NZ Comedy Festival 2012

It's been awhile since my first blog post of 2012 I posted back in January.

I'm currently in the middle of enjoying the New Zealand International Comedy Festival that is happening right now.

I've also had the honour of being the 'Person who pushes the buttons to change and cue the music' for the one and only The Boy With Tape on His Face at the Comedy Gala that opened the festival.

    Tech rehearsals at the Aotea Centre

    The view from the sound desk at the Comedy Gala


Currently I have booked to go see 10 shows during the festival.

Below is the list:

Apr 27 - Comedy Gala (Work)
May 06 - Le Comique
May 07 - Terry Alderton
May 08 - The Boy With Tape on His Face 'More Tape'
May 10 - Rhys Darby 'This Way to Spaceship'
May 11 - Late n Live at The Classic (TBC)
May 13 - The Best of the Billys
May 15 - Jarred Fell 'FREAK SHOW'
May 16 - The Boy With Tape on His Face 'More Tape'
May 18 - Late n Live at The Classic (TBC)
May 19 - Fuse Circus 'Revolver'
May 20 - Last Laughs

Are you seeing any shows?

Happy New Year - ENTER THE DRAGON YEAR

Happy New Year everyone, We have finally entered the Year of the Dragon!

The dragon is one of my favourite animal (Well, More like Mythical creature) and have been looking forward to this year.



Toshikoshi Soba (Year crossing noodles)

Alot has happened in 2011...


In January, I went to the World Buskers Festival and watched and met many international street performers and visited Christchurch for the first time, It was a beautiful city that made me want to come back.


Me leaning against the Cathedral


In February I did a number of charity performances to raise money for the Christchurch Earthquake relief, I was devastated when I heard on Facebook/Twitter about the massive quake, I was there just a month ago enjoying the Buskers festival...




In March I performed at the annual 'Japan Day' event in Auckland and got my name called out wrong, Just before I went on stage the MC (Japanese Lady) introduced me as 'Komatsu Kouji'

In April I performed in the Heart Children Variety Show along with Andre Vegas, Punk the Clown and many other NZ performers, Provided pre-show entertainment for Takapuna Grammar School's Musical, Helped Sam Wills (The Boy With Tape on His Face) create a life size QR Code on Symonds Street (I had the plan sheet and called out the numbers, Sam filled the numbered slots with Tape, Then I filmed the end scene), Performed in a nation wide talent quest at the Royal Easter Show and made it to the Grand Final, and did some work for the New Zealand Comedy Festival.












Me dressed as a Chicken at the Classic Comedy Bar


Me as 'The Asian Boy With Tape on His Face' at the Visa Comedy Gala, New Zealand Comedy Festival


In May I performed along with other local Magicians in a Variety show my friend Mark Robinson organized and re-visited Christchurch and stayed with the Circus Aotearoa crew for 4 days. I was able to catch up with most of the people I met in Christchurch from my first visit in January.






In July I performed at the Love 2 Japan fundraising fiesta for the Japan Earthquake fund and also performed as a guest at the Westlake High School 'Chinese Night'






In August I helped organize the Child Cancer Variety Extravaganza and did the poster design, and also performed at the first ever Auckland Circus Convention that was organized by the Blingling Bros and the Auckland Circus Community.








In September I went to see Zirka Circus new show in Rotorua & Taupo and also started preparing for our new contract at Flaming Phoenix Entertainment.




In October I did heaps of work for the Rugby World Cup and also was able to meet Piper Mckenzie again. He is the performer that inspired me to Street Performing (I saw him perform at the 2009 Auckland International Buskers Festival)






Lisa & Piper, They can both spin suitcases on their fingers


In November our contract with Flaming Phoenix Entertainment begun and started performing at Rainbows End Theme Park every weekends and school holidays and also performed at the Auckland Farmers Santa Parade.




Photo By: The Blingling Bros


And finally in December we did some filming for the Rainbows End TV Commercial, Did some training with Michel Cardenas who is the Tempo Juggler from Argentina currently performing in the Magic Circus of Samoa and spent Christmas with my Flaming Phoenix family.


The Rainbows End TV Commercial, Currently airing on New Zealand Television




Christmas dinner with our Flaming Phoenix Family


2011 has been an amazing year and looking forward to what 2012 will bring!


And guess what? First gig of the year was today!



I was in a very small backstage area full of clowns and somehow ended up juggling 5 Mini Onions on stage for the first time. More about that later...


Thanks for reading my first blog post of the year and thank you to all my friends, family, and fans for all your continuous support throughout the year


Let's hope 2012 will be just as amazing as 2011!

Goodbye 2011... Hello 2012!

In 2011...

I graduated High School and set sail on a new journey out of school life, Decided not to go to Uni and became a full time Entertainer, Spent heaps of time training my juggling skills, Studied more about comedy and audience interaction, Spent heaps of time working hard on promoting myself and getting more work, Made heaps of new friends in the entertainment industry, Entertained many people at many events, Did heaps of fundraiser gigs for Christchurch and Japan, Got to see Cirque Du Soleil's 'Saltimbanco', Tested out my skills in a nation wide Talent Competition at the Royal Easter Show and made it to the finals, Did some work for the Rugby World Cup, Got an amazing job offer from a good friend of mine, Did choreography and act training with the Hebei Acrobatic Troupe of China, Joined the Hebei Acrobatic Troupe aka 'Flaming Phoenix Entertainment', Started performing at Rainbows End Theme Park...


And now we have come to the end of the year, I have finally made it into the professional scene, All my hard work has paid off... What will happen in 2012???


Thank you everyone for your support, 2011 has been an amazing year for me and a lot of you were a part of it!


Happy New Year and hope to catch up with all my friends in 2012!!!

Rainbows End TV Commercial

Here it is! The brand new Rainbows End TV Commercial featuring the Rainbows End Park Characters (Rai n Bow is back!) Flaming Phoenix Acrobats, and ME!


See if you can spot me...





Has anyone seen it on TV yet? I've only seen both the 30 Second version & 15 second version only once.


The brand new jingle is sung by Local Talent Logan Walker!



Me, Logan, and Lisa at the TV Commercial filming.



The filming of the TV commercial



And here is the original jingle waaaay back from 1993:





They also made a re-make of the jingle and TV Commercial in 2007.


And below is the 1999 TV Commercial featuring a Clown and a Pirate Juggler:





And here is funny clip I found on Youtube of 'The Mascot' from Pulp Sports trying to get into Rainbows End for free:





So, What do you guys think of the commercial and the new jingle?


Is it catchy?


For me, It's quite catchy. I can't get it out of my head...


"All of us together, At Rainbows End, Woa woa woooaaaa"

Premiere Weekend

Rehearsals everyday for the past week + 4 Flaming Phoenix Acrobat Shows over the premiere weekend = DONE!

From now on we will officially be performing 2 shows daily during Weekends & School Holidays at 12:30pm & 2:15pm at Rainbows End Theme Park Centre Stage in Manukau. In the first show Lisa & I will be performing our Duo Juggling act, In the second show I will be doing my solo Tempo Juggling act.

If you're ever at Rainbows End, Make sure to check out our shows! Or if you're really keen to see some awesome Chinese Acrobatics then you can also just purchase a spectator pass just to come and see the show. (It'll still be worth the money)

And for those who are planning on visiting in the near future, Here are some preview pics!









More to come soon... Maybe even a video!

Contact Juggler on Queen St

Have you heard about the Contact Juggler who's been performing on Queen St lately? People describe him as 'The Japanese guy with the crystal ball on queen st' Maybe you have seen him performing on Vulcan Lane or Queen Elizabeth Square...

Well if not, Then Meet my friend Tomomi Hiramoto!



He recently moved to Auckland from Christchurch after the devastating quake and is now becoming quite famous among people in Auckland and even on Youtube!

Here's a collection of videos I found:














If you see him on the streets, Make sure you check it out and give him a massive tip because he's amazing at what he does!

Flaming Phoenix Entertainment

As you all may have seen my recent status update on Facebook, Everything has finally been revealed!





That's right, Me and my sister Lisa are the newest members of Flaming Phoenix Entertainment!





Flaming Phoenix Entertainment Ltd is the International Marketing operation for the Hebei Acrobatic Troupe and Magic Group (HATMG)

The Hebei Acrobatic Troupe and Magic Group was established in 1970 by Jiquan Hou and is based in Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China. It is sanctioned as the official Acrobatic and Magic Troupe of Hebei province and is one of the largest Acrobatic Troupes in China.

The New Zealand side of the troupe is based in Auckland and specializes in professional circus entertainment for Circuses, Stage Shows, Corporate Events, Schools and Festivals. They are also resident performers at Rainbows End Theme Park performing 2 live shows daily during the Weekends & School Holidays. There is also another troupe currently on tour with Zirka Circus which is operated by Flaming Phoenix Entertainment.

It was about a month ago I received a call from my good friend Jeni Hou, Who is the director of the company that asked me If I was interested in joining the Auckland based troupe. I was really surprised and was not expecting it at all when I received the offer. But I was really honoured that she wanted me to be part of the team.

She wanted to help me out so that I could become more of a professional performer and performing and training regularly with the troupe will improve my skills as a entertainer. One other reason was that she needed somebody to manage the Auckland based troupe as she is on tour and busy managing her touring circus 'Zirka Circus'.

She knows my self promotion and marketing skills very well as I have helped create the Zirka Circus & Flaming Phoenix Facebook pages and have helped promote the circus. So she wants me to be in charge of promotions & bookings aswell.

I've been a fan of their work for a number of years now and have seen alot of their performances and was always inspired by the Chinese Acrobats being able to smoothly execute difficult tricks with amazing choreography. They inspire me.


So 2 weeks ago we headed to Rotorua where the circus was showing and caught up with everyone and the new troupe that are here for the new tour that has just recently started touring. It also gave us the chance to check out the new show.




Me showing everyone my solo Tempo Juggling routine.


They were happy with our acts but needed to be choreographed and polished up. They also wanted Lisa to be part of the team so we will be working on a Duo Juggling Act from now on.


Last weekend we headed to Taupo where the circus was situated and got our acts choreographed and polished up.

It was a 2 and a half hour process of Showing, Thinking, Discussing and Posing. Our friend Jake who is the Bounce Juggler and Globe of Death rider at the circus helped us choreograph our acts along with Dafei who is one of the coaches.




Me, Jake, and Lisa.




Choreographing my Tempo Juggling act.


The act itself hasn't changed much (If you exclude the poses) and still has the same pumping techno music! (YUS!)




Choreographing our Duo Juggling act.


We've also picked up our Duo Juggling act costumes and We're now working on coming up with some make up designs. Will upload pics soon!

We only have about 2 weeks to memorize and perfect our acts and 1 month till we start performing at Rainbows End. Currently there is a troupe performing there, But their contract finishes soon and will be heading back to China and will be replaced by us and a new troupe who will be arriving soon. (I hope you all can come see us perform there!)

As October approaches I will be super busy with alot of gigs including Street Shows for the Rugby World Cup, Auckland International Carnival and a few Corporate events thrown in.

I'm starting to feel like a proper full time performer now!


Anyways, I'm very excited about being a Flaming Phoenix and looking forward to our debut performance in Late October.


I'm finally running away to join the Circus! (Not a touring one, But still a Circus!)


My dreams are slowly coming true...