Once in our dressing room, clown alley, Dave thought he’d try a short cut to drying his socks in the microwave. One minute later he pulls his ruined sock out. Immediately I pulled out my camera and as I took this shot I said, “Now this is a moment of stupidity I want to remember.”

Better luck next time Dave and Cherie.

Miller

Miller

I’m not going to say animal abuse doesn’t exist, but I will say it’s the exception and not the norm. Didn’t prohibition teach us quite well that just because something can be misused doesn’t mean it should be banned. Not everyone likes circuses that have animals and that makes sense but the solution is to not buy tickets. For lots of people the circus is their only chance to touch an elephant and smell one too. The Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey circus is a 140 year old national treasure and it’s 750 jobs are worth protecting. It’s not a perfect organization but I owe them a debt of gratitude for my start in the business and a career I love. Follow the link, http://www.ringling.com/legislative and fill out the form to send a letter to congress and support the circus, I did.

Miller

I’m not sure what is planned for this year but in years past there has been games, crafts and even a petting zoo. One thing I can be sure of is there will be lots to see and do. Come on out, have some fun and support the undefeated Packers.

Miller

Miller & Mike on stilts

Summer is almost over and with it goes the summer festival. We will all have to wait 9 long months before we again see the season of cream puffs, tractor pulls and fighting through huge crowds of people to see a Miller & Mike show. But don’t fret because with the lose of the summer festival comes the fall festival.

Coming up the last weekend in September is Appleton’s Octoberfest. Get ready to eat your way down College Ave. There are also lots of bands and of course Miller & Mike. The next weekend head to Mayville, WI for Audobon Days. There will be a big car show and this year Tom Pease, oh yeah, and Miller & Mike.

This is an old photo of Mike and I in a parade on Memorial Day. Look close and you can see Mike in the background wearing a red shirt and striped pants hitting spectators with a big hammer and of course, that’s a ukulele in my hands.

Miller

Before the fair this weekend you can catch us at the Beaver Dam Library and the West Bend Library later today. You need to be on the ball to catch those shows because in about an hour I’m leaving to go do them.

See you there.

Miller

If you have ever liked the sound of a ukulele, or thought it looked cool when you saw it, or smelled one and thought, “huh?” Then you should come to the next ukulele night at the New Moon in Oshkosh, WI. It’s coming up this Thursday at 7pm. The last one was a huge success with lots of talented ukes and lots of people to listen to them. You don’t want to miss this.

Miller

Chickenfest is going on all weekend at the Darboy Community Park with Mike and I strolling around on Friday night before the fireworks. We will also be on the stage just after 5pm on Saturday. See you there.

Here is an old photo of us at Chickenfest. I think it’s from 2007.

Miller

The easiest way to see us is to turn on your TV this Saturday. We’ll be interviewed sometime after 8am on Fox 11 to talk about Celebrate De Pere, which is another place to see us. We’ll be doing a show at 6pm on Saturday and 4pm on Sunday but this great festival has food and fun all day long.

Mike and I are also coming back to the Small Theater in Green Bay on Memorial Day. If you want to come you have to E-mail me to get the super secret location of this gem of Green Bay.

Don’t live in the Green Bay area? me neither. Mike and I will be at the season opening farmer’s market in Oshkosh on Saturday morning June 4th. For people that live north of GB, I will be at the Y’s healthy kids day teaching a juggling class. That’s at the Marinette-Menominee YMCA on June 11th.

So now you know and you have no excuse to miss a single banana this summer. Can you hear me, Nancy?

Leave ‘em Laughing,
Otis

If you know something about circus history or Wisconsin history you know that they entangle more than a plate of linguine. That holds true today as well as in the past with the Circus World Museum and the Clown Hall of Fame in Baraboo, WI. There was even talk about filming the movie in WI but it didn’t go through because of taxes but WI didn’t miss out completely. Baraboo is also home to the most impressive circus library in the world and a circus wagon restoration facility both of which played a key role in movie production. Baraboo loaned the movie producers photos and videos to help create the scenes as well as 15 circus wagons that were used in the film. Pretty cool.

It’s not all good news. Water for Elephants stars America’s favorite vampire, Robert Patterson. The character name in this movie is Jacob, read the twilight books to find the irony. Reviews are mixed but just like every movie that was a hit book first everyone agrees that the movie cut a bunch of stuff out. I say that after every movie I see to make people think I read a lot more than I do.

I’m going to see it because I like circus and that’s good enough for me. I’ll take my wife because Edward is the sexiest vampire since Angel and that’s good enough for her.

Miller