Who was the first???

[Jim]

Al,

Can I have your pole after you sign a record deal? I doubt you're going to need it in a year or so. I just need to figure out how to rola bola up there.

Jim

[UCO]

I think maybe you should put it up for auction, or keep it and it will end up in a hotel or the rock and roll howl of fame.
After reading this thread I am covinced that if i did a pole with all the finales put together I might put down the box and find a prop that stands erect so I would feel like a child again.
Or maybe pirorets with a pole in my ass could be the "Pole in my Hole Show."
Sorry being evil has no tact.
AL, What about antwerp? you mentioned something to me last summer? Pitch/permit?

[gav]

Re: THE POLE

Originally posted by ALAKAZAM
ALright now let me tell you all the story of how my pole came about,maybe it'll get Gav off my back here.
AL.

How is it that I am on your back? I haven't even seen you for over a year.
Hey lets do that duo show you talked of and then I can stand on your shoulders up the pole and really be on your back !
Someone asked is all and I answered.
Hows it going anyway man? Where are you now? US?
That pic you sent me was indeed the pitch in Zagreb, one of them anyway. It's up and down , people only make 400 euro a month here. We do have a festival coming up and then things are better.
If my experiment making a fibreglass pole works out, do you want to buy 1 from me?

[ALAKAZAM]

Then about 6 months later I here he's doing a pole act in Sydney. He'll even tell you it that way round these days, but he still claims to have had the idea before he saw me doing it.
posted by Gav

That's the only reason i said you were "on my back"

Alls good here,i'm living in Boston,doing shows when i can but the band is taking over my life,rehearsals are every day at 10.30am,we are kicking ass though,practice makes ROCK.
UCO...Antwerp pitch at the front door of the cathdral,you get a permit from the 7th floor of the Tollhouse [it's on the river,walk away from the pitch towards the water,when you hit the water turn right and walk until you see a building on your right called the tollhouse.] You can't perform when they have mass,or after 11pm.

When we sign a contract, i'll sell my pole to the highest bidder on ebay,and they can then stuff it as far up their ass as it will go.
One last thing i've been wanting to say to everybody.........

IT AIN'T THE POLE............................

AL.

[Magic Brian]

IT AIN'T THE POLE............................

I know what it is! It's your cool accent and skillful juggling!... right?

[Dom]

..and maybe the first one was..



..photo's of Circo Morelli (Eagle) taken in 1987 at the Zurich Theater Spektakel , Switzerland by yours truly..



..and yes there are volunteers holding the ropes..

..Al, your description of how you got up there was real insightful.

By the way, you mentioned seeing Strange Fruit at Darling Harbour in 1996. Well, check this out. The couple from Australia mentioned earlier in this thread doing the pole and safety net act were Richard and Caroline from Melbourne at the time and were regulars on the pitch at Southgate in the early 90's. They split up and Richard then became a founding member of.. you guessed it.. Strange Fruit..

And here's possibly another pole first.. Al & Gav were the first duo pole routine I've ever seen. And not just doing their two solo poles in the same show, but they were actually linked together as you'd rig two poles for a tightrope, facing each other and passing torches in the high winds of Fremantle in 2002.

[Lynneski]

Ahhh, brings to mind one (of many) favourite group show moments from over the years:

Al on 'is pole, Tom Comet and Jean Michel on giraffes, and Michiel on stage, box passing clubs with an occasional giraffe pas de deux mid-house. Sounds simple now, yeah, but then it was the height (yes, pun intended) of sublime.

[gav]

Well done for digging up those photos Dom.
I think we can lay this thread to rest now.
Actually lets just change the question.
Who was the first duo to do the classic 6 club pass cigarette knock out routine?
and who was the first to squeeze through a coat hanger ?

[Butterfly Man]

The first juggling act to knock a cig out of the mouth ... The Juggling Jacksons ... up til then carrots and celery were used.

The first one to squeeze through a coathanger was Gazzo ... he was born anyway.

[ALAKAZAM]

Skillfull juggling???
Glad it's all settled,you know that guy in the photo got it from somewhere else who got it from somewhere else who got it from some circus back in the 1800's,doesn't mean it doesn't hurt when someone rips off your routine...the way YOU do it!! That is the part that shits me.I turn up to pitches now and there are guys i've never met doing parts of my show word for word,and in some cases WITH MY ACCENT !!!!,and do they give me respect.... or attitude,you take a guess.

AL

[UCO]

Don't we all feel better knowing thats all clear, a timeline of experience has been passed on instead of stolen. I certainly do.
AL: Don't be sad,
Rock and roll life has got to be a more cut throat of biz.
Thanks for the tip on antwerp by the way. Do you remember how much it was?