Due to the school schedule of both Corwin and Virginia, their availability for the 2011 season is extremely sparse. The majority of the events will be done by Eric and Susan as was done in the early colonial circus. Thanks!
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| The Circus Troupe |
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Faire Wynds Circus...a Family Affair since 1994
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| Faire Wynds Players |
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It all began in 1994 at the Faire at New Boston in Ohio. And it just kept growing! The more research we did, the more obvious it was that to REALLY recreate the entertainments of the past, we were going to have to change our outlook.
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| February.....Wisconsin.....WHY??? |
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| Our first year full-time on the road...
Eagle River, Wisconsin...
Warmed up to 9o F...
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| THESE PEOPLE WERE NUTS!!! |
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Like anything, there were growing pains-losing the original partner, learning period songs as well as period magic and fire-eating, adding the son, then the wife, and finally the daughter. Changing from the 'Singing Duo Extraordinaire" to a marquee tavern style, then an Eastern Seaboard style playhouse, and finally the open-air frontier circus. Along the way we had the usual problems of growing-bigger props, more storage needs, transportation issues, kids in college, kids out of college, kids never seeming to want to let us actually have a CHANCE to try the 'empty nest' syndrome...And so we find ourselves in the unique way of never quite knowing WHO will be going with us...or at least, who is going with Eric...Nevertheless, with over 4 hours of period-correct entertainments to choose from, it promises to be a unique and exciting experience. Especially if we let Ginny play with the fire hoop...
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| The audience-called a "Tip" |
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| A Prestidigitator |
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| Check out the little dog in front! |
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The early traveling entertainers of this country were families, often consisting of just a mom and dad and two or three children. The first reference to a circus in this country appears in 1724 on the frontier. It had in it two people-a man and his wife. He was a fire-eater (a Human Salamander) and she a strongwoman (Female Amazon) and a slack-rope walker. Those early circuses were by-and-large families, and indeed many of the performers in today's circuses are from circus families-a lifestyle one certainly will either love or hate. The basis for Faire Wynds is two-fold-to entertain a modern audience, while educating them of the past.
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| Corwin and his Mother |
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| The 'Human Vesuvious" |
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| Thimble rigging-the oldest magic trick known |
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All of our entertainments are based upon research of the entertainments that were common to these travelling groups. Want to see magic? You won't see a magician pulling spongeballs out of a kid's ear. You might, however, witness a Prestidigitator displaying his dexterity using the 2800-year-old art of thimble-rigging-known as the cups-and-balls. No juggling bean bags, but maybe the 17th century flaming torches or the 1st century Chinese poi's. How about someone spitting fire-just like it was done 124 years before Christ was born? How about the 12th century Fakir laying on nails? Or the 13th century Sword Basket? The 14th century art of sword-walking? The 16th century Glass Harps? The 18th century French art of mind-reading? All of our entertainments come from source material, and all were done in the 18th century by the travelling entertainers.
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| The Crowd-or "Tip" |
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| Jongoulier Equilibrialist |
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| The Ladder of Swords |
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| Mom cooked dinner. |
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So come along-enter into our imaginations and take a walk to the show-just like your forefathers' forefathers did. Step up, Gentlemen and Ladies, for the show is about to begin!
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| The Troupe |
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