Philipino Carnival

A tiny traveling carnival in the Philipines, beautifully captured by Jason Magbanua from Manila.

Perya (Town Fair) - a Canon 7D Short from Jason Magbanua on Vimeo.

The Wall of Death

Here comes a exceptionally beautiful look at the art of Wall Riding. Following the Fox'es and their awesome motorcycle carnival attraction. Benedict Campbell's cinematography is gorgeous, capturing a candid and artful look at a rarely seen Carnival Art.

THE WALL OF DEATH from benedict campbell on Vimeo.

Thanks to Carny Trash Aristocracy for posting this video.

Carnytube (3)

Yet again it is opening time in the midway of moving pictures. Clips and things from the world of carny cinema.

Roll on in to the virtual carnival of splendid attractions.

Starting right off with the most chaotic and full on Sideshow you ever saw. From the cradle of yoga and snake charming, its the Warriors of Goja!

For something more sweet and sophisticated take a look at Cardini the Suave Deceiver. This is the only film clip of this master manipulator of cards and cigarettes. Note that he is wearing gloves for most of it...

 The renowned Kehayovi Teeterboard Troupe from Bulgaria accomplished the impossible "SEVEN MAN HIGH".The Kehayovi Troupe's leader George Kehayov, is the bottom man carrying the weight of all the people stacked above him.

The Ringmaster introducing the Kehayovi troupe is Great Britain's Grand Veteran Ringmaster the Honorable Norman Barret. He worked for the Blackpool Tower circus, which is where the Guinness Book of Records breaking teeterboard stunt took place. Here is the Ring Master himself with his sweet trained Budgie act.

Skill and patience...

Amateur magic goes wrong... Thanks to Brett Phister for putting me onto this one.

And finally to top it off, a contortion break dancing hybrid.

 That's all for now folks. Enjoy.

Ray Bradbury and the Carnival

Ray Bradbury is one of the all time great science fiction writers, although he does not particularly like this label.
“I've only done one science fiction book and that's Farenheit 451, based on reality,”  "And his best known outer space work, the Martian Chronicles, has about as much about the Red Planet as a Mars chocolate bar." (Conceptual Fiction.) Nobody likes to be pigeon holed, apart from pigeons of course, particularly not someone who is the author of more than five hundred published works. All this aside, here on the pages of the Illuminated Showman we search for the Carnivalesque origins of things and yet again we have found what we were looking for. Thanks to Hey Rube Circus for drawing our attention to this.

Ray Bradbury, the Showman, accounts for his habit of writing every day originating in a tale that easily could be believed to be spawned by the man's prodigious imagination. But then again as Edward Gant says with the knowledge of a Guild's man, "The Truths of Life lies least of all in the Facts." So perhaps these Seeds of inspiration for the young Bradbury is as close to truth that is possible.

Lon Chaney Jr as the Hunchback

"Bradbury attributes his lifelong habit of writing every day to two incidents. The first, which occurred when he was three years old when his mother took him to Lon Chaney's performance of the Hunchback of Notre Dame, and the second, which occurred in 1932 when a carnival entertainer, Mr. Electrico,
touched him on the nose with an electrified sword, made his hair stand on end, and shouted, "Live forever!" It was from then that Bradbury wanted to live forever and decided on his career as an author in order to do what he was told: live forever. It was at that age that Bradbury first started to do Magic. Magic was his first great love. If he had not discovered writing, he would have become a magician." (Wikipedia)
And lo and behold on the glorious interweb we find the Master himself recount the incident of meeting Mr Electrico and the Illustrated man.

Mr Electro, sculpture by Christopher Slatof

In his work, this Carnival truth is supported by his first published collection of short stories being titled: Dark Carnival, and his second The Illustrated Man. The pinnacle of the prodigious writers flirtation with the fairground is found in his 1962 novel 'Something Wicked this Way Comes.' Which title is lifted straight from Shakespeare's Macbeth: 'by the prickling of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes.'

'The carnival rolls in sometime after midnight, ushering in Halloween a week early. The shrill siren song of a calliope beckons to all with a seductive promise of dreams and youth regained. In this season of dying, Cooger & Dark's Pandemonium Shadow Show has come to Green Town, Illinois, to destroy every life touched by its strange and sinister mystery. And two boys will discover the secret of its smoke, mazes, and mirrors; two friends who will soon know all too well the heavy cost of wishes. . .and the stuff of nightmare.' (Amazon) 

The tale is of two boys on their way to adulthood. Together they tread paths through the forest of Good and Evil, shrouded in shadows of the looming mountain of Ageing. All this clad in the guise of a sinister carnival that comes to town. Their meeting with Coogar and Dark's Pandemonium Shadow Show push the boys to men during one memorable night.

The story is described as a horror or dark fantasy novel, and that may be, but it is also deeply poetic. Bradbury digs deeply into his themes in beautifully crafted sentences and descriptions. Here is an example from a monologue delivered by Charles Halloway, father of Will, one of the story's two boy-protagonists.

"First things first. Let’s bone up on history. If men had wanted to stay
bad forever they could have, agreed?...Somewhere we turned in our
carnivore’s teeth and started chewing blades of grass. We been
working mulch as much as blood, into our philosophy, for a quite a
few lifetimes. Since then we measure ourselves up the scale from
apes, but not half so high as angels…. I suppose one night hundreds of
thousands of years ago in a cave by a night fire when one of those
shaggy men wakened to gaze over the banked coals at his woman, his
children, and thought of their being cold, dead, gone forever. Then he
must have wept. And he put out his hand in the night to the woman
who must die some day and to the children who must follow her. And
for a little bit next morning, he treated them somewhat better, for he
saw that they, like himself, had the seed of night in them…."

In 1983 Disney made a movie based on the book which is surprisingly interesting, in a nostalgic, fairy tale kind of way. I still have fond memories of some of Disney's films from my own childhood, perhaps most notably 20.000 Leagues Under the Sea. But as always when a project is undertaken by the media giant a disneyfication happens. The examples are many and nefarious enough, like how they make Charles Halloway a librarian rather than the janitor at the library.

Although receiving mediocre reviews the movie is not terrible. Here is the trailer and a link to the whole thing, so you can choose how long you would like to dwell on this tale by how interested you are in its themes, and execution. Ray Bradbury served as screen writer for the film and later said it was one of the better adaptions of his work.

Here comes the link to the first in a series of 7 links to the whole movie.

Lessons from the Way of the Showman - 57

Reporter: What do you consider yourself? How would you classify yourself?
Bob Dylan: Well, I like to think of myself in terms of a trapeze artist.
Reporter: Speaking of trapeze artists, I've noticed in some of your recent albums a carnival-type sound. Could you tell me a little about that?
Bob Dylan: That isn't a carnival sound, that's religious. That's very real, you can see that anywhere. 

A Showman Facing the Other Way

From the 'Austin interview,' 22nd of September, 1966. 

The carnivalesque and the religious are sometimes too similar to be told apart...

Carnytube

It's weekend and here are some a fine selection of Carnival clips for all you faithful readers of the Illuminated Showman.

Don't you just love the good old days and their weird dancing pig puppet acts. This is strange and creepy.

Here follows two clips of physical comedy and clown Luminaries, true Master Showmen.

The first is Larry Griswold, on a trampoline and a diving board. The clip is from the Frank Sinatra show in 1951. 

Next up the king of sticky hands and microphone slapstick, a man which inspired me in my own work. Here he is, the winner of the very first Golden Clown in Monte Carlo in 1974 Mr George Carl.

 

Some sweet skills!

Selyna Bogino juggling five basket balls with her feet.

 A short clown film from Carnival Cinema

And finally a short edit of a long clown film starring Lon Chaney, 'the man of a thousand faces', in one of his many roles as a clown. This is from the Man who gets Slapped and it is set to music by the paramount circus band Circus Contraption.

Hope you enjoy it.

Lessons from the Way of the Showman - 56 B

The latest Lessons have been talking of Magic. This is because I have returned to Norway where I have again gained access to my father, the Great Santini's Library of Magic. One thing to remember for those of you that does not dabble in the arts of the Conjurer is that creating magic does not have to be taken literally as actually performing magic tricks.

“When you take any activity, any art, any discipline, any skill, take it and push it as far as it has ever been pushed before, push it into the wildest edge of edges, then you force it into the realm of real magic.”

- Tom Robbins

 

Every time a Showman graces a stage, be it on a pavement, in a theater, or a tent, magic can happen. With the right mindset, with the right presentation a technical juggling or acrobatic display can transport the Crowd away from their mundane reality to a place where the Showman creates the rules.
A magic experience happens when a Showman creates the feeling of astonishment in a Crowd. When they forget about where they are, their problems, fears and worries and for a brief moment have a clear, primal experience they associate with a child's state of mind: pure wonder or a Zen insight.

"Astonishment is not an emotion that is created. It is an existing state that is revealed. Tricks are simply our tools to help unleash the moment." Paul Harris.

Truth in Reality and Deception

(Shaman Showman - part 4)

"Dancing Sorcerer" After Henri Breuil's drawing.

“The oldest religion of which we have any secure knowledge is the shamanism of the late Old Stone Age (Paleolithic) as we have seen it depicted in the caves of southern France and northern Spain.” (Weston LaBarre.) Further, “Nothing justifies the supposition that, during the hundreds and thousands of years that precedes the earliest Stone Age, humanity did not have a religious life as intense and various as in the succeeding periods.” (Mircea Eliade.) 
Research and deepened understanding of early religious practices reveals the riches of the religious experience of these ancient human systems. They were in no way inferior in their ability to supply answers to big philosophical questions, to control the dangerously random processes of nature, to strengthen community bonds, or providing real healing powers in times of sickness.                        

12000 yo cave painting, Trois Freres, France

From the furthest recesses of time our ancestors put their trust in shamans with spiritual and bodily needs. For the shaman was not only priest but also medicine man. Today this seems very strange indeed, since doctor and priest are two very separate occupations. Each belonging to fundamentally different ideological systems, namely science and religion. In these ancient times though, such distinctions were yet to be made. It is interesting here to note that, at root level, these sprung from a similar source.

“In a mysterious world full of unknown dangers like death, disease and other disasters, the shaman is the man who claims knowledge and power over these frightening mysteries that the ordinary man manifestly does not have. Clinically, we might view the shaman as a paranoiac, in his claims to omniscience, omnipotence and omnibenevolence. And yet, since these are what his clientele demand of him, these are what the medicine man must purport to provide.” (LaBarre)

All this was the shaman's obligation. Since early man placed their faith in shamans we must ask: What did shamans do to deserve this trust? What powers did they wield? And how well did it work?

Shamanism was practiced worldwide, from Europe to America, Africa to Mongolia, and Brazil to Japan. This enormous distribution might certainly be taken as an indication of its efficacy. It did what it set out to do effectively enough for the practice to be almost universal. 

What powers did they wield?

According to Melbourne Christopher, one of the oldest and most performed Native American mysteries was a ritual know as the shaking tent. It was an important and often performed shamanistic ritual amongst the North American Cree Culture. It played an important role in the yearly cycle of harvest and other ritual activities of the Innu people of Quebec and Labrador.

“It was not only an important method of direct communication with the caribou and other animal masters, as well as with Mishtapeu and cannibal spirits, it was also a source of amusement. The shaman used the tent to look into the hidden world of animal spirits, and to make contact with Innu in distant groups.” United Cherokee Nation. 

The Shaking Tent ritual

Shaking tent ritual in progress.

“Sheshatshiu Innu who have seen the shaking tent say that it was a small, conically-shaped tent, with caribou hide covering and four, six, or eight poles depending on the spiritual power (manitushiun) of the shaman (the shaman is called the Kakushapatak, officient, in the context of the ritual). It would be set up inside another tent on a floor of freshly picked fir boughs. Younger men would act as assistants (apprentices?) to the Kakushapatak in setting up the tent.

“As soon as the Kakushapatak stuck his head in the tent, it would start to shake violently, indicating that the officient had been joined by a spirit, usually Mishtapeu who helped him communicate with the other spirits."

in his book "Magic and Meaning," magician Eugene Burger gives an interesting description of this ritual performed in an unusual setting:

“At Leech Lake, Minnesota, in the 1850’s, an Ojibwa shaman was offered a hundred dollars if he could successfully demonstrate this talent. He was securely tied, observed by a committee of twelve, including an Episcopal clergyman, and placed in his tent, which began to sway violently. Strange sounds were heard. The shaman shouted that the rope could be found in a nearby house. When one of the group was sent to the house, the knotted rope was found. In the tent, the shaman was found peacefully smoking a pipe.” According to Christopher “The committee – now eleven, the clergyman having fled, crying that this was the work of the devil – agreed unanimously that the hundred dollars should be paid at once.”

This challenge was no ordinary setting for shamanistic activities, but nonetheless, the demonstration must have been formidable. Despite their intention of discovering the trickery involved in the shaking tent ritual, the critically minded gathering of men found no evidence of deception. A crowd of firm believers would then be even less likely to do so. From a magician's point of view, this would be described as a successful performance by a master of his craft.

We have information from ethnologists and anthropologists about the attitudes of both the audience and the performers of these events. Not surprisingly, it is described both as magic and as trickery. Some of the audience believed wholeheartedly it was magic, whilst others could see how the shaman had used certain hidden techniques to shake the tent. Again, the ritual’s wide distribution and popularity is a testament to its efficacy. Regardless of one's attitude towards the mechanics, the ritual had real value for communities across the globe. Real magic or not, the power was undoubtedly a force to be reckoned with. Indeed, the ritual was banned by law for 70 years.

“In the 1880s, missionaries and Indian agents helped ban and suppress religious practices of First Nations across Canada, including the shaking tent Ceremony practiced by the Blackfoot, Cree, Innu, and Ojibwa, as well as the sun dance. The bans weren't lifted until 1951. Some native people risked jail to preserve their spiritual beliefs. Because of their efforts many of these ceremonies are practiced today.” (CBC.)

  

Davenport brothers by their spirit cabinet.

The description of the shaman's performance of the shaking tent seems to me to be virtually indistinguishable from the activities of the magicians that brought on the Spiritist movement of the late eighteen hundreds. The Spirit cabinet was a staple of magicians, or mediums, as they called themselves. In this presentation the medium was tied up inside a cabinet or behind a curtain, and musical instruments were placed with them, but out of reach. Once the cabinet or curtains were closed, spirits were called upon and music would be produced. When the curtains again opened the medium was still tied up.  
This escape act, for that is what it was, served as proof of the performer's ability to summon and communicate with spirits. 
As with the Native Americans, the attitudes amongst magicians, mediums, spectators and believers varied greatly. Both these examples garnered believers and skeptics. Whilst people like Harry Houdini exposed spiritualists and mediums as fraudsters, countless others found peace through messages rapped out on tables and tambourines played behind curtains. Whatever the techniques used, the effect on believers was real.

Another shamanistic practice described by Mircea Eliade in "Rites and Symbols of Initiation" (1965) is an initiation into manhood of a tribe of Australian Aboriginals.

Central Australian bull roarer.

The boy on the cusp of manhood is instructed about a bad spirit who likes to eat little boys and then tries to revive them. With this in mind, the boy is taken out into the desert where a roaring unearthly sound appears in the distance and the boy is told it is the very bad anthropophagic spirit that at any moment will eat him. 
The men place the boy under a blanket as the sound comes closer. When the sound is right on top of the boy an elder reaches under the blanket and uses a hammer and chisel to knock out one of the boys teeth. On the last day of the rite a fire is lit and the boy is put under the blanket again as the strange sound appears from the dark. It gets louder and louder as it comes closer. When the boy has become suitably terrified, the blanket is removed by the elder and the boy is initiated into the secret knowledge of the ritual. They reveal that the true source of the sound was a bull roarer, a carved flat wooden stick on a string which is spun around over head and in the process it creates a very peculiar sound. The stick whirls around on the end of the string not unlike a propeller of a plane and the sound of it tearing the air is surprisingly formidable. Once the boy is shown the bull roarer it is burnt in the fire and with this the boy is a man.
 I find it quite interesting that the completion of the ritual is the revelation of the deception. Revealed in the correct manner, this does not appear mundane and deflated, but a necessary tool, instilling a very particular and powerful state of mind in the boy.  


 “The shaman’s deception may in this sense be the ‘necessary lie’ that brings others to trust in healing powers – and, thereby contributes toward bringing about the healing experience,” notes Eugene Burger.

“Initiation into adulthood can be equally an initiation into spiritual deception. What is being worked over in the boy is their belief about spiritual reality.” (Robert Neal) The elders introduce the boy to a means of creating a religious experience through a very particular form of deception not meant to further the shaman's interest, but aimed to benefit others, to give them a very particular insight.

If one is to keep an open mind and not harbour foregone conclusions, we can't know for sure whether all shamans practiced deception. Descriptions and studies of rituals and shamanistic demonstrations of supernatural powers certainly do appear to have been steeped in tricks and illusions. Even without such things, the reasoning of showmen versed in the magical arts points in the same direction. Let's ask a conjurer before we re-write the laws of nature. I am not claiming deception in rituals is a negative thing, rather to the contrary. This is, in fact, the point I am trying to make. Slight of hand and illusions are perfect tools to amplify emotional states in crowds. Real or not, the effects are powerful, and their impact on those participating in the rituals are real enough.
The fact that deception has been involved might bring the modern reader disappointment, we can’t seem to see any validity in something known to be fake. This is perhaps the foundations for much of religion and society's obsession with literalism. How can I believe anything, or take anything good from the bible, if its claims that the bat is a bird, or that evolution never happened, are false?

“The seemingly alien conjunction of belief and disbelief may well be quite standard human behavior. It happens most frequently in situations of make-belive. All the arts – performing, liteary, visual – offer the state of make-believe that transcends the opposition of belief and disbelief. Religion has always done it very well indeed.” Robert E Neale.

A whole lot of our world's quarrels and disputes today, and throughout all time, has come from confusing levels of reality. Human beings are symbolic creatures. We engage emotionally in stories and find them fascinating and moving even if we know they are untrue. Whether something is factual or not, whether or not it happened to someone at sometime, does not lessen our experience of a story well-told, or the deep emotional changes it creates in us. A fable told, a fairy tale enjoyed, or a myth recounted to cast light upon a difficult question, can indeed enlighten the listener regardless of whether the animals in the stories actually formed a band, or the Pied Pieper of Hamlin actually drowned an entire town's children. The importance and value of such stories does not lie in their exact wording. It does not matter that each telling differs, for a literal interpretation of the stories are not their real wisdom. The truth lies in their symbolic meaning.

Confusion of the symbolic level of reality with the literal or factual always brings negative consequences. Think only of money. A famous anecdotal Cree Indian saying reminds us:

“Only after the last tree has been cut down.
Only after the last river has been poisoned.
Only after the last fish has been caught.
Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten."

It is important to be able to distinguish what’s real from what isn’t. Knowing what belongs in the literal/factual world, and what belongs in the symbolic world, has been a necessary skill at all times. Important for survival both literally and socially. Failing to do so is frowned upon as deception, lie or madness. 

In the shadow lands between real or not, with one foot firmly planted in each world, we find religion, superstition, art and showmanship. 

We have spaces designated for suspension of disbelief. Spaces that Mircea Eliade calls sacred, as opposed to profane, or ordinary, spaces. Sacred spaces are places whit their own sets of rules and where a different . Normal logic and precaution can be left behind, for inside these spaces it is safe to take a leap of faith into the absurd.

Is it real or not?

The carnival is a place where whether something is real or not simply doesn't matter. Here the truth of life is lies least of all in facts. Within the carnival’s perimeter fences leaps of faith are expected and safe. 
This is signified by the carnival high diver atop a thousand foot ladder swaying in the warm summer night. Perched precariously on a little platform far above the carnival lights he stands, and as we see him we know that everything we have learnt about the outside world tells us; if this man jumps, it will end in certain death. Yet still he jumps, and as he crashes into the shallow wooden pool below and triumphantly, death-defiantly, and dripping wet re-emerges, we understand with our hearts and our minds that the Carnival is a symbolic place where different rules apply.

Lessons from the Way of the Showman - 56

When you consider the archetypal, historical, and cultural background of whatever you do, it gives you a sense that your occupation can be a calling and not just a job.

Carnytube

Here are some snippets of carny relevant moving pictures that I have found fascinating and hope you all might enjoy.

Carnival Casino, a short film by Carnival Cinema.

An animal act to blow you all away! I am proud to say that I discovered this on a late night exploration of the shady world of russian animal circus. Amongst bear, and hippo acts of dubious nature I found this gem. A goat on a tight rope, with a monkey on its back doing a one armed handstand the goats horn sounds unbelievable, but it is not even the extent of this incredible act.

I am a contortionist and watching this makes me feel stiff and in serious need of practice. Ladies and Gentlemen, the Ross Sisters!

And finally the ultimate one man circus. The first time I saw this I got a lump in my throat as the high wire exited the tent. It is beautfiul and inspiring.

That's all for now folks.

Følg Drømmene dine

In early october 2010 I brought a bunch of friends with me to Haugesund, Norway and for one night only we became Captain Frodo's Carnival of Dreams. (To read a review in Norwegian click here.) The show was sold out and got a great five star review in the local paper. Further I was contacted by a journalist from Haugesund Avis and asked to write a piece for the paper. What follows here is that piece as it appeared on 13th of October, 2010.

Hope you like and understand it. If your Norwegian is rusty scroll down and click below for a rough translation.

Etter å ha vært borte siden 1996, kom jeg

hjem til Haugesund for en kveld for å

vise hvem jeg har blitt siden sist.

Jeg er ikke lenger bare Frodo Santini,

jeg er også, eller snarere, Captain Frodo,

The Incredible Rubberman. Veien dit var

ikke lett å finne.

Det finnes ikke noe opplæringskontor

som skaffer plass på en gumminannsbedrift.

Vil man, må man være fleksibel og

plukke opp lærdom der man finner det.

Jeg begynte min karriere som assistent i

Santini’s Magishow. Det høres gjerne

stort og imponerende ut. Det var det vel

også, på sin måte, men det var bare meg

og pappa – Store Santini og Santini Junior.

På åttitallet var det oss to som var sirkusmiljøet

i Haugesund.

En så snever interesse reiste mange

spørsmål om mine valg og verdier.

«Koffår syns du de e’ så kjekt å øva på

syke triks?»

"Fiskarane" og Bykjirkå

«Ka ti’ ska’ du få ein skikkelige jobb?’

Spørsmål enhver kunstnersjel stiller

seg selv. Tvilen er der alltid. Nok til å

slukke gløden i et barnehjerte. Jeg

trengte et større sirkusmiljø før gløden

døde. En plass jeg kunne bli akseptert

for den jeg var. Ingen spørsmål stilt.

Den som intet våger, intet vinner. En som

akkurat er blitt ferdig på skolen, har

fullført Ex.phil., har et hode fullt av tanker

og et hjerte som banker for ting som

han tror på, som ikke har studiegjeld

fordi han har gjort gateshow og laget

ballongdyr på det nyåpnede Amanda

senteret – har lite å tape.

Dette er en god tid å ta sjanser. Finne

seg selv og gjøre drøm til virkelighet. Å

mane en drøm til liv er en dans på roser.

Myke føtter, skarpe torner. Bloddråper

en ikke kan skille fra knuste rosenblad.

Vondt og vakkert på samme tid.

Edinburgh-festivalen 1998. Jeg har

begynt et gateshow. Jeg setter kofferten

ned og begynner å samle folk. Når jeg

snur meg har noen stjålet kofferten med

alt jeg eier. Pass på tingene, sier Verden.

Jeg bor i en Ford Transit, våkner

febersvett, kondens på veggene. Jeg har

bronkitt. Helst vil jeg sove, men kjører til

Covent Garden. Trenger penger til antibiotika

for å bli kvitt bronkitten.

Etter showet, teller jeg opp det i hatten

og ser at jeg fremdeles ikke har nok.

Skjelven begynner jeg på ‘an igjen. Du

må lage en bedre finale, sier Verden.

Glastonbury-festivalen 2000. Et stappfullt

sirkustelt reiser seg når jeg endelig

slenger tvangstrøya i scenegulvet.

Nå begynner det å komme seg, sier

Verden. Applausen lokker drømmen litt

nærmere virkeligheten.

Haugesund

Som oppdagelsesreisende i sirkusverdenen,

beskrevet på de hvite sidene

bakerst i atlaset, fant jeg litt etter litt

andre som delte min drøm og som ville

henge seg på min ekspedisjon.

Jeg samlet hjelpere med ferdigheter

minst like utrolige som Askeladdens.

Med dem dro jeg drømmen helt inn. Vi

skapte en ny virkelighet.

På flyet til Helganes slumrer jeg. «Du

blir aldri stor i Haugesund» sniker seg

inn i min bevissthet. London, Paris, New

York, ikke noe problem, men Haugesund?

Vil de forstå? Tvilen er der alltid.

Veien ut i det ukjente er lang og

kronglet. En ung kunstner uten form,

med lite å fortelle bortsett fra et rop fra

lengst inne i sjelen.

Utydelige ord med ingen annen

mening enn at de vil bli hørt. Små spirer

The Great Santini Enjoying the show.

av det romantikerne kalte Håpets Blå

Blomst, så sarte og sårbare.

Hvor kult hadde det ikke vært om Haugesund

var et drivhus for disse spirene, og

at haugesunderne var frivillige og entusiastiske

gartnere, så unge spirer slapp å

reise for å vokse seg sterke.

P Byscenen sitter jeg tre meter

over bakken, på toppen av en vaklevoren

stabel blikkbokser.

Captain Frodo’s Carnival of Dreams

spiller en kveld i Haugesund. Jeg ser

publikum tørke svette håndflater på

bukser og kjoler. Stolthet i øynene deres.

De forstår. Jeg er kommet hjem. Full

sirkel. Jeg er akseptert, ingen spørsmål

stilt. Min drøm har blitt virkelig – også

for dem. En vakker virkelighet de trygt

kan flykte til. En virkelighetsflukt til min

virkelighet.

Følg drømmene dine, mine damer og

herrer. Våg å drøm. Jeg ville bli den

Utrolige Gummimannen – nå er jeg det.

Sier jeg fra stabelen.

 For the few of you not quite up on your Norwegian I did a google translate of it for you. (It is funny at times...)

After having been away since 1996, I came home to Haugesund for a night to show who I  have become. I am no longer just Frodo Santini, I am also, or perhaps rather, Captain Frodo, The Incredible Rubberman. Way was not easy to find. There is no vocational office that provide work at a rubberman-shop. If you want to, you have to be flexible and pick up the lesson where you find it. I began my career as an assistant in Santini's Magic Show. It sounds large and impressive and it was too, in its own way, but it was just Dad and me -  the Great Santini and Santini Junior. In the eighties it was us two who were circus environment in Haugesund. Such a narrow interest raised many questions about my choices and values. "How come you like to practice all those sick tricks? " "When are you gonna get a real job?' Question any artist soul asks themselves. Doubt is always there. Enough to put out the glow in a child's heart.  

I needed a bigger circus environment before the glow died. A place I could be accepted for who I was. No questions asked. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. One that just been completed at school, completed Examin philosophicum, a head full of thoughts and a heart that beats for things he believes in, who do not have student loans because he did street shows and made balloon animals at the newly opened Amanda Shopping Centre - has little to lose. This is a good time to take chances. Finding themselves and make the dream a reality. To conjure a dream to life is a bed of roses. Soft feet, sharp thorns. Blood Drops one can not distinguish from crushed rose petals. Painful and beautiful at the same time. 

Edinburgh Festival 1998. I started a street show. I put my suitcase down and start to bring people together. When I turn around, some stolen suitcase witheverything I own. Watch your stuff, says the World. 
I live in a Ford Transit, wake in fever, sweating, condensation on the walls. I have bronchitis. Preferably, I would sleep, rather than drive to Covent Garden but I need money for antibiotics to get rid of the bronchitis. After the show, I count up there in the hatand see that I still do not have enough. Shaky start I 'an again. You must make a better finale, says the World. 
Glastonbury Festival 2000. A packed circus tent rises when I finally throw the straigh jacket on the stage floor. It's getting there, says The World. The Applause entice the dream a littlecloser to reality. 
As an explorer in the circus world, described in the white pages back of the atlas, I found, little by little, others who shared my dream and who would hang on my expedition. I collected helpers with skills at least as amazing as Askeladden's. (Famous Norwegian fairy tale character.) Together with them we pulled my dream into reality.
 
On the plane to Helganes I slumber. "You never get big in Haugesund "sneaks into my consciousness. London, Paris, New York, no problem, but Haugesund? Will they understand in my home town? The doubt is always there. 

The road into the unknown is long and crooked. A young artist without form, with little to say except a cry from the furthest recesses of his mind. Unclear words with no other meaning than that they want to be heard. Small sprouts of what the Romantics called Hope's Blue Flower, so delicate and vulnerable. How cool would it have been if Haugesund was a hotbed for these seedlings, and that Haugesundians were voluntary and enthusiastic gardeners, so the young artist sprouts did not have to journey to grow strong.
At Byscenen I sit three meters above ground, on top of a rickety stack of tin cans. Captain Frodo's Carnival of Dreams has a one night stand with Haugesund. I look out and see someone in the audience wiping sweaty palms on his pants. Pride in their eyes. They understand. I have come home. Full circle. I'm accepted, no questions asked. My dream has come true - even for them. A beautiful reality they can sagely run away to.  Escapeism to my reality.Follow your dreams, ladies and Gentlemen. Dare to dream. I wanted to be the Incredible Rubber Man - and now I am. I say from the stack of cans.