A Brand New Year Is Here!!!

So in 1999 I was invited to perform at the Oregon Country Fair with a mummery troupe by the name of Risk Of Change, and little did I know it would be an experience that would change my life.

I performed at this festival as a guest artist along side 19 other highly creative individuals, I was required to perform ambiance 3 times a day for all 3 days of this festival…..I performed a total of 13 different pieces.

The costumes and characters I witnessed being birthed by my colleagues were absolutely amazing, not to mention inspiring, and my path as a entertainer began to unfold before my very eyes! Never did I ever think I would learn to walk on stilts, gain valuable knowledge with costume fabrication, and play “dress up” and “make believe” with peers that definitely had a few years over my youthful age of 29.

At the OCF my new found lover, who was studying “clown” when our paths crossed, came down to the Fair to visit….yet appeared before my eyes as her soon to be ”alter ego” named Saliva E. Tongues. What a delight it was to see her born and then to watch her mature in character as years would later pass. When the Fair came to it’s end, and we packed our travel van with our wears, giant puppets, camping supplies and such…..north to Seattle we would go.

Along the way as the sun was setting over the ridge, I allowed the warm rays of departing light to dance across my face leaving me with a creative vision that was going to change Nessa’s and….my world for what it is today! The vision that came to me was that Saliva “needed” a counterpart to help instill such profound chaos that would eventually turn into a actual business, “interactive theatrical ambiance”, and the name of this troupe would be~

Blossomed into this world about a month after the O.C.F. in the blue hills of Oregon at a festival titled the “Autonomous Mutant Festival”, there Saliva and the counterpart clown I created named Spittle C. Gums would unleash their humor filled insanity upon the masses. And we didn’t stop there, we continued our path to end up providing our brand of ambiance all along our way till we eventually ended up home.

We truly enjoyed just tossing our costumes on and mumming anywhere and everywhere just for the sake of doing it. The reactions we received were very inspiring, on many occasion people would approach us and ask,”How much are we paying you for doing this?” or “You guys are beautiful! How much are you charging us?”

Hearing those words over and over left us in strong consideration of “actually” charging those willing to pay us for such services, but how much do we charge? Do we charge more for stilted (giants) characters? How do we find gigs? Will this actually work?

Well, I began by calling clown organizations and asking how much they charge for a clown and what to expect from the performer, asked about availability of Stilt Walkers, to which none of the companies had ANY staffed….good, then we will start there and see where this will all lead. And that we did with great success in, hard work, creativity, risk taking, perseverance, humor, fabrication, character creation, honesty, self promotions, charitable donations, boundary stepping, 4th wall breaking, and just looking at our shows with fresh eyes and minds while providing all clients assurance in our capabilities to bring their artistic visions to life.

And now all these years later from when this apex of creation came into existence, the late summer of 1999, since then the troupe members have come and gone, found itself a variety of clients, a slew of characters, constant inspiration to move in a progressive forward motion while providing the public and clients a form of entertainment using humor and integrity.

Tonight, for the first time in 8 years, I am not performing but actually working as a bouncer this New Years. The original members of this troupe are scattered across this globe, current ones will be on dates this night, and perhaps new ones will cross our path sooner than later. Who knows what 2009 has in store for us, for me, for the Petting Zoo Players, whatever it is….. I feel a positive shift happening around me and I hope all entertainers feel it too. Much love to the co-founders of the PZP and those that have kept it going through all it’s changes and challenges….looking forward to bigger and better things.
 

The Hat

So I chose the above photo due to the fact that when I observe the image above, it feels a tad “rustic” to me, and I happen to be sitting on the porch of the place I call home for the time being. “What does this have to do with the Hat?”, you may ask…well, “A great deal of knowledge!” is what I say.


Back in the summer of 1988, when I was a much younger lad, I found myself walking home after a very hot and long day of working as a landscaper. This kind of labor is very physically taxing but does reap it’s benefits through satisfaction with visual proof of a job well done, not to mention…a nice paycheck when the time comes.
But on this particular summer day as I walked along “Mountain Road” as it is called, not a car was to pass me for lengthy moments upon this rambling stretched path, as I approached a lone farmhouse distanced off my main course….from it’s front porch a elder gentleman yelled, “You thirsty Boy?”


I feel as though it must be understood that the setting of this scene is the “Tobacco Valley” of Suffield Connecticut, and the elder farmers that worked this land deserve and demand respect for all their hard years of toil over soil, and I being raised amongst a farm and it’s culture for periods of my life…..will always give respect where it is due.
So to this I responded, “Excuse me?” and he replied loudly,”I said ARE YOU THIRSTY!!”, honestly I returned with a “Yes sir” and he beckoned me to his porch. As I walked up the porch steps he looked me in the eye sternly and asked if I was old enough to drink, and with a smile as I viewed his hand stir a cooler of iced beer I said,”Yes sir”. Now knowing that I was not of proper drinking age at the time, passing on a cold beer on a hot summer day soon after many hours of laborious sweat….was NOT going to happen.


Now the years of farming in the sun showed clearly in the face of this man, but his eyes shined blue with integrity, and his smile lines alone enticed the same from myself.
“But what does this have to do with the Hat?” you may still wonder, and the answer is this.

Once the chilled can was placed into my hand I removed my hat and wiped the sweat from my brow and laid my cap down beside me on the swinging bench I sat upon. As I cracked open the can looking forward to the first sip, I felt a quick smack upon my thigh from my host with a “What the hells wrong with you?” from his lips. I responded, “Excuse me!??!” to which he asked me,”Is that your lucky hat?”, again I said, “Excuse me?!?!?” slightly shocked by his actions. With his eyes he pointed towards my hat laying right side down, and asked me again sternly if my hat was my “lucky” one, I questioned him about this, and he remarked about the physicality of my hat. “Well boy, I can see it is well sweat stained, pretty broken in, a comfortable fit, and has been around the block a few times!”

With this observation I thought about how often I actually did wear this hat and began to recall the many wonderful events in my life that occurred while it was upon my head. I then looked back into his eyes, and with a smirk, I replied, ” Why yes sir, this IS my lucky hat.”

He sipped off his beer and asked me, “If it IS your lucky hat, then why are you not treating with the respect it is deserved?” Confused by this question I politely asked him to explain what it is that I was doing that was so wrong and disrespectful to my hat.

This is where the education began~

He informed me that if one owns a hat that brings them good luck when they tend to wear it, and upon removing it from ones head, there are only a few ways to properly rest such a hat when not in use.

The first is, if in a seated position to place the hat on ones knee in order to allow the flow of “luck” to remain continuous with ones self.

The second is, if available, to hang the hat on a coat rack with others which creates a “lightening rod” effect of “luck” within the establishment the coat rack rests.

The third is, when a coat rack or hook is not available, especially in ones own home, hang the hat from a nail or tack on a wall. This way it will allow the “luck” to flow into the walls of ones domicile providing positive energy into said space. And when none of the above options are appropriate, only place the hat right side up, this will insure that “luck” will fall into the hat keeping it positively charged and filled. Then when placed right side down upon ones head, the “luck” will flow into it’s owner and continue it’s giving.

 

So I will end these thoughts on this note, I never would have believed how that man’s philosophy would parallel with where my Life is today. At times in my career I will perform street magic and take on the role of a busker, with this form of entertaining the general way to obtain payment from your audience is by “passing the hat” or at least placing a hat out to encourage those to place tips and gratuity in it. 
And taking into consideration the knowledge I learned all those years ago about the proper treatment of a “Lucky Hat”, well as a busker the Hat is always placed upon the ground, or in passing, right side up! And when the show is over and it becomes time to move on, all the gratuities are removed from the Hat and placed safely away, and the Hat is turned right side down back upon the head and off into the world you go. 
When the weather is bad your hat remains on your head to protect you from the elements, but when the sun shines again, right side up is how you will find this friend, ready to take in any and all “luck” the world has to offer.

A Fool & their Money Soon Parted

As a rule of thumb I am not a betting man, I spent the 1rst 3 years of my early childhood living in Las Vegas and believe me when I say, I learned a lot! But on the slight occasion when I do gamble I have the knack fro winning, but I tend to believe that Life itself is a big enough gamble for me to deal with on a day to day basis. 
Years ago my mentor in Magic, Tom Frank, shared a interesting piece of information, “Sage, some of the greatest Magicians in the world are ex-crooks!”. So when someone wants to bet me money that I cannot fool them….well, let’s just say I love a good challenge.
You see, Magic is not all black and white as people tend to believe…there is a great amount of skill, time, and energy that goes in to hours of practice and even then the work is still not done.

 

Now recently I was invited to attend a friends 38th birthday party and since I had the day off how can I not say no. I packed my pockets with my coins since you never know when the mood may call for a little entertainment. Upon my arrival, I was quickly introduced to his other friends in attendance and found my way to the bar, the bartender informed me that everything for the night was only $3.00! This can be dangerous for a person such as myself, but I have learned the term moderation quite well, so of course I ordered Tequila of the top shelf brand, for only $3 who would not. After a few rounds my friend asked if I brought any “Magic” with me, and I smiled in affirmation, then I proceeded to entertain those that were willing to see what I have to offer.

Not everyone is receptive to Magic by any means and this is something most Magicians hopefully learn very quickly, otherwise it may lead to a unhappy hobby or profession, for me personally…it is a bit of both.

As I was sharing a effect called “Coins Across”, it’s when a Magician has coins from one hand mysteriously appear in the other hand one by one, when a dear friend of mine entered the establishment. I have known Darrel since 1991 and was amazed when he informed me it too was his birthday that very day…his 50th to be exact.

 

Well I had him sit in and watch what I was doing, to his delight he smiled and said that it was great, well my first friend’s party was departing and I chose to stick it out with Darrel and buy him some 12yr old Scotch Whiskey for his birthday, heck…it’s in my budget.

After a bit, we parted ways, and I decided to visit an old haunt of mine and see what was going on there. A few blocks later I arrived and immediately caught eyes with a few friends, actually one owned the place awhile ago and the other is a current partner now.

While in conversation a younger gentleman approached the area we were attending of the bar and engaged in conversation with us, introductions were made and I was introduced as “Sage a Magician”, this caught the attention of this fellow. He of course asked to see something, and I pulled out my silver dollars and proceeded to perform a great coin disappearance/reappearance that is a very strong visual effect. Commenting on my handling skill it became very quick that he was quite skeptical with Magic and wanted to see more. So I obliged and performed some smaller coin effects with a little dazzle and comedic banter, my friends were very respondent and this fellow was not satisfied. After complimenting me again on my skill as a coin manipulator he insisted on seeing something different, asked if I had cards, to with I realized that I had forgotten a deck of cards. One of my friends asked the bartender for a deck, to which he produced, I have worked with better and much worse but these would have to do for this moment. The owner bought me a pint, and another ordered a shot for me, after said shot the “disbeliever” purchased another shot for me and said, ”I bet you $20 that I can pick a card, place it back in your deck and not have you know what it is!”

 

To be honest, a rule of thumb when having someone choose a card from a deck you are holding, is once it’s been chosen, have the person show it to all around them to make certain everyone is clear what the card is. I have noticed in my experiences that about 80% of women will answer honestly, and men…well men is MUCH lower percentage, especially if they are around other women. This procedure of exposing the card to all other eyes will prevent any type of deceit on their part, and it’s always fun to include more people as one proceeds a Magic effect.

After downing said shot, I looked this man straight in the eyes, with a smirk said,”I don’t want to take your money!”, to which my friends laughed and still he was persistant. I performed a few flourishes, and some cuts, and simple fum effects to show him that I am adapt with a deck of cards, he continued to insitent, and my friends said,”If Sage doesn’t want to take your money he DOESN’T want to take your money…he is out having fun tonight!”. He still wanted to place this bet, well I smiled at my friends and turned to this gentleman asking him to shuffle the cards and then cut them
twice, he did. Then smiling at everyone I ribbon spread the deck face down on the bar and asked him to chose any card that was there, he did, had him show to all around….he did. I gathered the cards and asked him to place his card on the lower half of the deck, covered it with the upper half, made 2 quick cuts and handed it back to him. What I was about to attempt I have never done before, but I did feel like this moment was the perfect time to give it a try, so I had him shuffle the deck again with a cut. Then I had him turn the deck face up and quickly go through it with all asking to let us know if he saw his card anywhere in the deck, and he did not.

Smiling at him and the others I informed him that since the card dissapeared it was going to be even harder to find his card the 3 of hearts, to which I also stated that since it had vanished and yet I know what it is, why was it in his back pocket? He searched and pulled it out, amazed…even my friends jumped up, he asked,” How did you do that?” and I replied, “Very well!”

I snatched up the $20 off the bar and offered a piece of advice, “Never bet against a Magician!” and he dumbfounded….walked slowly away from the bar. Turning he asked if I would buy him a shot, I smiled and ordered 2 and downed them with him, and called it a night!