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Circus and Politics

Happy First of May!

The First of May is, in circus tradition, considered the first day of the year wagons will be able to make it along the trails without gettting stuck in the mud. The beginning of earning season! People who wanted to be part of the circus found this the best entry point. As in any job, the new hires are the greenest. The least experienced. The “dumbest” when it comes to the ways of the circus, which has many specific customs, methods, dangers, vernacular phrases, and other idiosyncrasies. The new hires are known as “First of Mays,” and as human nature can often be, when they inevitably mess up (or get pranked upon), they provide entertainment for the more experienced cast/crew.

In March of 2019, our nation was in the throes of a very distasteful political climate. As a former circus performer, I found myself feeling trauma to my psyche every time “Circus” and “Washington DC” were put into the same sentence. I poured my anguish into a meme, which resonated with my extended circus family all over the world and got shared thousands of times on social media. I guess it touched a nerve.

So as a shameless, but lazy self promoter, I share it here for the web, where social media doesn’t go so search engines can make me famous again. Have at it, Googlebots!

Photo of Lou Jacobs, beloved, iconic Ringling Bros. circus clown for over 60 years.

Text for accessibility:
People keep referring to happenings in Washington DC as a circus.
For the record, I worked for Ringling Bros.for a significant part of my career.
Everything was run tightly and efficiently with no room for bullshit.
(well, there was every other type of shit, but only in the literal sense)
Furthermore, a circus is made up of people from all over the world: male, female, straight, gay … We worked hard, were tough as nails, and we looked after each other.
Artists, athletes, lighting/sound techs,vendors, riggers, prop handlers, train crew, and shit shovelers all worked together for a common goal.
If this country were run like a circus, our problems would disappear overnight.

013 Trees, WW1, and Ketchup

A walk in the woods with nothing to say delves into trees, poetry, WWI, world culinary and etymological history, and a fart joke.

 

011 Renaissance Man of Fortunes

This time Rich explores an ongoing gig, working as a frontman for a fortune telling booth at the Maryland Renaissance Festival. Looking at crowd work, salesmanship, and the dilemma between the art and the mission.

007 Labor of Love

This time, Rich is tired, semi-coherent, and is barely vertical. On the plus side, it’s the shortest podcast to date. Tune in next week when he’s more awake.

Recorded while walking down the double yellow lines down the middle of his neighborhood’s main road at midnight. A couple edits were to remove the sound of two moving cars encountered during the recording.

Action podcast!

006 A Walk on the Beach

Come enjoy a moderately amusing unscripted stroll down a Mid-Atlantic American beach with Rich, as he talks, stream of consciousness, giving voice to his rampant ADD.

I did get *almost* through the entire podcast without using any “Explicit Content” words (Apple gets very indignant if you use “grown-up” words and don’t label “Explicit Content”). Well, around minute 13, I had to edit out a “shit.” But since you’ve just experienced it here, you won’t miss it in the podcast.

Happy “Wednesday!” So it’s a day late. I’m on vacation!

The Space Race

Looking into the space race, in the timeline between Sputnik and the first moon landing, and our silly, silly nuclear sabre rattling.

The podcast says “a couple days late.” I made it a full week, just to release on a Wednesday. You’re welcome.