Wiped Out. The Not Quite Premier.

Crazy morning prepping Wiped Out. Christy covering children's books at the kitchen table: 'flashbacks of Circo Arts, doing last minute shows.' Luke putting the sound together on his lap-top, his absorbed face which means he can't focus on anything but the task in front. Christy with a props shopping list: hat elastic for the red noses, inflatable arm-bands and a snorkel for luke, safe bathing flags for the children to hold. Gathering and checking and putting in the suitcase.

Recording one part of the voiceover on the laptop quickly and then racing down for a soundcheck before 10 which of course the museum staff weren't ready for at all. Sitting in the museum foyer for half an hour waiting to soundcheck and recording the rest of the voiceovers while we wait - and the museum foyer ambient noise is actuall ideal for the airport background noise. Eventually go over to the sound desk instead of talking to the museum staff and the sound guy says 'well you could do a soundcheck now except nothings working yet. How about you come back just before the show?' Hilarious. So we go home again.
Oh except we don't go home quite yet because we realise the stage is half a metre shorter than they said it would be so a bunch of the tricks don't fit on it. Christy laughs and they try out a high star, which works if her legs are bent.

Back home Luke making sound, Christy and I making props. Do we know the show order? Luke and Christy getting into costume in Joan's lougeroom and the three of us talking through the sound cues. "And can you give us some kind of indication if it gets to half an hour and we're not finished?" I say "yes, I'll just keep skipping the tracks forward." Pile into Joan's little two door, squished in amongst the hula hoops and suitcases, hunched over and leaning into each other.

The museum is running about 20 minutes late. Luke and Christy stretch and warm up and run tricks and I go talk to the sound guy and then blow up inflatable sharks and inflatable palm trees.
The show is chaotic and hilarious - my highlight being the children carrying inflatable sharks chasing them both. I impro the sound and it runs pretty much exactly to time. Kevin is so proud and wants to introduce Christy to everyone. Teach hoops for an hour and then go eat the biggest icecreams for $2.20 in the world. (Rob Roy's Dairy Dunedin)
Christy is doing a Petcha Kucha talk at 7pm so we go look at the butterflies (and the quails and the turtles and the mindball game and the boats) in the museum for a moment before another quick turnaround at home and out again in our pretty clothes. Folk talk poetry, installation art, post soviet toilets, burlesque, ephemeral flat-names and Christy talks social circus. There is something great about 6 minutes of someone's brain; something they are obsessed about, the random specific details and the difference between each talk.

At home and sleepy on the couch we look up Burlesque online and talk about nostalgia and sexuality and power and irony and then just look at all the pretty old circus posters and wish we owned them.

Now the Dunedin shows are over and I'm flying to Melbourne in 36 hours time.