So yes, it has been quite a while since my last "weekly" blog (oops). But I have a good excuse. I have been super busy doing shows and circus training, and it has been a reet laugh!
So from the title of this blog you can probably guess what I've been doing a lot of over the last few weeks. And for the first time in my life I'm gradually learning to accept that falling and failing really aren't the demons we perceive them to be. I'll start with unicycle, since unicycle is as good a start as any.
It is the hardest thing I've ever tried, ever. Which is one of the reasons why I feel so determined to do it. I'm stubborn like that. I don't take it lightly when an inanimate object threatens to best me.
Below is a picture of some of the bruises from my efforts (sorry pretty boring for you but I was very proud!)
So from the title of this blog you can probably guess what I've been doing a lot of over the last few weeks. And for the first time in my life I'm gradually learning to accept that falling and failing really aren't the demons we perceive them to be. I'll start with unicycle, since unicycle is as good a start as any.
It is the hardest thing I've ever tried, ever. Which is one of the reasons why I feel so determined to do it. I'm stubborn like that. I don't take it lightly when an inanimate object threatens to best me.
Below is a picture of some of the bruises from my efforts (sorry pretty boring for you but I was very proud!)
You can see a lovely pedal mark on the back of my leg! Since I took this picture I have learned the art of falling without injury (mostly) and also that falling off is really not so bad. Which is something that can really be applied to most things in life! A bit cheesy but it really is like Alfred saying to Bruce Wayne "Why do we fall Bruce? So we can learn to pick ourselves up" (Or something like that, you might have to geek police me on that one). I've been doing a bit of unicycle practice every day for the past three weeks and I have definitely improved. If only by a teeny amount (up to about five turns of the pedals before falling)! Yesterday I fell off 60 time before 10am, today 70 times before 10am. So just in those two days that's 130 falls closer to not falling off, and I'm not so scared to fall anymore. I have actually found a moment of balance and it feels like flying! I have never experienced moving forward so smoothly and fast without holding on to something with my arms.
So that was both a lot of falling and a lot of failing. Clown was also something that has made me experience failing. It is quite daunting to put yourself on a stage in front of friends with nothing and, just using the power of your brain, make something to entertain right there and then. But I am very slowly learning to be OK with being a flop! Because what is the worst that can happen? No-one laughs, you feel like a failure, but this is clown! The unending optimism of the clown means that he/she can try ANYTHING on that stage. If it is crap, is not so bad! We try again, and again, until we find something that works. If you can be at ease in your failure and eager to try again, the audience will be so much more with you.
With this in mind I invented Horatio Crapjuggler to mask my lack of juggling ability.
So that was both a lot of falling and a lot of failing. Clown was also something that has made me experience failing. It is quite daunting to put yourself on a stage in front of friends with nothing and, just using the power of your brain, make something to entertain right there and then. But I am very slowly learning to be OK with being a flop! Because what is the worst that can happen? No-one laughs, you feel like a failure, but this is clown! The unending optimism of the clown means that he/she can try ANYTHING on that stage. If it is crap, is not so bad! We try again, and again, until we find something that works. If you can be at ease in your failure and eager to try again, the audience will be so much more with you.
With this in mind I invented Horatio Crapjuggler to mask my lack of juggling ability.

Here is his first incarnation. He comes from a small island off the coast of Spain. He is the third best juggler on the whole island. There are two other people living on the island. Magdalene, she has one arm and Pablo, he is blind. Every time he catch a ball a puppy, a baby duck and a kitten make friends, someone take a picture for a whimsical calendar! Every time he drop a ball a kitten die. But obviously there is a way to bring the deceased kittens back to life with juggling! (please note, no kittens, imaginary or real were harmed in the conception of this character, and yes I can now juggle three balls.....a bit)
On the burlesque front the first part of my new big prop arrived and I was very excited!

Here I am looking rather chuffed in my undersized oversized bowl! The base is now in construction and I have some bookings already. It is the most ambitious idea I have had yet and requires me to get a good deal stronger but until I get the prop I don't really know what exactly I can do with it! A good deal of exploration and playing will be involved in the act development, I can't wait! I had a pole class tonight to help with my ideas. Ow, much falling and failing there too! But also some success, which was satisfying though painful.
I Have also done three fantastic shows since the last post. Two of which I was rehearsing brand new songs for. I've literally had the same playlist on repeat in my car two hours a day, every day for about 6 weeks. But it paid off! Fist off Natalia hosted the Martini Lounge on the 22nd of Feb. The acts were all fantastic and the show ended with a beautiful romantic surprise as Ed Muir proposed to my good friend and the show's creator Millie Dollar! There were tears of joy all round and I felt very honoured to be in on it and in the presence of such a magic moment!
The following week Natalia was up to her old aerial tricks at The Gilded Merkin. It was the lowest venue I have done the act in so far but luckily after some tech rehearsals I found it was plenty safe. In fact the audience were so close I could see their look of terror on the first drop and hear the gasps! Which was great fun. The acts were all fantastic and I got to watch a lot from the balcony. I love working with friends backstage and my comedy muse Abigail Collins tied the whole show together with her hilarious Peggy Sued character, which was a real treat to see first hand!
The following weekend I went straight from my dance class Friday morning to the airport and Natalia's first International booking. She was doing hosting, singing and silks so there was a lot to focus on but I was really pleased with how it all went. The audience loved the drunken silks antics and every act (again) was totally pant wettingly amazing. I was soooo well looked after and got to hang backstage with some new faces. All of whom I hope to work with again soon. The standard of acts was astonishing! Pictured here are Coco Deville, Erochica Bamboo, Kitten n' Lou and Natalia. Eliza Delite was also part of the line up and we had a lovely time catching up.
The following week Natalia was up to her old aerial tricks at The Gilded Merkin. It was the lowest venue I have done the act in so far but luckily after some tech rehearsals I found it was plenty safe. In fact the audience were so close I could see their look of terror on the first drop and hear the gasps! Which was great fun. The acts were all fantastic and I got to watch a lot from the balcony. I love working with friends backstage and my comedy muse Abigail Collins tied the whole show together with her hilarious Peggy Sued character, which was a real treat to see first hand!
The following weekend I went straight from my dance class Friday morning to the airport and Natalia's first International booking. She was doing hosting, singing and silks so there was a lot to focus on but I was really pleased with how it all went. The audience loved the drunken silks antics and every act (again) was totally pant wettingly amazing. I was soooo well looked after and got to hang backstage with some new faces. All of whom I hope to work with again soon. The standard of acts was astonishing! Pictured here are Coco Deville, Erochica Bamboo, Kitten n' Lou and Natalia. Eliza Delite was also part of the line up and we had a lovely time catching up.
I would love to mention all the acts I saw but I guess that makes for a pretty drawn out blog and it is already crammed with my ramblings of the past three weeks! But in general, it has been a jam packed, brilliant few weeks. I've met some amazing people, worked with proper chums and really come to embrace failure as not a step away from success but in fact a step closer to it. The more failures I get under my belt, the less I have left to experience before success!