Week 5

Week 5: February 7, 2017 - February 12, 2017

Number of Shows: 9

Location: Greensboro, NC

            The train was in walking distance from the arena. In fact, you could see the arena looking out of the train windows. After load in on Tuesday afternoon, I decided to explore the surrounding neighborhood. The area around the arena was rather nice, full of restaurants and small stores. I went into a music store and played some piano and guitar, looked through a costume shop, and picked up a circus book at a vintage book store. After that I decided to take a quick Uber ride to a nearby shopping complex to kill some time. I walked the complex pretty quickly and didn't feel like heading back to the train yet, so I went to see Moana. Wonderful animation and really good music. All around an enjoyable movie.

            Wednesday was opening day. We had our usual meeting in the seats and a brief rehearsal. We had an extremely responsive crowd and the show went really well.

            Thursday was a split show day and in between I was interviewed for a CNN piece on Ringling that will be airing nationally. I'm not sure when the piece will air yet, but I will keep everyone posted. After the show I went to highly rated local artisanal pizza shop called Sticks and Stones, and then walked back to the train.  

            We just had one show on Friday night, so I got to sleep in a little bit. During our weekly clown rehearsal, we presented new gags to production for the preshow. I presented my needle through balloon gag and it got approved to go in! The needle through balloon was the piece I initially auditioned for Ringling with and it then became the opening of my one-man show, so it's pretty cool that I get to do it in the show now.

            Saturday was a three show day and we were completely sold out. A former Ringling clown treated us to a free roll dinner from a barbeque restaurant across the street. It was vinegar based barbeque, which I've never had before. I've never had this style of barbeque before, and thought it was delicious. After the shows that night we had a clown barbeque at the train (we all really like barbeque) and I went to bed.

            Sunday was a two show day, and in between shows we got to sign one of the walls backstage. Signing the walls is something this arena has done for a very long time, and we were all honored to leave our permanent mark there.

After the show I packed up my trunk, and went to 913 Whiskey Bar and Southern Kitchen for grilled cheese and tater tots. Next stop; Atlanta!

Week 4

Week 4: January 31, 2017 - February 6, 2017

Number of Shows: 8

Location: Greenville, SC

            We arrived in Greenville Tuesday afternoon, actually a few hours ahead of schedule. Load in was going to take place overnight into Wednesday morning because we were taking a company trip to Charlotte, North Carolina to see the Blue Unit and their show, Out of this World. 

I took the first bus from the train to the arena and went and explored downtown. Downtown Greenville is very quaint and full of nice little mom and pop stores and restaurants. I did some window shopping (most of the store were closed by the time I got there) and had a wonderful smoked pulled chicken and peach cobbler dinner at a BBQ smokehouse. When in the south...

            Wednesday was trunk load in, so I went to the arena for a few hours to set up the alley before returning to the train. Later that day the company sent buses for us to go visit Blue. About 200 of us loaded into a few buses and drove two hours to Charlotte. Their show, Out of this World, differs from all previous Ringling shows in that it is on ice. Everyone at the Blue Show was extremely friendly and hospitable, and they put on a great show. I will say that after being in a Ringling show and understanding what goes on backstage, it was really great to see a Ringling production from a completely new point of view.

            Thursday was an atypical split show opening day. We were about three-quarters full for the morning show, and nearly sold out for the evening. The Blue Unit came to see us at the morning show, and then afterwards we took a large group photo. Since this is the last time the two units will be together, the company got us cupcakes and a specialty cake to celebrate.

            In between shows some of the performers had a PR for children with autism and their families. About two dozen families were invited down to the arena floor to pet some of the animals, try on costumes, and play with props, all with minimal lighting and excess sound. It was essentially a very calm intimate preshow. I had a wonderful time at the event, and was extremely comfortable due to all of the work my family has done with special needs children back home. Here is some press from the event:

 http://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/entertainment/2017/02/03/xtreme-spectacle-marks-final-circus/97394284/

            This was also my first week going up on the concourse during intermission. While we were in Florida we were sponsored by Ford, so the clowns would come out in a Ford and demonstrate all of the features that the car has to offer. It truly was a classic clown car, packing seven clowns and extremely large props into an average sized vehicle. I was stuffed pretty close to fetal position inside of an oversized tire in the trunk. The spot was a lot of fun to do, and got great audience reactions. This week (and for the rest of the tour), we went up to the concourse and then down through the seats to the arena floor, interacting with people along the way. I've started climbing over the seats and standing on the hockey wall at the edge of the floor, doing a variation of the applause gag. It's been a lot of fun, and is one of my new favorite parts of the show.

            Friday was a split show day, with crowds similar to Thursday. I was up at three AM because I had early morning PR before the show, so in between shows I was pretty much toast and took a nap in the seats.

            Saturday was a three show day, all with sold out crowds. The craft foam I ordered arrived at the arena, so I was able to put my "wings" on my pogo stick. I use my pogo stick at PRs and occasionally during preshow, and I wanted to make it match my flight attendant character and costume.

            Sunday we only had one show because of the Super Bowl, and were sold out. The show went extremely well and the crowd was very responsive. Afterwards I walked back downtown to pick up some groceries and have dinner. I decided upon a small burger joint, where I had an excellent black bean and avocado veggie burger with sweet potato fries and orange cinnamon dipping sauce.

            I slept through most of the train run to Greensboro, NC, getting out of bed only to go have breakfast in Pie Car. While I was eating, our train passed the Blue Unit train! Everyone was hanging out of the vestibules taking pictures and videos, as this is the last time that we will pass each other. 

We were spotted in Greensboro around dusk and I was getting a little bit of cabin fever, so I went for a walk around town. I went to a Sonic for some ice cream, and then went back to the train and called it a night. See you next week.