I guess Katty Perry was just determined to get a TV spot with puppets after the recent Elmo/cleavage fiasco on Sesame Street. Whatever the case may be, it was recently announced that the pop star will guest star on a very special episode of the Simpsons. That’s right, one involving puppets and live action.
Don’t worry, you’re not the only ones thinking, “If the Simpsons could choose anyone to be the very first live guest on the show, why choose Katy Perry?”
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Have you heard? The US National Yo-Yo Contest is happening this weekend in Chico, California. The competition will be on Saturday, October 2nd with events running all day.
I admit, I haven’t touched a yo-yo in years, excluding the Chinese yo-yo (diabolo). However, every time I see a skilled yo-yo practitioner, it makes me wish I still had one.
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I was talking to a good friend of mine about magic not too long ago. Somehow we ended up on the topic of gender in the magic world. My friend mentioned that she had never seen a female magician perform before.
I searched my mind and had to agree. Women will often assist magicians, and some of them will even perform their own tricks. However, neither of us had seen a female magician lead a magic show. I don’t think there’s anything stopping women from trying their hand at magic, it has just historically been a male-dominated art.
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Continue reading about Ekaterina Dobrokhotova, Card Manipulator and Magician
If you don’t watch the Late Show with David Letterman, tonight would be a fine time to start. Why you ask? Because The Flying Karamazov Brothers will be featured on the show every day this week!
Who are The Flying Karamazov Brothers and how do you pronounce their name? Well, to answer the second question, it’s a Russian name that is in reference to the 1880 philosophical and dramatic novel “The Brothers Karamazov” by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It is pronounced kara-mat-zof (I don’t speak Russian or know how to properly write words phonetically, so that will have to do). Think of it this way: take the “cara” from caramel, the “mat” from matzo, and the “zov” from Marakazov.
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Continue reading about Flying Karamazov Brothers on Letterman
Nick Woolsey, creator of Play Poi, is a great enthusiast of poi, dance, and fire. When he first discovered fire poi, he was mesmerized by one’s ability to manipulate and dance with the flame. Ever since, he’s been learning poi and sharing the skill with others.
In a recent interview with filmmaker Michael Waters, Woolsey describes what is called “Beginner’s Mind” or the feeling one gets when learning a new skill: it’s inspiring, it’s joyous, it’s like nothing else. Waters is currently filming a documentary for Songs Without Boarders and asked that Woolsey describe why he would bother learning to sing, even though he doesn’t think he’s good at it.
Continue reading about Nick Woolsey Discusses the Joys of Learning
Just got word back from the New England Parkour Charity Jam team. If you aren’t aware of the various twists and turns in the event planning process, you can read up on the whole thing on Examiner.
Here’s the short version: New England traceurs decided to plan a jam to raise money for the American Cancer Society, they picked a place and date, place was not available at planned date, they rescheduled, police said on day of event that it was no go, place moved day of the event.
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The blogosphere has really been buzzing about the recent incidents with Elmo and the music video she taped with him on Sesame Street. Apparently, critics said the video was just too raunchy to put on TV in front of the eyes of preschoolers.
Perry was invited on Sesame Street in order to film a segment for a show that was scheduled to air sometime around New Years Eve (they’re way ahead of the game over there on Sesame Street aren’t they?). The segment features Perry preparing to meet Elmo for a play date. Perry is expecting to play dress-up, while Elmo has other ideas entirely (minds out of the gutter please, we’re not at the raunchy part yet). In any case, Sesame Street posted the video on YouTube as a promotion for the new season. However, the video made the YouTubers excited for an entirely different reason (okay, here’s the raunchy part).
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Continue reading about Katy Perry Music Video Droped From Sesame Street
I was just introduced to the art known as “Black Art” or “Black Theater.” Though I admit I do not know all that much about it just yet, it has apparently been around for a very long time and comes from a traditional Chinese art.
In any case, the following video is of Omar Pasha, a practitioner of Black Art who uses it as a way to do pretty spectacular magic shows. Enjoy!
When I tell people that I am a circus artist, the first thing they usually think is, “You’re a clown?!”
At least, that’s what my mother always says…
I used to get upset, “No, there’s more to the circus than just the clowns. Have you ever seen a circus show before?” However, I’ve lately started to embrace the clown in me. In a lot of ways, you have to be a least a little bit of a clown to be in the circus.
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Continue reading about Signed Up For Ringling Bros. Clown College Auditions
I was really impressed with OK Go’s White Knuckles video. It features 12 dogs doing tricks you might see in a dog show or circus performance. OK Go stated that they wanted the dogs to be the stars of the video and I think they definitely succeeded.
It wasn’t until after I wrote my examiner article on the video that I found the dog trainers’ website. All 12 dogs (as well as the goat, who has a breif cameo) were trained by Talented Animals, a company that trains a variety of animals for films, commercials, TV shows, and now music videos! As it turns out, they have a blog over on their website and they talk about the process of making the video.
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