Cirque audition - not this round

Well, I didn't make it this time around.  It was a great experience and I learned a lot.  The talent scout said that I was holding too much tension, and ya, he was right, I could feel myself doing it but just could not correct it.  

The competition was crazy.  Everyone was super funny and and had absolutely amazing characters!  There were 30 people there and about 10 of us got cut in the first round.  There were a few people that did not even get to do their 2 min solo.  This poor girl, it was her second time and she didn't even get to do her act.  That is rough. 

You know, now that I think of it, that was my first audition ever!  Most of the people there were definitely seasoned audition pros - I did not stand a chance this round.  But I am a fast learner and will do much better in round 2.  

The scout was a super nice guy and told me to keep working and sending him stuff.  

And as I said before, I am not that fussed.  Back to Vancouver Island  - no problem.  Keep working.  

Rocking, 

JAKE

Circus+Ballet = Fabulous Art

I can't remember the last time I saw contact juggling and ballet combined.  I have been working hard with the Canadian Pacific Ballet and last night we performed this piece for the first time in Market Square in Victoria.  It turned out gorgeous.

This is just a little trailer.  We will perform it until the end of August, so there will be many more opportunities to make it tighter and tighter.  At the end of the summer, I will provide you with the full version.

And I have also been working on a new clown act that I performed for the first time last night.  I definitely got the laughs, but now watching the video, there are so many comedy gaps to fill.  Luckily, I get to perform it again so I can make it more solid.

Clown audition for Cirque - you have 2 min

That's right.  You have 2 minutes of solo time to wow them or you may possibly be cut before lunch.

So, for you clowns and physical actors out there who want to perform for Cirque du Soleil, condense your best material into 2 minutes and let loose.

I will let you know how it goes...

JAKE

Jake West with the CP Ballet

I am absolutely delighted to be working with the Canadian Pacific Ballet every Tues and Wed night in Market Square in Victoria for the rest of the summer.  We are just in the midst of developing a fabulous collaboration between contact juggling and ballet.  We are making art!  I will also perform a multi-ball act in their show.  I am also really excited about playing with a new clown piece that I am working on.  I am not sure how this one is going to end, so it is a perfect opportunity to explore the possibilities through a summer of animating the crowd.

Please come down and enjoy the show.  Check them out here:
http://www.canadianpacificballet.org/

Rocking, 

JAKE

Chris Murdoch at Guilt and Co.

Here's a little improv. from Decadent Eccentric - my monthly Emcee gig with the fabulous Luciterra.

Housed in Vancouver's historic Gastown, this is the perfect place for us to work with new material - always expanding, always creating.

Chris

The Blues Circus Promo

Take a minute to watch our incredible show.  I decided to keep it raw to show you glimpses of just how good the live music is; how that music interacts with the circus artists; and bits of our story.  This is a fabulous hour and and fifteen minute jam packed tale of how it is really only ourselves who are our greatest stumbling blocks.  The story is set in the hard times of the olden railroad days where the Blues was born.  Trains, chain gangs, bars, big tops, crossroads and the devil mix with high caliber circus arts that will entrance you.
All Aboard!

This cast of 7 is one of the most rock solid teams you will ever have a chance to meet.  All of our skills are highly complementary.  We can cover almost everything; from the technicals - lighting, sound and stage management, to the diverse range of performance arts.  This show is super compact and requires no rigging.  It can be adapted to pretty much every event, festival or theater.

Join us for The Blues Circus.  We will no doubt leave a lasting impression upon you.  But don't just take it from us, read a review here:
http://www.guttersnipenews.com/features/homepage-features/in-the-house-festival/

If you want to see more, check out our hilarious bar scene:

Clown Research

I have been doing my homework big time on the Cirque du Soleil audition process.  My buddy is one of the acrobatic trainers and he told me that the Red Bastard had just been through.  He is the clown in the new Cirque show, "Iris" opening up in LA.  He is very funny and totally out there.  Check it out:



Rocking!
JAKE

Chris Murdoch and Luciterra

For the last seven months, I've had the honour of Collaborating more and more with the amazing fusion bellydance group,  Luciterra. We have a monthy one-hour show at Guilt and Co. in Gastown, Vancouver where I act as Emcee and perform my solo acts.

It is a fantastic opportunity to create new material every month, and periodically combine two seemingly different art forms: contact juggling and bellydance!


 I'm always impressed by their ability to create stunning choreography that's tight and prostar every month...

Recently, Luciterra asked me to host Whiskey Rain Revue: a spring show that included their students and many prominent bellydance groups from Vancouver, the lower mainland and Vancouver Island. As the lead-up to the finale of the evening we performed the number created for Hallowe'en, to a standing ovation!

Bucky's New Album Gets an Amazing Review

This is our amazingly talented musician friend who wrote the music for The Blues Circus.  Buckman Coe is so good, it is an honor for us to perform with him.  But don't just take it from me, check out what the Georgia Straight had to say about him:

By Mike Usinger, June 30, 2011

Buckman Coe has vowed to remain barefoot until he can get a pair of JJ Casuals, the shoes that look like feet.

Buckman Coe

By the Mountain’s Feet (Independent)

Clearly not a man content to have just a single iron in the fire, Buckman Coe keeps plenty busy when he’s not on-stage or in the studio. In addition to being one of those artists who make genre-jumping seem effortless, he’s also, according to his Facebook page, a certified yogi, eco-psychologist, and poet.

If this were 1973, back when singer-songwriters ruled the earth, Coe wouldn’t have much time for side pursuits—with a couple of breaks and a bit of AM radio airplay, he’d be busy cashing gold-record royalty cheques and house-hunting in Laurel Canyon. If that sounds hyperbolic, it shouldn’t, because By the Mountain’s Feet, his second full-length, is really that good. Working with a supporting cast that includes Vancouver music-scene vets Brian Minato on bass, Steve Dawson on pedal steel, and Paul Rigby on guitars, Coe dabbles in everything from down-home Americana to sun-sweetened folk to soul-drenched blues.

Aside from the fact that the dude sounds completely thrilled and blessed to be alive, what stands out are the gorgeous little touches—like the calypso-tinted guitars in the lite-and-breezy “Not So Farfetched” and the molasses-dipped harmonies in the wonderful country comedown “Plot Thick It Grows”.

Because this isn’t 1973, Coe isn’t going to find a ready-made, built-in audience for By the Mountain’s Feet, which sounds like it was professionally recorded at the Record Plant three decades ago instead of in rainy old Vancouver in the 2010s. That’s a shame, because if you enjoy the laid-back likes of Ben Harper and Jack Johnson, odds are good that you’re going to love this unrelentingly positive, completely accomplished triumph.

Buy this man's album!  It has been on rotating on my lap top for a solid 3 days now!

Performing at Vic Busker Festival

Come check us out, both sides of the coin, here at the Victoria International Buskers Festival July 15-24.  We are going to make you laugh and mesmerize you!  We truly look forward to it.