Been doing great lately. Had my first corporate gig in Toronto 2 weekends ago. Got it through my circus school. It might be the first ever corporate performance for footbag, which is cool. It was probably the best performance I've ever done. Felt really rewarding afterwards. Paid really well too!
The director was pleased and wanted me back this past weekend for another show, which also went well.
Things are looking up!
This is finally the first taste of success I've been looking for. It's really obvious now that performing is what I want to do with the rest of my life, or at least as long as I'm physically able.
It's been a little while since my last post. I feel a bit bad for making an intense (perhaps harsh) blog post and kinda disappearing for a few weeks.
I still read the forum daily. I still want to contribute and give advice and post cool videos and stuff. But it seems like my interest is slowly waning from modified. 6 years of my life was all about soaking up as much info on footbag as possible, learning everything about the players I look up to and unique styles that enabled different tricksets to be hit.
But nowadays it's like everyone within the footbag community umbrella tries to just play like someone who's more experienced than them. The players I give major ups for are the guys that exist outside the umbrella, like Jesse Hilbert and the Czech sole stall guy. It's easier to innovate outside the community where there's little or no influence. Developing a completely untouched style is very difficult to do.
That's what I'm attempting to do.
It's likely why I feel the need to distance myself from modified. I need inspiration from every source remotely applicable to footbag. The best way to innovate is to remain in isolation.
Transcribing footbag into a circus routine is very challenging. It can't just be a planned shred. Not just a succession of progressively more difficult tricks. There needs to be STUNTS. Like you're giving people a revelation of what is possible with the human body. Shuffling the legs isn't enough.
Years of comments and opinions on my game and simply footbag in general made me realize something. If we really want to be marketable as a sport, it's THEIR opinion that truly matters. These people are our future clients, noobs, and audience! With all the assumptions and misinformation, it's easy to consider these people ignorant or whatnot. However, the general public knows what they like and what they want. They know what they wish footbag was, and what they wish to take away from watching a footbag performance. For this reason I'm planning my routine based on the common negative critiques about shred style and footbag in general.
This is what the public has taught me:
The bag is too small. -- Need to use a bigger bag.
I can't see the bag -- The bag needs to be bright-coloured, glowing or reflective.
Eww short shorts! -- The shorts need to be below the knee. Because of the more restricted movement they'll need to be form-fitting, like a cyclist short. Or use tights/leggings.
Can you kick it up behind you and catch it over there -- Gonna have to figure out whatever the hell that means and get it consistent.
All those [shred-style] tricks looked the same after a while -- Have to figure out people's tolerance level of shred-style, and choose only the tricks that are the most distinct and visual.
After those tricks I'll have to work on some slower moving positions and transitions for the show. Variety is key.
A little while ago I felt like I hit a wall in my game. Like, schooling the basics over and over can only help you so much for the really advanced tricks (ex. you can drill swirl a million times but it doesn't help tremendously towards swirling set). I realized the only way to raise my level now is to cross-train very seriously, explore other performance disciplines and learn more about how the body works.
I don't know if I'll go to GRASS this year. My routine might not be ready anyway. I'll definitely focus on making Worlds and the IJA this year.
Expect some vids and cool news before Feb is out.
Peace.
JM
Hehe.
