paying bills while hanging 40 feet high with no net

So, a question that seems to follow me around is "does it pay the rent?". Well, sometimes it does sometimes it doesn't. I would say that during the hot spots throughout the year, my bills are easily covered by circus performance alone. Holidays, community events, corporate parties... these are the things that I thrive on. Lately my bookings have brought me aerial gigs for the most part. everyone wants their own little 'cirque' party, and what better to set the scene than a mysterious man in flowing fabric above your head. It's kind of an easy 'in' when it comes to making the performers cut, and has been for almost two years.
I first got my start with aerial climbing in late spring of 2007. My first teacher was Autumn Augustus, who is also the creator and life blood behind Cirkus Pandemonium. Autumn saw my potential before anyone else, and jumped on the opportunity to lead me on the path to proficiency. Just like 95% of the populace, i was very reluctant to climb into the air, knot myself up and let go, falling into the hands of a brilliantly red poly-fiber ribbon. Those first moments, sitting in a cradle of silk trying to let go, were simply frightening. To be honest, I learned very little in the privacy of practice. It took the pressure of putting myself out there in front of an audience for me to really progress.
I look back on those days, and wonder how I made it through without killing myself. I was simply driven by the essence of my nick-name, Danger. Even now, I occasionally look down from above, in the midst of some high profile gig, and wonder if I have the guts to perform from my heart. Trusting that my training has provided me with the safety precautions necessary to keep me aloft, and in good health. It's like a lover, reeling me in, caressing me, whispering assurances... I trust thee, my love.
The question I ask you today, reader, is 'have you given yourself to passion? to trust?'. For the love of it is the only true reason to do anything, but it sure is nice when it pays the bills too...
Tune in next time, as I lead you on an elephant ride through the circus world. Ciao!

One wheeled days, and one wheeled nights...

At this point in my life, I'm realizing that we are all dominated by something to some degree or other. Whether we realize this or not, we all make the internal choices that define whether our fixations follow a positive or negative path. It's our choice. Well, I choose the unicycle as my fixation(one of them anyway).
Since I discovered it, unicycling has broken down many personal barriers within me. It literally altered my synapse patterns to enable furthered progress. Everything we do affects us in this way, but unicycling inspired love in me. One wheel on a frame, with a seat and pedals. It broke the barrier between motor skills and emotion in a most eloquent way. Centering me...
A large part of the appeal for me is simplicity enhanced by imagination. The possibilities are endless. Ride down the street, or ride down a mountain. twirl in circles, or hop up onto a ledge, balancing precariously, yet strangely at ease... I think I'm hooked.
till next time...

Enter the Blog...

Oh where to start. oh, i know... thank you so much for your generosity David Nojaim. for all the rest of you, the story behind that goes like this... After 5 years away from home, my sister called me up threatening to strangle me if i didn't come home for her wedding(ok maybe i exaggerated that a little bit). So i did. my mom and dad ever so graciously payed for my flight and tux. throughout the bar fueled madness i experienced with my siblings i ran into my freshman spanish teacher, mr. nojaim(i think i'm supposed to call him david now...) out at the bar. he was dancing with a beautiful latin woman with no worries in the world(must be the surplus of spanish pick-up lines in his repetouire). my mom still keeps regular contact with david and invited him to dinner at my grandma's place. we talked about travels and the circus experience, and it was brought up that he had an offer to present me with. i said shoot... so he tells me that if i am willing to keep a regular blog on my circus adventures, that he would give me a laptop to enable such. did i accept? well duh you're reading my first blog entitled danger's circus adventures... so there it is. thanks to the generous nature of and old friend and mentor, i have now fully entered the ranks of the technological generation. that's right... i can go on down to the local coffee joint and plug my brain into the intra-net and work on blogging while i drink coffee to the point of jitters. wee-hoo! roll out the red carpet baby!
so, keep yourselves tuned in to my life as a performer right here on this blog(man, that sounds weird... bloooooogggg... :)) till next time, -Mike Danger