Mark Hayward Is My Hero

Yes, you read it correctly.  Not only is there a U.S. Pizza Team, but they have a National Pizza Spinning Contest, AND I was asked to be a judge.  I know what you’re thinking.  All those years of judging yo-yo and juggling contests turned out not to be a waste of time after all.  They were actually the necessary training that brought me to this moment.

The trials for the US Pizza Team have several different divisions: Largest Dough Stretch, Fastest Pizza Maker (dough only, but it’s 5 of them), Box Folding, Culinary (making an entire pie, judged on taste etc.), and the big event, Acrobatic Freestyle.  I was invited to judge the Acrobatic Freestyle.  It was really cool.  There were 4 competitors, each from a different pizza shop in a different part of the country.  Competition was serious, but friendly.  I was a little worried about my preparedness, so I watched a bunch of videos online to get an idea of what were common tricks, and what were the tough ones.  The winner was Giorgio Giove from Staten Island NY.  He rocked it out.  He had an awesome accent.  For his trouble he won a trip to Italy to compete in the World Pizza Spinning Contest.  Yow.

The winners of the Acrobatic Freestyle Competition.  Giorgio is the one on the right with the big smile.

The contest took place inside the Wisconsin restaurant association trade show, and it can often be hard to find food you want to eat at trade shows.  There’s usually something that you don’t want to eat that you could buy for $25, but something you actually want is another story.  One of the best parts about being at the pizza contest is that there was a full pizza kitchen right there, so we had hot fresh pizza at our fingertips.  I was really sad that I couldn’t stay for the following day when they were doing the culinary contest.  I have always wanted to eat pizza contest pizza… seriously… ever since I heard that it existed I have wanted to eat some.  Major bummer that I had to miss it, but I had to get back to PA for some other business.  Maybe next time.

Chris Green, U.S. Pizza Team Trainer, and his likeness on a pizza box.

My certificate of appreciation, gift box full of U.S. Pizza Team loot, and real live contest pizza dough.

Yesterday we finally had a great weather day at the WI State Fair, and happy fair-goers mean happy audiences and better shows.  Last night I hung out with Marcus and we ended up at Kopps for a late-night snack. (see photo below)

We do love our cows in Wisconsin.  Look closely and you can kind of see the one black cow.

Yesterday, as I was setting up to do my first street show at Summerfest in Milwaukee, there was a big camera crew standing in front of me. I went over to ask what they were doing, and to see if they were going to be staying right there for long since I wanted to do a show. I didn’t go over to talk to them to try to get on TV, but they offered, so of course I said yes.

I did a little interview with Mark and another guy (whose name I forgot, sorry) for the Nickelodeon show Slime Across America. I did some yo-yo tricks while they asked me questions, and at some point Mark asked me if I wanted to have a dance-off with him. I didn’t want to at all, since I can’t dance, but I said, “Do I EVER!” So the other guy did a little beat-boxing and we each got 5 seconds to dance. I won. Of course I had the upper hand since the producers said I could do some yo-yo tricks as part of my dance.

The show is what they called an “interstitial” which means that it is a short show that is shown between other shows. If they use the footage of me, it will be aired on July 26th. The problem is that it’s not a show that will be listed in TV Guide, so I’m going to have to record the entire day of programming on Nickelodeon. I’m pretty excited about being on the show, so I really hope they use the footage of me.

My buddy Marcus Monroe walked by as they were interviewing me, and got interviewed too when I was finished.

This time my dog and I are Eastward bound. First a stop yesterday in Cleveland to hang out with the illustrious Steve Brown , and today we’re in Leonia NJ staying with Cousin Scott and family. The purpose of this trip is to go to the opening of Lenore’s first solo NY art show tomorrow night in Manhattan. It should be great. We both have a number of friends in the area, so I’m hoping that it will end up to be a little reunion of all our East Coast pals. We’ll see who can make it. Then after the show I get to go to the weekly post-juggling-practice meal with the NY juggling club. Good Chinese food, and always good times.

It’ll be a short visit here; on Friday we’ll take off again back to the good ol’ Midwest. After another stop at Steve Brown’s house, we’ll be home again for a couple of days before heading up to Milwaukee for a gig (in Chicago), and for me to fly out to California for my brother’s wedding. Vader will hang out in his “vacation home” with Lenore’s mother in Milwaukee. After that I’ll be home for a few days, then back up to Milwaukee for the Shorewood juggling festival where I will be MC for the big show.

March is a big month for traveling but April won’t be so bad.