Welcome To Technomania Circus

        Technomania Circus is a law unto itself. Before the show started, Dr. Techno read our minds, entertained us and most important of all, made us laugh. We all knew from the title of the show that we would be traveling through time, but when you are at Technomania Circus, most things are not always as they seem.

        That being said, I once again I found myself in the audience of Technomania Circus and once again I was amazed by what I saw. For this performance of the Technomaniacs, we took a journey through time, a journey that went through millions of years of history, and we laughed the entire time. We, as Americans do not have a sense of history that that goes beyond 1776, when we became a country. Most of us have no idea what the world was doing before that, but Technomania Circus does, so they educated and entertained us by reminding us what happened before, during and after the mighty United States of America was an idea, a reality and a ghost.

Dr. Techno At Technomania Circus

        Something I’ve never mentioned before is the personal guarantee that Dr. Techno gives each and every member of the audience: “You will enjoy the show or I will clean your house.” There are never any takers because everyone always loves the show.

When Dinosaurs Ruled The Earth

        Our journey begins somewhere around 25,000,000 BC, when dinosaurs and talking Tyrannosaurus Rex’s where a force to be reckoned with. Just look at his tiny little hands!

Cavemen

        Depending on who you ask and what part of the United States you are standing in when you ask, dinosaurs and people either co-existed OR where separated by millions of years of evolution. This particular dinosaur spoken fluent English, so right now I’m thinking that people and thunder lizards were contemporaries of one another. Of course, biblical scholars would disagree, but they disagree with everyone.

        As we continued to move forward through time at Technomania Circus, we met some familiar faces. Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble demonstrated the the first automobile and the need to invent a back seat for a car. Wasn’t the Flintstones an awesome cartoon? What a great concept. The cartoon came out in the 1960′s and applied 1960′s technology to the stone age. I would be very interested to watch a remake of the show that is updated to for 2010 technology. I think watching the the Flintstones deal with stone age computers, social networks and coffee shops would be incredibly funny. Anyways, after the Flintstones came the Egyptians, and King Ramses. As you can see from the photo above, Ramses was very pleased with his volunteer on his blue ball.

The Pharaoh Ramses Balances On His Big Blue Ball

        As we progressed through time we learned that even pharaohs like to have fun. Time travel aside, this really was quite a feat of balance and concentration. Walking on top of a giant rubber ball back and forth across a see-saw is a very exciting thing to watch!

Jesus Hubert Christ!

        Jesus Christ arrived 2000 years or so after the the golden age of Egypt, and when he did arrive, he rocked the house. What was his first number 1 single? Stairway To Heaven, of course.

Henry VIII Is Entertained At The Palace

        Henry VIII had 6 wives, two of whom were beheaded, so it is easy to understand why the court musician would try very, VERY hard to keep the King of England entertained. After all, if Henry would lop off the heads of his wives, what would he lop off a lowly court musician?

The Wild West

        After Henry VIII came an American gunfighter. This particular gunfighter chose to balance on a ladder and shoot balloons from a hand-held target. He had a very steady hand and never missed.

        The photo above, on the left reminded me of a line from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, spoken by Chevy Chase, “That’s a great place for a pearl necklace.” Ahem, as we continued forward through time we got to hear a remarkable song by Albert Einstein that ran through every element on the periodic table. It reminded me of the Nations Of The World song performed by Yakko Warner of the Animaniacs.

Space Pirates!

        Dr. Techno, the leader of the Technomaniacs was the operator of the time machine throughout the show. The time machine was a gigantic, mechanical contraption that only had enough juice to take us BACK in time. However, Albert Einstein produced an unspecified quantity of OBTAINIUM, which allowed the good Dr. Techno to take us into the FUTURE with his time machine. The first thing we encountered where space pirates.

At Some Point In History We Discovered Fire

        I began to lose track of where I was and WHEN I was, but The Welderman jumped out on stage to show me the light. I was at Technomania Circus, and I was in the very distant future. I have mentioned many times in previous posts that fire is my favorite part of the show, so I like to think they closed out the show with fire just for me. I know that’s not the reason, but it could be. It could be!

Technomania Circus Presents The Time Travel Show

Fire…

        My introduction to Technomania Circus was less than a year ago, and I will say now in plain sight of God and man that it has been an amazing and colorful year. Right here, in San Diego is a performing troupe of circus players that make their living as actors while providing entertainment on a monthly basis to the citizens of San Diego.

Blacklight…

        The show they performed on May 1, 2010 was aptly titled, “Variety And Blacklight Show” and it was a stellar, hilarious, fiery and musical ordeal. There was just so much happening during this show… There was an incredible amount of variety (go figure) but there was also a healthy dose of fire, that I don’t think the audience expecting, yet immediately embraced.

Variety

        The technomaniacs have been busy since I attended their last show, “Invasion of the Oojaians: A Blacklight and Fire Intergalactic Adventure.” They have a newly constructed and much larger stage, what seemed to me to be better lighting (regular & blacklight), and a great audio system that does double duty by playing show music as well as serving as a P.A. for the actors.

        Of course, before the show started, I had to make my way through the entrance to the ticket desk. It was while I was at the desk that I saw Paul Moeller, one of the resident technomaniacs getting ready for the show. He came right up to me and informed me that not only was I “on the list” for entry into the show, but I have also been given the title, “Official Photographer” for Technomania Circus, and he produced an official badge for me to wear! How cool is that? These guys are just so gracious and welcoming no matter who walks into their yard, but this gesture really is more than going the extra mile for a fan of the show. Thanks guys!

Technomania Circus Is Where We Dance

        This show was all over the map, all over the stage and even off the stage into the audience. What makes Technomania Circus better than a movie or other live theater venues is that they bring their energy right into your lap, and you as the audience are able to throw your energy right onto the stage. There is a perfect harmony between the performers and the audience that you won’t find anywhere else.

        Every time you go to a Technomania Circus show, you will see something you have never seen before. I have personally been around the world and back again, and I used to say I’d seen everything, but then I started going to these shows. The Devil himself walked out on stage, acknowledged us mere mortals, announced that he’s a drinker and a smoker, had one of his underworld minions give him a light, and then held a Q&A with the audience. After that, the Pope, God’s human representative on Earth joined the fallen angel on stage, answered a few questions and then broke out into song. Yep, that is just a small portion of my Saturday night, spending time watching things I have never seen before. Now, let me just say now that I am a photographer, so video and video editing are pretty much a foreign languages to me. So, with that in mind, the two video clips I’m including with this post are short & sweet… Because, uh… I don’t know how to mix and edit video yet. I’m learning, but until I’m ready to go prime-time with all of it, you will have to settle for erratic clips and shoddy editing. Please don’t blame my D5000 or Technomania Circus, just blame me! At least we can now say with certainty that the Pope does indeed wear a funny hat.

Masochist Tango

        Paul and Mary Moeller, pictured above are two of the best reasons to embrace music, performing arts, and Technomania Circus. They are two of the coolest cats I have ever met. They create and perform music, they dance, sing and entertain. On this particular night, they performed the “Masochist Tango” which had some hilarious lyrics, but I just don’t remember any of those lyrics now. The premise was eloquently simple and familiar: A woman sits inside a Starbucks, writing (a screenplay) on her Mac, when a man enters and lures her into an amazingly choreographed tango. It was a sexy and provocative dance, and we audience members were enthralled. What made this situation uniquely Technomania was that they both held their coffees while dancing with each other. It was hilarious because they both danced the tango while spilling coffee all over themselves, but remained oblivious to it the entire time. Looks of passion, wanting and desire were subverted by the roaring laughter of the audience.

How About A Little Fire, Scarecrow?

        I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… Fire is my favorite part of Technomania Circus. I could fill an entire blog, from beginning to end with photos of the technomaniacs flinging fire around the stage. When they were kids and their folks told them not to play with matches, I wonder what their collective response was. Do you remember all those things we were forbidden to do as kids? These guys make a living by doing all of those things!

        One of the regular acts at Technomania Circus is The Welderman. These are people that don fireproof clothing, throw fire around wherever and however they please while performing music for the masses. They will be competing at the 2010 World Telekinesis Competition next month. This is a competition for people that can control fire by using only the power of their minds. It’s great to know that a hometown San Diego hero will be tearing it up in a competition of people with kinetic abilities that far surpass my own.

Jon Juggles Fire

        For some reason the word “fire” was not included in the title of this show’s performance. So, that meant that all of us audience members didn’t expect a lot, or ANY fire as we walked in. Ha! There was fire at this show, and we loved it!

        Dr. Techno is the technomaniac that generally warms up the crowd, greets theater goers and owns a very loyal dog. Right here and now, I will give him credit for aligning the pieces that comprise the Technomania Circus… Everything from the venue, the talent, the bleacher seating and the very, very crazy bathroom. This guy actually has space pirates (and a space pirates theme song) perform at his theater! I will go out on a limb and say that NO ONE has ever been able to make that claim before.

        As mentioned earlier, there will be something at EVERY Technomania Circus show that you have never seen before. When I woke up on Saturday morning, I had no idea that later that night I would see a robot, dressed in Victoria’s Secret lingerie get fondled by another (presumably male) robot. That and the earlier mentioned appearance by The Devil & pope are just two of the MANY things I had never seen before this show. Besides being a very convenient location for those of us that take the trolley, Technomania Circus is just something that you find yourself wanting to go to and looking forward to. The circus lives at 2438 Commercial St. San Diego, in Logan Heights, right across from the 25th & Commercial Orange Line trolley stop. It is literally 15 feet away from the trolley stop, so there is no reason to think you can’t take public transportation there and back. They offer drinks, snacks t-shirts and buttons for sale, and they are all reasonably priced. Feel free to bring your own snacks or drinks, but be sure to keep your drinks in a brown paper bag *wink*. Anyway, I’ll wrap up this post with one more quick (and poorly shot) video of a break dancing alien as well as with my two favorite shots of the evening. Their next show is on June 5th, 2010 and it is called, “The Wild Wild REALLY Wild Western Circus.” I’ll see everyone there. Cheers!

Jon Blows Fire At Technomania Circus

Technomania Circus Is The Greatest Show On Earth

Follow The Smoke

        Heading home from work today, we saw a plume of dark smoke, on the south side of I-905 and decided to go investigate the source.

Authority Figures Control The Situation

        After jumping off the highway, we missed every single light on the way to the fire, so we missed the actual fire. It seems that it was a shed or detached garage that went up in smoke.

Firefighters Doing What They Do (After A Fire)

        Anyways, steering wildly off my homeward-bound course was a welcome diversion from my usual, uneventful ride home. Nothing photo-worthy happened after that. The bulls (San Diego trolley guards) were out in force at the Palomar station, and were rude, grabby and scared of my camera, but that’s nothing new.

Murrugun The Mystic Amazes The Crowd

        The Spring Busker Festival rolled into San Diego’s Seaport Village this weekend, and it was quite a show. A “Busker” is a street performer of just about any sort… Jugglers, dancers, fire-breathers, comedians, etc. They perform because they love to perform. These people are the epitome of “follow your dream” because they are brave enough to take a stab at doing what they love for a living, rather than rotting under fluorescent lights for 40 hours a week.
        For the photo above I had meant to focus on Murrugun The Mystic, but in my haste to capture the fireball, accidentally focused on the crowd behind him instead. I think the faces on the crowd says it all. This performance was amazing and everyone there had a great time. The vignetting on the right and left side are actually the heads of the people standing in front of me. This pic was snapped at 1/100th, f/1.8, 400 ISO.

Calypso Tumblers Warming Up The Crowd

        These are just two of a troupe of about 10 or so dancers that were more flexible than any Olympic gymnast I’ve ever seen. Shot at 1/60th, f/1.8, 2000 ISO.

Project Dynamite Explodes Onto The Scene

        The dynamic duo from Project Dynamite (Alex Clark & David Kaplan) pulled several people from the audience to help them out, and the two pictured above happened to be my favorite. Their immediate stage names were Berta and McLovin, and they tried their best to steal the show. Berta was kind enough to let a couple people do a motorboat between her breasts, and even helped a shy McLovin get in on that action. After being tied up in chains, Project Dynamite escaped and removed their clothes in 35 seconds. The pic above was snapped at 1/30th, f/1.8, 1600 ISO. The video below shows them escaping and undressing.

Murrugun The Mystic With His Money And A Honey

        When Murrugun finished swallowing swords and blowing fireballs 20 feet into the air, it was time to collect his dues. He must have left his collection hat at home so he went for the next best thing… He allowed tippers to staple money to his body! I would like to repeat that: Murrugun The Mystic allowed people to staple money to his body. $5 bought onlookers the privilege of stapling cash onto his nipple, while $20 earned you the right to staple a greenback right onto his forehead. While others stapled, I snapped this pic at 1/100th, f/1.8, 1600 ISO.

Project Dynamite With A New Assistant

        After they escaped from the chains and their clothes, Project Dynamite found a new volunteer. Her job turned out to be torch bearer, or more specifically, torch thrower. After stacking 15 folding chairs and balancing on top of them, the assistant tossed six torches up to the performers, where they (the torches) were set aflame and juggled. It was quite a thing to see. Vital stats from the pic above are 1/60th, f/1.8, 1600 ISO.

And Then There Was Fire

        This was the finale for Buskers After Dark, 2010 in Seaport Village, San Diego. Project Dynamite, stripped down to their skivvies juggled torches between one another while balancing 10 feet in the air on a stack of folding chairs. I bet next year will be even better!

Technomania Circus Presents The Blacklight & Fire Show

        Here we go! Fire, black-light theater, aliens, music & comedy crash onto the scene at Technomania Circus. The full title of the show is, “Invasion of the Oojaians: A Blacklight and Fire Intergalactic Adventure.” With a title like that, you know you’ll be in for a good time. On my way into the venue, two young ladies stood just outside, the entrance, and asked me for a light. I obliged, and from the conversation that ensues while a cigarette is lit I found out that one them is the girlfriend of a cast member and the other was attending her very first Technomania Circus Show. Perfect! That is what I like to see. A veteran of the circus bringing a virgin to the altar.

Aliens – Oojaians Produce Fire

        The first thing we see as we walk inside the circus is an alien tending to some sort of fire producing retail enterprise. Fire! Yes, fire. Preshow entertainment was well underway, and the fires were already burning when I met Dr. Techno at the entrance of Technomania Circus. After chatting with him and Valerie, another cast member for a few minutes, I found a seat, pulled out my D5000 and got ready for the show.

Defensive Surfing

        Just is case you never thought you’ve see a surfboard on fire, Technomania Circus arranges it for you, in person, no more than ten feet from where you sit. This particular surfer then proceeded to balance this surfboard on his chin. Where else in the world are you going to see something like that?!? This show was a very well told story of aliens and trying to overcome very simple communication barriers. There was a full on alien orchestra, which played throughout the show, in the shadow of a pimped out flying saucer. We spectators learned Morse code and eventually learned to communicate with the aliens. The show was very interactive, and the more the audience cheers, the better the show!

Say Fire For The Camera!

        This photo is exactly what it looks like. There are some people that can command fire like a dog, and this man is one of them. Fire is still my favorite part of Technomania Circus, and real fire adds so much to a live theater performance.

The Weldermen

        The Weldermen appeared with their fire laden instruments, and they helped to sort things out with the aliens. There is something to be said for a group of people that create their own fiery instruments to compliment a live blacklight performance. All of a sudden, a group of people wearing welding masks and carrying instruments of fire appear and light up the stage with fire. Absolutely incredible!

Blacklight Balance

        This show had performance after performance of hilarious and amazing blacklight illusions. Invisible minions dressed in black lend unseen hands to the acts, and the acts are amazing. Spaceships, aliens, shooting stars, levitation and a bit of fire are all on the menu, and they are all gourmet.

Technomania Circus’s Fire & Blacklight Show

Burning Man at Technomania Circus

The DJ Spins @ Technomania Circus

Burning Man Parody Up Close

        Before the show even began, the DJ entertained the crowd with music from the late 20th century, warming us up and setting the mood for “The Parody Show” at Technomania Circus. This was the first show for 2010, and The Technomaniacs pulled out all the stops, including fire, burlesque, juggling, Elvis Presley, blacklight theater and Lady Gaga even made an appearance, as did Martha Stewart. For The Parody Show, the cast of Technomania Circus made fun of just about everyone, including the audience, themselves and Tiger Woods. This was three hours of fun and satire and it closed with a fast moving awards ceremony honoring many of the most talented performers in San Diego. The show is so easy to get to, especially on the orange line trolley. Technomania Circus is located at 2438 Commercial St. San Diego, in Logan Heights, right across from the 25th & Commercial Orange Line trolley stop. Trolleys come by every half hour, and the schedule can be seen here. I was fortunate enough to be using a borrowed Canon T1i for the evening, so I shot every frame at 3200 ISO and a shutter speed of 1/15th for almost every frame as well.

Dr. Techno

Martha Stewart & Lady Gaga

        Dr. Techno started things off with his guitar playing balancing act and was also our host for the awards show that followed the performance. The cast were all presented with trophies that varied from a small statue of a three headed dog to a diorama that contained a hula dancer and shrunken skull. You just never know what will happen at a Technomania Circus show.

Sarah Palin Going Rogue

        Lady Gaga took cooking instruction from Martha Stewart, and one of the rhyming orders by Martha was something like: “Lady Gaga take this please and bake that bitch at three fifty degrees.”

The Cast Of Technomania Circus

        The entire cast was all smiles for this show, and rightly so because most of what they did was very funny, with several moments of outright hilarity. Their awards ceremony, which wrapped up the evening was just as funny as the show itself and even a lucky audience member won an award.

Fire At Technomania Circus

        Fire is my favorite part of these shows, and the cast always makes sure to add extra elements of danger. You’ll want to take note of a few things in the photo on the left, including the spaceship in the background, the fact that the left performer is balancing on a two point ladder, the juggling pins on the stage and the woman in the center wearing a bathrobe with possibly nothing else underneath. Saturday nights that hold a performance from Technomania Circus are just so easy to attend and are so much fun to watch. They are full of energy and engaging for the audience so the more you cheer the better and funnier the show is. Next time I will bring a tasty beverage because after three hours of cheering, I was feeling a little parched. Their next shows will be on February 13th & 23rd, with the doors opening at 7pm, pre-show at 7:30pm and the show starting at eight. The show is entitled “A Mob Show: Happiness Is A Warm Tommy Gun.” See pics from previous shows: The Fire & Blacklight Show, and The Wild Wild West Show .

San Diego’s Technomania Circus Cast & Crew, January 9, 2010

Beautiful Indian Being Played With Behind Fire

        Once again, I found myself at Technomania Circus, for some live theater entertainment. On this particular Saturday night, Technomania Circus put on a Wild, Wild West Show, complete with gunfire, indians, cowboys, trapeze, fire and blacklight. I arrived just as the show was starting, and was actually led into the theater by the cowboys, as they made their theatrical entrance. While this made for some initial excitement for me, it also meant I did not get my usual spot at the top of the stadium seating. Not a big deal for watching the show, but terrible for taking pictures. The two keepers I shot are presented to you in this post.

Technomania Circus Presents The Wild Wild West Show!

        This was a great show. For those of you that are not Technomania Circus Virgins, your will recognize the Indians of this show are also the fire performers from the Fire & Blacklight show back in July. It was so much fun, and the crowd cheered and encouraged the performers the entire time. Technomania Circus is simply the best, cheapest, funniest, most retro night you can spend in San Diego!

        You can see my post and photos from their Fire & Blacklight Show, which was presented back in July 2009 by clicking right here. I love Technomania Circus!

Beauty & Danger At Technomania Circus

Technomania Circus is also host to music acts that range from normal guys with guitars to to men in full-on welding rigs that use fire and brimstone as their instruments. The video at the top as one of those, the video below is somewhat more traditional.

Everyone Is Welcome At Technomania Circus!

        The Blacklight & Fire Show @ Technomania Circus is the natural result of our high-tech and brightly lit world.  Welding masks hide the faces of musicians playing fire dancing instruments; a beautiful woman tames reluctant flames, men breath fire as if they were dragons from thousand year old European lore.  Leave planet Earth on an interstellar chase through a galaxy of bold colors and infinite black with the 3D optical illusions of blacklight.

Kidnapping, Magic, Galactic Travel & Dancing Reunions

All are welcome, with 21 & up encouraged.

Arrive 30 minutes early and you can sit anywhere you want.

If you bring snacks, reusable containers are better than foil & plastic bags.

Take the trolley to 25th & Commercial – It’s a piece of cake, don’t be scared.

Bottled water is free and the bathroom would make Louie XIV jealous.

The more you cheer, the better the show.

These Fire Gods Make Their Creations Sing & Dance

        The metal strings, brass buttons, horsehair strung bows and hide covered drums we know as the only way to make music are volcanically replaced with fire and gas by these blind, carbon based beings.  They are obviously minions from the center of a superheated star, with fire itself ready to leap at the flick of a wrist.

This Is The Fire Show!

        Believe it or not, you don’t need a tripod because the fire gives you arches of instant, one of a kind light, so bring a camera because every shot is gold!  Fire, an element, a realm of the gods, a WEAPON of the gods is flung before your very eyes and then recalled and made to dance.  It is an unbelievable site to watch fire as a slave to a flesh & blood mortal.

You have got to see the music filled world of the Techno-Gods and their amazingly colored world.

Find out what is going on with Technomania Circus for yourself.

Just walk around to the back.  Go ahead!