Week 9

Week 9: March 6, 2017 - March 13, 2017

Number of Shows: 6

Location: Cincinnati, OH

            We had an extremely long train run from Georgia to Ohio, not getting spotted until 1:30AM on Wednesday. I spent most of the train run catching up on sleep and reading. I started a new book, Theme Park Design, and spent a few hours reading it out on the vestibule.

            Load in was on Wednesday afternoon. The U.S. Bank Arena is located in a very nice area, but the loading docks are right off of a city street. This meant that we weren't able to just leave multiple wagons lined up to be unloaded because it would block traffic. Instead, one or two wagons were brought into the arena, unloaded, and then taken out. Needless to say, this was a longer load in than usual.

            After load in I walked around downtown Cincinnati, which was extremely reminiscent of Main Street, U.S.A. For lunch I had a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup at Tom + Chee, a restaurant chain that has been featured on the Travel Channel for their grilled cheese donut. I thought the food was okay (everything was a little too greasy for my liking), but the theming was superb.

            I continued to look around downtown for a snack. I settled on a small cinnamon sugar Bavarian pretzel, and an ice cream sundae from Graeter's. Graeter's, in addition to the standard ice cream flavors, also has slightly obscure flavors like cheese corn and raspberry chocolate. Their ice cream was extremely good and I plan on returning before we leave.

            On Thursday almost the whole alley went to the Cincinnati Zoo. This was my first time going to a zoo since joining the show, and it certainly had an impact on what I wanted to see. We skipped the tiger exhibit, for example...

             Friday was opening day, so we had our usual meeting in the seats and rehearsal. Our ringmaster, Kristen, was out sick meaning that her understudy Tabata (tiger trainer Taba's daughter) would go on. Tabata did a wonderful job in the role, and the audience loved her.

On Friday I also received my new stickers! The stickers were designed by fellow alley member Ivan Vargas, and I plan on putting them in programs when I sign because I am not in the printed picture.

            Saturday was a typical three show day, but I did have a spectacular interaction during the last preshow. Here's what I wrote on my personal Facebook page:

I had by far the most touching moment of this job so far during the preshow on Saturday night that truly warrants sharing. I was up on the concourse bouncing on my pogo stick during the first rotation, interacting with the crowd as they made their way through security and headed down to the arena floor, when a small family came up to me. They had a daughter who was about seven years old, and wanted to say hello and get their programs signed. The daughter was blind, and was holding onto her mother with one hand and her walking guide with the other. The mother got down next to the girl's ear and said, "Sweetie, he's jumping up and down on a pogo stick," and then turned to me and asked if her daughter could feel my pogo stick. I quickly responded yes, and helped guide the girl's hand along the handlebars, spring, and foot pieces. I then asked if she would like to feel my shoes and the mother's face lit up with delight. I got down on one knee, and began to guide the little girl's hand over the bulb of my shoe. She started to smile and giggle as we made jokes about how big they were compared to the ones that she was wearing. The rest of the family had begun taking pictures at this point. I then asked her if she would like to feel my nose, which got an enthusiastic YES! I took her hand once more, and guided one finger around the ball of my clown nose, which was met with a huge grin. The family thanked me profusely, and headed on down to the arena floor as I struggled not to get emotional...

After the show Saturday night I went over to Skyline Chili, only to discover that they were closed.

            Sunday was a two show day, and I received this lovely gift from a child during the first preshow! Moments like this are the best part of the job, and help keep spirits high on long days.

            I slept in late Monday morning, which is very typical after a weekend of shows. I did some cleaning and laundry before going on the market run to Wal-Mart late in the afternoon. We're playing Cincinnati for one more week which means we all get a few days off! See you next week.