For the last two and a half years I've been performing in a very elaborate immersive theatrical show called The Speakeasy.
I play...Bosley The Magnificent. A ne'er do well drunk magician that gets in lots of trouble. you may notice the resemblance to my name Boswick...Bosley. Get it.
I have a number of stage routines I do in our cabaret.
The show is going through a rewrite and Nick (the creator of the show) has me doing some other routines as he cuts actors. At our high point we had 38 actors. We are a mere 25 now.
So he said for my new contract. I can do my magic act, we'll expand it a bit to cover time, And he said, you do a juggling act.
Now. I'm a good juggler. By clown standards I'm good. By juggler standards, I'm a beginner. mediocre at best.
The question in my lap. How do I create a 5 to 6 minute silent juggling routine?
I watched a few vaudeville comedy jugglers on youtube. But I realized I can cobble together a few vaudeville routines using my strength as a clown and mediocre juggler. Just doing one or two tricks but leading up to these tricks in a huge comic way.
I did a very large show in Chinatown the other day for a group of about 200 plus kids and their families. The timing was off, they had me waiting in a back banquet room for about 45 minutes. So I started playing with comic movements. There was a mirror for decoration I could play into.
Using this blog. I'm going to map out this routine and the progress or lack there of in writing. I've been avoiding rehearsing. Because that's more natural than actually rehearsing.
On paper this is what I have.
Enter with cane. Do some physical bits with cane ala Charlie Chaplin.
Do a hat trick. Notice the audience likes it build to a fancier one. Do a series. The drummer in the band get ahead of me, I get mad at the drummer.
List of hat tricks.
-flip to head
-high flip to head
-roll down back
-roll down arm
-hat balanced on top of cane, pull cane away hat lands on head
balance hat on nose
wipe sweat with arm, notice hat is gone grab hat in teeth flip it to head
flip hat to hand fully stretched up, let fall to low hand.
Tricks, I'd like to put in.
flip hat from foot to head
throw hat to coat rack.
These are tricks I can do but not consistently.
Here's what's happening in my head as i picture the combination.
Speed of these tricks, how do they blend together so I can repeat but not right after each other.
So. Enter stage. take a bow. twirl cane. hang up cane. roll hat down arm, flip on head, roll down back. start to walk off. Elicit audience to start applauding. Enjoy, then do the same routine adding another element. Then do a whole fast hat routine ending with a hat on top of a cane on my chin. pull hat away, hat lands on head.
This is part 1. I'll try this tomorrow between gigs. in the morning I am Santa, in the afternoon I have a show in a school. The school will be a nice place to try this new routine. The kids don't really notice if i mess up, they think it's funny and since I am in character, I'll have fun with it.
I play...Bosley The Magnificent. A ne'er do well drunk magician that gets in lots of trouble. you may notice the resemblance to my name Boswick...Bosley. Get it.
I have a number of stage routines I do in our cabaret.
The show is going through a rewrite and Nick (the creator of the show) has me doing some other routines as he cuts actors. At our high point we had 38 actors. We are a mere 25 now.
So he said for my new contract. I can do my magic act, we'll expand it a bit to cover time, And he said, you do a juggling act.
Now. I'm a good juggler. By clown standards I'm good. By juggler standards, I'm a beginner. mediocre at best.
The question in my lap. How do I create a 5 to 6 minute silent juggling routine?
I watched a few vaudeville comedy jugglers on youtube. But I realized I can cobble together a few vaudeville routines using my strength as a clown and mediocre juggler. Just doing one or two tricks but leading up to these tricks in a huge comic way.
I did a very large show in Chinatown the other day for a group of about 200 plus kids and their families. The timing was off, they had me waiting in a back banquet room for about 45 minutes. So I started playing with comic movements. There was a mirror for decoration I could play into.
Using this blog. I'm going to map out this routine and the progress or lack there of in writing. I've been avoiding rehearsing. Because that's more natural than actually rehearsing.
On paper this is what I have.
Enter with cane. Do some physical bits with cane ala Charlie Chaplin.
Do a hat trick. Notice the audience likes it build to a fancier one. Do a series. The drummer in the band get ahead of me, I get mad at the drummer.
List of hat tricks.
-flip to head
-high flip to head
-roll down back
-roll down arm
-hat balanced on top of cane, pull cane away hat lands on head
balance hat on nose
wipe sweat with arm, notice hat is gone grab hat in teeth flip it to head
flip hat to hand fully stretched up, let fall to low hand.
Tricks, I'd like to put in.
flip hat from foot to head
throw hat to coat rack.
These are tricks I can do but not consistently.
Here's what's happening in my head as i picture the combination.
Speed of these tricks, how do they blend together so I can repeat but not right after each other.
So. Enter stage. take a bow. twirl cane. hang up cane. roll hat down arm, flip on head, roll down back. start to walk off. Elicit audience to start applauding. Enjoy, then do the same routine adding another element. Then do a whole fast hat routine ending with a hat on top of a cane on my chin. pull hat away, hat lands on head.
This is part 1. I'll try this tomorrow between gigs. in the morning I am Santa, in the afternoon I have a show in a school. The school will be a nice place to try this new routine. The kids don't really notice if i mess up, they think it's funny and since I am in character, I'll have fun with it.
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