Fun At The Faire

Sunday August 24th, 2008 - Bristol, WI/Kenosha, WI

It only took me about thirty years but I finally checked out the Bristol Renaissance Faire today. I remember seeing commercials for it on TV when I was a kid but it was known as King Richard’s Faire then. I’ve always wanted to check it out and today I got my chance.

Anything that has to do with well done live entertainment interests me and I thought the whole operation was extremely well done. These guys must be doing something right or it wouldn’t have lasted this long and I just sat back and observed how the operation worked.

We saw a jousting show which was great and then had a guy with a big beard do a show about some sort of old time surgeon’s tricks and even though I had no idea what he talked about I appreciated how he held the attention of everyone for his thirty minute soliloquy.

The highlight of the day was ‘The Mud Show’. Three guys did a show in a mud pit and it was one of the most entertaining things I’ve ever seen. The mud was only a tiny portion of what made it so great. The rest of it was the interaction and teamwork of the players.

It was basically two guys cheerleading to see who could get one side of the audience to yell louder than the other and then donate more money than the other so the ‘judge’ might deem one side the better one. It was a cross between a street hustle and a pep rally but the guys were extremely tight and we all loved it. They are a three man team and very funny.

I got to talk to two of them after the show and told them I was a performer too but I had never seen anything quite like their show and I meant it. I told them how smooth they had their teamwork down and pointed out several examples and they both beamed when I said it because they’re not used to hearing it. Most audiences don’t care how difficult this is.

I knew exactly how much work it took to do what they did and they literally pulled their show right out of the mud and made it a big hit. I wanted to tell them I appreciated all that it took to polish a show like that and they were more than happy to hear it. They earned it.

I love to watch quality entertainment and I thought the entire place was top shelf all the way. I’m sure there is a circuit of these things just like comedy clubs and many of the acts travel around just like I do hoping to get that big break, whatever it may be. A lot of these people were quite freakish but that’s all part of the fun. I for one really enjoyed all of it.

Tonight we were back on the air in Kenosha for the Mothership Connection on WLIP. I was on the road most of the week so my co-host Scott Markus lined up the guests. One of them was good but the other was just so-so and we had a difficult time filling both hours.

This is all part of the growth process. We’re getting better every week and I’m not at all worried. We’re still having fun and that’s the main thing. After this long week I needed to relax a little and today was fun all around. I did hear from Terri Sorenson about the status of the family after the fire and they’re doing ok but I’d still like to do a benefit for them.