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Rich Potter: Star of his one-man show
Okay, I'll toss my hat in the ring.
I've learned a lot of hat tricks in my day, so I guess that makes me a first-class tosser.
I was born a middle-class lump of flesh in suburban Laurel, Maryland, USA. (famous for being the place where George Wallace was shot).
Always trying to hide the deep seated pain that was my troubled existence, I learned to laugh at people with disabilities. I was 13 years old when I learned to juggle. I learned that the types of people who juggle are circus clowns and street performers. Somewhere during high school, my sister dated a Baltimore (USA) busker who now lives overseas, and a friend of mine showed me the book "Passing the Hat" and had told me about Clown College. I was determined to join the circus and to work the street.
Following my parents' advice, I enrolled in University after high school. Then, to piss them off, I majored in Art. That didn't piss them off enough, so I quit to travel the Renaissance Faire circuit as a juggler.
They still weren't pissed off enough, so when Clown College called to accept me, I jumped at the chance. They travelled cross-country to witness my graduation. I guess they thought, "hell; at least it has 'college' in the name..."
After Clown College, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (allegedly "The Greatest Show On Earth", although most people outside the US have never heard of it...) hired me for 3 years to work both in the US and on their now-defunct Japan tour, as well as at Disneyland. On off time between seasons, I did more Renaissance Festival work or travelled around Europe to kinda look at what the street scene was like. Somewhere during that time, I met a one-armed juggler. I did not laugh at him. He was actually pretty impressive.
Fearing I was losing my edge, I quit the circus to work the street in Japan. There, I didn't find so many disabled people to laugh at, but I did manage to make many ethnic slurs which temporarily slaked my thirst for political incorrectness.
I travelled Asia for a couple of years then went to Germany to get my heart broken (evil bitch!!!) and then back to the States and back to Europe and back to the States and back to Europe (am I rambling yet?)
I met a broad ("bird" for you Brits), settled down a bit, and thought that meant getting stuck with a day job for a few years. While performing only minimally for a few years, I've worked as a typist, a tech support specialist, graphic designer, software trainer, illustrator, cartoonist, web developer, environmental education assistant, and I've killed a few hundred trees being a photocopy technician (aka office brown-nose).
Now I'm back doing what I love, working the streets with a mattress strapped to my chest, and now I am now *certain* that I've pissed off my parents.
--Rich
When the mattress biz gets slow, I still do juggling shows.
I've learned a lot of hat tricks in my day, so I guess that makes me a first-class tosser.
I was born a middle-class lump of flesh in suburban Laurel, Maryland, USA. (famous for being the place where George Wallace was shot).
Always trying to hide the deep seated pain that was my troubled existence, I learned to laugh at people with disabilities. I was 13 years old when I learned to juggle. I learned that the types of people who juggle are circus clowns and street performers. Somewhere during high school, my sister dated a Baltimore (USA) busker who now lives overseas, and a friend of mine showed me the book "Passing the Hat" and had told me about Clown College. I was determined to join the circus and to work the street.
Following my parents' advice, I enrolled in University after high school. Then, to piss them off, I majored in Art. That didn't piss them off enough, so I quit to travel the Renaissance Faire circuit as a juggler.
They still weren't pissed off enough, so when Clown College called to accept me, I jumped at the chance. They travelled cross-country to witness my graduation. I guess they thought, "hell; at least it has 'college' in the name..."
After Clown College, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (allegedly "The Greatest Show On Earth", although most people outside the US have never heard of it...) hired me for 3 years to work both in the US and on their now-defunct Japan tour, as well as at Disneyland. On off time between seasons, I did more Renaissance Festival work or travelled around Europe to kinda look at what the street scene was like. Somewhere during that time, I met a one-armed juggler. I did not laugh at him. He was actually pretty impressive.
Fearing I was losing my edge, I quit the circus to work the street in Japan. There, I didn't find so many disabled people to laugh at, but I did manage to make many ethnic slurs which temporarily slaked my thirst for political incorrectness.
I travelled Asia for a couple of years then went to Germany to get my heart broken (evil bitch!!!) and then back to the States and back to Europe and back to the States and back to Europe (am I rambling yet?)
I met a broad ("bird" for you Brits), settled down a bit, and thought that meant getting stuck with a day job for a few years. While performing only minimally for a few years, I've worked as a typist, a tech support specialist, graphic designer, software trainer, illustrator, cartoonist, web developer, environmental education assistant, and I've killed a few hundred trees being a photocopy technician (aka office brown-nose).
Now I'm back doing what I love, working the streets with a mattress strapped to my chest, and now I am now *certain* that I've pissed off my parents.
--Rich
When the mattress biz gets slow, I still do juggling shows.