the Way of the Showman
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
Episodes
117 episodes
116 - Jay & Frodo How to Play in Performance - (Unpacking episodes 103 & 104)
Jay Gilligan is back! we go through his questions about episodes 103 & 104 to concretise some of the points I am making about Play and performance.some of the topics we touch=:-How to foster a playful connection at the beginning...
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Season 4
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Episode 116
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2:22:33
115 - Why Are We Born so Helpless (Showmanship & Play 14)
Why are we born so helpless. The answer will takes us through the history of human evolution and into the dualling biological need of a growing human head and the anatomical changes coming from our upright walking.
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Season 4
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Episode 115
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37:58
114 - Play as Self Creation (Showmanship & Play 13)
In this episode I talk aboutPeter Gray and his book Free to Learn - Why unleasing the instinc to play will make our children happier, more ...
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Season 4
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Episode 114
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1:00:15
113 - Nick Difatte & Audience Volunteers
This is a conversation with one of the funniest guys I know. He's had me laughing so hard I had to get partially undressed. We talk about magic and comedy and their intersection before landing on a long explorations of how to select and m...
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Season 4
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Episode 113
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1:19:39
112 - How Play Manifests in the World pt 2 of 2 (Showmanship & Play 12)
In this episode I continue describing the ways we find the play impulse, or the activity of play, manifesting in the world. I start by talking about learning.-The next way play emerges is through Imagination.-Then we look at h...
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Season 4
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Episode 112
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1:04:35
111 - How Play Manifests in the World pt 1 of 2 (Showmanship & Play 11)
Adults and children spend their days differently - we work, babies play. Play is the signature of childhood. It’s a living, visible manifestation of imagination and learning I action.Allison GopnikIf play is a const...
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Season 4
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Episode 111
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43:22
110 - the Play Instinct (Showmanship & Play 10)
"Instincts are the whispers of our ancestors." - Quote by yours truly.In this episode we explore whether our inclination to play might actually be an innate human drive. Do we human beings possess an instinct to play? If so, how and w...
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Season 4
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Episode 110
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47:03
109 - Unpacking Play pt 2 (Showmanship & Play 9)
In this episode I finish up the unpacking of the five criteria of play. As we go on these five points will be the backbone of our inquiry. Much like how using Showman - Audience & Show as a symbol or mnemonic picture which affords us a lo...
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Season 4
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Episode 109
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56:00
108 - Memoirs of a Coney Island Clown w Jellyboy the Clown
In this episode I talk to Jellyboy the Clown about his book Memoirs of a Coney Island Clown. I learn a lot about him and how closely our experiences mirror eachother. There are some tragic details about suicide in this episode - be warned, if y...
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Season 4
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Episode 108
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2:05:00
107 - Unpacking Play pt 1 (Showmanship & Play 8 of 30)
In this episode I continue to unpack the five criterias of play. The five are as follows:1 - Play is fun. It’s intensely pleasurable and enjoyable. So when we play we don’t want it to stop.2 -
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Season 4
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Episode 107
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40:03
106 - Active Practice w Jay Gilligan (unpacking episode 96 & 98)
In this episode Jay Gilligan brings up a few questions relating to episodes 3 & 4 in my exploration of Showmanship and Play (number 96 & 98). -We talk about what its like to talk to people about something which does not hav...
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Season 4
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Episode 106
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1:32:39
105 - Don't Be Afraid to be Modern with the Birdmann Trent Baumann
In this episode I catch up with an old friend, a unique and philosophically inclined comedian and clown Mr Trent Birdmann. We talk about our shows together, our thoughts on our past, present and the uncertainties about the future. We share stor...
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Season 4
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Episode 105
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2:02:43
104 - Play in 5 Easy Steps (Showmanship & Play 7 of 30)
In this episode I unpack the five criterias of play. The five are as follows:1 - Play is fun. It’s intensely pleasurable and enjoyable. So when we play we don’t want it to stop.2 - Play is s...
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Season 4
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Episode 104
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35:54
103 - What is Play (Showmanship & Play 6 of 30)
In this episode I take you on a walk with my little dog Teddy and along the Way we encounter play in a very direct way.Then I let you take a sneak peak at my daughter and her kind of play.Then we look at trying to define play is like ...
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Season 4
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Episode 103
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36:23
102 - Jay Gilligan Questions Showmanship & Play episode by 2 (Unpacking episode 95)
In this episode Jay Gilligan asks me to explain and elaborate some details about a previous episode. The main part of this season (4) is the 30 episodes that explores and makes my argument for how the very deepest origins of Showmanship can be ...
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Season 4
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Episode 102
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1:41:09
101 - Connect & Play - (Showmanship & Play 5 of 30)
In this episode I seek general features of what happens in the Area of Interest, or in Shows. I talk about Nalle Laanela's book the Clown Manifesto and how it helped me understand that two key features of performance and Shows are Connection ...
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Season 4
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Episode 101
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41:42
100 - the Clown and the New World - epic poem audio extravaganza
This is a celebratory episode along the lines of my previous audio poetic endeavours in episode 21 and 42. This is an epic poem which initially was called The Rime of the Ancient Merrier.Merrier |ˈmerēər|noun (mer•ri•er) <...
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Season 4
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Episode 100
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41:35
99 - Jay Gilligan Questions Showmanship & Play episode 1 (Unpacking episode 94)
In this episode we try something new. Jay Gilligan has listened to my new season about Play & Showmanship and he found that there were several points in the episode he wanted to know more about. He recorded some snippets with some AI ...
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Season 4
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Episode 99
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1:04:47
98 - the Nature of Shows & Geometry - (Showmanship & Play 4 of 30)
In this episode I make one more example of a metaphor of my own making. I believe this to be a particularly fertile example, by which I mean a deep and powerful metaphor. Using the uncanny similarity of the geometry of triangles with...
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Season 4
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Episode 98
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50:22
97 - Back in Las Vegas, now with Cirque du Soleil - Birthday Ramble
I didn't think it would happen. Not this birtday ramble nor that I would be back in Las Vegas, nor that I would be here with Cirque du Soleil! But I am back on all those fronts and yet again I am humbled by my own lack of ability to accurately ...
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Season 4
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Episode 97
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31:21
96 - How to See through the Lens of Showmanship - (Showmanship & Play 3 of 30)
In this episode I talk about viewing the world through the lens of Showmanship. This is something I say at the beginning of each episode and it is what this podcast is all about. I talk about how to look and what the lens is. So, this episode...
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Season 4
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Episode 96
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35:59
95 - the Inner Ear Bone of Showmanship - (Showmanship & Play 2 of 30)
In this episode I lay how what Showmanship is, as I see it. If we are to work out what the origins of something is, particularly if the origins lay deep in prehistory, then chances are there has been a great deal of change to the thing. Somet...
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Season 4
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Episode 95
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47:19
94 - Showmanship & Play - Introduction (S&P 1 of 30)
In this episode we start a whole new project. We revert back to the format of the first 60, or so, episodes where I share my own ideas with you. The subject for this 4th season will be Showmanship & Play. Or, how Showmanship is like Play ...
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Season 4
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Episode 94
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56:14
93 - Clarity of Expression makes you a better Artist - Jay Gilligan and Frodo - pt 2 of 2
In this conversation we talk further about making choices and how learning to understand why we take the choices we do about what we do on stage we develop clarity of expression which is the foundation stone of a good artist.some of t...
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Season 3
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Episode 93
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47:03
92 - Making Ideas Concrete by Making Choices - Jay Gilligan and Frodo - pt 1 of 2.m4a
In this episode I ask Jay Gilligan to tell me about how he makes his ideas concrete to his students at the circus school in Stockholm.-How this relates to performance abstract and concrete or narrative-Circus appears frivolous w...
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Season 3
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Episode 92
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40:59