This will still mostly be about my exciting last few days in NYC, since nothing too exciting has happened here yet.  We start training with our puppets on Sunday; Noel MacNeal will be leading that for us!  And here's a picture of the project:

So, my departure from NYC turned out to be kind of a perfect storm, and my performances at Stonewall and at tinydangerousfun turned into fantastic ways to see a bunch of my favorite people before heading out of town.  With how busy I was between the two shows and moving, I'm amazed that nothing went particularly wrong!

We had a fantastic turn out for The People's Circus!  It seemed to me like there were fourty people packed into the bar (though I'm not a numbers man).  Many friends and collaborators were in the audience; though there were also genuine strangers just interested in seeing something strange, which was very exciting for me!  We stationed a clown (my roommate zoe) outside the bar, and she attracted some people off the street.  All the performers owned it.  My favorite part structurally was in the middle of the show, when we presented some matchbox theatre, and then a huge sword fight, and then some more matchbox theatre; so the perspective kept zooming in and out.  Kim and I got fantastic reactions and feedback from our piece.  As Kim said, it's good to know that we work well together, and that it seems to yield good results.  John Leo amazed everyone; so putting him at the end was the right choice.  THEN the Delicate Flower Burlesque Hour went on right after us.  Bettie Rose had some last minute cancelations, so in addition to doing my magic act, Ora and I did our two part existential puppet piece.  Ora was congratulating me backstage after our first act went, and I whispered back, "it's still happening.  it's not over yet.  Why is this still happening?"  Tons of people have been asking about whether the Circus will continue.  It very well may... once I get back to NYC!

And then tinydangerousfun, well, it was just beautiful.  Lots of hilarious stuff.  Got to see John perform, AGAIN.  Finally got my card prediction routine right.  But I'm most happy with the new piece I made, Andy Sapora Makes my Dream Come True.  John said, "I've never seen anyone mess with reality quite like that," which I took as a HUGE compliment.  And I got to see more of my favorite people, or my clown family, as Barbara would say.

Updates on puppets soon!

Ok, ok, new plan!

I've been hired as a puppeteer for Project X-tinkshun, the collaboration between the JIM HENSON COMPANY and the Philadelphia Zoo.  After we do The People's Circus and I perform in tinydangerousfun I will immediately be moving to Philly to start orientation and training for the seven month long contract.

It breaks my heart to bail on the hospital shift I was about to start, but I've wanted to work for the muppets since I was very short, so my choice is clear.

Even cooler, they're going to work around my contract with Lost Nation... So I'll still get to do Midsummer Night's Dream in June/July!

Here's some of the good news I promised in my last update.

1) I've accepted the offer from Lost Nation Theater to play Demetrius in their July production of Midsummer Night's Dream.  I'm excited to play a crazy young lover in this Shakespeare play about crazy young love.  I'm excited to be escaping to Vermont during the sweatiest and most unpleasant time of the year in NYC (I think there will be swimming in Montpelier!).  I'm excited to be returning to Lost Nation Theater for the third season in a row, to be around the awesome artistic staff, and the Hartmanns.  I'm excited to work with the boys (Eric and Aaron, my Reduced Shakespeare comrades), and to meet and work with many new people as well.

2) Clownorific is in the process of setting me up with a regular hospital shift at Mount Sinai.  This will add a small amount of regularity to my freelance schedule in NY.  More importantly, I have found clowning in the hospitals to be one of the most fulfilling jobs I've ever done over the past year, while subbing for other clowns at their hospitals.

3) I just had a fantastic writing meeting with Ora.  We've decided to expand An Existential Sing Along, a short piece we developed for tinydangerousfun last year, into a full length show.  It will involve puppets (Joey, Klaug and Dingo Dave), humans (Ora and Chris), music, movement, and time travel (ish).

Dialect work with private clients has been steady.  The People's Circus is coming up on Sunday - I'll be hosting it and performing close up magic before the show.  Our Circus will be back to back with the Delicate Flower Burlesque Hour, which I'll also be performing magic in.  And then I'll be in tinydangerousfun on Tuesday!

Based on my performance a few weeks ago in the Susie Campanaro Variety Hour at the Stonewall Inn, I've been given my own show!  I'll be MCing it and performing in a few acts.  I'm very excited about both the line up in general and the performers I'm collaborating with personally.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=115798941831281

Look!  A video documentary about the noon:30 show! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s17dupt2aBg in it you can see me 1) looking extremely goofy 2) upside down with Madeline hanging off of me and 3) looking extremely goofy.

And here's Ora and I during a recent film shoot:

Had a great time performing this past month at Nerdlesque and at the Susan Campanaro Variety Hour.  I'm waiting to hear details or confirmations on several exciting offers.  So the future is full of things that just can't be announced quite yet, but it's good news on all fronts (i.e. acting, puppets, dialects, magic and clown).