JERSEY: Mutant fish and mimes wash up in Grafton for Flotsam River Circus
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By Cory Davenport
Steven Spencer/Jersey County Journal
The Flotsam River Circus made their way down the Mississippi River, making a stop in Grafton last week.
Post-apocalyptic mutant fish folk invaded the riverfront in Grafton by the lighthouse and massive American flag last Wednesday.
Flotsam, a traveling river circus, made its way from the legendary headwaters of the Mississippi near the Twin Cities of Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota, all the way down to Grafton before a Thursday stop in West Alton at the Lincoln-Shields Duel area and a three-day weekend in St. Louis. During the 650 miles of river between Minneapolis and Grafton, however, they were able to charm and entertain tens of thousands of people in every small town and major city along the way, bringing a mission of merriment and dread.
“In the not so distant future,” a sign with bold lettering began, “temperatures have risen. Water has risen. Little remains of the life we know. It is a hard time for humans, but a great time to be an invasive mutant fish.”
This theme of climate change and environmental destruction seems more pertinent than ever with worldwide record floods and the region’s own issue with invasive mutant fish – specifically Asian carp. These invasive mutant fish, however, were puppets and costumes designed by internationally-known puppeteer Kaylin Sherrard, a self-described “slime mold” who performs under the name “Enormous Face,” described as “New York City’s most avant-garde Nihilist street performer.”
Steven Spencer/Jersey County Journal
Those in attendance got a glimpse of a truly unique show, one audience member even got a chance to get on the raft and showcase their strength.
Sherrard is not the only internationally-recognized artist gracing the rickety riverboat, however. The captain of the event, Jason Webely, is a street-performing troubadour known throughout the Pacific Northwest. He has worked with extremely popular recording artist, Amanda Palmer, of the indie alt-rock band, Dresden Dolls, as well as Palmer’s now-ex husband, beloved writer of American Gods and Coraline, Neil Gaiman. Webely himself works with the thriving spooky podcast, Welcome to Night Vale.
“Eight-year-old me would be so excited to see what 50-year-old me is up to,” Webely told the crowd of a couple hundred or so at the Grafton show before encouraging everyone assembled to forego traditional methods of making money like computer programming and business to hang out with their friends and start a river circus.
Webely was joined by acclaimed Malayi-American fiddler, Miriam Oomen, who was a hardcore punk rock enthusiast turned old-timey folk fiddler for bands such as Foraging and the Rattling Bones, as well as circus-directing musician phenom, Sari Breznau, whose work is widely acclaimed in Seattle and nationwide.
The river circus was not only staffed with musicians and a very unique puppeteer, in fact, despite their inscrutable chops in the industry of entertainment, the show was owned by the physical performers, doing fantastic feats of strength, agility, balance, and every other physical prowess the human body can achieve. These performances were done by an international group of talented folks with decades of experience between them.
That cast of characters included Ferdusol, a talented clown and pantomime celebrated throughout Mexico and the Western United States, Tanya Cage, a punk-rock circus and cabaret performer who has sold out the iconic Sydney Opera House in Australia with her own Off Broadway run, Matthew “Poki” McCorkle, a magician, balance artist, and mime who has won awards from performances in such eclectic cities as Berlin, Dubai, and Nurnberg, and capped the show with his astonishing ability to do aerial performances while being suspended by a ponytail, and Sadye Osterloh, a self-described “giant ham” since birth who is a jazz singer and veteran of many unconventional circus acts.
Following their performance in Grafton, Flotsam had a great show in West Alton before hitting a snag in St. Louis. They were set to perform between the Eades and McKinley Bridges, but even told the Grafton audience they hadn’t gotten permits. Unfortunately for them, the City of St. Louis stopped that show. So, they simply moved down river to the graffiti wall by the Arch, where they continued the very last leg of their very long tour, despite the city’s demand for them to cease all performances.
Webely said this year was the first river circus tour, but vowed it would not be the last. He said next year, the crew wants to tackle the Ohio River, and said their dreams span the nation’s great rivers, and possibly the world’s, shouting they would go to the Hudson, the Missouri, the Danube, and even the Amazon. He also promised the people of Grafton this Upper Mississippi Tour may well be followed by another in the future.
To support the efforts of the Flotsam Crew, donations can be sent to RiverCircus on Venmo. The performances were free with encouraged donations, which were used to support the crew of eight as well as an infant through the tour.
