Back to the yard

Returning to the yard after a long and very successful summer season is a real pleasure.  The place has a feeling of slight neglect with weeds and nettles poking up from corners and a bush of overripe blackberries missed and unpicked. My yoga space created last year in one corner of the workshop has cobwebs and dust and needs a good brush.  Everything in the workshop exactly as I had left it but somehow it all seems just that little bit different, as if all the tools had just been caught out in a secret dance hearing my return and hadn’t quite made it back to their original positions.

The leaf colours outside are wonderful and the sounds of crunching as I walk over the fallen ones is especially evocative.  The silence of my surroundings accentuate the small sounds inside the lorry.  The tinkle of the chandelier as I move around, the strange sad sigh my fridge door makes when I shut it, Mimi snoring on the sofa. All sounds ignored and unnoticed during the hullabaloo of summer fairs.

I love this period of reflection and review, time to think back over the highlights of the summer.

Sales of my DVD have gone well and I have received some great feedback from those who have seen it.  It will take a while before I recuperate all the investment in it but if sales continue this shouldn’t be too long.  Rhys is still entering the short version into film festivals and I will let you know how it fares.  BBC2 are showing some interest in a version of it so I will be following that up over the next few months.  I may yet become a TV star. (Be careful what I wish for.)

The show grew nicely this summer.  A couple of new venues including South Shields and Wanstead Park. The latter will become an annual event I think. The shows themselves changed in much the same way as they have always.  Gradually. I used Maff Potts’ ragtime suite as the accompaniment to a silent third show and had the great joy to work with him live at Wallingford Bunkfest. I included fire again in some shows after a year or so without it.  I’m a little ambivalent about fire in the show.  I’d love to hear what you think…

I’ve made a few changes to the lorry.  Foremost amongst these is a solar battery charging system.  Thanks to help and advice from Ralph and Geoff I have now a good quality pure sine wave 2000 watt inverter run from two leisure batteries and a large panel on the lorry roof running the system.  I discovered after a pricy mistake that a standard inverter (called a modified sine wave) doesn’t provide enough startup power for the fridge. However the pure sine wave one will and this means I can turn off the generator for long periods and run all the mains items in the lorry, including the fridge.  Ralph even found a digital meter which tells me how much power is left in the batteries.  I don’t even have to step outside to turn the inverter on as it has an inside remote switch.  I am really pleased with it and next year I plan to extend the system and add two more panels and maybe another battery, which on a hot summer day should be enough to completely power the stage and the lorry which will make me even more ecologically friendly.

Other changes too. I’ve just taken delivery of a new mattress to fit the odd space my bed takes up. The company (www.shipshapemattresses.co.uk) specialise in making odd-shaped mattresses and I’m very very pleased with the result.  It means I can spread over the whole bed and not have odd bits of foam making up the edges.  It's the most comfortable sleep I've ever had.  I even lie in bed in the morning occasionally just enjoying it.  Not something I am used to doing. Overall the lorry is becoming almost as perfect a small living space as anyone would wish for. 

The outside paint job has now taken a huge leap forward.  Rob, (who painted my silent DVD salesmen figure) has this week made significant progress with the other side and rear of the lorry.  I will wait till it is finished before I add photos, but I am thrilled with it and he is adding a wide range of delicate and wonderfully true-to-life fauna and flora to the picture.  His scene-painting experience, skills and expertise are really coming to the fore.  It really is superb.

So we’re ready for the winter, and a lot of Cat’s Paw Theatre work in the pipeline.  More about that next time.

All the best from a road near you,

Mr Alexander

Being on the planet to do something

I have some great emails from people I have probably only met at the end of a show as they pop a pound or two into the hat.  I love receiving them (the pounds and the emails) and always reply, even if it’s sometimes some while later.  I had a lovely email from someone who’d seen the show a few years running in Wallingford and had introduced her family to it and enjoyed their enjoyment of what I enjoy.  Doing my show on a sunny day on a piece of grass at an event in Britain.  She said something significant and it gave me the impetus for this blog so I am grateful.  The email finished with two sentences.  I don’t think she will mind me quoting them;

‘I think the pleasure that flows through you affects us all equally.  Thank you for doing what you are obviously on this planet to do.’

Of course I was flattered by the comments but there is more here and it is worthy of exploring. Despite what I write here in these pages about the difficulties of my life in one way or another, I am hugely favoured and lucky for being able to continue to do what I love doing.  It does continue, event after event, to give me such pleasure to see the effect I seem to have on people.

There was another example on Sunday at the Malpas Yesteryear Rally. One of the regular faces in the audience at that lovely Archeresque event, a girl of about seven who has probably been in my audience there since she could walk, came over at the end of the show and gave me a spontaneous hug.  I does happen from time to time and whenever it does it is very moving.  It is as though they see something warm, something human, in the show and need to share it, to give it back. It is rich and humbling and deeply rewarding, all at the same time.

The email comment catches it precisely, that somehow I seem to be able to focus my pleasure at juggling or magic or unicycling through to all of you.  There’s a human dimension thing going on too.  My efforts (not always totally successful) to do all these weird things with objects becomes a symbol of all our efforts (equally not always successfully) to do things.  Great when they work and funny/sad when they don’t but it’s the trying that is the most important part.  It’s the human predicament to try a make some order out of the human condition.  And to do it all with determination, good will and good humour.  As well as a touch of classic style.   

I try to catch everyone’s eye, person to person, as much as possible during the attempt and make contact with them.  Sometimes hard when there are maybe five hundred people as there were at Wallingford.  I do still try to look directly at the people and I see the pleasure they are taking from me and I try to win over any doubters and cynics. 

Another example from the weekend.  There’s always a few people who never clap at all.  Perhaps it is partly that, as another unsolicited email told me earlier this year after complaining about quiet audiences in Derbyshire.

‘I think that you actually misinterpreted the response to your show for the following reasons:

1. No matter what you did, most of the audience seemed to be anticipating the moment when you would pull out a couple of handkerchiefs and start a Morris.

2. Audiences have learned to avoid eye contact with performers for fear of being dragged into a 'stick dances' where the performers kick their legs out while thrashing around with pick-axe handles. Many audience members have developed evasion tactics that include pretending to tie shoe laces or moving around slowly with a pronounced limp.’

Again on Sunday at Malpas there were a few there who don’t quite get the convention or the importance of active audience involvement through clapping, cheering etc.  It’s partly that the event is in the middle of nowhere and the only other performance they may have ever experienced in the deep English countryside is Morris dancing.

I looked at the unparticipating audience member while I was on top of three chairs just after juggling the knives, smiled, and said ‘Not worth uncrossing your arms for?’ He laughed and started clapping. And for that moment we shared our common humanity.

Long may I continue to do that with all of you. And keep the emails coming.

All the best from a road near you,

Mr Alexander

Wonderful Wallingford

There are many different things that we measure our lives by. For some people I guess it might be earning a bonus or an annual professional review. Perhaps it’s the opinion of colleagues or of our family. Are we achieving those things we hoped for and dreamed of?  How do we measure our success? What is important to us?  Has that changed?

For me Wallingford BunkFest is one of those events that gives me a view on my work and also allows me a review of how I have progressed. It’s partly because it comes at the end of the summer so I can look back at the whole season and re-think some of the highlights, issues and any disasters and determine what needs to change. This year I have put fire performance back into the show and feel it has given me an edge that was missing from the third show.  I still have it in mind to develop the Materialising Motorbike Illusion, but it needs some investment of money and time.  Definitely a winter project worth considering.

It’s also the nature of how I am funded there that makes Wallingford different.  The committee pay a contribution to my fee because they and I know the public will put money into my hat. As it is a free festival of a very high quality this means that the public is willing to contribute financially to it. And I’m as good as the money they drop in my hat.  This year the people of Wallingford were as generous as ever and I can therefore feel satisfied the show is up to standard.  In addition the feedback was great and made me feel that the show continues to be what I work hard to make it.  I think the crowds were larger than ever and their enthusiastic response to the show was overwhelming.

Over the years the event has seen me in many different psychological and emotional states so it has always given me a period of reflection in a number of other ways too.  I have many good friends in Wallingford and they are always on hand for me to share personal aspects of my life, so I can manage a personal review too.  The summer has been challenging and, on occasion, rather difficult personally.  The VOSA episode in May launched me into a short period of paranoia and worry which eventually proved to be unfounded, but for a time preoccupied me considerably.  Other things also contributed to a somewhat unsettling early part of the season.  However I think I’m over the worst and can return to my winter mode with enthusiasm for the new Cat’s Paw presentation (about which more later) and all the usual preparation for next year.  I have also to focus myself on organising and animating the Ilfracombe Victorian Celebrations.  I’m going to be busy, which is how I like it.

So Wallingford 2015 finished with a blazing hot summer Sunday, allaying all the fears of the previous week that had caused so many Bank Holiday events (including the Isle of Wight Steam Show where I was) to be muddy and rain-swept.  It was a glorious finale to the summer and I can go into the Back End Fairs (only two more to go this year) with energy and enthusiasm.

My newly mounted solar panel on the lorry roof manages to supply enough power for the fridge overnight and thanks to my good friend Ralph I have got it working at peak efficiency and can see at a glance how much power is left in the batteries thanks to the digital voltmeter and second leisure battery he gave me. I plan to augment one panel to a three panel array next year and be completely generator-free on sunny days.

So there is much to look forward to, something I couldn’t have said with such certainty a few months ago.

All the best from a road near you,

Mr Alexander

The wedding in the West

I usually don’t do private events in the summer but as August is a strangely quiet month for events. I don’t know why just always has been, so I accepted a booking to perform my cabaret show for Alan and Polly’s wedding, planned for last Friday. It sounded lovely.  A home wedding on the meadow at the back of their house somewhere near Preston.  Maximum of 40 guests and a good spattering of children.  A quiet family occasion was promised, as was some good food and a reasonable fee.

I had a long four hour drive to arrive there and as I travelled the weather became more and more mirky.  By the time I arrived the hot August sunshine I left had given way to a spattering of rain and things looked even bleaker on the BBC Weather on the iPhone.

When I arrived at the house Alan and Polly had already decided to transfer the entire ceremony to a small marquee which had originally been intended as the food tent.  Outside the marquee were three hastily-erected even smaller garden gazebos, one of which was allocated to me and my show.  You’ve seen my show probably.  I’m very prop dependent.  I can’t believe I once had an entire half hour show which fitted into a Gladstone Bag.  Anyway once I’d decanted the essentials for the show from the car into the tiny space there wasn’t any room for anyone else, so if the rain was to come, the audience would have to fit into the two gazebos with me in the other.  The three gazebos were placed in a kind of L shape so the space that was left would fit the chair balance and as the threatened rain hadn’t really materialised I spread the props around and made as good use of the space as I could.

During the wedding ceremony the rain started again so I re-arranged everything so the props at the edges of the gazebo were the ones that would cope with being damp.  As the ceremony came to an end there was a break in the rain and it looked for a time that all would be well.

The show was timed for the end of the food. The rain had kept off more or less and I started the show.  There were thirty or so wedding guests crammed into the two small gazebos and me in the third.  Of course this was the cue for the real rain to start.  I can honestly say in my forty-five years of performing I have never performed in such conditions.  It lashed down.  I had the choice to call it a day but then I would have let everyone down so, a little foolishly, I said that if they stayed I would carry on so from then on we all had no choice.  They had to stay and I had to do the show.  The chair balance wouldn’t fit under the marquee so I did this in the open. The gaps between the three marquees were waterfalls that had to be crossed from time to time so everyone could see. The wet made sleights of hand very challenging. The photographer said she has some amazing photos of the occasion.  Everyone laughed and clapped and it was just one of those occasions when we British seem to rise above all the odds and face whatever is thrown at us with good spirits and a smile. After the show everyone was very appreciative and Alan and Polly were amazed and happy it had all gone down so well.

Half an hour after the end of the show the sun came out.  Typical.  Everything I had was soaked.  I packed away what I could, spread things out in the car for the long drive back and changed back into my dry clothes.

I’ve spent today drying everything out and there was no harm done.  A few water wrinkles here and there but nothing damaged.  Even the feather dusters emerged unscathed from the deluge.

I can’t wait to see the photos and will publish them here when I have them.

All the best from a road near you,

Mr Alexander

Getting heavy again

In the mid eighteenth century Wanstead Park was the equivalent of Alton Towers with thousands coming out from London every week to enjoy all manner of entertainments and attractions.  It is still a well-established and popular park with some lovely walks, woodlands and lakes with an abundance of wildlife.

Music in the Park is an annual local event with some great bands and other attractions, this year including Mr Alexander.  I had a slow and leisurely set up on the Friday and then had the park to myself overnight.  The new generator is brilliant, silent and very economical so I had all the modern conveniences of life plus a great view and some lovely walks for the dogs and me.

The best news is that I have passed the C1+E trailer driving test which means I can put all the extra props and equipment I had to banish after the VOSA episode.  I am now officially licenced to drive vehicles up to 11 tons, and with the new weight plate I am now totally legal.  All in all it was a worrying and anxious time and now the relief is considerable.  I took the test with Chevron Training in Flint who were helpful and professional.  The test itself was nerve-racking and I was convinced I had failed it after a mistake at the very beginning.  The examiner noticed the mistake but said that as my overall drive was competent he would pass me. Hurrah hurrah!

After Wanstead it was on to Netley Marsh Steam Rally which despite a sunny day to set up on the Friday rained solidly all day on the Friday and again on the Sunday so I only had one day of performing.  Luckily it was very hot and sunny all day on the Saturday and this meant it was fine for the Magic Lantern Show on Saturday evening.  This was a new venture and the show, presented  by Allan and Rene Marriott and was attended by about twenty people.   They showed many of their Victorian animated slides.  It was great to see these precursors of animated films which were shown to fascinated audiences 150 years ago at fairgrounds and events like the steam rally and to marvel at the advances we have made in film production.

And then on to the Isle of Wight, my favourite place in Britain.  The Victorian weekend was vey busy for two days and the sun shone for both. It was nice to meet up with many of the Victorian re-enactors I meet at other events.  I showed a film on the Saturday night and decided on ‘High Society’ which surprisingly went down very well with those in the audience who weren’t even thought of in 1956.  A bit chilly for an open air film show though.

Grymmtooms Museum (www.grymmtooms.co.uk) were there and I haven’t seen them for years.  It is a great joy they are still going.  They present a Victorian travelling museum of strange and amazing artefacts and live in period tents behind their exhibition.  They talk in detail about the exhibits and lead you into their mysterious world of explorers and strange beasts whose skeletons are shown.  The stories they tell using the exhilbits are compelling and almost believable. One has the feeling they are probably fiction, but of a very high order and they make you want to believe them. 

This weekend is Shrewsbury Flower Show again and the challenges of that very sloping but attractive site will be met again by Mr Alexander’s ingenuity and determination.

A few people have kindly asked whether I am OK as I have not posted a blog for a while.  Thank you for your interest and concern.  I have had some personal challenges recently but I am recovering from those and I feel sure normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.

All the best from a road near you,

Mr Alexander