Tag: juggling

The Moisture Festival Podcast – David Aiken

The Moisture Festival is joined over Zoom by the amazing comic daredevil David Aiken a.k.a the Checkerboard guy. David is a unique talent that has traveled the globe with his show and shares with us some amazing stories of his travels.

He also tells us about  the origins of the checkerboard theme in his show, his love of unusual cars and we gain some unique insights on why someone would gravitate towards becoming a professional juggler. We also learn about David’s new passion of brewing beer and his goal of opening a nano brewery on Vancouver Island. It was great to catch up with one of the funniest and kindest people in the performing world. You are going to love it.

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The Moisture Festival Podcast – Iman Lizarazu

The Moisture Festival is on location in Berkeley California where they are joined by festival favorite and award winning clown Iman Lizarazu. Iman discusses a few of her many passions including wine, designing clown noses and most importantly being creative.

We hear some funny stories about growing up in the Basqu region of France, how people respond to her accent and what it’s like performing on  the back of a flat bed truck. A fantastic conversation with an amazing performer. If you love Iman’s work, you are going to love this interview. 

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The Moisture Festival Podcast – Scotty and Katrine

This week, the Moisture Festival Podcast hits the road and travels to Berkley California where they are joined by Scotty Meltzer and Katrine Spang-Hanssen of Comedy Industries.

In this episode, Matt and Louie get into the nuts and bolts of comedy and discuss how custom script writing was the tool that would allow Scotty and Katrine to carve out their 30 year career in the entertainment industry, how they select jokes to put in their show, and the best heckler story ever. This is a fun interview we know you will love.

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The Moisture Festival Podcast – Mark Hayward

The Moisture Festival Podcast is pleased to have the multi talented Mark Hayward join us over the phone. Mark is a smorgasbord of quirky talents. He is a world champion yo yo player, a Guinness World Record Holder, Artist and self proclaimed “Cool Guy”. In our conversation we discuss his progression from playing yo-yo as a kid and how that took him all around the globe including appearances on the Late Show with David Letterman (twice) and being a featured speaker at Ted X. We also learn about the spinning top, the world of juggling and get into a complex discussion on cheese. A great conversation with one of our favorite performers in the world. 

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The Moisture Festival Podcast – Cate Great

In this episode of the Moisture Festival Podcast we have an “over the phone interview” with the fantastic Cate Great. Thanks to the powers of technology, we get to hear Cate tell us about what it’s like to run away from the water ski team and join a circus school.

In this episode, Cate also tells us about her vast array of super amazing skills, the role that great character development played in developing a successful street show, and what it’s like to have a roommate who is a magician. Don’t miss this fun and interesting conversation with one of the premier street performers in the world. 

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The Moisture Festival Podcast – Patrick McGuire

This week on the Moisture Festival Podcast we have award winning juggler and Cirque du Soleil performer Patrick McGuire! In this episode we chat about how he got into performing with Cirque du Soleil, learning from the legendary Michael Moschen, and juggling being a father and a professional juggler!

the moisture festival podcast with patrick mcguire

As promised in the podcast, here’s video of Patrick McGuire performing while taking his clothes :

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Play With Others…

Quite often I’ll be performing at an event with other acts. We’re all booked at the same venue, quite often we’re all doing separate things. A couple weeks ago there was a ton of great entertainers at a fair I was performing at. I decided to get everyone together and put on a variety show! … Continue reading “Play With Others…”

Quite often I’ll be performing at an event with other acts. We’re all booked at the same venue, quite often we’re all doing separate things. A couple weeks ago there was a ton of great entertainers at a fair I was performing at. I decided to get everyone together and put on a variety show!


This was a real “fly by the seat of our pants” kinda show, but it was a ton of fun for the performers and the audience!

After doing this, I’m amazed that more fairs don’t have a variety show, or split bill show. It’s great for an audience to watch, and it’s something different. It also breaks up the “monotony” of doing your show three times a day. If you work with other acts, I highly recommend putting together a variety show!

Suspension of Disbelief…

Performing magic requires the audience stop believing what they know. A magic show is a world where anything can happen…but there are limits. If they can see the ball palmed in your hand, you break that suspension. If an effect lasts too long and give them time to leave the magical world and into an … Continue reading “Suspension of Disbelief…”

Performing magic requires the audience stop believing what they know. A magic show is a world where anything can happen…but there are limits. If they can see the ball palmed in your hand, you break that suspension. If an effect lasts too long and give them time to leave the magical world and into an analytical world, you’ve also lost the suspension of disbelief.


Here’s an example, let’s say you are floating a lady and she just levitates for a minute. Just static in the air without moving, and nothing else happens. The audience gets over the shock of them floating and no shifts to why is she floating mode. Odds are within the remaining 40 seconds they’ll figure it out. That’s why you add things like motion. She floats up or around you. You pass a hoop over her. These things keep your mind from becoming bored and stop suspending disbelief.


The suspension of disbelief goes beyond magic, it goes into puppetry, physical comedy, story telling, and even juggling. The audience doesn’t really believe it’s the juggler’s first time doing a trick, or that you and the puppet are having a spontaneous conversation. You need to keep adding things to prolong the suspension of disbelief, like the juggler dropping on his first attempt.


With your magic, how are you keeping people’s minds in your world?