Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Another Day in Paradise.

(Lately I’ve been having trouble with internet connection -so the posts will be sporadic. I wrote this last night and couldn’t post it… if you are reading this…. I finally got it to work… DUH! -Enjoy!)

The make-up demonstration started a minute or two late -even though I was there 10 minutes early this morning. I got carried away snooping about in the projection booth (aka. one of the MANY “temporary” storage spaces on site). The Demo was okay… one kid raised his hand and said “I don’t like clowns…” I thought he meant he was afraid of clowns -so I started off with “Well, clowns don’t like you either.” That got a laugh, then I went on to explain that that’s why we are doing a demonstration this year -to help people understand what being a clown is like -and to help break down the illusion just a little bit -to help realize that underneath the costume, make-up, and character was just a normal person. The little boy then responded with “No, I’m not scared of clowns -I just don’t like them.” I was a tad miffed (being 9:30 in the morning and nobody cared about what I was doing) AND there was a BUNCH I could have responded with, but I simply replied with “Oh… well… good for you.” And hastily tried to finis the demo. After the demo I clean up and set the stage for the day of old circus documentaries -and while I was sweeping up my baby powder I noticed that kids just kept coming down the hall -TONS of kids… it was going to be a fun Circus Show.

I picked up my money bag for the face painting booth and set out to clean shop. It’s hit or miss in the booth on school show days… either the kids have money and the schools let them spend it (YAY) -OR they are instructed to keep away from the dirty carnie vendors (BOO). I got a good feeling for the crowd as they filed across the bridge from KidsWorld to the Tiger Adventure. TONS of kids! I patiently waited backstage making a grocery list for tomorrow and reading a bit from “Ringmaster;” the Kristopher Antekeier book about his year with the red unit. I went out to pump the crowd (my favorite thing to do during kid shows -this started back on Ringling -kids are SO excited and they are ready to see this fantastic circus show… they have this great energy and buzz -and I’d love to get them pumped before the big show began). I went out to dust off the ring curb. I then proceeded to dust of the butts of our senior citizen volunteer’s butts (ALWAYS gets a good laugh) Potty humor is not below me. I did a little hat tossing -which went over well -so I ran backstage and grabbed my diablo. “Higher -Higher” is my favorite game. I toss the Diablo up as high as I can and try to catch it. I also throw in a bit where it lands on my head conking me out. The kids went NUTS! It was a good show. Big reactions for the Boom-Box Gag and the Karate Gag (It was too cold for a volunteer water gag). After the show we meet and greet as people exit -I was attacked as usual. This was all fun and good -until I went over to the face painting booth. -Note to self… if kids are bugging me too much -go to the booth MAKE ‘EM PAY OR LEAVE. In today’s case -they left -as if I crapped my pants and put on a dress -as soon as I got in the booth everyone vanished to the picnic area. NO buyers today… no 50% cut on face painting… I had lunch and read a bit more before the Ring of Illusions Magic Show.

The show went smoothly and I really starting to have fun and be comfortable with all my bits. I’ll be set by the middle of this month. My Magic Spoof act was hastily thrown together and at the beginning of the season -was better on paper than in the ring. But I’m re-working it and I’m getting some good reactions now. I still have to add and cut some more though. (Note: add large glass and marshmallows to grocery list.) During the last trick of the show about half the audience left (school group hours) they had busses to catch and absolutely would NOT wait the extra 2 minutes that the show would have taken. That happened a lot last year too during the Razzle Dazzle. I was brutally swarmed and swatted at again by cotton candy faced smart asses. There was a smattering of GOOD little children who can look forward to presents from Santa this year. But the rest of them were a bunch of nose grabbers (Children whos mission is to take the clown’s nose -even after they see the make-up demo.) I chased this with another terribly unsuccessful 5 minutes in the booth. I left the booth and read a little more of “Ringmaster” before I let Tucker out. Upon leaving the trailer I noticed that Steve Freese’s (The head director of the museum) Car had a large ziplock bag under each windshield wiper filled with what looked to be large coconuts. -With a closer look I noticed that these were not coconuts but elephant droppings. I laughed and applauded the practical joke by Brian Franzen (our animal trainer this year).

The last Circus Show was alright -but the crowd was VERY quiet. I had a last minute surge of business at the end of the day bringing my booth total up to $14. Two faces (a lion and a tiger), three swords, and one clown nose. I came back to my trailer to find that the two bags of elephant turds were on my front step… to retaliate I put them inside Steve’s grill. HOT LUNCH! -Don’t worry, they were still in their sealed ziplocks. -For extra measure, though, I opened the vent to let bugs into his grill as well. Tonight Maggie, Tristan’s wonderful girlfriend, was going to make dinner for the four of us -and Laura was to be her sous chef. We had Pot Pie for Dinner and a BANANAS FOSTER pie for dessert. It was VERY satisfying. While waiting Tristan and I watched a movie called “Shine A Light” -a documentary on the Rolling Stones and one of their recent performances. It was a great inspiration to see these 60 years old ( and PLUS) men RUNNING around and dancing like sex gods… They still have “it” and for two performance geeks like Tristan and I -we reveled and awaited our later days in the performance industry. After a fun night with GREAT food, full bellies (food and laughs), and great company we left to call it an early night. Laura went to bed at 9:30ish… and I wrote this LONG blog. I am beat now and can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings. I still love my job and I am happy with how life is at the moment.

Happy thoughts readers!

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