The Circle that Surrounds Us…
It is always an ego boost to be told you are doing a great job as a character. One compliment in particular was slightly more unusual than others when a gentleman approached “Scarlett” and myself at our last swiftsure event to tell us it was such a delight to watch us entertain the public… but more so, to watch the public’s reaction when they saw us. Swiftsure (2016), one of the events attended this year, is located at the Inner Harbour in Victoria. To create a bit of a visual, the location is divided into 3 tears, the upper level (street level) the causeway (down a flight of stairs closer to the harbour) and the final level down a ramp towards the boats/ships. At the time this gentleman was standing on the street level, where he had a panoramic view of the harbour, the ships, the crowds and us.
As the event was coming to a close, this gentleman who approached us came specifically to let us know “It was such a joy watching you both deal with the crowds but also to watch the reactions of several circles of people around you that you are obviously unaware of”. Apparently not only are we engaging those individuals that are standing or “circling”, as he called it, right beside and or ahead of us with humour, banter, and photos… but there are two more circles beyond the boundaries of the first circle of individuals paying attention to our commotion. He claimed the second second circle were those whom are smiling and enjoying the ruckus of the first circle at hand and waiting for an opportune moment, (if indeed there was one within their time frame) to join in the engaged crowd. Circle 3 he said were those on the upper levels, standing, smiling and zooming in with their cameras taking photos of us entertaining the crowds with the beautiful panoramic views behind us as backdrop.
This gentleman told us, “it isn’t just the immediate crowd that notices you…. there are layers of them that you are unaware of due to the fact you are so engaged with those people standing before you. It is a pleasure to watch the different stages and levels of people and how they react towards you and your crew along with those whom you make smile from a distance”.