performance is a game, and that each participant has a responsibility to play by the rules. Maybe if I’d spent more time playing Dungeons & Dragons it would all be much easier…

—
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny_Arcade_(webcomic)

http://dndnerd.com/dd-for-beginners-player-vs-character-knowledge

A Juggler’s Guide to Parental Responsibility

Sam Veale1 Comment
Me and the Girls
Me and the Girls

Study the picture. That’s me and my two children aged 3 and 5 in a pretty standard domestic scene. Daddy gets home from work and is greeted by two adoring daughters flying at him with cuddles and cries of “Dadeeeeeeeee!”

When the photo was taken, I was getting back from an opera rehearsal. This job afforded me the luxury of working office hours for several weeks so I was able to return to the scene in the photo nearly every day. Normally my working hours are either anti-social or non-existent so this was a novelty for all three of us.

I’ve been a dad for five years and a performer for much longer. Most self-employed people go through a moment of doubt when they become parents. Self-employment can be unreliable and this is especially true in performing arts. Stability and regularity can become very attractive when you start a family but I stuck with the juggling and so far I’m getting away with it.

There are advantages to this. I’m often around during the day to run domestic errands and I’m usually the only dad on the school run, but it’s difficult for me to guarantee this time as a lot of my work comes in at short notice. Booking a holiday is always a gamble for the same reason. At time of writing, my family are on a holiday that I was unavailable for due to work commitments. This is the curse of the leisure industry generally. When most are at play, I’m at work.

Upon finding out what I do for a living people often say “Your children must love you!” This well meaning but absurd statement (Do accountants’ children not love their parents just as much?) reflects the fact that juggling is often associated with children. To be honest, my kids are so young they probably think everyone’s daddy can balance things on his nose and do yo-yo tricks.

My five year old might just be getting the idea that my job is a novelty. Her fifth birthday party was earlier in the summer and I generously agreed to entertain the guests free of charge. Most of her classmates were there and they kept coming up to me saying “Are you really Millie’s daddy?” When I said yes they would cackle and run away. One of these friends came for a play date a few days later. When I arrived home, she looked at me through the garden gate and said “Oh! He really is your daddy then!”

I could hope that my daughters will be proud of their old dad but pride would inevitably give way to crushing embarrassment when they reach ten or so. I think this would be equally true if I was a lawyer or something so I’ll just have to accept the inevitable and keep a low profile.

It is scary relying on such a bizarre thing to feed, clothe and house my offspring but it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking the grass is greener elsewhere. Everyone I speak to worries about some threat to their livelihood whether they work on a stage or in an office.
Nobody is bullet proof so I’m just grateful for having a job I enjoy and two beautiful children who lavish affection without wanting to borrow the car straight afterwards (yet).

Sam Veale
August 2011

Despite all this, Sam does do children’s parties. For more information, go to…

http://www.circusparty.co.uk/

Building a new act.

baldwithballs1 Comment

Exciting times. After about 8 years with more or less the same material I’m about to make drastic changes. I have always built my acts after the same pattern. Lately I have found myself completely bored by that form.

• A piece of music. Composed for the act.
• A choreography set to that music.
• Music finished. Finale trick, take a bow and outro music.
• Exit

Simple but boring. I want to make something different. Or new. New to me. I want to use music but I want to edit exciting music to fit my act. In this way I’m going to have the possibilities of jumping between tempos and different pieces of music and add moments of recognition to the audience. I can use the music to change characters. I can go from a happy energetic persona to a pompous figure or what ever.
I can change “skill”. Blablabla.

I have to excuse my language earlier. Its not that its boring to make a choreography to a set piece of music. Its just that I need to do something with my material to find the joy again. To completely change route.
I used to get really excited about making a start at a new act. 8 years ago when I constructed the act that I now so badly want to change I was super excited and the ideas came flying. And it worked well. I have done that act for about 1500 times.

And now its time to move on.
But how do I start? It would be great to use this blog and its readers and writers to get some input and inspiration. How do YOU set everything up when you start with a new piece? Id like to hear your thoughts about it. Lets create together.

I stop now. I wanted to write about my method and about my idea. It turned out I have a wage idea and NO method. So I need a discussion with you guys. Give me your tips and your secrets : )
I’m going on tour now. For a year. But Internet is everywhere so lets meet there.
//David

Poor Lighting

arronsparks4 Comments

Being able to deal with less than idea conditions has been massively helpful to me over the years, particularly in the past few weeks on tour where there is little time to spend worry about lights after the get in and prop setting has been done.

Poor lighting affects almost all circus disciplines but none more so than juggling.

Here are a few training methods (some more useful than others) to help you train for poor lighting:

Practice in sunglasses
Practice directly under a bright light
Set up a bright lamp to shine in your eyes
Practice in low level lighting
Practice outdoors on a sunny day
Run your routine with someone switching on and off the lights
Practice with one eye shut (I’ve had to do a routine immediately after being accidentally poked in the eye!).
Practice with both eyes shut (are there tricks you can do blind, if so can you take advantage of this on stage?!)

Any suggestions? I’d love to hear how you train for poor lighting, leave a comment!

Performer wanted for a new show

So & So CircusLeave a comment

Performer wanted for a new show.
 
So & So are looking for an acrobatic performer for their new show, Backgammon for Beginners. Applicants would preferably have a strong acrobatic background, although we may consider working with a performer from another discipline (dance/theatre/other circus background) with the potential to increase their acrobatic vocabulary.
 
Most of all, we are looking for someone with a strong stage presence and an interest in creating a new circus theatre piece, who is prepared to work with text.
Backgammon for Beginners follows the stories of Javad, a man who became trapped in London, following the Iranian revolution in 1979. His attempts to comprehend the cultural differences between his past and his present lead to jumping out of hotel windows, introducing backgammon to London bars, facing the terror of the National Front and stopping trains with his bare hands.
 
The show will be directed by Mish Weaver. We will work with a script, and use live music. There will be 4 performers in the show- Roshi (musician), Lauren & Kaveh (acrobatic pair) plus another performer.
 
Rehearsal dates are 12th Sept – 23rd Sept, 14th Nov-16th Dec, and 2nd – 11th January. The show will then tour the UK from approximately 15th April- 2nd June (TBC). Applicants must be able to commit to all of these periods.
 
The fee for rehearsals will be £400/week for 8 weeks. Rehearsals will be held in London (6 weeks) and Yorkshire (2 weeks). Accommodation can be provided if necessary. 
 
Please send a CV, covering letter and any photos and links to website or videos to info@soandsocircus.com by August 14th.
For more information on the company, see http://www.soandsocircus.com or richardsonprm.com/artists_soandso2.html

IJA Judging – A Manifesto

Luke Wilson1 Comment

Notes from a discussion between Lana Bolin (IJA competitor (2001/2002) and judge (2004/2005), Françoise Rochais (IJA Individual gold medallist (1995) and performer and judge at international circus festivals), and Luke Wilson (IJA competitor (1999) and judge (2011) and performer at international circus festivals).

We believe the current judging system in use by the IJA (International Jugglers’ Association) for the purposes of deciding the Juniors, Teams and Individuals Championships to be over-complicated and flawed. We believe it to be overly focused on delivering fast and non-debatable results, at the expense of not allowing the opinions and experiences of the invited judges to contribute to the results.

We understand that it is the result of past issues with the judging systems used, but we fail to see its strengths and advantages over previous systems.

Until recently, the judging criteria was divided into two broad categories (technique and performance), weighted at sixty and forty percent respectively. The system now in use has split these categories further, into a total of seven wide aspects to be considered by each judge. Each category is ranked from 1 to 5 points, with a multiplication factor then taken into account. This has coincided with a move away from weighting the technique over the performance side, with the results now reflecting a percentage of 45/55, technique vs. performance.

Execution (x4)
Entertainment Level (x4)
Degree of Difficulty (x3)
Theatrical Framing (x3)
Creativity (x3)
Element of Risk (x2)
Stage Presence (x1)

A separate tally of Deductible Drops is also added in, with a deduction of 0.5 points per drop. This number may be any value up to and including the actual number of drops, at the judge’s individual discretion.

Although it may appear useful to define so many categories, we feel it detracts from a judge’s ability to rank the acts as she sees fit, and brings in a number of ambiguous factors.

Why separate Execution from Degree of Difficulty (how well you do the trick from what trick you do)? This can have the affect of rewarding poorly executed hard tricks, as a calculated risk against loosing some points in Execution.

How can one usefully define “Element of Risk”? As it stands now, five people standing on stage juggling three balls each should earn more points than two people doing the same three ball cascade. Or juggling three new and potentially slippery clubs earns more points than juggling worn-in ones. Juggling is, by definition, a series of risks. Any discussion of risk is simply a discussion of technique. At best this category is unnecessary, at worst, we find here again the possibility to reward poor technique (more points for a five club cascade if it looks like it is about to drop at any moment!).

We find these three categories to be unnecessary breakdowns of the “technique” aspects of a juggling act, just as we find the four remaining categories to be unnecessary breakdowns of the “performance” aspects.

In addition, we fail to understand the use of a drop count left to each judge’s discretion. Coming from the viewpoint of juggling performers, a drop is a very clear violation of the performer’s intentions, impacting both the technical and performance aspects of good technique. The impact or otherwise of drop events should be judged on the overall effect that it has on the performance.

The judges are invited due to their knowledge and experience of juggling as a performing art, and should not need such hand holding.

We understand that an argument for this system of judging is to avoid lengthy discussions and arguments between the judges, so as to speed up the decision process. Why is this necessary? Events this year (2011) in the calculation of the Teams scores show that errors can still occur.

Is there any strong reason to announce the championships results directly after the championships show? Most other serious circus competitions allow the judges ample time to discuss and come to their conclusions, and announce the winners in a separate ceremony AFTER the completion of the final competitions. Sometimes the winners are notified beforehand, sometimes not. But the artificial, and unnecessary, pressure to have speedy results is not there.

With no time pressure on the judges to reach their verdict, isn’t the chance higher of reaching more informed and accurate decisions? An exchange between judges allows individual expertise and experience to come to the fore, and so can avoid the possible issue of any one judge lacking specific technical or historical knowledge that should be taken into account when judging competitors against one another.

If it is felt that the sub-categorisation of technique and performance into these seven aspects is useful as a guide to judging, then it is necessary to define each element in a far more precise way than is now done, and to consider whether said categories are really the correct ones to be focussing on!

In conclusion, we fail to see the advantages of the current system, and propose a return to the older system of judging, based on two criteria. For clarity, we suggest the two categories “technique” and “artistic”. We believe “artistic” to be a better and more specific term than “performance”, as the latter could include both technical and artistic considerations. The relative split should be either 50/50, or slightly favouring the technical side, eg 55/45. Discussion between the judges should be endured and encouraged, with ample time allowed for them to reach a decision. The winners should be announced the day following the competition show, which not only allows a more complete discussion of the acts, but which can also give the competitions more importance and weight at the festival.

The IJA Stage Championships have nurtured, produced and showcased some of the best juggling acts in the world today. We feel that the judging system in its current form is in best case ill-defined, and in worst case detrimental to the art of juggling.

Lana Bolin
Françoise Rochais
Luke Wilson

July 2011

On the Road

arronsparksLeave a comment

20110731-110347.jpg

Although I’ve done my fair share of different types of show over the years I’ve never toured. This is my first time on the road, living out of a suitcase for weeks on end, performing at a different venue each day and unloading the set each time (it’s confirmed my suspicion that when it comes to props and staging stand up comedians have it sussed).

I’m enjoying sitting in the passenger seat, watching the road go by. I particularly enjoy the night time journeys, being driven down curvy country lanes looking out for rabbits, hairs and even the occasional dear.

Makes me think; I really should learn to drive.

Rhönradturnen

AdamLeave a comment

The German Wheel is one of the most painful pieces of equipment I’ve ever had the pleasure of working on. Thankfully I’ve gotten away lightly with only bumps, bruises and the occasional crushed finger (unlike my former partner who suffered a torn calf muscle and a broken foot at various times).

One of the best German Wheel artists was Wolfgang Bientzle who, in the video below, performs one of the most painful routines I’ve ever seen – in a whole other way! He’s very good on the wheel though!

The Quadruple Somersault

Adam1 Comment

Miguel Vasquez, of the Flying Vasquez, one of the world’s most famous flying trapeze troupes,  catches “the most difficult acrobatic feat in the 20th century” – the quadruple somersault.

I love flying trapeze but what I love most about this video is that in slow-mo you can see two of the saltos just hover in the air defying gravity at the peak of the pass.

 

Housekeeping Pt II

Luke WilsonLeave a comment

Time I think for another personal update, sharing some of the more usual things that have been going on in my life recently.

I am in my home office, the Café “Jaely’s Coffee” near my home in Cologne. My nine week run in the GOP Varieté in Hannover finished exactly two weeks ago, and I have had “time off” (meaning no shows) since then.

Did do quite a lot though! I made a YouTube video, having been inspired by some discussion on the juggling newsgroup about some tricks I was trying 15 odd years ago, had a very short trip to Berlin to pick up some props to deliver to Petra, who I then visited for a couple of nights during her cruiseship rehearsals in Holland, wrote some new material with Ken Bardowicks, and finally I fixed the wrongly saved data (incorrect fields since switching from Palm Desktop to Apples Address Book) in my address book. The last success also enabled me to actually create a clean and current mailing list (divided into German and English, hooray!).

My first use of said mailing list will be the official announcement of my all new website, which I built whilst I was in Hannover.

Phew. Also, I suppose I can officially say now that Bob Bramson’s book “An Artist’s Luggage” is at the publishers, and is “coming soon”!

Today I packed a suitcase, for tomorrow I fly to the good old US of A to attend the International Jugglers’ Association Annual Festival. I shall teach three workshops, perform in the main show, and have the hono(u)r (?) of being a judge for their stage competitions. I assume I can talk about that. I shall ask more about that when I am there, I feel I would like to write something about that. I have very mixed feelings about it. But as a friend told me, “you get free water and the best seats in the house”.

And the week after next? Three days in Stockholm for show meeting for 2012, and then two weeks or so in London! I plan to catch shows at the Gandini Juggling Week, get some new photos done, and see friends and family. Then shows in Berlin from mid-August and so on and so on…

Oh yeah, and Google+

And Mad Men: Season 3 and Spirit HD.

OK, at least I feel now that all is up to date: again, also some inspiration for some more serious writings soon.

Now, back to my coffee…

Untidy list of reference links!

Tricks in the gym: http://youtu.be/4CwFq_hmT00
Petra’s boat (maiden voyage!): http://www.celebritycruises.com/plancruise/ships/ship.do?shipCode=SI
Ken’s website: http://www.kenbardowicks.de/
My new website: http://www.lukewilson.de/en/
IJA Fest: http://www.juggle.org/festival/
IJA competition rules: http://www.juggle.org/champrules/champsrules.php
Gandini Juggling Week: http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/?lid=66097
Spirit HD (iPad game): http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/spirit-hd/id376986534?mt=8

Circus Skepticism

Adam2 Comments

I’ve seen two student shows the last few days and I’m due to see another this weekend. It’s the time of year again; the time for the End Of Year Student Performance.

After each of the shows I found myself having a familiar conversation with a number of people: “what did you think of the show?” It’s not a strange question to ask. I must have asked it and been asked it thousands of times over the years after almost every circus show, theatre show, film and music gig. And obviously some I like and some I don’t like.

There are very few movies I don’t like. For the most part I can accept them exactly as they are and exactly as they’re not, regardless of whether they are Hollywood Blockbusters or Indie Flicks I can enjoy them, letting the story and the fantasy wash over me, taking me away from my life and letting me get wrapped up in an alternate reality for a while.

But when it comes to circus I find myself stuck. I no longer get wrapped up in the thrill and the excitement of the circus, I struggle to be amazed. I find myself waiting for the fake slip on the high wire, watching the acrobats intently for flawed technique, or watching the use of safety lines instead of the trick itself.

I find it hard to enjoy circus these days and am pleasantly surprised when I walk out of a show having enjoyed myself, having been entertained, and having forgotten about the safety lines.

Is it just me? Am I overly critical these days? Or do you find yourself doing the same thing?

Popcorn Circus

Luke Wilson3 Comments

A good friend once offered the assertion that traditional circus is “a machine to sell popcorn”. I smiled, nodded and changed the subject. But thinking about it: is it true? And if it is, is it a bad thing? And what is the machinery of modern circus set up to sell?

I like popcorn. I eat it brainlessly, extract what wanton energy from it that I can, and discard what I don’t need. I leave at least ten percent on my clothes and on my seat. It makes me feel slightly sick when I have too much of it, but it is none the less an organic and tactile experience, bringing joy to all of my senses. I don’t eat it often, and I don’t miss it when I don’t have any, but I always look forward to and enjoy it.

In my video library is a long row of Cirque du Soleil DVDs. I like to own things. They sit there and remind me that I am a loyal consumer. I haven’t watched them all, and the ones I have watched I have watched just once. Each box and disc is identical in it’s dimensions, just as the acts encapusulated within them are identical each time I watch them (or would be, if I were to watch them).

I do like perfection: but I also like honesty. Honesty and humanity and humility. I am a fan of science and of precision, but am happy to depart from them for some occasional one-off sticky gratification.

Popcorn makes me happy.

Pole Dance Dictionary

arronsparks2 Comments

Anyone interested in the documenting of ‘circus’ tricks or wanting to learn chinese pole should have a look at Pole Dance Dictionary for inspiration.

A very slick looking site, it’s just a shame they didn’t use YouTube so you could easily share videos. Also nice to see a familiar face on the site!

Pole Dance Dictionary on Facebook.

Hobby

arronsparks2 Comments

“Beware the hobby that eats.”-Benjamin Franklin 

For many modern circus performers the ‘career’ starts out as a hobby; An interesting and enjoyable way to spend a few hours a week. Over time the passion and obsession creeps in and before you know it you’re filling in your first self-employed tax return and cursing the day you passed on a ‘proper job’.

I’ve never really thought about the transition from hobbyist to professional. I’m sure for some there comes a time when they say “right I’m going to make my living from this”, and go on to do so. But for must of us it’s a gradual incline (or decline depending on how things are going!) which we hardly notice.

Occasionally important choices will come our way and remind us that this is more than ‘just a hobby’. Whether it’s applying for circus school, dealing with a serious injury or taking a 12 month contract away from home these difficult choices are not often faced by a hobbyist.

I believe a hobby can (and should) be almost always ‘fun’ but a career is (and should be) challenging.

Does trying to pries a living from an ex-hobby take the enjoyment out of the work? Possibly. From my own standpoint I still love playing with objects, getting on stage, sharing the few good ideas I have with the world and getting a reaction and connection with an audience. I hope that if there comes a time when I don’t enjoy performing then I will change what/how I do it or move onto a new profession.

I still have to pinch myself from time to time, remind myself that I survive and even thrive (at times!) thanks to my hobby, my chosen profession.

Are there times you regret being a professional, do you aspire to be one or think your passion is best kept as a hobby? Love to hear from you on this one…