Hello all,
A few of you have written to tell us you enjoy our little letters and stories - and a few feel like they don't have an exciting story or travel adventure to relate; I want to reassure you all - we don't share our experiences as some kind of competition. It is just what I feel like writing about - or what I was thinking that day- or what Kathy has taught me or shown me - and once in a while we get lucky and Kathy will write her stories down too!
I think maybe because I am a comic - I listen for stories more than the average person. I also talk to more people than anyone else I know (Except Scott - I don't believe he has ever met a stranger in his life!) - and what might surprise a lot of you - is that I do listen. In most cases, that is how I get the stories to relay. Like this one today...
I ate breakfast with one of the acrobat/juggler/clown circus performers this morning. He and his partner work the atrium on the ship. He has been a clown, a stunt man , an acrobat, juggler, and circus ringmaster. He last worked for Kelly Circuses - and lived on a train for three years. A train! He had a 9 foot by 7 foot cabin on a train car! The back end of the car was open on three sides - like a tiny veranda or porch. He used to sit out there with his cup of coffee and watch the miles of prairie roll by. Some of his train rides took three to four days. Then they had to set up tents, feed animals, set props... all the things a circus needs.
He said that a simple show for a two man act was called a "Mud Show" - a throw away act while people got the "mud off their shoes" so that they would not miss the "real" show. Who knew?
He also said he was working on a single man show (as his partner of 12 years is going through a messy divorce - and must retire from road work in order to try and gain custody of his son). In his single man show - he is thinking of reviving some of the balloon tricks he used from his early years. I said" "What balloon tricks?"
He said there is a company named (get this) Balloon Kaboom - and they make giant balloons that must be blown up with a leaf blower (a little aside here- he also said a lot of amateur balloon blower uppers rupture their lungs by trying to blow up balloons that are either to thick, or to big. Who knew that inflating one thing, could deflate another? LOL). Anyways, these are the big balloons you see people blow up on TV and then get inside of them and do funny things. Imagine that - there is a company that makes only those balloons, and they are thriving. You talk about niche marketing!
He said to get into stunt work, the most important skill - and the most dangerous trick to learn - is how to fall. Apparently , if you can learn to fall - and not injure yourself- you can get a lot of work in Hollywood. He said most people don't know how to fall convincingly - and if they did fall convincingly, they would hurt themselves. His most dangerous fall was off of a train - and he had to hit a railing on the way down, and then spin under the wheels - and die. He said he almost did, because in practice, the train was pulled by technicians - (on film, as long as the train was moving at all, they could make it look like it was going faster than it actually was- this was , of course, way before photo shop! LOL)- but, that when they did the actual shoot, they used a small forklift, and he almost got caught under the wheels for real!
Stunt work is dangerous. So he has picked up all these physical skills and learned circus style comedy - which is crafted for that specific market. Europe loves circuses and they still draw big crowds. So, a lot of his work is over here in Europe now. For him, this is just his life, for me - it was a fascinating conversation with a man who lived on a train for three years!
I was going to write more - but, got tired ( it is 2:30 am and I did two shows tonight) so, I will cut this short - but just wanted you all to know - if my stories ever make you feel like your life is not as interesting - remember that this guy did not think there was anything worth talking about in his life - and he knows how to get in touch with people who blow up balloons as big as a house! LOL
Hugs to all ( Kevin and Kathy are much more likely to just walk to the Little mermaid, buy our ice cream cones - as we have every single Copenhagen for the last two years - as go out and have a grand adventure!)
Sleep well, Kevin and Kathy -homebodies stuck away from home!
A few of you have written to tell us you enjoy our little letters and stories - and a few feel like they don't have an exciting story or travel adventure to relate; I want to reassure you all - we don't share our experiences as some kind of competition. It is just what I feel like writing about - or what I was thinking that day- or what Kathy has taught me or shown me - and once in a while we get lucky and Kathy will write her stories down too!
I think maybe because I am a comic - I listen for stories more than the average person. I also talk to more people than anyone else I know (Except Scott - I don't believe he has ever met a stranger in his life!) - and what might surprise a lot of you - is that I do listen. In most cases, that is how I get the stories to relay. Like this one today...
I ate breakfast with one of the acrobat/juggler/clown circus performers this morning. He and his partner work the atrium on the ship. He has been a clown, a stunt man , an acrobat, juggler, and circus ringmaster. He last worked for Kelly Circuses - and lived on a train for three years. A train! He had a 9 foot by 7 foot cabin on a train car! The back end of the car was open on three sides - like a tiny veranda or porch. He used to sit out there with his cup of coffee and watch the miles of prairie roll by. Some of his train rides took three to four days. Then they had to set up tents, feed animals, set props... all the things a circus needs.
He said that a simple show for a two man act was called a "Mud Show" - a throw away act while people got the "mud off their shoes" so that they would not miss the "real" show. Who knew?
He also said he was working on a single man show (as his partner of 12 years is going through a messy divorce - and must retire from road work in order to try and gain custody of his son). In his single man show - he is thinking of reviving some of the balloon tricks he used from his early years. I said" "What balloon tricks?"
He said there is a company named (get this) Balloon Kaboom - and they make giant balloons that must be blown up with a leaf blower (a little aside here- he also said a lot of amateur balloon blower uppers rupture their lungs by trying to blow up balloons that are either to thick, or to big. Who knew that inflating one thing, could deflate another? LOL). Anyways, these are the big balloons you see people blow up on TV and then get inside of them and do funny things. Imagine that - there is a company that makes only those balloons, and they are thriving. You talk about niche marketing!
He said to get into stunt work, the most important skill - and the most dangerous trick to learn - is how to fall. Apparently , if you can learn to fall - and not injure yourself- you can get a lot of work in Hollywood. He said most people don't know how to fall convincingly - and if they did fall convincingly, they would hurt themselves. His most dangerous fall was off of a train - and he had to hit a railing on the way down, and then spin under the wheels - and die. He said he almost did, because in practice, the train was pulled by technicians - (on film, as long as the train was moving at all, they could make it look like it was going faster than it actually was- this was , of course, way before photo shop! LOL)- but, that when they did the actual shoot, they used a small forklift, and he almost got caught under the wheels for real!
Stunt work is dangerous. So he has picked up all these physical skills and learned circus style comedy - which is crafted for that specific market. Europe loves circuses and they still draw big crowds. So, a lot of his work is over here in Europe now. For him, this is just his life, for me - it was a fascinating conversation with a man who lived on a train for three years!
I was going to write more - but, got tired ( it is 2:30 am and I did two shows tonight) so, I will cut this short - but just wanted you all to know - if my stories ever make you feel like your life is not as interesting - remember that this guy did not think there was anything worth talking about in his life - and he knows how to get in touch with people who blow up balloons as big as a house! LOL
Hugs to all ( Kevin and Kathy are much more likely to just walk to the Little mermaid, buy our ice cream cones - as we have every single Copenhagen for the last two years - as go out and have a grand adventure!)
Sleep well, Kevin and Kathy -homebodies stuck away from home!
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