Sunday, October 13, 2013

Wunderkammer Pt. 2 (a local color post)

My wife and I were unable to see all of the things we wanted to see while at the Wunderkammer but, by far, the best thing we saw was a pair of jugglers called... um, I can't remember what they were called. The Brothers Something-or-Other. Or the Something-or-Other Brothers. At any rate, they were great! The younger one (and I think they did call him the younger one, but I may also just be thinking it because he looks younger) was a bit of a contortionist. Here he is playing jump rope with his arms as the rope:
And him juggling with his arms all pretzeled:
And juggling while standing on his "brother":
More juggling while standing on his brother:
Passing the balls back and forth:
Upside down juggling:
And swords!
They were a lot of fun. They had great banter, too, which was just as fun as watching them do their crazy stunts.

The other big thing at Wunderkammer is the handcar regatta. That is rather what it sounds like. It is a race between old railroad handcars. Modified handcars, but handcars. We didn't watch all of the races, but we did watch them introduce all of the racers and their vehicles. Here are some of the pictures from that:
The master of ceremonies.
This one ought to be self explanatory.
This one ought to also be self explanatory.
The only actual legitimate handcar in the regatta.
We think these guys were escaping from somewhere.
These guys just needed a TV, and they would have been all set.
Rail sweepers. Except, I don't remember if that's what they called them, but it is what they were for.

Well, that about does it for Wunderkammer this year. At least, I'm pretty sure I covered everything. Everything we did and saw, at any rate. [Maybe, next year, I'll plan to take a look at the food stuff for those that were wondering.] I didn't take pictures of the stuff they were selling, although, maybe, I should have. They had a lot of costuming options for sale, but it didn't occur to me to take pictures of that stuff.

17 comments:

  1. I bet I know what handcar got the most attention.
    Think I'll just stick to juggling tennis balls. And not on my head.

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  2. I would leave something insightful, but I've done that before (you know I don't skim) so I'm going to say this with a wee giggle...

    I chuckled to myself when you mentioned the brothers "passing the balls back and forth", you know, with them being contortionists who use their bodies as stage props...

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  3. I bet those jugglers get all the ladies.

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  4. Thank you for focusing on the jugglers! Sounds like they did a captivating performance. Was the beard on the one guy real? I haven't seen too many bearded jugglers before. I can think of a few members of the Flying Karamazov Brothers who had a Frank Zappa look going, but bearded jugglers are pretty uncommon as far as I know.

    This looks like it was a fun event.

    Lee
    Tossing It Out

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  5. Juggling with swords takes balls. Heh. :)

    Looks like a fun time!

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  6. Alex: Well, all the 'cars had eye candy. Most of the eye candy departed after the introductions. And we didn't stay and watch the whole race, so I don't really know.

    ABftS: LOL
    I have no response to that.

    GP: I wouldn't bet against that.

    Lee: The beard looked real; that's about all I know. The "brother" stepped on it several times, so, if it wasn't, they did some really good job of attaching it.

    L.G. I imagine it does. heh

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  7. Liberal arts majors? ;) Awesome. I saw an act like that at the Medieval Faire in upstate New York. It was stellar.

    I kind of miss the smaller stages and crowds. We get the big acts around here, charging the big bucks. It's cool and all, but there's something so charming about the other extreme.

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  8. I love the costumes. That looks like it was a lot of fun. Looking at the pictures of that guy with his arms twisted behind him makes my back ache, though.

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  9. Crystal: I'm not actually sure they were any kind of majors. The one kind looked pretty young and the other not much older.

    I don't think venue matters to me that much.

    Michael: It was.

    TAS: It was pretty cool, but I think the couch was better.

    Jeanne: Some of the costumes were pretty amazing.

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  10. I would have enjoyed the The Brothers Something-or-Other Or the Something-or-Other Brothers the most. People who can contort their bodies like that just amaze me. Maybe because I used to be a gymnast "back in the day." No, I'm not going to say what day it was either.

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  11. Elsie: I think it was... Thursday. Yes, definitely Thursday.

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  12. You get into a lot of crazy festivals. That handcar think ALMOST looks steampunk-y.

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  13. Briane: Well, this is the same as the last steampunky thing.

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  14. Those are the Kondor Brothers. Yes, they're actual brothers (about 10 years apart in age, though). Yes, that beard is real. They're also really friendly, hyper, and perform all over the place. I just adore them (if you couldn't tell).

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  15. Sleepless: I will have to try to catch them again sometime. I really enjoyed their show.

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