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!
Examiner article: Ringling Bros. will hold open auditions for Clown College
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.
And so when I heard that Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey will be holding Clown College auditions here in Boston, I thought, “hmm…”
So yes, I signed up. I don’t actually expect to be chosen since my clowning skills are a bit rusty; however, why wouldn’t I put my hat in the ring (or the three rings, rather)? Doesn’t cost me a thing, and if I do make it, I get to travel around the world with the Ringling Bros. circus. Pretty sweet deal, huh?
Of course it is! So why not join me?! Join me…
To sign up, just head to www.ringling.com/clown, fill out the form, and send it in. The auditions will be held at the TD Garden in Boston, MA next Wednesday, September 29 from 10am until 1pm. Expect to be there the whole time.
For more details about the auditions (what to wear, where to go, what to prepare, etc.) check out my article on Examiner.com. And if you decide to audition, by all means let me know!! Auditioning, even in front of a group of clowns, can be nerve wracking. We can serve as moral support for each other (I promise to clap for you! hehe).
See you then!
Tags: Audition, Clown College, Clowning
Examiner article: OK Go’s new White Knuckles video featuring performance dogs
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.
Who knew that training 12 dogs and a goat for a 3 minute video with one take and no cuts would be a tough job? Go figure.
Roland Sonnenburg, one of the head trainers at Talented Animals (along with Lauren Henry), talks about how grueling the process was, but how rewarding it was in the end. It was great to be a part of the video-making process from his prospective, and I encourage you all to check out the blog post.
Still fighting with the Examiner system so that the videos I post over there actually play, but alas…. However, the video bellow works! Also be sure to check out OK Go’s YouTube page to see more of their music videos (they’re all pretty epic)! OK Go also just uploaded a short behind-the-scenes video: Can We Do It? Yes We Can. I’m hoping they will upload more parts since I imagine there was a lot more to it.
Tags: Animal Act, Music
Good news! The trial is finished! I’m free!!
But seriously, my first experience with jury duty is officially over. I’m glad it’s done, but I also think it was a good experience for me to have.
Back to Faneuil
In any case, after I finished with jury duty, I hit up Faneuil Hall once again to check out the performance scene. Once again, there was only one performance going on, and it was the escape artist I saw the first day I went out (who I learned is named Jason Escape). This time around, I decided to have a chat with him.
Jason Escape after freeing himself from his straitjacket
Jason was kind enough to take some time and chat with me over drinks. Or rather, he drank and I just asked him questions. Understandable since I had already eaten and he had just finished two long performances in the hot sun.
Jason was a pretty down to earth guy and talked with me freely about his street performance work. He said he’s been performing in Faneuil Hall for 6 years now (which is why I recognized him originally), and doing street theater for even longer. Besides working in Faneuil, he also does a number of other events, parties, and shows around the world.
I was curious to know from him just how and where he practices hanging upside-down in a straitjacket and getting out scot-free. He said that there is no way you can really train for such a performance other than just doing it. He’ll try some new things out right there in his show and if he gets the response he was looking for from the crowd, he’ll keep it. If not, it’s gone.
That made a lot of sense to me. With street performance, the audience is an integral part of the whole experience. You can’t practice certain key aspects of a show without the audience there watching and interacting. In a lot of ways, escaping from a straitjacket is the easy part.
Now that jury duty is over, I’m wondering what to do now. Jury duty was a nice excuse to get into the city for the day. I’m not keen on making the trip to Faneuil Hall just to see if there will be new performances.
I don’t know at this point. But I must say it has been very rewarding while it lasted.
Brent McCoy
Today, after jury duty, I returned to Quincy Market to check out the street performance scene. This time there was only one performer doing a show. He was dressed as a construction worker and performed a number of acts including juggling, contact juggling, diabolo, and balancing on a rolling globe.
I approached the performer after his show and learned that his name is Brent McCoy. He is a professional performing artist and does street theater and other shows worldwide. This was his second summer performing in Boston’s Quincy Market and he said it was a great experience.
Brent McCoy performing in Faneuil Hall
Brent is originally from Greensborough, Vermont and trained in the circus arts at the Celebration Barn in Maine. Brent also mentioned that he has worked and traveled with Circus Smirkus for about 10 years. He said he is one of about 13 performers currently working in Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market.
Jury Duty Update
As I mentioned, I was called in for Jury Duty, and so I went over to the courthouse today. It wasn’t much fun and I spent most of the day sitting around in a room, fighting sleep, and waiting for someone to tell me where to go next.
I ended up getting placed on a jury, and the trial is expected to last until the end of the week. *sad face*
It’s not all bad though. I am going to be missing summer camp, but at least I’ll have shorter work days for a while. As a matter of fact, I took the extra time that I had today and decided to take a stroll around the city.
I figured I’d head to Faneuil Hall since there is usually several street performers there, and I felt like watching a performance. Long behold, there were two performances running simultaneously in Quincy Market. One was run by a guy I am familiar with who often does escape/magic acts in the area. He was quite good, as usual.
The other performance I only caught the end of. It consisted of two jugglers/acrobats and they had a freestanding ladder rigged up by four audience volunteers. I thought they were especially great because they clearly had been performing/training together for a good while and had a lot of chemistry. They did improv comedy that was very spot-on and funny, to the point that they could almost complete each others sentences. I was impressed.
And since I was so impressed by the performers this afternoon, I decided to make it into a ritual of mine to head to Quincy Market after I’m finished with my jury duty for the day. Hopefully I will be able to see some interesting performances, and I’ll probably flag some down and have a chat with them. Who knows?
Awesome news! I have jury duty tomorrow!!
Yeah, no… XP
I was called in to perform my “civic obligation,” forcing me to take off of work… fantastic (*sarcasm*). They couldn’t give me jury duty on any of the days this summer when I was doing absolutely NOTHING? Nope, they had to wait until I’m actually working.
Alas, it is what it is.
I am partially excited if for no other reason than it’s something I’ve never done before. I am curious about how the whole legal system works, even though it kind of scares me.
It’s just extremely inopportune because I am now working with the Simply Circus summer camp. I love the job because I get to work with kids and teach them circus arts. However, the job is extremely draining and sometimes frustrating because I am working with kids and teaching them circus arts. I’m glad I get a day off from the camp life, but I would much rather work with the kids than sit in a courtroom twiddling my thumbs all day.
Wish me luck. Hopefully it won’t be too painful and they won’t actually call me in for the case.
Fingers crossed…
Fantastic news!
I recently applied for a new job with the Examiner as the Boston Circus Arts Examiner. What this means is I would write about the local circus arts scene here in Boston and essentially be a circus journalist (which is secretly my dream job!).
Well, I suppose it’s not really a secret anymore is it….
In any case, I just got an email saying I got the job! Kind of…
I’ve been offered the job, but I still need to hear back from them with all the information I need to start publishing. I am very excited though! It’s going to require a lot of work, but I’m up for it.
I’m probably going to end up changing things around here to make this a kind of unofficial homepage for the examiner site. Examiner is where all the articles will be, and this will be a more “About The Author” type of site. Not sure just yet how that will play out, but I’ll keep you posted.
Once I get all the info with the site address and all that good stuff, I’ll be posting more about this. Just thought I’d give you all the good news. 
Until next time!
Tags: Examiner, Journalism
Hey all!
Here’s something else I just haven’t gotten around to posting. It’s a demo video made by a friend of mine.
Me, him, and a few other friends were hanging out in the park because it was a nice day and I did some slackline, some juggling, and of course some staff spinning. And this is what was produced.
I admit it’s kinda silly, but I think it’s great! 
Hope you all enjoy!
Eric Promo Video
Hello all!
Back from China, and let me say that it was a fabulous experience. Traveled to Shanghai and Xi’an, but didn’t make it to Beijing. Oh well, maybe next time. 
In any case, you can read up on all the things I learned on my trip here: What I Learned in China.
Didn’t get the chance to visit any of China’s circus schools, but I did see a child street contortionist. Note: doing contortion before you finish growing can be terrible for your spine. In Chinese circus schools, they bend kids in all sorts of ways prematurely. That’s why the kids are so flexible, but it’s also why they rarely grow taller than 5 feet…
but that’s another story completely…
Rope Tricks
What I really wanted to mention is that I finally got some pictures! No, not from the China trip (t’will be a while before I have those). I got some pictures from my very first escape act!
A few months ago, I was over at a friend’s place in Nantucket. If you aren’t familiar, Nantucket is a little island off Massachusetts that is pretty awesome. They do a lot of fishing and sailing and such over there, so my friend was very familiar with the various knots that sailor use (being a sailor himself). And as he was demonstrating some of these knots, I asked if he’d ever used them to tie anyone up before.
Naturally, he was caught a bit off guard. He said he hadn’t, but he could probably do it pretty easily. So, being the circus artist that I am, I asked if he would be willing to tie me up to see if I could get out of it. Luckily for me, he agreed! Albeit, somewhat reluctantly.
Tags: China, Escape Act, Rope
