Blog du Wren

Minor Media Mentions - AMPulance Tour

In my continuing Minor Media Mentions series, Della and I made it to this week's Anacortes American! The was about the recent event we did with the Anacortes Music Project where we went around to 6 different neighborhoods and did a short show (half circus, half music). The event went really well, and despite us being sorely out of performing shape*, we had a great time.

So far, 2020 is shaping up to be a pretty slow year for Della and me, juggling-wise. Almost all of our events have been cancelled or seriously scaled back. A few new gigs have trickled in (a birthday party here, a mini-celebration there), but all the biggies—festivals, library shows, fairs—are a no go. While it is hard to have the momentum of our career derailed, or at least put on hold, we know it could be worse. We're trying to use the downtime to stay practiced, rework acts, and even come up with a bit of new material. (Check out our instagram (@WrenAndDella) for the beginnings of our new chicken act!*)

In knowing 2020 is going to be so slow, it is nice to get this little nod from the local paper. And additionally, our good friend and AMAZING photographer Thadeus Hink, snapped some great shots!

Saturday June 20 2020

File under: media, juggling

Toggle Comments (1)

comment?

My Circus Valentine 2020 Act

The My Circus Valentine show at the Bellingham Circus Guild is one of the not-to-be-missed events of the year. I've had the privilege being part of the show the last bunch of years and I always like to share what Della and I came up with for an act. This year, we decided on Star Wars* as our theme (only partially as an excuse to buy $1000 worth of fancy juggling clubs).

The act turned out great, if a little high difficultly level. The moment when the lights go down, the beat kicks up, and the clubs start to blink really brought the energy out of the crowd. This video, captured by the David and his awesome team at Access Bellingham, was during the first official run of the show and we dropped our hardest trick (back-to-backs). But hopefully it gives you an idea of the act. If nothing else, at least it is captured here for posterity*.

And here are a few pictures for fun. The photo booth run by Jeff Lefferts produces some of Della's and my favorite photos of the year.

Wednesday March 18 2020

File under: juggling, holidays

Toggle Comments (2)

comment?

2019 Summer Juggling Recap

If you're not following @wrenanddella over at instagram, what are you waiting for!?! In this new day and age of social this and insta that, Della and I finally got around to having a place to put pictures up on a slightly faster timeline than this blog. But since we all know how traditions die hard with me, I offer up some photos from our 2019 juggling summer season. Enjoy.

Tuesday November 19 2019

File under: juggling, pics

Toggle Comments (1)

comment?

Ghostbusters Halloween Circus Act

It's been since Something Wonderful back in 2016 and 2017 since Della and I have been part of a larger group juggling act. They are always a ton of fun but lots of work getting schedules together and everyone on the same page artistically. For this year's Beastly Frightful Unspeakably Spooky Circus of Doom, Della and I teamed up with Eric and Britt to do a Ghostbusters act. It turned out amazing. Della logs it as our best act ever*. There was enough skill, goofiness, cultural reference, and fun to really get the crowd jazzed.

And as is my wont, I present the video of the act, again courtesy of the ever amazing David and his team at Access Bellingham. Enjoy!

And because a Circus Guild show isn't the same without photo booth photos, have a look at these gems*:

Tuesday November 5 2019

File under: juggling, holidays

comment?

The Real Food Show (with Minor Media Mentions)

Almost 5 years ago, I posted about a show Della was involved in that goes into elementary schools and teaches kids about healthy eating and lifestyle. As of about 2 years ago, I took over the roll of Frank* and have been busy performing in schools all over Western Washington.

The Real Food Show is a dynamic 35-minute performance that combines circus arts, food education, laughter, healthy lifestyle awareness, and fun. Della eats an apple while juggling. I ride a unicycle. Della dances* while standing on my shoulder. I balance a huge stack of protein blocks on my face. It's a really fun show.

The funding model so far has allowed schools to get the show for free through sponsorship by local area co-ops. Overall, the show has been in 75+ schools (40-ish under my tenure) and is universally well received. But we're looking to expand to communities that might not have co-ops. We're excited to be doing a PTA sponsored show soon and hope to find lots more ways to bring this important message delivered in a fun way to more students! If you have want the show to come to your kid's school or have an in anywhere that might want the show, please contact me.

A few of our recent shows have been covered in print, and as is my wont, I shall post the articles here for posterity. A big thanks to the Port Townsend Leader and the Skagit Food Co-op for the coverage, and as always, the Community Food Co-op for their initial and continued support of the show!

Friday April 19 2019

File under: media, juggling

comment?

2018 Halloween Circus Show

Bellingham Circus Guild's second annual* Beastly, Frightful, Unbelievably Spooky Circus of Doom was a rip roaring success. Della and I had a great time being a part. Through sheer persistance of will*, we created a brand spanking new act, one that we both like very much (despite it being incredibly difficult).

In addition to some awesome video (courtesy of Bellingham Access TV), we got some really fun photo booth shots. And, as a super fun surprise, I ran across a video of myself doing some pre-show fire juggling to entertain the crowd on Instagram! With all the video, pictures, and more, it's like you are there in person! Enjoy!

Thursday November 15 2018

File under: circus, juggling

comment?

2018 Summer Juggling Recap

	Another summer of performance is behind Della and me, and as is my wont, I like to collect some of the images we were fortunate to happen upon and post them here for posterity. We performed at libraries, festivals, parties, fairs, and more. It was a great summer of doing a job that I love so much. And while the pictures might not capture it (esp. compared to years past ('17, '16)), we were as busy as ever. Thanks so much to those who hired us, watched us, learned from (and with) us, and esp. shared photos and videos of us! The end of summer isn't the end of performing for the year by any means. I'll get some Halloween pictures and videos posted soon and we're not far from holiday party season which is always a lot of fun! Keep an eye on our website for a list of our upcoming shows or keep it turned to BdW for some pictures maybe, but probably really delayed and with needless commentary...

Thursday November 1 2018

File under: juggling, circus

comment?

My Circus Valentine 2018 Act

Della and I again this year had the privilege of being in Bellingham Circus Guild's My Circus Valentine. It makes the 4th year I've been in the event and Della hasn't missed one yet (often times with 2 acts!) Our act this year turned out to be our best, IMO, but it was hard fought to get there. Dual creative pursuits, such as act creation, isn't our strong point and each year, after going through it, we swear we'll never do it again. But we do and after we have an act that I can be stoked on, I'm so glad that we did.

You could see the act, posted along with other videos of our acts, over at our website www.wrenanddella.com, but I will post it here as well in the interest of posterity. We ended up getting this awesome edited copy from BTV show broadcast the event. I hope you get as much a kick out of it as I did totally nailing it.

(The costumes (a.k.a diapered cupids) were made by none other than Della, of course.)

Saturday April 14 2018

File under: juggling, circus

Toggle Comments (3)

comment?

The Beastly Frightful Unspeakably Spooky Circus of Doom

This year, the Bellingham Circus Guild put on its first Halloween show* and it was awesome! Della and I wrote a whole new act for the occasion. It was a little gimmicky, a little over the top, a little funny(?), and hopefully a lot fun. I sure liked how it turned out, anyway. Check out the video below.

(Since you can barely see our costumes in the video, here's a we snuck in the photo booth. And since we're talking about photo booth photos, here's of the cast and crew. What a group!!)

Before the show, I did ambient as a . was the cutest little teapot you could imagine.

Overall, it was an awesome experience. The gal the put on the show did a knock out job promoting it (3 total sellout shows plus a last minute show that almost sold out!) as well as all other aspects. It was really an honor to be a part.

Wednesday November 15 2017

File under: circus, juggling

Toggle Comments (2)

comment?

Summer Performance Recap 2017

By my rough count, Della and I had approximately 40 shows during our busy time, July and August. While it felt like we barely had time to catch our breath or do laundry, it rarely felt like we had time to capture it in words or pictures. But now that things have calmed down, I thought it might be fun to consolidate some of the photos, videos, and observations into an end of the season wrap-up (like I did last year!) Info and photo credits in the captions.