Ta Da: The Rise and Fall of Bido

Before you read me, why don't you check out Jesse?
http://fret-buzz.livejournal.com/
Carry on.

Once upon a time, I was a clown named Bido.

No, not some sort of party clown. I don't really know how to make balloon animals or squirt kids in the face with clown-acid out of my novelty flower.

An actual, classic, traditional (with a splash of "discovering the clown within" courtesy of Jan Henderson) clown.

It took a summer of hard training at the University of Alberta, my involvement in a show that had some "clowning" in it (entitled Move-Ease, it was often criticized for trying to have too many ideas in one show, but most viewers agreed it was a fun romp), and a year's worth of physical theatre training in a Lecoq-style school for myself to feel confident enough to actually take the show on the road.

Yes, my friends, I did a clown-street performing show a few years back at Fort McMurray's interPLAY festival... And I brought along a friend of mine, who I now have completely lost track of, named Benjamin Roy. Our little acting troupe (also including Melissa Everitt for creative input and housing) was called the Special Blend; Get it? Shawn (Special) and Ben (Blend)?

I'm special.

Anyway, the show was well attended, as we were in an outside busking venue with a huge stage. The routine consisted of a brief commedia dell' arte lazze in which myself and Ben performed as Hamtore and Bob (for those in the know, these were takes on the characters Arlecchino and Brigellha). Then, the main routine consisted of Ben as "Announcer Guy" and myself as Bido.

The story goes, we trained a weasel to juggle scrarves in it's mouth while balancing on a teeter board, and then he jumps through a hoop as the grand finale. Naturally, the "weasel" (concealed inside a hat) attacks Bido and he has to kill it (stomping on the hat). As a replacement, we attempt to have "Speedo" (a miniature replica marionette) perform those stunts. But he dies of a heart attack due to stage fright and a larger-than-life threat provided by Bido.

Of course, Bido has to perform the trick himself.

Then, to wrap things up, Bido challenges an audience member to a "Big Contest", and a burly man would always be picked. We would reveal the contest to be a stripping contest, much to the joy(?) of the audience.

But here's the fall of the story: As an inexperienced street performer, I forgot the "money speech" at the end of one of our shows.

And guess what happened? $40, that's what happened.

From a crowd of about 150.

Yeah, when you find a creative way to get people to come up and give you some money, they do (the show the day before brought in about $200).

And thus, the Bido show was put on hiatus. Perhaps permanently.

So a lesson to all aspiring street performers: ASK FOR MONEY. Find a way. Your audience will deliver.

Link of the Day: http://www.foolmoon.org/
The home of Jan Henderson, who heightened my clowning ability.

Song of the Day: "Circus Song" By The Gandharvas. These Canadians were an interesting batch.