I feel like one of the most frustrating, and at the same time magical, aspects of working as an actor at the Ohio Renaissance Festival is that so often, our best performances are seen and experienced by so few. Theres an intimacy in that between you and the patrons so lucky to catch those moments of awesomeness, but at the same time, your vanity as an actor wants to be heralded for those times when you really knock it out of the park. So as Im sitting here reminiscing, thinking back on my greatest hits, one of the moments (no, this isnt the one about unnecessary second support) happened in that very first year of 2002 when I was playing Spearshaker. It was one of those moments where I just had it turned on, and there was no turning it off. The bit started over by the kissing bridge with me groveling to Andy Ray, who was playing Sir Christopher Hatton. Making sure not to make eye contact, I groveled asking for a commission. He told me that if I were to find the shires magic walnuts that he lost in a gambling game and returned them to him, that he would consider it. The bit could have ended right there, but like I said, there was no turning it off, and it wouldnt have been very Dave to stop right there anyway. So, I ran over to the wash, in typical over excited Spearshaker fashion, and I start looking around the trees, animatedly leaping about and drawing as much attention to myself as possible to draw in patrons and make them ask me what I was doing. When I explained that I was searching for the magical walnuts of the shire, they were more than eager to jump in and help me. When I finally had walnuts, I glanced around like an ostrich on amphetamines to see if I could spot Andy Ray, and to my joy he was still over by the kissing bridge, speaking with Kelly E Long. I ran over to them as awkwardly as I could, limbs flailing about, and when I was close enough, I threw myself onto the ground in front of Andy, held up my hands cupping the walnuts, and said, Sir Christopher, I come before with your nuts in my hand! It was magical. The best part for me was watching Andy and Kelly try to keep a straight face after those words left my mouth. A few years later when Kelly was named entertainment director and rounding out her staff, she asked me to run the peasant guild, I asked her why me, and she said that this bit right here was pure peasant comedy gold, that she couldnt get it out of her head, and thought that was the type of improv she wanted to impart on the peasant cast that year. Magical, man. And it benefited me in the end. You never know whos going to remember your performance and reward you for it down the road.
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 18:29:56 +0000
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