The Moment The Flea Escapes

Since I was a young man, I have always been obsessed with a photograph by Alfred Eisenstadt.  Taken in 1963, it depicts a number of children watching an outdoor puppet show at the moment that the Dragon is slain.  It’s a wonderful photograph, full of joy and wonderful and that moment of belief that children have. I love that photograph, and it has been a goal of mine to inspire the same kind of feelings of joy and the full range of emotions that that photgraph embodies.

I just finished a round of 6 shows in 1 weekend at the Richmond Folk Festival, and it was a fantastic experience.  It was hard work don’t get me wrong, but it’s the kind of hard work that I love to do– entertaining audiences, playing with crowds, and doing one of the shows that I am both most known for and have some of the most fun playing. The audiences were amazing, the festival staff were so helpful and supportive, and there were lots of great artists performing alongside me.  If you have the chance to go the Richmond Folk Festival please do!

Detail of a photo of the Acme flea circus is revealing

While I was there my amazing volunteer Andy who was assigned to me was kind enough to take some photographs and allow me to use them for promotional purpose.  One of the photographs was of the part in my show where I announce to the audience that a flea has escaped and I have to find her.  (It’s more of a joke than anything else.  I have an ironclad guarantee in my show that nobody leaves the flea circus with more fleas than they came in with.).

He shared with me a photo, (above) and I immediately focused on how sweaty I looked- it was a hot day, and my long sleeve shirt was drenched. But the audience was happy, and there was a big crowd, and that’s the most important part.

I sent the photo to a couple of friends of mine, one who sent back the photo with the audience circled, saying “Look how happy they are!” I was amazed when I examined the close up part of this photo, as it was almost a recreation of the Eisenstadt photo.

The audience was very responsive as they usually are to that moment, and I love it, because it’s a moment in which I get to have a couple of fun moments (usually with kids in the front row of the audience). This audience was about as responsive as normal.

I didn’t mean to recreate this photo and it isn’t staged.  It just happens to closely resemble the eisenstadt photo in a way that I am very excited and proud that I was able to bring that level of emotion and amazement to my audience.  It’s really what my work is all about,  Amazing, educating, and entertaining audiences of all ages.