The Art of Writing Under Pressure

Hello everyone and happy Sunday!

When I think about circus, I most often look at it from the performer’s point of view. I think about the training and the hard work an artist goes through to be a part of a show. But if you really think about it, without someone to actually write the show, there would be nothing to look at! As I’m sure you know, we were running a weekly summer camp. Every Friday the coaches and students put together a short show, usually 30-40 minutes, to showcase everything that the kids had learned that week. In comes Josh Spaugh, who was given the task of writing every show for the summer camp, and let me tell you, the shows were one of my favorite parts of working this camp!

The first read through of each script, we could barely get through, because they were usually so hilarious. Based on the theme of the week, Josh would assign each coach a character in the script. This summer, I have been a Crackers the parrot, Alexandrica the arch rival explorer, and even Hugh Jackman from the greatest showman. I like to think I excel at everything that is thrown my way, but speaking with an Australian accent is maybe not something I can put on my resume… I was horrible! Recurring jokes have also been a big part of the shows. We’ve traveled through the lyra swamp every single week, which I think really is more fun for us coaches than the kids who don’t know anything about the joke. 

Josh has been a student at Akrosphere for a few years. I thought it might be fun to interview him, so we can all see what goes into writing a show! Here you can see him in character during one of our shows.

When I asked him to describe himself, he wanted everyone to know that he is a Sagittarius and loves juggling on the beach. You can already get a sense of his silliness, can’t you?

Why did you start circus?

I went to a circus summer camp when I was 5 years old. I did it for a few years, but that was it. Then a few years ago I saw Wes Peden’s “Volcano vs Palm Tree.” The show was so cool, I decided I wanted to learn to juggle.

(Mar interjection: I know nothing of the juggling world, so I had no clue who this Wes Peden was. If you don’t know who he is either, check this out: Volcano vs. Palm Tree – Wes Peden. He seems absolutely bonkers and hilarious, which makes sense why Josh was so inspired him.)

Tell us about writing the camp show:

My goal is to make the most entertaining show I can and then cram it into a half hour. That means no wasted space! Every line has to do with some other line. It’s a fun challenge and I like making myself do things I’m not sure will work out. Before each Friday, though, I truly believe every single show is going to bomb. So far, I feel like only one wasn’t great, but you can’t win them all, sorry Fairy Tale Week!

What is the writing process like?

I write down every dumb idea I have. Then, I cut it down to about 20 percent of that and that becomes the show. On Thursday afternoons, I then see how many kids have chosen improv as one of their apparatuses and squeeze them into the script. I always try to see how much mileage I can get out of one joke before people get sick of it. 

What is it like the day of the show?

A lot of rigging needs to happen and running lines. Fixing any sort of script snafus. I like to hand it over to the other actors and have them change their own lines for the better; they often get to know their own characters more than I do. A huge challenge is being able to navigate through having coach actors on stage, while still having coaches available to manage the kids “back stage,” so there is a lot of rehearsal that goes on before the actual show takes place. With all the coaches working together though, I feel happy about everything we put out for the parents, well for the most part!

What are your hopes for the future?

In September, I am going to Circadium – School of Contemporary Circus in Philadelphia. It is a great school for juggling and a lot of my role models attend! I used to watch these jugglers online and now I get to go to school with them! I would love to try my hand at writing something more serious and more circus related. Not quite Cirque Du Soleil, but something meaningful. I want tears in people’s eyes and their stomachs to hurt from so much laughter. I just want to create something that can evoke real emotion.

If you still haven’t gotten a good feel for who Josh is, he spoke in a British accent for the whole second half of the interview, so that’s that…

Akrosphere wishes Josh nothing but the best of luck in his future endeavors!

Catch you next week!

Mar