We got to the festival and Kelly and I started wandering about, looking right and left at the cute shops and the people in awesome costumes. There was a guy working at a pickle stand (yes, we have pickle stands), who wanted us to buy one of his "long, hard pickles." Neither of us was hungry yet. Pickles aren't really morning food, anyway. A few yards past the pickle stand, we heard a voice behind us say, "I'm not following you." We looked back to see a man dressed as a pirate. "Unless," he continued, "you wish I was following you, in which case I am." We kept walking. "I'm like a cat," he said. "I won't go away until you pay attention to me." At that point, we turned around to talk to him. He recommended a few shows when he learned that we were just wandering aimlessly. Before he let us go, he reached into his satchel and pulled out a green glass ball. "Now I'll give you girls the show you've been looking for," he said, smiling. He started doing a simple magic trick, until another costumed figure needed his attention. We walked off to keep exploring, and I noticed he somehow ended up in front of us. He stopped under a tree, looked over at us, and said, "Are you following me?"
We made our way to Sherwood Forest and found a stage with a wagon behind it. On the wagon was a banner that read: "The Inflammables Present Tastes Like Burning" in big letters. "What the hell is that?" I asked Kelly. She shrugged, and we went to sit on one of the wood benches set up in front of the stage. "Sounds like fire eaters to me," I commented. "Tastes Like Burning? What else could this be?" As it turned out, I was right. The Inflammables are a comedic team of two fire eaters named Asbestos and Bik Zippo. At the festival, they were grown men in kilts cracking jokes about being "hippies in skirts" and competing with each other to see who could get the loudest cheers after their stunts. They made fun of each other... and Keanu Reeves (Asbestos: "Keanu Reeves doing Shakespeare: 'To be, or not to be. What was the question?'"). Personally, I was more impressed by Bik Zippo than Asbestos. The Inflammables are very, very good, and I encourage you to look them up sometime. Of the three performances we saw that day, they were my favorite. After all, they did spit fireballs at each other's heads.
We had some fabulous cheese curds, then went searching for another show to see. We happened to walk by our pirate from the beginning of the day, who recognized us and smiled. I smiled back. "That's right," he said, "smile. Now wave. Wave." I waved. "There you go. Are you going to the show over here? He's got a whip and a straight-jacket." We shrugged, deciding Why not? and went to sit down in front of the stage to watch Johnny Phoenix's Danger Comedy Show. He was hilarious. He whipped a feather out of a volunteer's hand, did some impromptu rope-jumping with a heavy iron chain, and finished with an escape act. Johnny Phoenix managed to escape from the iron chain, a straight-jacket, and a bra (which he claims is the most constraining device known to man... and I agree) in 60 seconds. It was great, but I still prefer those fabulous fire eaters.
After buying a dragon claw necklace, eating a chocolate-covered frozen banana, and purchasing fans made of feathers (because we were getting kind of hot), we went looking for yet another show. We got back to Sherwood toward the end of the Inflammables' last show of the day and stood talking to a nice woman in a great patchwork-looking costume until it was time to sit and wait to watch Robin Hood & His Merry Men next to the stage where the Inflammables worked. The Merry Men were a stunt group. They weren't terribly amusing, but they were good at their stunts. As someone who knows how to fence and fight with quarterstaffs, I wasn't all that impressed by their act. It was a time-killer. They had a coherrent storyline, and their show had its moments.
We left around 3:00, tired and covered in dirt. I went home, showered, and took a nap until my parents got home with some fast food. Then I went back to sleep. I only just decided to write all of this, so I'm glad I have a good memory. :)
My favorite performers. Bik Zippo is blowing a fireball at Asbestos.