The Balance of Work & Play

As we draw near to the finish of October, Halloween season, I turn reflective.

We’ve gone to the Myrtle Beach “Ripley’s Believe It or Not!” to perform 12 shows in 2 days.  Exhausted, but managed to walk on the beach at midnight (while beautiful, I have to say that sand fleas SUCK), tossed some brews and whiskey back at The Bowery, and had one of the silliest evening walks ever.  We even ran into an old friend, Ted, on the beach of all places.

We’ve gone to the Gatlinburg “Ripley’s Believe It or Not!” to perform 18 shows in 3 days.  Thrilling and so pumped we had a blast!  Walked alongside the river to the Mysterious Mansion and finally went through this haunt!  Enjoyed a nice dinner at a cabin on a mountain. After 5 years, I finally summoned the courage to ride the Ski-Lift, walked through a beautiful aquarium and marveled at the sharks, and had some interesting mountain pit stops to enjoy the changing color of the leaves.

We’ve gone to Atlanta’s Hot Air Balloon Festival, Owl-o-Ween, to perform 5 shows in 2 days.  Enjoyed the massive crowds and the event was a truly beautiful weekend filled with the Fall Spirit!  Saw many friends enjoying their families and the weather and caught up with fellow entertainers between shows.

I suppose what resonates with me after this reflection is the balance between work and play.  We bust our tails traveling for shows.  So much goes into packing props, costumes and ourselves.  Then there’s the household to mind while we’re gone.  The hound goes to the kennel, the children have destinations, lock this, unplug that, leave those lights on.  It can be overwhelming.  But, we do it all together.  People often ask how it is that we don’t kill each other, always together.  The answer is simply… goals.  We have the same goals.  We want to enjoy this life we have. So, we do.

The show is a reward.  I relish eliciting laughter from folks.  Captain prefers to shock the audience.  We both draw different experiences at the end of the day.  But, always remember to work and play.

Zamora, The Torture King

The first time Captain saw Zamora perform live was back in the 90’s.  During the infamous Lollapalooza Tour.  It was inspiration incarnate.  Fast forward to 1999.  Spartanburg, SC.  The Torture King and Slymenstra Hymen were touring with their “Girly Freak Show” and Captain (well, Chris Steele way back then) was afforded the opportunity of a lifetime.  He was given the microphone and proceeded to dominate the audience.  At the time, it was not sideshow he was delivering, but body suspension.  Should you be interested in reading how he evolved into the entertainer he is today, scroll on down and read that blog.  But I digress.

As the last 15 years have passed, we have had numerous opportunities to share the stage with Zamora.  Not only performing alongside him, but watching him at many independent appearances.  He is always captivating and I am enthralled watching him manipulate the audience’s emotions and fears.  The first time I recall seeing him live was at the Masquerade with the incredible touring sideshow, Hellzapoppin Revue.  I was blown away at his delivery and his charismatic personality.

Zamora 2 lo res

Of course, we would see him multiple times in the media over the years, be it in print or on television, astounding folks with his “mind over matter” mentality.  You may have seen him on Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, on the Discovery Channel, or perhaps on Stan Lee’s “Superhumans” as  the Pain-Proof Man.   We would again see him perform at the infamous Clermont Lounge in Atlanta.  That evening, we invited the entire touring cast to our place for showers, laundry washing and some off-the-bus-relaxation time.  It was then I got to know the more personal side of Tim Cridland.  If I admired him as an entertainer before, my admiration grew enormously that evening.

As time progressed, we would share the stage again at The Five Spot in Atlanta.  This was just a few years back, and then he decided to up and move overseas. So, it was much to my delight that Captain forwarded an email to me from Tim, about a month ago, letting us know he was traveling back to the US and would like to partner up for a show.  It happens to be that we deliver our full “Southern Fried Sideshow” on the first Thursday of every month at the Laughing Skull Lounge, Atlanta’s premier comedy club.  It worked out for us that he will be our featured guest performer for our March 6th show.

It’s funny, how years can span between different events in your life, and you never know how friendships will evolve.  I suppose that’s to be said with anything really, health, family ties, jobs, etc. I guess it’s the fan girl in me that prompted this blog.  I once only admired Zamora from a far, and now I have the privilege of sharing a stage with him.  Dream big and make it happen.