New Orleans

Monument to the Immigrant

Considering the political situation in the United States of America at this moment, I thought the photograph of the Monument to the Immigrant I captured this Friday on the waterfront in New Orleans was appropriate.

Sometimes life throws you a bone. As it was so very, very cold in Vermont and New York State, Norwegian Cruise Lines decided that I could (and should) fly straight from Jacksonville to New Orleans and spend three nights in a hotel there, instead of going home for two days, before boarding the Norwegian Escape on Sunday. So I booked myself into the Holiday Inn in the French Quarter for three nights. I had never been to New Orleans before, I was quite excited. My last show on the Norwegian Gem was Wednesday night and I had to be up at 6.45 am on Thursday to meet the customs officials, so you can imagine, by the time I did actually land in New Orleans on Thursday afternoon, I was a little tired. After I had checked in to the hotel, I took a little stroll up Bourbon Street. It was pretty much as I imagined, loud, tacky and with overpriced drinks. But there was also a lot of it. I lived in Key West for 10 years, and Bourbon Street reminded me a lot of Duval Street. I was too tired to really explore properly, and I had Friday and Saturday night to look forward to, so I decided to go back to the hotel and crash.

It can pay off to be an old street performer. On Thursday afternoon, en-route to New Orleans, I texted Jefferson Rose, who is a street performer and nice person who lives in Roanoke, Virginia. And within a few minutes I had a meeting with Will Flederman "The Loud Mime" arranged for Friday morning and a breakfast date with Connor O'Carraig "The World's Tallest Leprechaun." Both of these people perform on the streets of New Orleans and both of them I met in Roanoke three years ago, thanks to Jefferson.

I met Connor outside the hotel at 9 am on Friday morning, and we spent a very pleasant hour having breakfast and catching up on our adventures, Connor is mostly on the Renaissance Fair circuit, and we have many mutual acquaintances. He also has a pet crow, which usually perches on his shoulder, sadly he didn't bring it for breakfast, but he said the bird would be out later when he started working. Apparently, most restaurants don't care for pet crows. Connor went off to the pitch on Jackson Square just after 10 am, so he could get a good spot in line. I told him I would be along a bit later. And so at about 11.15 I walked around a corner and found myself in Jackson Square, a jazz quartet was playing outside the cathedral, the sun was shining, perfect. Connor was on the corner of the square waiting for the band to finish so he could start, I was pleased to see the crow was perched happily on his shoulder. Connor does a magic show, so he doesn't need a huge number of people, but he does need a bit of focus.

Will "The Loud Mime" was half set up right opposite the Cathedral doors also waiting for the band. When I had met with Will in Roanoke they was attempting to do a Rola Bola routine on a very rickety table. A lot can happen in three years, and a lot has happened to Will. They now had a very solid metal stand / table, at least 6 ft (2 m) tall, some nice signage and a very good costume. They also had white face make up, because after all, they are a mime. They told me they was going to start at about 12 pm as the band had to stop then due to a service in the church. So I decided I would go for a quick walk along the waterfront, that is where I took the picture above. In fact, I had only just taken the photo when I got a text from Will telling me they was going to start early as the band had finished. So I set off back to the pitch, it wasn't far, but I wanted to get there to watch the crowd build (that is street performer language), which is always the toughest part of any street show. By the time I got back, Will already had an edge of about 30 people. "The Loud Mime" talks, hence the name, and they is funny, I can hear and see many of their inspirations in both the material and the delivery, but they has taken it all and very much made it their own, I like it. It is an adult show, and it would not necessarily work everywhere, but for New Orleans it's perfect.

Will performed for about 45 minutes in total and in that time built a crowd up to about 150 people, a decent size, especially as it was only noon. They also had very few walk offs, which is a good sign that people like it. I thought to myself that Will's show would work well in Key West, Amsterdam and Edinburgh during the festival. It was also nice to see someone doing proper material, with jokes and not the standard stock lines that so many street performers just trot out. I think Will "The Loud Mime" will become a big noise. I congratulated Will on the show when they were all done, and we arranged to meet on Saturday for lunch at Coop's. Jackson Square is a bastion of street culture, there were trinket sellers down one side, and fortune-tellers and poets at the front near the Cathedral, with musicians on the one corner and the afore mentioned Leprechaun and other magicians on another corner. I felt at home.

I spent the rest of the afternoon, wandering the streets of the French Quarter and doing some much-needed clothes shopping. New Orleans has some wonderful clothes shops, particularly if you are in show business. I picked up a very nice silk shirt to wear in my own show. If I didn't have as much luggage I am sure I would have bought much more, there were some very nice suits and waistcoats (Vests) on offer at very reasonable prices. There were all sorts of other speciality shops too, the Voodoo shops were very interesting. And with all the French influence, there was great coffee. If I am honest, I could have done without the Beignets (sort of a donut) and all that sugar, but hey, live and let live.

Friday evening as recommended, I headed down to Frenchman Street for the music, and indeed it was very good. I watched one particularly tight rock band, which unfortunately I didn't catch the name of, and a bit of Jazz, which is compulsory in the Big Easy. The drinks were a bit pricey, but the music made it very worthwhile, it was late by the time I got back to the hotel. I also ate a fried oyster platter at some point and was stuffed.

Saturday was cold, for New Orleans, very cold, actually near freezing. I thought about selling my gloves to the Valet's on duty outside the hotel.

I enjoyed a relaxed breakfast, I had invited Connor along, but he told me it was too cold for him to get out of bed. They are not very used to cold weather in the south. None of the street performers were working that Saturday and by the time I passed by Jackson Square there was nobody there, the Covent Garden performer in me was yelling "Whimps!" As I can recall shows being done on the West Piazza, Covent Garden in negative temperatures and even snow.

Coop's place on Decatur Street turned out to be an interesting place, there was a bar in the middle surrounded by some very simple tables, it was also a little dark inside. Judging by the decor, I assumed the food had to be good. Will told me to have the Taste plate, so I did. It started with Seafood gumbo (Will told me there was alligator in it, I don't want to be pedantic, but I am pretty sure they are fresh water animals), followed by Cajun fried chicken, shrimp creole, red beans and rice, and rabbit and sausage jambalaya. It was all excellent and for once in the USA very tasty. We spent a good hour eating and talking mostly shop. I think I was partly seeing myself as a younger street performer as I was talking with him. Both of us are jugglers who do a lot of talking and much like Will my material used to be far more adult than it is now (I wanted to shock people back then). They asked me if there was anything that they should do with the show, I replied "No". Their show will undoubtedly change with them as they get older (those who don't change with age become sad caricatures of their formers selves, and regrettably I have seen that happen a lot). Will also informed me that there was going to be a parade tonight and I should come out to Royal Street at around 7 pm to watch, they said that tonight's parade was one of their favourites.

I spoke briefly with Mum on the phone, who informed me that when they (My Mother and Father) had been in New Orleans she had been covered in soot by a paddle steamer, so I took a photo of one for her. She also told me that my father had been particularly intrigued by the burlesque dancers on Bourbon Street, who apparently could gyrate their appendages in different directions at the same time. I told her that there were still plenty of places for that sort of thing, but no, I hadn't been in to watch. She also informed me that they brought me along on the trip and the hotel had provided them with a babysitter, I'm guessing that would have been December 1969. My Father was always a big fan of Trad Jazz, which seems like a good reason for them to visit the city, if nothing else.

I decided to have a bit of an earlier dinner and treated myself to an excellent Shrimp Po Boy, I could get fat here quickly.

Parade swag

I wanted to be on Royal Street for 7 pm, Will texted me where they would be standing. I set off in that direction, but what I hadn't accounted for was just how many other people were also going in that direction. I did eventually get there, but there were so many other people there I just couldn't find Will. The parade had barely moved, I could see some lights further up the street, so as it was cold I decided to move closer to them. What a celebration of diversity it was. As I mentioned earlier I lived in Key West for 10 years and Fantasy Fest has a good number of its own parades, so it wasn't a totally new experience. This parade was quite political, there was a very good satire of Robert Kennedy Jr showcasing his dangerous stupidity, the theme was "Krewe du Vieux Saves the Wet Glands." All in all it was a thoroughly good time and I would recommend it, but if you want to know more I suggest you visit it yourself in 2027. The Krewe du Vieux have been parading for 40 years and show no signs of wanting to stop. I went to bed a little dazed and with a smile on my face.

Sunday came too quickly for me, but fortunately I didn't have to rush, if I hadn't had so much luggage I would have walked to the ship, we were not departing till 4 pm, so I had time for a last walk round the city.

NCL Escape New Orleans

From the waterfront opposite Jackson Square I could see the Norwegian Escape, it is a very large ship, I took a photo so you can appreciate the enormity of the vessel. I'm on it now, we are in Roatan Island, Honduras 4 days after I snapped the photo, my show is tomorrow night and New Orleans is rapidly becoming a happy memory.

New Orleans is tacky, dirty, and expensive. I thoroughly recommend visiting. I loved it!