An Interview with Paolo Garbanzo

Ailís gets an interview with Paolo Garbanzo! I've been a big fan of him (and his boots) since the first time I saw him perform with the Coxcomb Acadamy and last year I saw a performance of Il cirque Accidental. It's a treat and shouldn't be missed!

Ailís: How did you first learn about Pennsic War, and what made you come the first year?

Paolo: I first learned about pennsic through an old friend of mine. we went to high school together and both went our seperate ways in college, but I ran into him years later and he told me that I had to go. I had just started working at ren faires, so I was really interested in seeing and learning more.

Ailís: Where can we see you perform at Pennsic War?

Paolo: This year I will be doing a few shows during war week with my group Il Cirque Accidental (The Accidental Circus). mostly at parties for camps. we always try to do a show for Casa bardicci because we love the Casa and it's a great place to perform.

Also when I have some time I run to the market and perform during lunch, partly to practice with my hurdy gurdy, which I picked up just last year...

if I were to recommend a place, I would say Casa Bardicci. not just for my show, but they tend to attract some of the best performers at Pennsic, and the Casa is simply amazing by candle light..

Ailís: Do you really juggle for a living?

Paolo: Yes (that's the short answer). I really do. After many years of working very hard in both creating a show and in the various business aspects of it, I indeed am listed as an "Entertainer" on my tax forms. But I consider myself very lucky to be able to do so. I would feel lucker if I could list myself as "tax exempt" on my tax forms, but we can only be so lucky, right?

Ailís: I heard you just got back from Italy, how was that?

Paolo: What do you mean "how was Italy?", it was GREAT! I had a really great time working on my italian and having an awesome gym to practice on my off time, really got a lot of work done on my 6 and 7 clubs... I spent a lot of time getting into the culture and learning what was funny there. Changing my show so that it would be funny in italian is pretty hard, but a great challenge. I was living in Turin, but had time to go visit Pisa, Florence, Venice, Milan, Lucca, and many other cities, all in the off season, so there were not a lot of lines. It was great.

Ailís: So what is this Circus thing?

Paolo: Il cirque Accidental, The Accidental Circus, or if you translate it in a different context it can actually mean "The Circus Accident!" which I find rather amusing. This is a group of performers, friends of mine, whom I've somehow convinced to spend hours and hours of time working on this pet project in the hopes that someday it might pay off, and then we wouldn't have to do anything else for a living. It's a fun variety show, vaudeville/commedia, cabaret, music, dance, side show stunts, and anything else we think will amuse us and the audience. Right now we're running it at pennsic to really get the feel of working together. We've already taken it to other venues such as theatre festivals and working on getting into some Renaissance festivals.

I formed this group because as much as I really enjoy doing my solo show, I really enjoy working along side my friends and having great interaction between characters. Originially when I first started juggling it was in a group, and then I was solo for many years, and a few years ago I was working with The Flying Karamazov Brothers, and remembered how much fun it was to be in a group, so I figured I would start my own. I hope it takes off and continues to be successful. So I recommend everyone come out and see our show if you get a chance!

Ailís: Do you have a performance experience you'd like to share that was particularly funny or particularly unusual?

Paolo: I could tell you about the crazy fire-possessed devilchild who upon seeing we light a torch stared vacantly in to the fire and started to chant his "I See Fire and It's Burning" song... or when I was bitten by a spider during a show a couple pennsics ago... or... or... something odd always happens at every show...

Ailís: If a camp/ group wants to hire you for an evening, what do they do?

Paolo: the best thing to do is email me right away, because I'll be on the road from July 16th until way after pennsic. otherwise, you'll just have to come by my camp, MorningWood (right next to Vlad's, look for my red gypsy wagon), and talk to me.

You can e-mail Paolo at paul@garbanzojuggling.com
Also, visit his websites at:
http://www.garbanzojuggling.com
http://www.accidentalcircus.com