Oregon Country Fair 2014
This year I went to Fair with the Rose-city Acro Devils (RAD). It's the group Dutch put together to replace the void left by Kazum's dissolution. Things have been a little rocky, but we're quite successful in a surprisingly short time, and that's very encouraging.
Our crew consisted of performers and helpers. Performers were me, Dutch, Joesai, Dominic, Jenna, Anngela, Amanda, Eli juggling, and Noah as MC. We also had a band - guitar, bass and drums. Jenna was in the band for all but one routine, as the lead singer and guitarist. Kylee took over for her on guitar for "I Will Survive!" which she belted out while doing all manner of acrobatic tricks with me & Dutch. We also had Jenae, Cory, Eve, Tiare, and Kylee as our stage hands & helpers.
On Thursday morning I met Joesai, Anngela and Eve at Dutch's place. When Kylee showed up we loaded into cars. I got the girls, and the other 2 boys went in Kylee's car. We played tag on the way down, including a delightful experience where Anngela and I were passing an object along to our left, and I handed it across to Joesai while doing 65 on I-5. He kept the rotation straight, passing it to Kylee who handed it back across to Anngela in our car. Never done that before; it was a hoot.
Later, at a red light, I bullied Anngela into jumping out and doing a quick Angelbesque with me, reminiscent of a Chinese Fire Drill.
We made great time to Veneta, and pulled right up into parking nice & quick. We hit a snag at Registration, when the girl at the counter insisted that there was absolutely no way under the sun that she was going to put our wristbands onto the ankles of the acrobats. I showed her the big ripped streak of flesh on Anngela's back from my Paradiso wristband, but she was unmoved. She told me I could stand in line for 4 hours to get a laminated performer pass, but we were rushing as fast as we could to get to the dress rehearsal. We got ahold of Dutch, who got ahold of the person who hired us to do the show, and she had enough authority to authorize Registration to let us wear our bands on our ankles. Took 20 minutes of wasted time... not too terrible, but still very frustrating. We have to go through it every year, and eventually they authorize us to wear our bands on ankles, but it appears to be impossible to pre-clear it. There's so incredibly much bureaucracy and red tape at OCF. It's a 20-year-old system trying to govern up-to-date issues and concerns.
She told us that we have super-special On-Site Parking Passes. She gave them to us, but I think she accidentally gave us normal parking passes. When we tried to get in to unload our stuff next to Stage Left so that we could get it to our camp, the guy at the gate militantly refused. He said we need a Full Kitty Pass, and sent us around to get one. On the way, another parking person forced us off a side-trail, and when we eventually got back to the place where they could get us a Full Kitty Pass, they said we needed to fill up one car, instead of taking in 2 half-filled cars. So we took everything from Kylee's car and put it into mine, filling the trunk, backseat, and passenger seat. Kylee headed off to park in Far Lot, and the rest of the crew walked in to the Fair.
I went back to get a Full Kitty Pass, and they said that my car wasn't quite full enough. They advised me to put everything on a bus and wait for it to haul my stuff in to Fair. Of course, I'd need someone to handle my car. And everyone had walked off because we believed them when they told us we had to consolidate stuff to get a Full Kitty Pass. It was so frustrating - 3 groups of people within 80 feet of one another were totally incapable of getting on to the same page. Fair is full of groups/individuals who are totally out of the loop. Or maybe there are just many, many loops. It's horribly frustrating and it wastes incredible amounts of time & energy. And it's exactly the same every single year. *sigh*
So, that burned up about an hour and a half, and completely prevented us from doing our dress rehearsal. I had to run in to Fair and find the others, then drag them back out to Registration.
On the way I bumped into Carlito, a friend from Portland. He was working at Carts, and he gave us popsicles and a cold drink. Then he offered to help get us in. He's a charismatic guy - he could talk an Eskimo into buying snow. We walked back out to the car, and he hopped up onto the hood, and we drove back in. As we got to the first guy who'd refused access, Carlito tossed him a popsicle and told him, "We're just taking this stuff to Carts! We'll be done and out of here in 15 minutes!" The guy waved us through, as my jaw dropped. Within 5 minutes we had our stuff unloaded by Stage Left, and I was driving out. It took about an hour and a half to achieve the permission required to make the 5-minute unload. Thank you so much, bureaucracy at OCF. *sigh*
Then I jogged back 3 or 4 miles from Far Lot, and joined my peeps at WC Fields. We set up tents, loaded our stuff in, and *bam* we were at Fair! :) I immediately began to lose the stress from trying to convince flunkies to let us in. Everyone was there except Dominic, Jenea, Noah and Tiare - they were coming in on Saturday.
We ran a super-late dress rehearsal after everyone else was done with our stage. The sun was almost down, and mosquitoes were swarming. But we did everything, and it was super-useful to have the band there so that we could do it to their music. I jumped in and played "I Will Survive!" for Jenna, but I needed to be in the routine, so Kylee began learning the guitar part.
Our show was a walk through the decades, from 1950s to 2020s. The order went like this:
50's: "Lollipop" Duo Acrobatics with Joesai & Anngela
60's: "Age of Aquarius" Hippy Juggling with Eli
70's: "I Will Survive!" Group Acrobatics with Jenna, Dutch and Scott
80's: "Maniac" Group Acrobatics/Pole/Bar with Amanda, Dominic, Joesai, and Scott
90's: "Are You That Somebody" Duo Acrobatics with Dutch & Anngela
00's: "Miss Jackson" Aerial Silks with Amanda
10's: "Thrift Shop" Juggling with Eli
20's: "The Humans Are Dead" Group Acrobatics with Scott, Dutch, Anngela, Amanda, and Joesai
50's: The show started with "Lollipop". Anngela was onstage in a 50's swimsuit, and Joesai entered as a waiter. He began showing off to impress her, and they performed a series of one-up tricks and handstands, moving in to some handbalancing on chairs and table, and some handbalancing levers. It was adorable, and it finished with some impressive acrobatics.
60's: Then Eli took the stage during the "Age of Aquarius" as the most hippy juggler you can imagine. He stole the crowd's hearts and made them howl with laughter. During the end of the song we all came on, dressed as love-children, making peace signs and swaying back and forth singing, "Let the sun shine..." It was great.
70's: Next Jenna left her position in the band, and started singing "I Will Survive!" After a bit, Dutch joined her and began doing tricks with her. Each time she'd hit a trick and sing through it, the crowd would flip out in amazement. Halfway through I joined them for a series of bigger 3-person tricks: an Iron Cross, an Inverted Hangman, some disco dance moves, and a Mountain Climber to DBase Extension (1 hand each) that cradles on the final beat of the song. People loved it.
80's: Amanda led Dominic & Joesai out in 80s workout clothes as the band played "Maniac" from "Flashdance". She ate a bunch of sugar and cracked out, spinning and shaking her hair and hands and feet, leading the boys in various dance moves from the movie. Then she shoved the bar into them and they lifted her for a bunch of trapeze tricks. At that point I entered and she swung the bar around for a bit before using it like a pole vault, as we held the bottom, Iwo Jima Flagraising style. We held while she did pole tricks, finishing with a bucket of water dumping over us (sparkly blue tinsel). Then we carried her off on the end of the pole.
90's: I rushed out and joined the band, singing Timbalake's portion of Aaliyah's song "Are You That Somebody". I'm now a professional rap artist, 'cause I got paid to sing rap lyrics on a stage. *preen* Dutch and Anngela came out in gangbanger wear, and did a really impressive duo routine that blew people away. My favorite part was where she held her hat in place for the various flips.
00's: Everyone went backstage to change while "Miss Jackson" played and Amanda did her Silk act. We'd do our best to be there for the parts when the background singers come in with "Ooh!" and we'd poke our heads out through the curtains in various places to hoot along.
10's: Eli had a ton of props bought from Thrift Stores, which he juggled to the song "Thrift Shop." Dutch joined the band and sang.
20's: The final number was our big group acro piece, to "The Humans Are Dead!" It's a hilarious song about how robots have taken over the world. It starts with me & Dutch & Anngela. We do a Juanita lift, to a Washing Machine then a Juanita Roll with a Full Twist. I walk jerkily to the back, and Dutch tosses her over in a Toe-Touch to me, followed by another Toe-Touch, then she climbs in front with a Switch Kick. They do a Star, which I steal into a Triangle Sequence. He steals it back into an Extension, and Amanda enters, distracting him into dropping the Extension to my Cradle. There's a pause for the lyrics to announce "Destroy him!" so that we can all shoot our fingers as lasers and make laser sounds. Next is a Basket Toss into a Back Tuck, an Inverted Iron Cross over to Candelabra, and then the robot bases get stuck and the girls have to oil us, Tin Woodsman style. I mount Dutch for a Chinese Star, then Joesai comes in and impishly kicks us over. He reactivates us, and we calf-pop up to a Triple X. Then it's cartwheels and diverolls, Anngela's aerial and my shoulder-roll, then Joesai's Inverted Iron Cross to head, with the girls handstanding to join us. After that Joesai and I pull Anngela way over to stage left, and I test the air by licking my finger and holding it up. Amanda gets in the center, and Dutch lurks way off to stage right. Joesai & I basket-toss Anngela into the Moonshot, over Amanda, to cradle to Dutch. The audience gasps and claps in delight. We finish 'em off with a 3-high, and a "Life of Brian" fist-to-the-head salute. As the song ends we go into a short staccato Robot Boogie dance, culminating in running out of power and sagging down as the song ends.
Noah reactivates each of us and we stomp off stage. As I was leaving, after our first show, I decided to miss the doorway and walk into the wall a few times. As we were passing the hat, people told me that they'd enjoyed that. I got instant feedback. *preen*
We came out & bowed, then moved quickly into the crowd to pass the hat. We made good tip money - between $30 and $40 each. With 12-15 cast members that ain't too shabby. Our Saturday show had a $50 tip in it. That's crazy. Who gets tipped $50? RAD does. And on Sunday we made our most money, something like $500 all together. Insane.
The weekend is kind of a blur of memories. I'm not gonna try to keep them chronological, nor specify when they happened. I'll just record them as they occur to me.
I got to spend lots of time with Shantel! I met her 2 Fairs ago, when I was camped with Dawn at Dan's Original Burgers. Shantel liked me, but when she realized I had a girlfriend she was very respectful, and stayed friendly but stopped being flirty. I was very impressed and appreciative. Then I met her again last year at the midnight show. I was single, so she joined us as my date for the evening, and we had a delightful time hanging out with the Wanderlust crew, mostly in Chela Mela Meadow. We stayed in touch, and kept trying to see each other, but I didn't ever go down to Eugene and I wasn't available on the handful of times she passed through Portland. So it was really wonderful to spend so much time with her this year at Fair. :)
I got to see Kali and Joel, two of my close friends and students who came down to Fair for the day! We didn't have much time to do things together, and they got swept before I went out for the evening, but it was great to see 'em even briefly.
As we were heading to Hospitality, by the Children's Stage, I saw Anna! I ran up and we did an Angel, and then we hugged for a long time, until I started crying. I love Anna so much! I'm glad that she's happy and thriving in California, but gosh! Do I ever miss her! I bumped into her several times, and spun her around in an Angel each time. :)
I got to see March Fourth close out the Midnight Show, and dance on the front row of that event. They always inspire and delight, and I'm really glad I got to be there for their set.
I also got to see the 3-minute version of Jaws! - The Musical. I've heard so many wonderful things about it, and I loved the glimpse I got to see of it. I had shows or practices during all of the other Jaws sets, both here in Portland and at OCF. I got "We're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat!" stuck in my head, yay!
We got to open the Midnight Show. We closed it a year or two back, and we usually perform in it somewhere. Now I've bookended it, yay! Our set went well, and it seemed to be well-received. Being first meant that I couldn't march in the parade, but that was okay. Opening the show was awesome.
I did stunts with Kylee and Luke in the Ritz Sauna. I had a hard time convincing them, 'cause we were super-sweaty and it was slick as snot. Kylee and I did a Flag, and then Luke and I tried an Arm-to-Arm. I slipped off immediately, striking him in the face with my hand. It was a bad idea. But Kylee and I followed up with a rather homo-erotic naked Hug Lever that met with powerful approval. And, Luke and I did a nekkid Arm-to-Arm in the main room of the Ritz, where we could dry our hands and shoulders first.
I did a trick every single time I crossed the bridge out in front of WC Fields. I decided, 7 or 8 years ago when I first saw that bridge, that I would never cross it without doing a trick of some kind - a handstand, a backflip, a partner-stunt, something like that. It's exhausting, 'cause sometimes I'm carrying things and I have bulky costumery on me, and I have to shed it all in order to do a trick. One night on my way home I was too tired to take my gear off, so I walked the long way around all the way past the Children's Stage. It sucked; I could see my stage, with my tent behind it, but it lay beyond a Great Wall of Trick that I simply didn't have the gumption to get past.
In Chela Mela I saw a little 8-year-old boy doing tricks, and I did some acrobatics with him. I had him and his sister take turns walking up my leg into an assisted backflips. I did Helsinki Flips with them. I put them on shoulders. I swung them by their ankles. I lifted their older sister up in a Hangman. They got their own private acrobat for almost an hour. They tipped me; it was adorable. Their parents took pictures and took my email, so I hope to add them when they arrive.
I got to help a friend load out his circus supplies - a Bed of Nails and a Stairway to Heaven (a ladder made of sword blades). He was exhausted and I was a full-of-energy who-needs-sleep Dark Zebracorn, so I put him in the cart and jogged him through the Fair while he groaned like a zombie in the back, "Friends! Need fresh friends!" He was a raver-zombie - days of sleeplessness reduced him to a mindless state where all he wanted was fresh friends (instead of fresh brains, see how clever?) He also did a pretty good Gollum impression, so I named him Deagol. When we got his stuff where it needed to go, we took some high-quality video. "A Zebracorn at rest in the wild" for example. And "Random Zebracorn crossing."
I really think I might get a Rickshaw next year, as well as a portable sound system, then I could be the ZebraCabricorn. I could run people around Fair, to such songs as, "I Believe in Miracles! You sexy thang!" Except I'd want to overdub it to sing, "I Believe in Zebracorns! You sexy thang!" And, "Magic" by the Cars. Or maybe, "You Can Do Magic!" Songs like that. I'll bet I could make good tip money, and meet interesting people.
I've long wanted to get some wings so that I can be PegaZebracorn. That would be pretty magical. And, I was thinking that if I got green Irish clothing, I could be Dark PegaLepraZebracorn-achaun. "Don't ever say it's full name or it will own your soul!" I think it would work out well.
I got to see Nanda! I love watching those guys. I also got to hug them and spend precious snippets of time with them here and there. I miss them so much! I used to get tons of quality time with them. I've spent hours with Chen at Fair, and hours with Misha outside of Fair, and lots of time with the Sage brothers when they lived in town. I'm going through withdrawals from Nanda. I found their introductory dialogue backstage, and kept it as my treasured memory from OCF 2014.
Each time I'd ask someone for something I needed - a drink, directions, help with something, whatever... I'd do my best to give them back a trick. I love that I can panhandle for things I need, and repay with an experience and a memory that's worth far more than the snippet they gave to me.
I got to hang out a bunch with Cory, the amazing handbalancer who just moved to Portland. He's my age, and he's a great guy. He used to perform with Cirque du Soleil.
In our first show, Jasper was the MC. While announcing us, he said something to the effect of, "The Rose-city Acro Devils, whose members include Cirque du Soleil performers!" It was awesome... he billed us a having Cirque people in our cast because of Cory. But Cory wasn't performing with us... he was a stage hand. We're so high-level that our stage hands are highly-trained Cirque artists. :)
While walking along a path with Cory, I was talking about stunting, and I saw a guy walking along the path toward us who looked reasonably healthy and able to do tricks. I made the universal motion at him for Arm-to-Arm, and he set his stuff down, and we did a quite impressive Arm-to-Arm. As I set him down, I introduced myself, and he introduced himself... Galen or Aimon or Aidan or something like that. As he walked off, Cory looked at me in amazement, protesting, "There's no way you don't know him! You haven't worked with him before!? That's crazy!" He almost bought it for a moment, I think, but despite my best efforts I couldn't convince him that I'd never met Aidan before.
Eve and I made robot costumes in a most professional and focused manner. We invaded the power strip outside the Craft Barn, near Upper Refer. We hot-glued silvery cloth over black t-shirts and sports bras, sometimes burning one another, always laughing and joking and squealing & shrieking when tickled. Eve and I haven't had one-on-one time together like that since I first got to know her, years ago. It was really fun. We also met a bunch of the people who were camped there. They had amazing costumes, and some of them stilted, and lots of them were performers. They were very friendly and welcoming. I especially liked one big fellow who joked merrily along with us for quite some time. The next day he came up after our set and praised our routine. His daughter is in the Girl Circus, who performed right after we did on WC Fields. And I stopped by to bid him farewell as Dark Zebracorn late Monday morning.
The Girl Circus killed it this year. They ranged from about 6 to about 18, plus their adult coaches who perform with them as well. The three oldest girls have been doing dance, gymnastics, and circus since they were 3 or 4 years old. They designed their own acrobatic routine, and choreographed it themselves. It was incredible. They did some tricks that my acrobats can barely do, and my people are adults. They did a 3-person hand-holding Aerial that dropped my jaw. They performed some stunts almost flawlessly that I can only do half the time, and clumsily at that. And of course they had feats of flexibility and tumbling that I can only dream of working with some day. They were, without a doubt the most amazing and impressive act I saw at OCF this year. I praised them effluently after their set and they blushed and preened happily.
I did a new trick! I've never done a Virgin Sacrifice before. We used to call it that, but we stopped, 'cause it's inaccurate most of the time. We renamed it the Volcano Sacrifice. But at Fair there were tons of virgins to sacrifice! I tossed both Alice and Jenae into a Volcano. It was awesome!
My very favorite memory, of course, was the Ning-Nong Sing-Along. Teresa Boyd and Jason Wells host the most amazing event on earth. For a few holy hours we sing heart-touching songs of love and joy. There's a Nirvana song, too, but that affords me a nice stretch of the legs for 4 minutes.
I rushed there early and lurked hungrily nearby. I anchored my friends there with a blanket and sleeping bag and pillow to cuddle on. More friends wandered in, including Molly, and I easily entrapped them with backrubs, cold drinks, and cunning stunts. Other souls-in-the-know accumulated as well, and as people wandered past they asked what we were setting up for. We'd explain, something along these lines: "You know how there are all these songs bouncing around in your head that you know and love, but don't really know the lyrics to very well? They provide the lyrics, the background music (banjo, drums, keyboard, two random and amazing fiddle players) and heartfelt vocals. You sing along! You're gonna love this. Let's see, next is... 'We Will Rock You!' by Queen. Get ready to pound and stomp!" It's the most fun and the most touching memories you can create without 9 months of gestation. For those who don't want kids (the best source of fun and memories) I heartily suggest the Ning-Nong Sing-Along.
Afterward the amazing James Cook pulled out a guitar and proceed to enchant us. He sang songs so interesting and funny that I gnawed at my tongue to keep the laughter from interrupting the lyrics. He croons like nothing I've ever heard before, and his songs are robust with delight and humor. I fell in love with James that night, I think.
I also discovered an amazing rhythm to lots of his music. I've heard people do percussion before... drums, rings on wood, fingers on stuff, slapping thighs, etc. I've always admired it but lacked the ability to do it myself. Well, on Sunday night at the Gazebo in Chela Mela Meadow, I learned a new instrument. I learned to play the Zebracorn. I slapped and flipped along with the rhythm of whatever song was happening. Others were doing it, too, making it easy to join right in. I had a wonderful time slapping and flipping whatever was within arm's reach.
The Oregon Country Fair is, once again, my favorite event of the year. Burning Man took over for a handful of years, but OCF has regained the deepest chamber in my heart. I treasure the core values of OCF and those who staff it. Once you get inside it's the best place on the planet. So is Burning Man; they're just different ecology and terrain.
I'm so grateful to be invited to perform and entertain folks at Fair. After 6 or 7 years (how long has it been since Kazum first performed at OCF?) I feel like I'm well-fitted into the Fair Family. I'm still new enough not to feel grumpy at virgin and noobs, but wise enough to find my way from the Monkey Palace to the Ritz without taking unplanned diversionary paths of less efficiency.
I had the time of my life at OCF this year, once again surpassing the delight had the year before. How can this keep happening!? I'm amazed, dazed, confused and grateful. Thank you once again, Oregon Country Fair!
(Facebook Note from 7/15/2014)
