Blog du Wren

Skagit County Fair 2021

Ten years ago, I was not a performer. Anyone that knew me knew not only was I not a performer, but I was emphatically not a performer. Then I met Della. Then I learned to perform and really grew to enjoy it. Then came the Wren and Della brand and performing became my livelihood. Then it was all taken away and I was faced with the daunting decision of rebuilding a performance life or not. This question was tested recently at my stint at the Skagit County Fair.

I've done a few little gigs earlier this year: a in Leavenworth, a in Kendall, a in Bellingham, and the In show at the Bellingham Circus Guild. But the Skagit County Fair was different. For one, it was a gig that Della and I have done for years together. The people there know us as, well, us. For another, the booking required me to cover 7 30-minute stage shows, something I've never done without Della. Thirty minutes is a long time. And me and Della's show evolved over years to become what it was. The Skagit County Fair was the first real test of the daunting decision of whether I was going to embark on the path of rebuilding a performance career.

The verdict: hard but good. It was hard because memories were everywhere, I didn't have my partner to help make the work less worky, and I had to share the news about Della to so many people who hadn't heard yet still keep an entertaining facade. It was good because everyone was so super supportive—from the fair staff and volunteer to the other performers that Della and I have performed many times with to the booth vendors who saw our roving enough times to learn our tells to the fairgoers who came to my show just so I would know I could do it. The stage shows were hard; I lost about 2 gallons of sweat running around in the sun with the stress of "is this good enough?"* The roving was good; I posed for , wowed people with my , and even got quoted by the .

Getting back on the horse seems like an apt analogy to my time at the Skagit County Fair this year. It was scary and daunting, but I did it. I'm a different guy than I was 10 years ago and maybe one of those differences is that I am a performer now. For four days at the Skagit County Fair I was, at least. As for the future, only time will tell.

Sunday August 22 2021

File under: circus, Della

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The Real Food Show Video

Last year, I posted about the Real Food Show, the elementary assembly show that uses the fun and magic of the circus to teach about healthy eating and lifestyle. (If you want to know more, check out that post or visit www.therealfoodshow.org.)

Well, needless to say, Della and I aren't performing the Real Food Show (nor almost anything else) these days, so we've got a bit of time on our hands. And since a lot of schools are doing the whole virtual thing, at least for the time being, which we only imagine isn't easy on the parents, teachers, or students, we got an idea. We decided to record the Real Food Show and make it available for all for free as a video on youTube. That way, when a kiddo needs a break or a treat but still needs to log those educational hours, they can watch us juggle junk food, balance protein blocks, and ride unicycles, all the while learning about healthy eating in a fun, engaging way! Our hope is that the show will reach millions of little eyeballs spreading the important message of health while causing smiles on both kids', parents', and teachers' faces alike, so by all means, if you know someone who might find it helpful, please feel free to pass it along: http://www.tinyurl.com/realfoodshow

And since I know you, loyal BdW reader, want to see what all the health fuss is about, I'm proud to present the Real Food Show. Enjoy!

Monday September 28 2020

File under: circus, food

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2018 Halloween Circus Show

Bellingham Circus Guild's second annual* Beastly, Frightful, Unbelievably Spooky Circus of Doom was a rip roaring success. Della and I had a great time being a part. Through sheer persistance of will*, we created a brand spanking new act, one that we both like very much (despite it being incredibly difficult).

In addition to some awesome video (courtesy of Bellingham Access TV), we got some really fun photo booth shots. And, as a super fun surprise, I ran across a video of myself doing some pre-show fire juggling to entertain the crowd on Instagram! With all the video, pictures, and more, it's like you are there in person! Enjoy!

Thursday November 15 2018

File under: circus, juggling

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2018 Summer Juggling Recap

	Another summer of performance is behind Della and me, and as is my wont, I like to collect some of the images we were fortunate to happen upon and post them here for posterity. We performed at libraries, festivals, parties, fairs, and more. It was a great summer of doing a job that I love so much. And while the pictures might not capture it (esp. compared to years past ('17, '16)), we were as busy as ever. Thanks so much to those who hired us, watched us, learned from (and with) us, and esp. shared photos and videos of us! The end of summer isn't the end of performing for the year by any means. I'll get some Halloween pictures and videos posted soon and we're not far from holiday party season which is always a lot of fun! Keep an eye on our website for a list of our upcoming shows or keep it turned to BdW for some pictures maybe, but probably really delayed and with needless commentary...

Thursday November 1 2018

File under: juggling, circus

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My Circus Valentine 2018 Act

Della and I again this year had the privilege of being in Bellingham Circus Guild's My Circus Valentine. It makes the 4th year I've been in the event and Della hasn't missed one yet (often times with 2 acts!) Our act this year turned out to be our best, IMO, but it was hard fought to get there. Dual creative pursuits, such as act creation, isn't our strong point and each year, after going through it, we swear we'll never do it again. But we do and after we have an act that I can be stoked on, I'm so glad that we did.

You could see the act, posted along with other videos of our acts, over at our website www.wrenanddella.com, but I will post it here as well in the interest of posterity. We ended up getting this awesome edited copy from BTV show broadcast the event. I hope you get as much a kick out of it as I did totally nailing it.

(The costumes (a.k.a diapered cupids) were made by none other than Della, of course.)

Saturday April 14 2018

File under: juggling, circus

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The Beastly Frightful Unspeakably Spooky Circus of Doom

This year, the Bellingham Circus Guild put on its first Halloween show* and it was awesome! Della and I wrote a whole new act for the occasion. It was a little gimmicky, a little over the top, a little funny(?), and hopefully a lot fun. I sure liked how it turned out, anyway. Check out the video below.

(Since you can barely see our costumes in the video, here's a we snuck in the photo booth. And since we're talking about photo booth photos, here's of the cast and crew. What a group!!)

Before the show, I did ambient as a . was the cutest little teapot you could imagine.

Overall, it was an awesome experience. The gal the put on the show did a knock out job promoting it (3 total sellout shows plus a last minute show that almost sold out!) as well as all other aspects. It was really an honor to be a part.

Wednesday November 15 2017

File under: circus, juggling

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Circus Camp

This year, as a sort of New Year's resolution, I set forth to try to make it the year of "Yes!", accepting opportunity more readily than I have in the past. That was especially pertinent to my burgeoning circus career. If there's an opportunity, I'm on it. And it led down some interesting paths. Some turned out to be thankless gigs that paid very little. Some were gigs that pushed our limits and made us better performers. Some were hidden gems. And some were, well, just plain new.

It was through this yessing that Della and I found ourselves teaching circus camp to kids on San Juan Island, Lummi Island, and in Bellingham. Teaching circus is something that we've done quite a bit of in the past, both through Chautauqua and as part of festival, parties, etc. But these are always shorter sessions that let kids (and adults!) come and go as their interest waned or was diverted. The circus day camp where the kids get dropped off and picked up many hours later is a whole different ball game, one which we weren't entirely prepared for.

For the most part, it was awesome. There were some amazing kids who were super into learning, being helpful, and being fun! And from the feedback from students and parents, I'd say that the camps were a success, with the kids having a good time and nobody getting hurt*. But kids are kids, and there was definitely more "don't hit her with that", "pick up your trash", and "take that sharp stick out of your nose" than we expected, esp. with the younger kids. I can hardly blame them for not wanting to juggle for 3 hours straight, but it was still a bit of a learning curve.

Faces have been blurred because of privacy or whatever

Faces have been blurred because of privacy or whatever

One thing about the year of "Yes!", you learn a lot. And that has been wonderful. For next year, however, if circus camp opportunities roll around, we'll have more knowledge about what variable best suit our talents and interests. What does that mean, I don't know. But I know that at least for now, I'm happy to going back to just performing for a while.

Wednesday August 9 2017

File under: circus, juggling

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Something Wonderful

Arrrrrggg! I'm a pirate— or at least I play one in the Bellingham Circus Guild's new production, Something Wonderful. The show tells of a boy taken through a magical world of sea creatures, ship wrecks, dreams, and more. The show is more highly produced than any I've been a part of so far which makes it really exciting. The costumes are top notch and the professionalism regarding timelines, rehearsals, and contracts has been very refreshing.

Last week, we had our first showing, on the big stage at Western Washington University. The huge stage with all the necessary contraptions, lights, staff, and more made it feel all the more big deal. The show went great, except for a couple drops by the pirates (opening night jitters, I guess). This upcoming weekend, we have a 3 show run at the Cirque Lab in Bellingham. There are tickets still available. The shows are going to be so fun!

The do a juggling bit that involves 2-highs, complicated moving patterns, and a neat little passing the bottle routine. I also got roped into doing a little black suit puppetry as well, a new one for my resume.

While the amount of time spent on this, between rehearsals, teching, etc. has been more than I've been used to in the past (and makes the hourly wage far lower than minimum wage), the experience has been helpful and even fun. I'm proud of the show and I'm excited that it might get staged again in the future, maybe even at bigger venues! In the meantime, I look forward to the run this weekend. I hope to see you there!

Tuesday May 17 2016

File under: circus, juggling

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Minor Media Mentions - Bellingham Herald and Bellingham Alive

One of the great purposes of this blog has been to serve as a digital scrapbook for my future self. I know that 90-year old me will love sitting in my hover bean bag chair looking through the fun exploits of his former self. It is with that thought that I started my Minor Media Mentions series, snippets of when I've made newspapers, etc. Two such snippets recently showed up. The first is from the Sunday Bellingham Herald dated 1/31/16 about the Talent Show at Mount Baker Theater we were in (blurb and video here). The other is from the super fancy Bellingham Alive magazine from December 2015. The article has nothing to do with us, but it's a pretty fun picture of the street show we did at the Bellingham Night Market.

Tuesday February 2 2016

File under: juggling, circus

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Juggling at the Mount Baker Theater

Della and I recently had the privilege of performing on stage at the Mount Baker Theater in Bellinghm as part of the Be In The Show community Talent Show. It was a neat event put on by the Dance Studio and served as a fund raiser for Blue Skies for Children, a great charity. Super big props to the folks that put it together. It was well attended, super tight (27 acts in less than 2 hours), and better organized than any event I've ever seen.

For those who don't know the Mount Baker Theater, it is the venue in Bellingham, hosting the biggest names that come through town. To have my 5 minutes in the spotlight on stage there might easily be the highlight of my performing career. Seeing backstage, the green room setups, and looking out at the beautiful hall was quite a treat. And the way it was so well organized made me feel like this is how it must be for a real rockstar. They even put us as the closing act, which only added to the rockstar feel. We had a few drops, but overall, not a bad showing.

Della convinced her intern to get some video for us. Enjoy!

Saturday January 30 2016

File under: juggling, circus

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