State Fair Diaries

We made it through Day 2 of the California State Fair! :) 2 days down, 16 more to go. Here's hoping we don't melt into little puddles or burn ourselves crispy in the process!

We're doing 3 or 4 shows every day - at 4, 6, and 9 pm on weekdays and 2, 4, 6 and 9 on the weekends. Our shows are a half hour long, so that means 2 full hours of fire on the weekends - exciting, and also exhausting!

Friday it was *really* hot. We got in and found our site, after much wandering around carrying gallons and gallons of fuel. We are sharing a trailer with the African Acrobats, in the Weird, Wild and Wacky zone right in the center of the fair. There's also an awesome magician and a bird show right in our area, so there's a lot going on and things were pretty crazy the first day. Also, did I mention it was HOT?

Our stage is really awesome. It's... well.. wacky, with a funky corrugated-metal-and-mirrors look. It is also a nice reflecting mirror, so the Sacramento summer sun can get us from 3 sides instead of just one, while we help by twirling huge fireballs around. The first day we sweated and panted through our daytime shows, rocked the nighttime show, and then dragged home and collapsed.

Saturday was much better - the weather was cooler, the audiences were bigger, and we weren't feeling so off-balance - we knew where the stage was, where the water was, and where to find air conditioning and iced coffee. Also, after just two days we've performed this show seven times, and it just gets tighter and sillier every time. At the end of the first day we knew all the things we needed to change. At the end of the second day, we know all the things we want to develop. By the end of today we're going to be Vegas, Baby.. and by Labor Day, the WORLD. Muahahahahaaa..

I'm looking forward to the opportunity to create and try out a lot of new choreography, as will inevitably happen when we get sick of doing the same show over and over. I'm doing fire hula hoop for this show, which is fairly new to me, and I'm enjoying it a whole lot (last night a little girl came up to me after the show and told me the hula hoop was her favorite part! I must be doing it right!).

If anyone wants to come out and see us, I really recommend coming to the 9:00 show - it's dark so the fire shows up, it's not so hot, and we seem to regularly ROCK that show!

I will post some pictures soon, and stay tuned for more wacky adventures to come. :)