Bear blog

Steve Rawlings is a king. His is the one act I could watch at every convention for the rest of my life and still find very, very funny and not be disappointed by (+1) He had good energy and I didn't have that 'ohh groan, the compere's back' feeling that I normally get and he didn't piss about introducing people. He just got on with it and did a good job. (+1) Well done him.

Flame Oz had sticks that were on fire which usually isn't my thing. They weren't the most original or coordinated with it either (-1) but it was the right act to open a public show with (+1) and set a good pace for the night. Oh, and there was a loud whizzy bang thing at the end (+1).

Norbi did his usual stuff but looked swamped by the stage (-1). His music was quite good though and he at least attempted to work to it (+1). Probably some of the best of Norbi I've seen for a long long while, but still just Norbi.

The Australian acrobalancers killed things a bit with their comedy juggling which really wasn't entertaining (-1). Their acro was wobbly but they whipped through it like nobody's business (+1). I'm afraid they have to lose a point for thinking that acro with flag twirling is an acceptable finale (-1).

There was some poi act next. Poi is rubbish (-1) and this particular act was not skillful of well executed (-1) and was absolutely not good enough to be in the public show. Very very drab (-1). I forget when she appeared on stage but there was a Swedish girl with a ball at one point (Janine?). I'm sure she was very clever and did her stuff smoothly and with the correct level of flounce but for some reason she pressed my mysogeny button and after about a minute of it I became really very annoyed. I mean she might as well have just whipped her pants off and menstrated across the stage. (-1)

Was Tempei next? It all becomes a blur. He was good though. Short and to the point will bucket loads of good tricks (+1). It's really nice to see him do his stuff with costume and music and routine. It improves ten fold what is already really rather good. Nothing to complain about there. (+1)

Wes Peden impressed me. His mix of 'art and sports juggling' is obviously just the mix I've been looking for (+1). There was just the right amount of impressive little tricks, lots of things up in the air, good execution of really quite hard stuff, and nice fluid movement between it all (+1) A nice way to end the first half.

Angie started off the second half. I don't really mind hula all that much when it's done properly, and Angie can do it properly (+1). Again, it was the right act to start off that half of the show and my only tiny annoyance was the fact that she was just ever-so-slightly out of time with the video playing on the edge of the stage. Not much, but enough to make me tut (-1).

Garfield completely disappointed me. I hadn't seen him at all during the week and so I was looking forard to seeing him do something and being able to assess his short-arsedness. He is. But I didn't get the chance to enjoy his juggling. Yes, some of his speil was quite funny and astute (+1) but he was walking a very thin line between good natured jibes at the other performers and just been nasty about them. This especially annoyed me because he didn't do a bloody thing to show that he was in any way a better performer (-1). If he'd have said his stuff and then gone into backcrosses and spinning around and throwing things about a bit I wouldn't have complained. But he didn't, so I am. (-1)

William Lee was extremely cool. The glow diablo bit at the start made me smile for a few seconds (+1) because I like pretty colours, but after that got a tad annoying. It's nice to be able to see when someone's doing something terribly difficult (-1) Once the lights came on though he more than made up for it. He was fantastic in a way that everyone could appreciate. Skill, energy, pace. Yes. (+1)

Vova disappointed me a little too. Mainly because he pass good and me likee pass but he didn't do any. The couple of quick routines he did do though were entertaining and good stuff (+1) and I could have stood to see more of it, which is always a good sign (+1). I have to admit that using Luke's music made me laugh hysterically at the time becuase I am a complete bitch, but it was a very shitty thing to do, methinks (-1) and really not needed.

Dietz made me laugh (+1) but it wasn't what I came to see (-1). Things were made worse by Steve Rawlings saying the wrong thing and making me think that Dietz was going to come back out and actually juggle. But no. (-1) If it wasn't for the fact that he makes my tummy feel funny then he'd get an extra point knocked off for really truly taking the piss.

I can't begin to describe all the many kinds of wonderful that is Get The Shoe. They were utterly superb and I felt nothing but joyous throughout the whole act. It had everything. Passing and stealing (+1), comedy fighting (+1), good movement and pure skill (+1). Their use of music and lighting really was an example of how it should be done too. I can't praise them highly enough. They salvaged what was turning into not-a-good show.

Aside from the usual poi/staff/contact stuff that are a bit rubbish but expected by now, it was the WJF lot that ruined the show for me. I don't understand the politics beind this kind of stuff (I am just a girl, after all) but Garfield and Dietz (and to a slightly lesser extent, Vova) came across as arrogant, unprofessional, and sort of shitty. Dietz gets a slight reprive because he has pretty knees, but if it wasn't for the fact that I'd spent pretty much the whole day watching him juggling exceedingly well in the hall I would feel even more cheated by them all. The fact that Garfield and Dietz in particular were in the second half of the show I think is quite insulting to the other acts who, to their credit, at least bothered to go out and actually try to entertain the crowd. If I was Wes Peden I'd be pissed off. I'm not sure whether the atmosphere they created filtered through to the public but I definitely felt it and it was horrible. Unfortunately, their combined poor turnout takes the show down another point. (-1)

 

Juggle Monkey scores +4.