the Way of the Showman

Jay Gilligan and myself go very deeply into a few ideas that I raise in episode 107.Support the show...Now you can get t-shirts and hoodies with our wonderful logo. This is the best new way to suport the podcast project. Become a proud parader of your passion for Showmanship and our glorious Craft whilst simultanously helping to gather more followers for the Way.You'll find the store here: https://thewayoftheshowman.printdrop.com.auIf you want to help support this podcast it would be tremendous if you wrote a glowing review on iTunes or Spotify.If you want to contact me about anything, including wanting me to collaborate on one of your projects you can reach me on thewayoftheshowman@gmail.comor find out more on the Way of the Showman website.you can follow the Way of Instagram where it is, not surprisingly thewayoftheshowman.If you find it in you and you have the means to do so, you can suport the podcast financially at:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/captainfrodo

another great episode with the wonderful Nick Difatte! We continue our talk on secrets.we touch on these topics and more -You're not suposed to share secrets yet there are 1000's of magic books... How tricks you buy looks.Max Mavens distinct style of the magic he sold.Envelopes holding the secrets to the universe.Tim ConoverMagic downloadsCollectors and the drive to colelct hard to get stuff.The value of the effort to learn magic from books.Sponge balls and theri core slightsJerry SadowitzTannens Magic Camp and Nicks experience from being a teacher there.Teaching secrets to kidsImportance of feeling Mastery for kids in the learning process.Foam BananasChristopher T Magician's book Beyond Look Dont SeeSubtleties of what secrets to put in a book of magic meant for the general public.Stuff published, but can a PRO really do a routine from a bookMaking it your ownBillet work and how the good workers makes them dissapear from the aundience's memories."Vetting" magiciansThe pleasures of having someone do your material.Choosing material you can/should do.Me seeing Jason England perform card magic, jamming whilst I was out to lunch with Nick Mac King and Jason England and he completely fried me with the craziest card work.Rythms in comedy.Structuring you magic acts.People glazing over when barraged with too much magic...Support the show...Now you can get t-shirts and hoodies with our wonderful logo. This is the best new way to suport the podcast project. Become a proud parader of your passion for Showmanship and our glorious Craft whilst simultanously helping to gather more followers for the Way.You'll find the store here: https://thewayoftheshowman.printdrop.com.auIf you want to help support this podcast it would be tremendous if you wrote a glowing review on iTunes or Spotify.If you want to contact me about anything, including wanting me to collaborate on one of your projects you can reach me on thewayoftheshowman@gmail.comor find out more on the Way of the Showman website.you can follow the Way of Instagram where it is, not surprisingly thewayoftheshowman.If you find it in you and you have the means to do so, you can suport the podcast financially at:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/captainfrodo

Nick Difatte, an astounding performer from Cirque du Soleil's Mad Apple, dives deep into the mystical world of magic and performance. He discusses the essence of masterclasses versus traditional teaching and the importance of mentorship in honing magical skills. The conversation touches on the allure of secrets and the overwhelming number of tricks that don’t always translate to performance. Difatte also reflects on identity and cultural appropriation in magic, revealing the emotional journey behind magic tricks and the vibrant community spirit among amateur magicians.

After last weeks little sidetrack exploring m own evolving relationship of love to my daughter we are ready to conclude how love is the foundation and origin for the human play impulse and drive. This of course will be pointing at how love is also the foundation of Showmanship. Love is necesary to full acknowledge the existence of Others, and to enter into a relationship with them is to reach out in love. In doing so we enter into the relaxed field of human interaction. A way not just of plaing, but of affording ourselves and others a space to maximize their freedom.Support the show...Now you can get t-shirts and hoodies with our wonderful logo. This is the best new way to suport the podcast project. Become a proud parader of your passion for Showmanship and our glorious Craft whilst simultanously helping to gather more followers for the Way.You'll find the store here: https://thewayoftheshowman.printdrop.com.auIf you want to help support this podcast it would be tremendous if you wrote a glowing review on iTunes or Spotify.If you want to contact me about anything, including wanting me to collaborate on one of your projects you can reach me on thewayoftheshowman@gmail.comor find out more on the Way of the Showman website.you can follow the Way of Instagram where it is, not surprisingly thewayoftheshowman.If you find it in you and you have the means to do so, you can suport the podcast financially at:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/captainfrodo

Over the last six months or so there has been a development in my relationship to my daughter. It is something any father will go through, but I look at it through the lens of a travelling performer. My daughter is growing up and is beginning to find her own way in the world. She is separating and becoming herself and in the process I am being left behind. But a significant development that has come to fruition over the last month might offer us a way to relate into the future. A sollution that mirrors my own relationship to my father and which is continuing the intergenerational transmission of the secret knowledge of Showmanship.Support the show...Now you can get t-shirts and hoodies with our wonderful logo. This is the best new way to suport the podcast project. Become a proud parader of your passion for Showmanship and our glorious Craft whilst simultanously helping to gather more followers for the Way.You'll find the store here: https://thewayoftheshowman.printdrop.com.auIf you want to help support this podcast it would be tremendous if you wrote a glowing review on iTunes or Spotify.If you want to contact me about anything, including wanting me to collaborate on one of your projects you can reach me on thewayoftheshowman@gmail.comor find out more on the Way of the Showman website.you can follow the Way of Instagram where it is, not surprisingly thewayoftheshowman.If you find it in you and you have the means to do so, you can suport the podcast financially at:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/captainfrodo

In this episode I explore the impact and influence our playful behaviour has had on our development as human beings. I belive it quite profoundly have changed not just our psychology and behaviour but also our bodies.I share a deeply personal story of the first couple of hours in my daughter's life and how it birthed a new and deeper kind of love.The father's role in raising babies and children.The tribe's role in raising babies and children. The love, which first appeared in Mother grew to include the father and the tribe and in this we all played a role in affording a child a relaxed field, where that child can flourish outside of the restriction of natural selection. Where the child gets to express only themselves and act only in accordance with themselves. (in an idealised situation of course as there always will be tribal, societal, and individual influences)Child is a social glue. It brings us together in the childbirth, in the rearing of the child, it connects us. It continues in how families are brought together through our shared interest and care for and responsibility for the child.We sit around the fire like we sit around a child.they trigger conversations and stories that emerge because we sit around a child. They shape us and the stories we tell. THere are other stories told around the fire in the dark, and there are particular stories that are told because there are children are present.RELAXED FIELD - the space where play happens and where we are the most fully human.relaxed pressure from the four f'sforaging, fighting, fleeing and fornicating.which is what we have to do. (if we dont o these succesfully we perish)the things we choose to do. (what we choose to do with the time given to us)Support the show...Now you can get t-shirts and hoodies with our wonderful logo. This is the best new way to suport the podcast project. Become a proud parader of your passion for Showmanship and our glorious Craft whilst simultanously helping to gather more followers for the Way.You'll find the store here: https://thewayoftheshowman.printdrop.com.auIf you want to help support this podcast it would be tremendous if you wrote a glowing review on iTunes or Spotify.If you want to contact me about anything, including wanting me to collaborate on one of your projects you can reach me on thewayoftheshowman@gmail.comor find out more on the Way of the Showman website.you can follow the Way of Instagram where it is, not surprisingly thewayoftheshowman.If you find it in you and you have the means to do so, you can suport the podcast financially at:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/captainfrodo

Jay Gilligan is back! we go through his questions about episodes 103 & 104 to concretise some of the points I am making about Play and performance.some of the topics we touch=:-How to foster a playful connection at the beginning of your show.-Is there such a thing as a bad audience?-fulfilling audience expectations whilst still surprising them.-In facing the Audience we are showing, and they are receiving - yet we expect and desire them to participate, to live themselves into the performance. Without which there never emerges the full Show experience.-You get Attention by giving Attention.-My ways of getting Attention in my first street show back in 1997.-Jay runs away from a street show with crazy consequences.-All focus on one thing. Audience and Showman alike. Makes a powerful point.-We create a different kind of time. Play time. Sacred time.Support the show...Now you can get t-shirts and hoodies with our wonderful logo. This is the best new way to suport the podcast project. Become a proud parader of your passion for Showmanship and our glorious Craft whilst simultanously helping to gather more followers for the Way.You'll find the store here: https://thewayoftheshowman.printdrop.com.auIf you want to help support this podcast it would be tremendous if you wrote a glowing review on iTunes or Spotify.If you want to contact me about anything, including wanting me to collaborate on one of your projects you can reach me on thewayoftheshowman@gmail.comor find out more on the Way of the Showman website.you can follow the Way of Instagram where it is, not surprisingly thewayoftheshowman.If you find it in you and you have the means to do so, you can suport the podcast financially at:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/captainfrodo

Why are we born so helpless? The discussion takes us through human evolution, exploring the delicate balance of a growing head and upright walking. Play is highlighted as essential for emotional and social wellbeing, contrasting with structured learning's rigidity. The podcast dives into the significance of parental care, love hormones, and how neglect can impact development. It also examines the roots of human playfulness and its role in fostering connections through performance, reminding us to prioritize love amidst creative pursuits.

In this engaging discussion, Peter Gray, an author renowned for his work on the significance of play in child development, shares insights from his book, "Free to Learn." He emphasizes how play is fundamental to learning, allowing children to become self-reliant and happier. Gray highlights the difference between adult-structured play and genuine, self-directed exploration, asserting that the latter fosters true creativity and emotional growth. He discusses the risks of play deprivation and how self-motivated play enriches curiosity and communal bonds.

This is a conversation with one of the funniest guys I know. He's had me laughing so hard I had to get partially undressed. We talk about magic and comedy and their intersection before landing on a long explorations of how to select and manage audience volunteers. Nick is an expert at handling volunteers and gets SO much out of the people he gets up, I try to learn from him.You can find out about Nick Difatte on his websiteNick has written a brilliant book on magic called Offbeat (it's sold out but will soon be reissued) published by Squash Publishing creators of some of the hottest books on magic.we talk about:the Great Santini's toaster (my dad's magic invention)Steen Pegani - danish magic shop owner and all around good guy.Mortenn Christiansen - link to him on Penn & Teller's Fool UsNick blows my mind with the news that he is writing and editing a chapter in Richard Kaufman's re-release of Greater Magic. The chapter will be on comedy magic.Borrowin/stealing/reinventingbecoming an original performer.saving the earth with a yo yoAuthenticityFinding shit no one cares aboutcostume as character amplifier and definerme loosing my shit seeing Nick perform for the first time.worst "emotional speech" in a show ever...being funnier off sage and how to transfer this to stage.choosing volunteersoffbeat, Nick's book is sold out.Amazing Johnatan as example of a masterful use of and control of audience volunteers.Nick on getting along with older guys and how to harness this in his ShowsSupport the show...Now you can get t-shirts and hoodies with our wonderful logo. This is the best new way to suport the podcast project. Become a proud parader of your passion for Showmanship and our glorious Craft whilst simultanously helping to gather more followers for the Way.You'll find the store here: https://thewayoftheshowman.printdrop.com.auIf you want to help support this podcast it would be tremendous if you wrote a glowing review on iTunes or Spotify.If you want to contact me about anything, including wanting me to collaborate on one of your projects you can reach me on thewayoftheshowman@gmail.comor find out more on the Way of the Showman website.you can follow the Way of Instagram where it is, not surprisingly thewayoftheshowman.If you find it in you and you have the means to do so, you can suport the podcast financially at:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/captainfrodo