Notices by Russ Sharek (russsharek@mastodon.art)

I performed this a while back as part of a holiday show. It seems to become more relevant with each passing year.

https://circusfreaks.org/video-4/#hear-this-silence

Happy Holidays. Be kind to yourselves, and each other.

#ClownWisdom

I just re-launched our troupe's website!

http://circusfreaks.org

It's now written in hugo, and is entirely about our clown-focused approach to entertainment.

P.S. - If you're a fan of gibberish, see if you can find the hidden #tokipona page. :)

@switchingsocial

Question for you!

I'm building a static website and thinking of using formspree.io for the contact form. Got any alternatives to recommend for the task?

They seem like a good service, but their use of Google's recaptcha makes me want for an alternative.

Hello Mastofriends!

I've just returned from a deep dive mask theater intensive, and my brain is completely mush. I've learned things I'll be processing for months, and absolutely loved the experience.

In your opinion, what are the top ten interesting things I've missed on the #fediverse in that time?

@switchingsocial

Have you seen this list of alternatives to Amazon's offerings? Not all entirely free/open, but definitely some options to say "not Amazon"

https://threshold.us/c/cancelprime/amazon-alternatives

@Algot

I find myself regularly needing this advice. Falling into the trap that my creative output needs to be 'good' or, perhaps worse, 'important'.

Thanks for the reminder to just do stuff.

In contrast to so many people getting community moderation wrong, here's an absolutely brilliant example of working to get it right:

https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2019/05/introducing-the-mastodon-server-covenant/

Mad props to @Gargron and all the people who work to make the #fediverse a safe space for everyone.

I just created myself an account on 404.city in order to play around with xmpp. I'd love to add some folks to my roster so I can get used to this new weirdness.

I'm russsharek@404.city there.

#xmpp

Show tonight!

My clown partner and I are guest starring in a friend's variety show. A tiny little magic parlor in a historic building, where we will get to try some new material for the first time.

Terrifying to try something risky, and exciting to have the opportunity.

Deep breath, here goes!

#CircusLife
#Clown

Personal victory: One of my all time favorite performances is now on archive.org

https://archive.org/details/LeBelleEtLeBete

#LiveTheater #Clown #Juggling #ContactJuggling #Circus #Performance #Video

I got one of my videos exported correctly and on peertube!

This is from Texas Furry Fiesta 2017. If you look to the right, you'll see one of the first performances by my (pre-) clown partner @Avalon

#juggling #SharpThings #clown #LiveTheater #theater

https://share.tube/videos/watch/ed0d9e34-341f-49f3-9ccd-5ef687f51bbb

(technical: For some reason, changing the export from mp4 to ogv in Pitivi sortred it out.)

I noticed #mastalab added the ability to pin hashtags. Thank you for that. :)

@friedmanalexg

Hello!

Hashtags are searchable magic here. Try a few of these to get started:

#smallstories
#microfiction
#poetry
#poem
#haiku

These are a few of my favorites. I'll boost this and see of anyone else has recommendations.

I managed to limp through three hours of performance this afternoon, despite my toe.

One of the highlights of my adventure: Two young boys that I taught hat tricks to early in the day. After seeing them on and off all afternoon, they joined me for my final show of the...they demonstrated their newfound tricks alongside me, cheesy "ta-da's" and all.

#smallstories
#clown
#toegate

#whyistayonmastodon

The people.
Not being used as a product.

@shellkr

I'm regularly reminded of the concepts of Dunbar's number, the monkey sphere effect, and the simple fact that some people clearly enjoy being **** stirrers.

Frustrating for sure. My conclusion was to always see the bigger picture of what I was trying to accomplish, and eventually delegate the lower level stuff to people who cared.

Get some generals in your army. Ones you trust to understand your vision.

@Gargron

Deleted my personal #twitter today, for so many reasons. Despite being 100% behind the decision, and not using the account at all anymore, it still gave me a bit of anxiety.

Change is good, and sometimes hard.

Our Russian acrobatics coach has picked up some odd English-ish idioms.

Last night, he referred to our exhausted muscles as 'jello fish'

Today, I can get neither the phrase nor the corresponding visual out of my head.

#circuslife
#smallstories
#jellofish

@sikkdays

"Do one thing at a time."

One of the best pieces of clown wisdom I ever received.

Hang in there, and remember your path my look unexpected. That doesn't make it somehow wrong or lesser.

Among the relatively serious down sides to the cooler weather we've seen this year has been a lack of opportunity to prepare for the Texas heat.

I usually spend a month or two training outside before festival season kicks into high gear, so the blazing sky monsters don't pummel me quite so badly.

Without such preparation, I spent today under the biggest of natural spotlights, dressed in some spectacularly stylish-yet-stuffy Edwardian attire.

Time to rehydrate for tomorrow.

#smallstories