Wisconsin State Fair
- Guy Collins
- Aug 28
- 8 min read
I had a couple of days off between the excitement of Sac City and my start at the Wisconsin State Fair. So I took the opportunity to visit Circus World in Baraboo, Wisconsin. I'm glad I did, even though it was raining I was able to enjoy certainly the biggest collection of circus memorabilia and circus infrastructure I have ever seen. Baraboo was home to the Ringling Brothers Circus from 1884 to 1918, there are some great photographs of the trainers walking the elephants through the town from that time. I was able to catch the Big Top show at 11 am, and I was not disappointed, I particularly liked the juggling act (well I would, wouldn't I), which was a three-person performance, very tight and impressive skills. As I said it was raining so unfortunately no aerial show. I did go and see the circus wagon collection, which was massive and fascinating and must have been magnificent back in the day! If you are ever in the area, I would recommend a visit.
Onwards and upwards, time to push on through to Milwaukee and the Wisconsin State Fair. I arrive on Wednesday afternoon and meet Kenny Ahern at the Family Variety Stage, which he is setting up. I offered to help and was politely declined. We have a pretty nice set up, two large trailers to act as dressing rooms / chill out spaces with comfy sofas and armchairs. On top of which, the trailers are in a locked compound that only the entertainers can access plus we can park right there, cool! I'm sharing a trailer with Brant "The Fire Guy" Matthews, who I have known for many years and is great fun. Also in the Trailer is John Park, "The Comedy Waiter" whom I have never met before, but I immediately like because the first thing he does is offer me a cup of tea.
The first five days of the fair, I will be performing on the street in an area known as Central Mall. As the name suggests, Central Mall is right in the middle of the fairgrounds and my spot is at a 4 way interchange. Something I have not yet mentioned, which is important to know, is that Wisconsin State Fair is famous for its bars, there are well over 100 of them, and all of them have a band and every band wants to play the loudest. My spot is sandwiched between the Bud Light Pavilion and Knuckleheads, both of which love to turn it up to 11. Fortunately, battery operated PA systems have come on a long way since I started and my two Bose S1's are enough for me to be heard a little (In actual fact, when I first started there were no battery operated amplifiers whatsoever!). Also, due to the location there is no shade in the spot, fortunately for me the first five days of the fair are forecast to be in the seventies and low eighties (21 to 28 C), I can easily handle that.
With all these bands playing at so many venues, the fair drives the various bands with their equipment through the fairgrounds in large white vans with two teenagers walking ahead with orange flags shouting at people to get out of the way. As I mentioned, I am slam bang in the middle of it all and these vans come right through the space.
One thing you can say about the fair goers in Wisconsin is that they are up for a good time. And as soon as I start setting up, I have a crowd of people. My bell routine receives a great reaction when the smallest child's bell doesn't ring and he or she gets to ring the biggest bell ever! The crowd (particularly the children) also really like to clap and cheer as loudly as possible during the bell juggle. It fills me with joy! I finish these shows walking on my rope (as John Park is riding a unicycle, it would be bad form to do the same) and juggling the knives, a trick which I have been doing for over 35 years and yet people still seem to love! In actual fact, the first couple of shows were not as easy as all that, I got interrupted three times by the vans, and we had to pause the show whilst the crowd got out the way. I was able to solve this problem (mostly) by moving a couple of picnic tables and moving my set-up over, so the vans could get past behind, still not 100 percent ideal, but there really was no other suitable space. The rest of my shows in Central Mall went very well indeed, as I said the people of Wisconsin are very much looking for a good time and because the weather is so good there are record attendances.
It happened to be John Park's 63rd birthday, so we had a barbecue in our little compound and a bit of a party. It's August, and we have all been on the road long enough to start missing our loved ones and homes. These little gatherings and the camaraderie that goes along with them makes the continual hotel room living bearable. I'm impressed that John is still riding his unicycle at 63, he tells me he plans to carry on till at least 70. We then have a long conversation about our knees (which I won't bore you with)! My friend Billy Kidd has arrived too, she is here to perform the last 6 days on the streets, and we are staying in the same hotel, so I can give her a lift into the fair. She has seen the weather report for the last 6 days, and is not happy, it's going to be hot, hot, hot. Fortunately for me, I am in the tent and out of the sun.
The Family Variety Stage at the Wisconsin State fair is legendary, and it is quite an honour to perform upon it. It is a fairly small stage, I only just have enough space to ride my unicycle for the grand finale, which makes for an even more exciting show. The shows are usually well attended and there is excellent focus, also the backdrop is very pretty. I very much enjoyed my performances here. It does start to get very warm, and even under the shade of the tent it is getting sticky! The acts on the streets are really feeling it, and their audiences are unable to be out in the full sun for very long. I am continually surprised that fairs do not think about shade for their audiences, particularly the street performances. Global warming is happening, ask anyone who works outside, every year surpasses the previous years' temperature. Planting trees would be my number one suggestion. But there are other ways, like shade sails and permanent gazebos. The temperature and the humidity continue to rise and come Saturday afternoon (the penultimate fair day) clouds are starting to amass above us. The fair has a strict cancellation policy if there is lightning within 8 miles of the grounds. By 5.30 pm the sky is quite dark, and then it started, a few drops and then a crackle of thunder. My 6.30 pm show is cancelled. Both Billy and I jump into my car and drive back to the hotel, it is raining fairly hard now. We agree to meet a bit later for some food. As it's still raining, we decide to order in pizza. An hour later and we are waiting hungrily in the hotel lobby, a text appears on Billy's phone, "They've cancelled our order"! She exclaims! We are both starving, what now, there is a Panda Express just across the street, neither of us has ever been to a Panda express, and we are greeted by cheery staff members. I cannot even remember what I had, but I do know it wasn't very pleasant, I will avoid Panda Express from now on. The rain is still coming down.
I took this video from the door to the car park.
The rain just kept falling and after hanging out for a bit downstairs, Billy and I go our separate ways in the anticipation of a cooler last day.
I wake up bright and early and head downstairs in search of coffee.
I plonk myself down in a comfy chair and start to watch the local news, there is one topic this morning, flooding!
Record rainfall had fallen overnight, homes had been destroyed, more rain had dropped from the sky that night than an entire month's worth. "The state fair is cancelled"! The TV anchor announces, and I look up to the screen. Oh dear, I think. What to do now?
I don't want to get in the way of any emergency services, but at the same time I should get my gear, and maybe I could be of some help!
Billy arrives downstairs, "Did you see the rain, wow, epic"! She excitedly says. "Look at the news". I reply. "Damn"! Says Billy.
We decide that we should go to the fairgrounds. My car has a puddle of water in the back, even though the doors and windows were closed tightly, I have to bail it out before we can proceed. Although the hotel has electricity there are clearly outages around us, the traffic lights are not working. Fortunately, the roads are mostly empty, and we are able to slowly make our way towards the fair. The closer we get, the worse the damage becomes, we get diverted through a residential area and there is a camera crew interviewing a poor woman whose home has been completely flooded out. There are dirty marks on the buildings where the water reached in the night. As we turn towards our usual gate, we have to drive around a number of abandoned cars that were right in the middle of the street. Our normal gate is closed, but we do find a security guard who directs us to Gate 1 which is the only gate that is open, fortunately it is also the closest gate to the Family Variety Stage. The fairgrounds are a bit of a mess, but the security guards let us in, and we drive up to our compound. Kenny Ahern is clearing up the stage, there is no major damage, however all the benches floated away in the night, and they are now all piled up on the other side of the street. The Strolling Piano Guy Nathan shows me his storage pod and the water line inside, he is hoping that the electronics are working, unfortunately he had a lot of new electronic devices in boxes and these are now completely useless. Having lost so much you would think he would be in tears, but he is smiling "Stuff happens, we are all alive!" he tells me.
Coney Island Chris (Great name) has also faired very badly, sensibly he had zipped all his show stuff up in a tent / gazebo thingy to keep the rain off. What he could not of anticipated was the water level rising up from the ground, also that in the flood the sewage from the big two trailers would leak out as the water rose above the holding tanks. Last I saw of him he was trying to clean up what hadn't been destroyed, but I am pretty sure his best option was to replace it all. Fortunately for both myself and Billy our stuff is in waterproof "Pelican" cases (Pelican cases are industry standard for professional street performers) and are in the big trailers which apart from the sewage leak have no damage. So we are able just to lift our cases out and put them into my car. Nobody wants any help and so the two of us drive back through the apocalyptic streets to our hotel, to enjoy an unanticipated day off.
I start in Kentucky on Thursday and my birthday is Tuesday, I'm going to be 58 and I still haven't got a proper job!
I spent my birthday all alone (it can be harsh being on the road so long) in Chicago visiting the Botanical gardens which are incredible, I particularly like the Japanese gardens there and I had a very nice time indeed.
Next stop the Kentucky State Fair, stay tuned!
