NBAF 2014
ENTERTAINMENT
If you’re a person who likes the idea of a man balancing on a rope, way above your head, or a man stripping off whilst playing with fire, we can quench your thirst for these rare excitements at 2014’s Body Art Festival we’ll be offering many entertainers during the weekend, but you can meet two of them right here, right now...
lou safire
VAUDEVILLIAN BOYLESQUE PERFORMER
Photo by Lilly Page
with my arse out! I like all things creative and wonderfully bizarre; I have an unhealthy obsession with old sideshow performers as well as the glamour of Las Vegas. Tese are both inspiring subjects to me and I try and let their influence show through to my performances.
Can you tell me more about the Cheeky Devil’s Club? Its a little show I like to produce. We have four main shows a year with smaller events in between. Each show has an exciting line-up every time to entertain. With acts ranging from burlesque dancers and mind readers to hula hoop artists and fire performers this show is full of variety and has something for everyone to enjoy.
Can you explain to me what we can expect from your performance at Norwich Body Art Festival this year? You’ll just have to come and find out, won’t you! You can expect high energy, twisted fun! I’m not for anyone squeamish!
How did you get into this career? Living in sin has done it to me - I kind of fell in to a pile of glitter, then fell out the other side
anaspitos FUNAMBULIST
Photo by Joe Clarke
Where did you learn your circus and freak show skills? Possibly sheer stupidity! Mostly a lot of research and self
thought...and gin. Lots of gin!
What’s the hardest thing about being a boylesque performer? Have you had some negative responses? Te hardest thing, ooh err! I would have to say it would be to keep pushing boundaries! I have never really had negative responses.
I learned as I travelled; for 12 years I lived outside the U.K. roaming the globe, this gave me the opportunity to train with masters in Brazil, Cuba, India etc.
Where did your stage name of Anaspitos originate? It's a Greek play on words. I also lived there for a number of years and that's where I came up with the name, whilst working with Fred Normal of the world famous Cyclown Circus...I'm now starting to use my family name Bullzini more and more but I don't want to drop Anaspitos!
Can you explain exactly what your act involves? I am a funambulist; this means ropewalker. I walk on ropes and perform various feats upon them, focusing mainly on slack-rope and high-wire disciplines. I can walk, lie down, juggle, and even ride a unicycle on a rope.
However did you learn these mad skills?
What’s the longest high wire walk you’ve done? What’s the longest one on record? I've performed on one 122m long at Glastonbury festival. In training, I've walked a kilometer without putting the pole down so I know I'm ready for more. Te longest one I know of is from Rudy Omankowski, that was in Switzerland at around 1300m.
Can you remember when it was that you first saw a tightrope walker? I can't remember how old I was when I first saw a ropewalker but I know that I find something incredibly hypnotic and graceful in the way one has to tread carefully but surely in the skies!
Tough I tend to get better reactions from men (as well as women) in the audience because, male Burlesque is not something they knew about!
What sort of response do you get from audiences? Te best comment I’ve had is ”like queen Victoria on Ketamine.” I have always gone down well with all types of audiences, be it performing for an officers ball or a high end cabaret club in London. I strongly believe it has a lot to do with how you react with the crowd and stage presence (or how much you’ve all had to drink).
Are you hoping to get a tattoo yourself whilst you’re at the festival? Maybe, we will see. I’m about for the whole festival so who knows! My day job is tattooing. I have a little shop in Ipswich called Twisted Monkey. Tere are a few artists going to this festival that are an inspiration to me and I just adore some of their work, so I may just have to sneak off and get some work done if I can!
Give us a tip on how to do a quick burlesque move. Slut drop all the way!
What’s the hardest part of this act to learn? Different tricks take different amounts of time and have different dangers but one that I'm learning at the moment involves standing on a chair on the wire and this is hard coming to standing because if I fall, there is the pole, the chair and my body to think about when I land.
Do you have to wear special shoes? A soft-soled shoe gives me enough sensitivity to feel the wire or rope beneath my feet!
How often do you fall off and have you ever really hurt yourself? I rarely actually fall, but especially in training, I jump off to save myself from falling, this means that I usually catch the wire or land safely on a mat.
You’ve been all over the world with your act - what has been your most memorable walk thus far? I remember stringing a rope up in a small town in Bolivia as I travelled in South America in the early years. It was such a delight because the local people had never seen anything like it before; I love to see an audience’s eyes full of wonder - that is where the real magic lies!!
NORWICHBODYARTFESTIVAL.CO.UK
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