The way Evelyn Bittner describes it, the first time is initially terrifying. After you learn the moves, though, the experience is one-of-a-kind.
"It takes a while to learn how to orient your body, but also a huge part of some of these moves is overcoming fear and learning to control your body," Bittner said.
She has had only one injury scare while learning acrobatics: She fell on her head while learning a new move, but was caught before any injuries occurred.
When not working as a veterinarian, Bittner performs acrobatics as one-half of the duo Dr. Calamari and Acrophelia. This is just one of 14 acts in Circus Contraption, a local circus performance group appearing in the Moisture Festival in Fremont.
The 10-day festival - named in reference to the rainy-season time of year in which it takes place and to rain being a symbol of life - will begin Wednesday, March 30 and run through April 10. Acrobats, dancers, musicians, clowns, comedians, magicians and jugglers will make up this comedy/varieté showcase.
"It's just so exciting to be involved with the group of people who are putting on this festival," Bittner said of the show. "They're just really a very warm and talented group of people, and it's just really an honor to be among the circle of performers who are going to be taking place at this event."
Multiple performances will occur each night in a smorgasborg of acts. Most are family-friendly, with mature-themed shows occurring late-night. Events occur at various times at Hale's Ales/Palladium, 4301 Leary Way N.W. (See www.moisturefestival. com for complete times and shows.)
Tickets are $5 to $20 and are available at www.brownpapertickets.com and at Hale's Ales and Fremont Place Books, at North 35th Street and Fremont Avenue North.
The festival will donate all funds collected during performances on Sunday, April 3, to charity, including B.F. Day Elementary School.
In recognition of the spring and in honor of April Fool's Day, the Moisture Festival will also include a 21-and-older Feast of Fools, a late-night show on Friday, April 1, that celebrates a day of acting out in foolish ways and turning the order of things upside-down, said Ron W. Bailey, one of the founders of the festival. The Lord and Belle of Misrule will be crowned, and performances will include the Trapeze Tease, burlesque acts, tricks and unleashed jesters.
Last year, the festival ran for only one weekend and was held under a big-top tent. This year, the brewery offered its warehouse for the event.
I love this whole concept," said Sandy Palmer, the publicity and marketing manager for the event, as well as an original organizer. "It seemed so vaudevillian to me to build a theater inside a warehouse."
In 1996, Bailey and fellow performer Tom Noddy the Bubble Guy traveled to Europe for a comedy/ varieté festival in Berlin, where they saw a memorable performance by the German clown Hacki Ginda.
Wanting something in the States to celebrate a similar vaudeville style, Bailey, Noddy and a few other performers who appeared at the Oregon Country Fair banded together to put on a festival in Seattle.
They were inspired by the history of comedy/varieté festivals, which included food, drinks and the spectacle of the skilled performances. This comedy/varieté celebration had all but died out by the 1940s.
The other motivating factor, Bailey noted, was the opportunity for other artists to come together and to showcase their bits, as well as watch what each act is doing.
"Bumbershoot is an arts festival, but no place even in Europe has a comedy/varieté festival that features this kind of performance," he said. "It's sort of here that our hearts lie, and so we thought, 'Let's do it. Let's showcase this kind of entertainment.'"
"There's always these great performers doing stuff on the street," continued Bailey, who performs in the musical comedy group Du Carniveaux and works as a musician and carpenter. "[We thought] we should give them a showcase where we present those types of acts."
Palmer noted that she is excited about the current talent performing at the Moisture Festival, and that as the festival grows, she hopes that they will be able to attract more performers, possibly even expanding to multiple venues.
"I am hoping that it does become something that people look to for this kind of talent, that it has awareness in the performing community," she said, hoping that people can look to Seattle as a comedy/variety showcase.
"I love it, I love this kind of entertainment," said Bailey, adding that audiences could expect a wonderful mixture of unusual skills. "When you go to one of these shows and the audience always leaves with these big smiles - it's valuable to have audiences react like that and to leave feeling good."
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