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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: |
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155 - Chainsaws, Pumpkins, And Philosophy w JellyBoy the Clown
Episode 155
Monday, 17 November, 2025
A chainsaw mounted to a sword. Seventeen pumpkins in a minute. And a philosophy that says a show only becomes real when the audience completes it. That’s the ride we take with Jelly Boy the Clown—writer, record-setter, and sideshow artist who turns chaos into craft.We start with the surprise aftermath of America’s Got Talent: millions of viewers, zero promotion allowed, and a door opening from an unexpected direction—Guinness World Records. From there we go inside the workshop, where ideas live first in a sketchbook, then on a bench with bolts and cork, and finally on stage. Why pumpkins beat watermelons, how to create negative space with pitchforks, and what three points of contact do for stability when the saw is humming in your throat. It’s engineering, rehearsal, and risk management wrapped in clown logic.The heart of the talk is presentation. Tools are level one; meaning lives in timing, character, and framing. Jelly Boy shares how he disarms fear—pairing eye hooks with Careless Whisper, mixing menace with sincerity—so the audience leans in. We dig into act architecture: the tennis racket routine evolving through constraints, failed slapstick reappearing later as the perfect chaos engine, and why variety beats repetition for laughs and suspense. Along the way, we trace his films—from a B-movie to a raw fire-recovery doc to Dark Imagination Party—capturing how the pandemic pushed the work from stages to cameras and back again.Threaded through is our host’s upcoming book, Facing The Other Way, a philosophy of showmanship that frames performance as a three-part system: performer, audience, and attention. Without a witness, magic isn’t magic. That idea lands as we talk edits, cuts, and voice—how slicing fifty pages can reveal the core, why a unified tone matters, and how community and small presses help art find its people. If you care about live arts, circus, clowning, sword swallowing, or the creative process of turning rough sketches into resonant moments, this one’s for you.If the conversation hits home, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review. Your attention is the spark—help us keep the fire bright.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
