In this episode we welcome in juggler and funny man Tony Steinbach. We learn about Tony’s first exposure to juggling and how his dad used juggling in his work training. Tony talks about his development as an artist and how his collaborations with other artists have helped pave the way to what he is doing now.
He tells about the Renaissance fair circuit and the adaptations he makes to his show to make it work in such a specific environment. A fun conversation with another 2025 moisture festival newcomer.
Last night I got home from another booking conference and saw some amazing acts!
One of the helpful things about going to these conferences and seeing all the other acts showcase is that you kinda know where you are in the pack. You can gauge whether you’re a top tier act, or whatever.
It’s also inspiring to see people do their best 15 minutes of material! I totally recommend checking one of these out if you get a chance, even if it’s just to watch acts!
Years ago I took fire out of my show, the reason is that you can’t do it everywhere. And some places that allow you to do it, there’s huge restrictions. A good example is right now I’m performing at a State Fair and there is zero fire allowed. If I counted on destroying a dollar bill by burning it, I would have to cut that bit from the show. I want a show that I can consistently do the same way every time.
Here’s a story about working with a fire act from about a decade ago. I was working with a juggler and whose finale was juggling torches. At his first show at the fair, the fire marshal walked by and saw him with the torches on fire and had a chat with him right before his next show. The juggler needed two “safety” people onstage, one with a bucket of water and one with a fire blanket.
Since this was right before his show, the juggler asked me and another act to help him out, so we did and everything went well…until the juggler’s third show. When he asked us to help again, we both said no. We have other things to do, and while I’m happy to help once, I’m not going to do my three shows a day PLUS being his unpaid fire safety for three more shows. The juggler ended having to cut his finale, and didn’t have a backup plan and ran short the rest of the run.
If the juggler had asked about fire before the gig this wouldn’t have been as big of a problem as he could have packed a backup plan. Sure the fire marshal can be inconsistent when you talk to them, but just making that phone call can give you an idea of whether or not it will be a challenge to get that fire trick onstage.
If you’re show uses fire, be sure to bring a backup plan in case you get shut down!
Last weekend I was working at an Oddities Expo with Brent Fiasco. Brent crushed his shows and does a great street style show. He does a solid crowd built, and a great job of uniting the audience.
In his 30 min set, he does four routines. He does three routines in the first 12 minutes and one in the last 18 minutes. The show does a good job of building the crowd in the first three routines and then selling the “big trick” and prolonging it as long as possible in the last 18 minutes.
Brent’s show is a great lesson in how to structure a street show and he also does a great job of living in the moment. If you get the chance, his show work worth checking out!
Yesterday I mentioned that I liked booking shows through showcases. Here’s some of the other acts that I recently showcased with:
There were a couple of jugglers, a few magicians, some animal acts and some bands. It’s rough to stand out when you’re doing these and you need to bring your A game and have your showcase set TIGHT!
When I watch these showcases, I can always tell who took it seriously and showed up to get work. Their shows are tight and they have zero wasted moments.
On this podcast we welcome in the troubadour himself Eric Haines. We discuss all the disciplines Eric implements into his show, how he came to be so good at all of them and how he found his calling with the One Man Band. We learn why someone would want to play so many instruments at once and all the great opportunities it has granted him. A really great conversation over Zoom with a one man Moisture Fest.
Sometimes where you perform outdoors you’ll have issues with the weather. One night it rained most of the day, and that killed attendance for the shows right after it stopped raining. There was literally no people on the fairgrounds to pull to make an audience, so we used the time as practice time.
The juggler at the fair and I used that down time to work on some lasso tricks:
And since we both had lassos, I was able to try doing two lassos at the same time!
We could have called the show and not performed, however we both got in some fun practice time! I always try to look for spots in my day when I can get in a little bit of practice and a rained out show was a great spot!
I got home late last night from spending a week in New Orleans at the Sideshow Hootenanny. It was four days of watching incredible acts doing some crazy things! For me the value of these festivals is to run into old friends and make new ones within the industry. These are people I’ll work with in the future or hang out with when I’m in their town, or their in mine.
A great way to do this is with shared housing (aka Air BnB). By putting you all in the same spot, there’s coffees in the morning, or whatever and you get a chance to really bond with a group.
These people you meet understand what it’s like to be a performer and are a great support system and great people!
I highly recommend making friends with people in your industry, and not looking at your peers as “competition”, it will make you a happier person and will open a lot more doors for you!
The final show of the 2022 Moisture Festival had an amazing line up!
I always look at the lineup of every show and think to myself that I don’t belong in the line up.
The amount of people that it takes to make these show happen is much larger than you’d think. Here’s a some of the cast and crew:
Normally I work as a solo act, however it’s always fun to be a part of something bigger. Being a bad ass cog in a big machine that creates amazing art is something that fills my soul!
Doing things that you love for the love of creating, not money is something that I think everyone should do! -Louie
In this episode we hit the road to the Rose City (Portland) and interview the super positive Nate “Scramble” James from Circus Luminescence. Scramble is one half of the group and discusses how the group started from a chance encounter and also the successes and failures of the group throughout the years. He also talks to us about why they decided doing glow in the dark juggling was the way to go. A fun interview with one of the more unique juggling acts you will see at the Moisture Festival.
