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Rubber Boy and the SF circus school
Found this while googling. So good I had to share.
Bill
> >
> Curling Up with Rubberboy
> Why our local Houdini craves an
> audience for his twisted ways
>
> Joshua Brandt
>
> Sunday, July 29, 2001
>
>
> The corner newsstand on the south side of 22nd and
> Valencia streets is known to be particularly onerous.
> Not only does it routinely fail to dispense the morning
> Chronicle, but it rarely coughs up change. The
> newsstand has caused otherwise sane people to
> become apoplectic, leading them to beat their fists
> endlessly against the metal rack.
>
> Last April, however, the newsstand chose the wrong
> victim.
>
> When Daniel Smith was refused his morning paper,
> he patiently waited until someone was fortunate
> enough to obtain a copy, and then he held the door
> ajar. After distributing a few copies to friends, he
> stuck his left arm in the stand.
>
> And then his right arm, followed by his head. By the
> time he had fit his torso inside the news rack, a
> crowd had gathered. And by the time he had
> crammed his entire body inside the stand, a throng of
> people were cheering in slack-jawed amazement.
>
> In this way, the contortionist who calls himself "The
> Rubberboy" had satiated two of his greatest desires
> in life - the need to twist himself into highly unnatural
> positions, and the need to be seen doing it.
>
> "You live in a body every day, and you think you
> know what its limitations are," said the 21-year-old
> Smith, whose lithe physique, porcelain skin and
> flaxen hair call to mind a more delicate version of
> Leonardo DiCaprio. "Well, I want to make people
> step outside the boxes of what they perceive to be
> real.
>
> "I like to think of myself as a salesman of memories -
> I want people to be sitting around the dinner table
> talking about how they just had their minds blown."
>
> As a salesman, Smith has much more in common
> with P.T. Barnum than Willy Loman. There is no
> self-effacement in his pitch, no entertaining the
> possibility that the deal won't be closed, no ranting at
> the haphazard whims of fate.
>
> As the one-time punk-rocker from Meridian, Miss.,
> fully admits, he's a straight-up hustler who put the
> "con" in contortionist. When Smith cites legendary
> escape artist Harry Houdini as one of his role
> models, it's due more to his marketing Žlan than his
> elasticity.
>
> "Houdini was doing the same thing as everyone else
> - he just promoted himself better," said Smith with a
> soft Southern twang. "You could be the best
> contortionist anywhere, but someone's gotta see it
> and buy your act."
>
> Acknowledging the gift and marketing it has long
> been part of the contortionist lexicon. Although the
> "bender" was well-represented in ancient Egyptian,
> Asian, Greek and Roman cultures, the art form
> became heavily commercialized in the late 19th
> century. It was then that an impresario named E.B
> Marinelli brought contortion acts to vaudeville, where
> they performed along with male impersonators,
> xylophonists and "rough-and-tumble Irish acts of
> strength." (Marinelli, in fact, has a stance named
> after him. The "Marinelli Bend" is performed by lifting
> one's body horizontally while using only the chin for
> support.)
>
> But for all his fascination with the mythology and lore
> of the art form, Smith knows there are serious dues
> to be paid.
>
> "Ever since I was 4 years old, when other kids were
> tossing around a football, I was sitting around with
> my legs behind my head," said Smith. "I knew I
> wanted to be a contortionist the day I jumped out of
> my bunk bed and landed in a perfect straddle split.
> But mastering the art form takes years and years of
> practice, and the preparation never stops."
>
> Master Lu Yi, the head trainer of the San Francisco
> School of Circus Arts, thinks Smith could be one of
> the best contortionists in the world É with a small
> caveat.
>
> "Daniel needs to train more," said Lu Yi, sitting in the
> school's office, beneath a picture of the Mona Lisa,
> smiling sanguinely as her legs are thrust over her
> head. "Acrobatic arts are very, very difficult, and the
> training is very bitter."
>
> Lu Yi, one of the world's most renowned acrobats,
> and the former artistic director of the Nanjing
> Acrobatic Troupe, knows the rigors of training all too
> well - as a child he had to juggle plates in ankle-deep
> snow, and his instructors would physically separate
> his legs to make him more limber. And, although the
> methods Lu Yi employs with his students are much
> gentler (Smith refers to Lu Yi in reverent tones,
> calling him a mentor and father figure) the training is
> still incredibly arduous.
>
> "When Daniel first came here two years ago, he
> knew a lot of things from the street," said Lu Yi. "But
> he didn't know the classic techniques. When he was
> able to put those two parts together, his art became
> very beautiful."
>
> Jade-Blue Eclipse, a strikingly attractive and
> muscular performer with a serpentine tattoo traveling
> the length of her arm, echoes Lu Yi's comments.
>
> "Maybe Daniel doesn't do more of the classical
> training because he's terrified of losing that creative
> edge," said Eclipse, who studies hand- balancing at
> the school. "While I understand that, I don't think that
> will happen.
>
> "As performers, we have a lot in common," continued
> Eclipse. "I look for the ordinary acts of everyday life,
> and try to make it universal. The way I live my life is
> an art form, and I'm sure Daniel feels the same way."
>
> Smith, in fact, has little trouble negotiating the
> intersection between art and commerce. "I just got
> back from Europe, and I made some mad money,"
> he said during a recent interview, pronouncing the
> last two words "maahd muuhney. "
>
> Although Smith maintains an apartment in the
> Mission District, he's rarely in the city for any
> extended period of time. Smith generally makes
> between $1, 500 and $2,500 per appearance,
> although he makes more for his televised gigs, which
> have included guest spots on "Ripley's Believe It or
> Not," "Talk Soup" and "The World's Strangest
> Performers," on the Learning Channel.
>
> In between stints in Europe and Hollywood last May,
> the contortionist trained at the School of Circus Arts
> and plotted his next career move.
>
> When Smith enters a room, he absorbs his
> surroundings with a feline grace. If he's seated next
> to windows with curved ledges, he'll instinctually
> replicate that shape. His body is in perpetual motion,
> exploring every nook and cranny, calculating how
> that space could best accommodate his frame.
>
> "A lot of tricks are dreams I had, and I try to do it
> until I can accomplish them. Most of the time, it
> requires running through the bureaucracy of my own
> mindÉand just cutting to the head of the line."
>
> The Rubberboy assumed a relaxed pose. His right
> shoulder was dislocated, draped limply behind his
> head.
>
> "A couple of years ago, I was staying in a warehouse
> reading a book on the history of the electric chair
> called "Blood and Volts." And it really got me
> thinking about my heart and how vulnerable it was É
> so I decided to see if I could move it."
>
> As it turns out, he could. Smith hyperextends both
> his shoulders above his rotary cuff while contracting
> the muscles that connect to his rib cage. Evidently
> that touches off a chain reaction of events. His rib
> cage expands, his abdomen muscles flatten his
> guts, and his diaphragm contracts, until his heart
> visibly drops a couple of inches below his chest
> plate.
>
> To the uninitiated, the act is both nauseating and
> beautiful. It's one of the few acts during which Smith
> permits audience members to physically touch him.
>
> "Most people say their fingers feel numb for a couple
> days afterward," the contortionist said. "It's kind of
> cool, though, because it's like a concentration of life
> at their fingertips."
>
> The pivotal moment - where the audience is taken
> beyond their understanding of what is possible - is
> what drives Smith. It's the apex of his art, the
> moment where he's assured that the audience is
> gripped with fear and disbelief.
>
> It could entail moving his heart on the streets of
> Munich, or shoving his body backward through a
> tennis racket on "The Roseanne Show" (where the
> host repeated "that just ain't normal" like a mantra).
>
> In Los Angeles, it meant following the director of
> "Men in Black Two" into a urinal - and leaving the
> restroom with a gig as a couple of loose-limbed
> aliens. Or walking home through Venice Beach in full
> costume, pushing boundaries in an area known for
> not having any.
>
> It's all part of the art, all part of the hustle, and Smith
> offers no prognostications when asked about the
> future.
>
> "I'm just kind of going with the flow, and I have no
> idea where my art will take me," he said. "The gift
> may last until the day I die, or it might make the day
> I die come a lot sooner."
>
> Circus Circus
>
> The San Francisco School of Circus Arts, the only
> full-time public circus school in the United States,
> originated from two members of the Pickle Family
> Circus. Judy Finelli and Wendy Parkman founded the
> Pickle Family Circus School almost 20 years ago,
> prompted by the birth of Parkman's first child, and
> her desire to travel less.
>
> In its nascent stages, the school incorporated many
> of the themes popular with the Pickle Family Circus -
> heavy on outdoor circus acts, and geared toward
> children. In 1990, the organization expanded its
> scope, and underwent a financial restructuring. The
> school hired internationally known instructors,
> including Master Lu Yi.
>
> This year's curriculum includes courses in Chinese
> acrobatics, trapeze, contortion and, for past and
> present class clowns, an intensive workshop in
> buffoonery. All age ranges are represented, and class
> schedules and fees vary.
>
> For more information, contact the San Francisco
> School of Circus Arts at (415)
>
> 759-8123, or visit their Web site at www.sfcircus.org
> The school is located at 755 Frederick St., San
> Francisco, CA 94117.
>
> Joshua Brandt is a freelance writer who lives in San
> Francisco. He only gets twisted when under intense
> deadline pressure.
Bill
> >
> Curling Up with Rubberboy
> Why our local Houdini craves an
> audience for his twisted ways
>
> Joshua Brandt
>
> Sunday, July 29, 2001
>
>
> The corner newsstand on the south side of 22nd and
> Valencia streets is known to be particularly onerous.
> Not only does it routinely fail to dispense the morning
> Chronicle, but it rarely coughs up change. The
> newsstand has caused otherwise sane people to
> become apoplectic, leading them to beat their fists
> endlessly against the metal rack.
>
> Last April, however, the newsstand chose the wrong
> victim.
>
> When Daniel Smith was refused his morning paper,
> he patiently waited until someone was fortunate
> enough to obtain a copy, and then he held the door
> ajar. After distributing a few copies to friends, he
> stuck his left arm in the stand.
>
> And then his right arm, followed by his head. By the
> time he had fit his torso inside the news rack, a
> crowd had gathered. And by the time he had
> crammed his entire body inside the stand, a throng of
> people were cheering in slack-jawed amazement.
>
> In this way, the contortionist who calls himself "The
> Rubberboy" had satiated two of his greatest desires
> in life - the need to twist himself into highly unnatural
> positions, and the need to be seen doing it.
>
> "You live in a body every day, and you think you
> know what its limitations are," said the 21-year-old
> Smith, whose lithe physique, porcelain skin and
> flaxen hair call to mind a more delicate version of
> Leonardo DiCaprio. "Well, I want to make people
> step outside the boxes of what they perceive to be
> real.
>
> "I like to think of myself as a salesman of memories -
> I want people to be sitting around the dinner table
> talking about how they just had their minds blown."
>
> As a salesman, Smith has much more in common
> with P.T. Barnum than Willy Loman. There is no
> self-effacement in his pitch, no entertaining the
> possibility that the deal won't be closed, no ranting at
> the haphazard whims of fate.
>
> As the one-time punk-rocker from Meridian, Miss.,
> fully admits, he's a straight-up hustler who put the
> "con" in contortionist. When Smith cites legendary
> escape artist Harry Houdini as one of his role
> models, it's due more to his marketing Žlan than his
> elasticity.
>
> "Houdini was doing the same thing as everyone else
> - he just promoted himself better," said Smith with a
> soft Southern twang. "You could be the best
> contortionist anywhere, but someone's gotta see it
> and buy your act."
>
> Acknowledging the gift and marketing it has long
> been part of the contortionist lexicon. Although the
> "bender" was well-represented in ancient Egyptian,
> Asian, Greek and Roman cultures, the art form
> became heavily commercialized in the late 19th
> century. It was then that an impresario named E.B
> Marinelli brought contortion acts to vaudeville, where
> they performed along with male impersonators,
> xylophonists and "rough-and-tumble Irish acts of
> strength." (Marinelli, in fact, has a stance named
> after him. The "Marinelli Bend" is performed by lifting
> one's body horizontally while using only the chin for
> support.)
>
> But for all his fascination with the mythology and lore
> of the art form, Smith knows there are serious dues
> to be paid.
>
> "Ever since I was 4 years old, when other kids were
> tossing around a football, I was sitting around with
> my legs behind my head," said Smith. "I knew I
> wanted to be a contortionist the day I jumped out of
> my bunk bed and landed in a perfect straddle split.
> But mastering the art form takes years and years of
> practice, and the preparation never stops."
>
> Master Lu Yi, the head trainer of the San Francisco
> School of Circus Arts, thinks Smith could be one of
> the best contortionists in the world É with a small
> caveat.
>
> "Daniel needs to train more," said Lu Yi, sitting in the
> school's office, beneath a picture of the Mona Lisa,
> smiling sanguinely as her legs are thrust over her
> head. "Acrobatic arts are very, very difficult, and the
> training is very bitter."
>
> Lu Yi, one of the world's most renowned acrobats,
> and the former artistic director of the Nanjing
> Acrobatic Troupe, knows the rigors of training all too
> well - as a child he had to juggle plates in ankle-deep
> snow, and his instructors would physically separate
> his legs to make him more limber. And, although the
> methods Lu Yi employs with his students are much
> gentler (Smith refers to Lu Yi in reverent tones,
> calling him a mentor and father figure) the training is
> still incredibly arduous.
>
> "When Daniel first came here two years ago, he
> knew a lot of things from the street," said Lu Yi. "But
> he didn't know the classic techniques. When he was
> able to put those two parts together, his art became
> very beautiful."
>
> Jade-Blue Eclipse, a strikingly attractive and
> muscular performer with a serpentine tattoo traveling
> the length of her arm, echoes Lu Yi's comments.
>
> "Maybe Daniel doesn't do more of the classical
> training because he's terrified of losing that creative
> edge," said Eclipse, who studies hand- balancing at
> the school. "While I understand that, I don't think that
> will happen.
>
> "As performers, we have a lot in common," continued
> Eclipse. "I look for the ordinary acts of everyday life,
> and try to make it universal. The way I live my life is
> an art form, and I'm sure Daniel feels the same way."
>
> Smith, in fact, has little trouble negotiating the
> intersection between art and commerce. "I just got
> back from Europe, and I made some mad money,"
> he said during a recent interview, pronouncing the
> last two words "maahd muuhney. "
>
> Although Smith maintains an apartment in the
> Mission District, he's rarely in the city for any
> extended period of time. Smith generally makes
> between $1, 500 and $2,500 per appearance,
> although he makes more for his televised gigs, which
> have included guest spots on "Ripley's Believe It or
> Not," "Talk Soup" and "The World's Strangest
> Performers," on the Learning Channel.
>
> In between stints in Europe and Hollywood last May,
> the contortionist trained at the School of Circus Arts
> and plotted his next career move.
>
> When Smith enters a room, he absorbs his
> surroundings with a feline grace. If he's seated next
> to windows with curved ledges, he'll instinctually
> replicate that shape. His body is in perpetual motion,
> exploring every nook and cranny, calculating how
> that space could best accommodate his frame.
>
> "A lot of tricks are dreams I had, and I try to do it
> until I can accomplish them. Most of the time, it
> requires running through the bureaucracy of my own
> mindÉand just cutting to the head of the line."
>
> The Rubberboy assumed a relaxed pose. His right
> shoulder was dislocated, draped limply behind his
> head.
>
> "A couple of years ago, I was staying in a warehouse
> reading a book on the history of the electric chair
> called "Blood and Volts." And it really got me
> thinking about my heart and how vulnerable it was É
> so I decided to see if I could move it."
>
> As it turns out, he could. Smith hyperextends both
> his shoulders above his rotary cuff while contracting
> the muscles that connect to his rib cage. Evidently
> that touches off a chain reaction of events. His rib
> cage expands, his abdomen muscles flatten his
> guts, and his diaphragm contracts, until his heart
> visibly drops a couple of inches below his chest
> plate.
>
> To the uninitiated, the act is both nauseating and
> beautiful. It's one of the few acts during which Smith
> permits audience members to physically touch him.
>
> "Most people say their fingers feel numb for a couple
> days afterward," the contortionist said. "It's kind of
> cool, though, because it's like a concentration of life
> at their fingertips."
>
> The pivotal moment - where the audience is taken
> beyond their understanding of what is possible - is
> what drives Smith. It's the apex of his art, the
> moment where he's assured that the audience is
> gripped with fear and disbelief.
>
> It could entail moving his heart on the streets of
> Munich, or shoving his body backward through a
> tennis racket on "The Roseanne Show" (where the
> host repeated "that just ain't normal" like a mantra).
>
> In Los Angeles, it meant following the director of
> "Men in Black Two" into a urinal - and leaving the
> restroom with a gig as a couple of loose-limbed
> aliens. Or walking home through Venice Beach in full
> costume, pushing boundaries in an area known for
> not having any.
>
> It's all part of the art, all part of the hustle, and Smith
> offers no prognostications when asked about the
> future.
>
> "I'm just kind of going with the flow, and I have no
> idea where my art will take me," he said. "The gift
> may last until the day I die, or it might make the day
> I die come a lot sooner."
>
> Circus Circus
>
> The San Francisco School of Circus Arts, the only
> full-time public circus school in the United States,
> originated from two members of the Pickle Family
> Circus. Judy Finelli and Wendy Parkman founded the
> Pickle Family Circus School almost 20 years ago,
> prompted by the birth of Parkman's first child, and
> her desire to travel less.
>
> In its nascent stages, the school incorporated many
> of the themes popular with the Pickle Family Circus -
> heavy on outdoor circus acts, and geared toward
> children. In 1990, the organization expanded its
> scope, and underwent a financial restructuring. The
> school hired internationally known instructors,
> including Master Lu Yi.
>
> This year's curriculum includes courses in Chinese
> acrobatics, trapeze, contortion and, for past and
> present class clowns, an intensive workshop in
> buffoonery. All age ranges are represented, and class
> schedules and fees vary.
>
> For more information, contact the San Francisco
> School of Circus Arts at (415)
>
> 759-8123, or visit their Web site at www.sfcircus.org
> The school is located at 755 Frederick St., San
> Francisco, CA 94117.
>
> Joshua Brandt is a freelance writer who lives in San
> Francisco. He only gets twisted when under intense
> deadline pressure.