The Moisture Festival Podcast – A day at the festival

Today the Moisture Festival Podcast takes you behind the curtain of the 2022 festival! Matt and Louie take you through a day as an artist at the festival and we chat with the volunteers that make the festival happen!!

The moisture festival

Tina Lenert – Rings and Silk

A couple of weeks ago when I was performing at the Moisture Festival, I did a weekend of shows with Tina Lenert. She did her Rings and Silk act, which is fantastic! Here’s a video of the act:

There is soo much magic that happens in that 6 and a half minutes and it’s all pretty strong magic. I think it has almost as many effects per minute that a manipulation act! My favorite part is when she holds the ring behind her back and drops it onto the silk:

It’s a fabulous act, and if you ever get a chance to check it out, I highly recommend it!
-Louie

MC Tip…

Last week while performing at the Moisture Festival, I hosted one show. One of your jobs as MC is to read their announcements, which is a pretty long list that has to happen up front before you introduce the first act. The announcements are things like fire exit instructions.

During my MC spot, I took those on right away and did those the first thing out. It really fell flat, and I had to dig out of a hole.

After the show Jamy Ian Swiss pulled me aside and reminded me of something I already knew, but didn’t do. He said, “Never start the show with announcements“. He’s right, and I’m glad he mentioned it to me. It’s something I know, put didn’t put into practice. I’m 1000% glad he mentioned that to me, otherwise this could have been the beginning of starting a bad habit while MCing.

-Louie

The Moisture Festival – week 3

In Seattle we just wrapped up the third week of the Moisture Festival. This is a four week variety arts festival and has tons of amazing acts!

One of the great things about performing in festivals like this is that you get to work with some of the top acts in the world! Plus the audiences at the festival are also some of the best audiences in the world!

On this blog on the 1st and 15th of the month I publish The Moisture Festival Podcast where Matt Baker and I interview all of the performers and people the make the festival happen. There are tons of great insights in the interviews on the podcast.

I started this weekend at the festival and will be performing in it next weekend as well. If you’re ever in Seattle during the festival, this is something you need to check out!
-Louie

The Moisture Festival Podcast – Lily Verlaine

Today’s guest is the fantastic burlesque artist Lily Verlaine. We discuss her career arc which started as a child performing in a cabbage patch commercial and now has her touring around the world performing for delighted audiences.

We Learn about what goes into developing a burlesque act, all the people that can be involved, and a great conversation with one of the world’s best burlesque dancers

Here’s the Cabbage Patch Kids commercial!

The Moisture Festival Podcast – Scramble James

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. 

The Moisture Festival Podcast – Jon Dutch

This episode of the Moisture Festival Podcast we are in Portland interviewing the fascinating Jon Dutch, aka “Dutch.” We talk about how he got into the circus later in life, the physical tolls it takes on one’s body and how he got into his unique form of acrobatics.

We also discuss the circus scene in Portland, learn about the World Naked Bike Ride and learn about why he created the Rose City Circus and how they were received on the Gong Show. A great conversation with one of the staples of the Portland Circus scene. 

The Moisture Festival Podcast – Bri Crabtree

In this episode of the Moisture Festival Podcast we are joined over the phone by the hilarious Bri Crabtree. She tells us about how she had to hide being a juggler in high school from her classmates and what it is like to live in an artist workspace in San Francisco.

She discusses her career, what it’s like being a woman at a juggling convention and her fascination with learning new skills. She’s a comedian, clown, artist and an all around awesome person. We hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did. 

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. 

Christian Swenson – The Moisture Festival Podcast

Physical movement virtuoso Christian Swenson joins Matt and Louie in the Moisture Festival Podcast Studio. They talk about his early life studying dance, his interest in movement and how that led him to create his unique style of performance called “Human Jazz.”

They cover the variety of performance masters Christian has studied under and how he came to perform at the Moisture Festival. If you love Christian’s work, you will love hearing how it all began.