2015 - 20 Years of Flow and Introduction to the Circus Life

This June marked 20 years of yo-yoing for me. I celebrated by going to the Flatland Juggling Festival in Lincoln, NE. There I met with a lot of skill toy players and flow artists, some I have known for a while and some I was meeting for the first time. Over the course of the 3 day event I felt my heart swell with excitement for all of the things I was seeing around me and the old tricks came back to my hands like I had never taken a break. I was a novelty in the room as the only person yo-yoing all weekend and I played til I had blisters. Then, I played some more. It hurt so good.

After the event I felt something awaken in me. At first, I thought it was that old competitive spirit that wanted to travel to competitions and try to prove myself as one of the best in the sport. I very quickly realized that wasn't it at all. As a competitor, I felt like I was limiting myself on what I could actually do. The rule set for yo-yo contests did not allow for many of the things I was interested in pursuing unless I wanted to wait and compete in the Artistic Performance (AP) category at the World Yo-Yo Contest. Nope. Not interested in that at all. Competing is stressful and eventually makes the hobby less fun. I wanted to move past that and just entertain people. I was meeting regularly with performers of various disciplines from Juggling, to Poi, to Hula Hoops, and so on. These great people opened my eyes to a world of creativity that felt much richer than playing for points.

Since the Festival, I have been dabbling in other flow arts, taking patterns and moves from them that I can incorporate into my yo-yo show. I have also been spending a lot of time engineering small acts to perform in front of a crowd. Some are feats of skill, like knocking a quarter off a nervous volunteer's ear, while others are choreographed routines similar to yo-yo freestyles but with more creative elements than technical elements. It is for the entertainment of the poor folks that have to watch me.

I learned that there are local circus groups in and around Lincoln that either already exist or are getting started soon that hold performances all over the place. I did not even know this was a thing. I have done so much in the way of performing on my own over the years. Oh, what it would be to be a part of a performing group? As soon as I started doing some digging I knew this was my next turn in the path of my life. I have learned a great deal about what a modern circus is (and what it isn't) and I want it.

Juggling at Jazz in June

The Journal Star spotted me juggling at the Jazz in June concert last night outside the Sheldon Art Gallery in Lincoln, NE. There wasn't an article associated with it, just this picture.

The funny part about this is I did a heck of a lot more yoyoing last night than juggling but the photographer came around during one of the couple of times I was juggling.

I'm at it again...

It has been a while since I have posted anything, but today I am here to say that I am BACK!

I can't say with certainty that I will be posting on a regular basis. I may be too busy out DOING.

You can always stay up to date in all of the things I do by following me on twitter @IAmSweeps, now on Instagram @iamsweeps, and Facebook if that is your preference.

This is going to be a very short post just to mark that I have returned home where I feel like I should have always stayed, yo-yoing. No promises of future projects or competitions I am getting ready for. No plans on re-opening the doors of Barking Spider. Just me rocking out with my loops, hops, and long spinning flow. I am adding Juggling to my nerd resume as well as other skill and flow toys but yo-yoing is my mistress, my muse, and everything else will likely remain second to her.