 |
the Way of the ShowmanAuthor: Captain Frodo
Philosophical and esoteric perspectives from a modern day Showman. Each season is different in its approach. S1 is essays. S2 is one book length attempt at Understanding Showmanship, S3 is conversations with remarkable Showfolk. The brand new Season 4 explores the relationship between Showmanship and Play.The host, Captain Frodo, internationally renowned circus performer, director, writer, husband and dad lays out, in great detail, his practical performance philosophy for performers who seek to deepen the conversation with their audiences and themselves. You can find him, and more of his writing at: www.thewayoftheshowman.com Language: en-us Genres: Arts, Performing Arts, Philosophy, Society & Culture Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it Trailer: |
Listen Now...
157 - Jesus, Bananas, And Baby Unicorns Walk Into A Church w Clay Hillman & Captain Frodo
Episode 157
Monday, 22 December, 2025
Do yourself a favor before reading any more of this: Listen to the Road To Joy now! Also! Listen to Clay Hillman’s wonderful piano music What if the spark that powers great rituals, great sermons, and great shows is the same playful force? Captain Frodo sits down with Clay Hillman to follow that thread—from the shaman’s circle to the market square—and ask how joy, surprise, and sacrifice can teach us to love without the cage of judgment. The claim is bold: ritual likely grew out of play, and when we honor that, truth arrives with fewer words and more presence.We explore grief as the felt weight of love, the paradox at the heart of Good Friday, and why beauty includes the costly and the raw. Clay reframes the Good Samaritan so we stop imagining ourselves as the rescuer and recognize our place in the ditch; neighbor becomes the person we’d want to lift us, even an enemy. That shift replaces right-versus-wrong scorekeeping with a practice of attention, the same practice that makes a show land when a moment of surprise cracks the shell and breathes. Along the way, we talk mythic truth over literalism, how children signal play and still know what matters, and why wigs, robes, and ritual dances appear when stakes are highest.We also swap creative maps. Clay’s Casey Bonkers universe offers constellations of play; Frodo sketches thinking, feeling, and willing as a triad for building fuller acts. Symbols do the heavy lifting: two sticks can hold a cosmos, a market square becomes a universe once the showman starts. Stories that aren’t “real” still become true every day, and the best work often feels discovered rather than made. If you’ve ever sensed that ministry and showmanship share a calling—curating time and attention so people glimpse the center—this conversation will feel like finding language for what you already knew.Listen to K. C. Bonkers Road To Joy! Find Clay Hillman here!If this resonates, subscribe, share it with a friend who loves story and craft, and leave a review so others can find the show. Then tell us: where did you last glimpse that center of joy?Support the show...If you want to help support this podcast it would be tremendous if you wrote a glowing review on iTunes or Spotify.If you want to contact me about anything, including wanting me to collaborate on one of your projects you can reach me on thewayoftheshowman@gmail.comor find out more on the Way of the Showman website.you can follow the Way of Instagram where it is, not surprisingly thewayoftheshowman.If you find it in you and you have the means to do so, you can suport the podcast financially at:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/captainfrodo
