Mark Hayward Is My Hero

By sheer chance I heard that the Australian Circus Oz was in town, so I went to see it with my friend JoAnna.  It was AWESOME!.  I had only heard the name of the circus, and never anything about it, and I can’t recommend it highly enough.  Aside from having a different take on some classic circus stuff, what they really excel at is telling a story.  The trapeze act was all about the kids in the schoolyard, and there was a rolla-bola routine done on top of a street cart for Pink Lemonade.  The whole show is acompanied by live music, and the ring-mistress has both an unbelievable voice and enough personality for two people.  It was a really great show.

Unfortunately I was not able to meet or hang out with any of the cast since they were on their way to Mexico that night for the next gig.  After Mexico they are headed up to Berkley CA,  so if you’re in that area don’t miss your chance to see them.  I guess they only come to the states about once every two years.

Learn more at www.circusoz.com

This weekend I had a couple of gigs in the Chicago area, but I went up a day early to participate in a taping for Chicago Public Access Cable TV.

Harper, Matiss and I showed up with a bag full of juggling machetes and two pumpkins.

We carved this one in advance, and the other was to be carved while we juggled.

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I just got back from Juggle Those in New York City and it was awesome. Those NY jugglers know how to have a good time. As it turned out, most of my favorite jugglers in the world were there. It was such a good time.

On Sunday a bunch of us went to the Barnum & Bailey, Ringling Brothers Circus. I found the narrative rather hard to sit through, but all of the acts were spectacular. I don’t want to spoil anything for you, but the motorcycle act was truly unbelievable.

There’s nothing like going and watching the circus when you’ve shown up with your own posse of jugglers and clowns. :)