Arts and Craft
A new chat show that dives into the lives of musicians, filmmakers, performers, and artists from all walks of life, revealing the untold stories and hidden secrets that drive their creativity. Hosted by Nancy Magarill and Peter Michael Marino.
Arts and Craft
Anna Venizelos - contortionist, aerialist, and acrobat
Anna Venizelos is a contortionist, aerialist, and acrobat. She’s toured with Cirque du Soleil, appeared in “The Greatest Showman,” and performed with The Metropolitan Opera. We’re running away to join the circus on this bendy episode, as Anna shares the discipline and skill required for one of the oldest art forms.
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Anna came to circus from a background of both gymnastics and dance. After studying dance education at NYU she settled on pursuing her love of contortion, aerials, and acrobatics. She toured with Cirque du Soleil's production of Quidam, performing as a soloist. Other career highlights include appearing in the feature film,The Greatest Showmanand in the Metropolitan Opera's production of Cosí Fan Tutte at Lincoln Center.
Anna is also a flexibility coach, an FRC mobility specialist and a health coach. She is passionate about helping her clients live their healthiest most functionally fit lives.
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Produced and Edited by Arts and Craft.
Theme Music: Sound Gallery by Dmitry Taras.
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<v Anna Venizelos>That need to gain more skills, be a higher level technician, has sort of quieted down, and now I'm really interested in, obviously maintaining my skills and keeping the level I have, which takes a lot of time, but just telling the story and relating to an audience, and also just entertaining myself too as a performer.
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<v Peter Michael Marino>She's a contortionist, aerialist and acrobat.
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<v Nancy Magarill>She has toured with Cirque du Soleil, appeared in The Greatest Showman, and with The Metropolitan Opera.
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<v Peter Michael Marino>Anna Venizelos joins us on today's episode.
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<v Nancy Magarill>My name is Nancy Magarill.
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<v Nancy Magarill>I'm a singer, songwriter, composer, performer, graphic and web designer.
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<v Peter Michael Marino>And I'm Peter Michael Marino, and I'm a writer, producer, creator, performer and educator.
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<v Nancy Magarill>We are New York based artists you may or may not have heard of.
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<v Peter Michael Marino>And we are here to introduce you to other artists you may or may not have heard of.
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<v Peter Michael Marino>So Nancy, since we started this podcast, has just been obsessed with like having a circus person on the show.
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<v Nancy Magarill>Oh my god, I'm so excited.
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<v Peter Michael Marino>So I was like, I have a favorite person.
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<v Peter Michael Marino>She is a contortionist.
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<v Peter Michael Marino>Nancy's like, oh my god, a contortionist.
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<v Peter Michael Marino>I love it.
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<v Nancy Magarill>You have to have such an unbelievable control of your body, of your core.
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<v Nancy Magarill>It's so exciting to me because it's the ultimate, I think, as an artist.
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<v Anna Venizelos>Yes, it's definitely a lot about control.
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<v Anna Venizelos>Absolutely.
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<v Nancy Magarill>Did you always know you wanted to do this?
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<v Nancy Magarill>Like, how did this happen for you?
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<v Peter Michael Marino>Yeah, like we just like doing a backbend one day when you were three and someone's like, that kid's got talent.
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<v Nancy Magarill>Can I just tell you as a kid, I could never, never do a backbend.
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<v Nancy Magarill>I had no sense of my core at all as a kid.
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<v Peter Michael Marino>But now you're doing them day and night.
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<v Nancy Magarill>No, I still can't do them.
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<v Anna Venizelos>Do you practice yoga?
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<v Nancy Magarill>I actually work with the Pilates, a private Pilates person who I'd like to have on as well because it's something as a singer that I really think is really important as an actor, as a human being.
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<v Nancy Magarill>So let's go to you though, like tell me about it.
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<v Nancy Magarill>Like how did this start for you?
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<v Anna Venizelos>I was always a very physical person.
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<v Anna Venizelos>I was a mover.
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<v Anna Venizelos>That's how I like to express myself.
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<v Anna Venizelos>And so that really that led me into contortion.
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<v Peter Michael Marino>Nancy, Anna's sister also is a contortionist.
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<v Peter Michael Marino>They I've met I met them as a duo, actually.
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<v Nancy Magarill>Do you actually do an act together?
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<v Nancy Magarill>We do.
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<v Anna Venizelos>We do a sister act.
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<v Peter Michael Marino>It's really great.
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<v Peter Michael Marino>Sister act.
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<v Peter Michael Marino>I never ever thought of that, of course.
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<v Peter Michael Marino>That's what it is.
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<v Peter Michael Marino>Where was she in this timeline?
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<v Anna Venizelos>So Emily, my sister, she actually grew up doing horseback riding.
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<v Nancy Magarill>So that was her thing.
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<v Anna Venizelos>Oh, I did.
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<v Nancy Magarill>Yeah, we rode horses.
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<v Nancy Magarill>Yeah, we showed horses.
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<v Peter Michael Marino>Where is this?
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<v Peter Michael Marino>Where are you guys growing up?
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<v Anna Venizelos>So we grew up in Athens in Greece.
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<v Nancy Magarill>Oh, wow.
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<v Anna Venizelos>My dad was Greek.
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<v Anna Venizelos>Yeah, my mom's from the States.
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<v Anna Venizelos>So I lived in Greece, actually, until I was 16 years old.
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<v Peter Michael Marino>Do you think that the Greek education system is, I mean, I don't know if you'd have anything to compare it to, but more sort of encouraging kids to do physical things than us?
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<v Anna Venizelos>Well, actually, you know, I went to an international school.
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<v Anna Venizelos>So it was not really, I wouldn't say with the Greek system, it was more kind of, it was more the American system, but with a very international student base, which was, I mean, it was great because we got exposed to people from all over the world.
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<v Anna Venizelos>Yeah, you know, I think I grew up in the 80s and the 90s.
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<v Anna Venizelos>I just think that was a time when kids were encouraged to be more physical, to just to be-
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<v Peter Michael Marino>Oh, the Reagans, right?
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<v Peter Michael Marino>The Reagans were big on that, weren't they?
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<v Peter Michael Marino>Like the guy whose body you could see in his jumpsuit.
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<v Nancy Magarill>Well, she was in Greece, so I don't think they're Reagans.
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<v Anna Venizelos>I grew up in Greece, so there was a lot of Reagans going on.
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<v Peter Michael Marino>But they did try to make us go outside and play.
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<v Peter Michael Marino>I believe that's what they did.
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<v Anna Venizelos>I think my parents were definitely into that.
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<v Anna Venizelos>You know, like get outside, play.
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<v Anna Venizelos>You know, there was no, there was none of this helicopter parenting.
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<v Anna Venizelos>It was just like go play, like don't be a nuisance, you know?
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<v Nancy Magarill>Yeah, we were the same way.
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<v Anna Venizelos>Don't be a nuisance.
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<v Anna Venizelos>Children are meant to be seen, not heard.
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<v Anna Venizelos>Like get out of our hair type of thing.
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<v Nancy Magarill>And they weren't so worried about you being abducted and probably also in Greece, it probably wasn't as bad as it was here.
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<v Anna Venizelos>Exactly.
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<v Anna Venizelos>Exactly.
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<v Anna Venizelos>Yeah.
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<v Nancy Magarill>Were you able to do like the balance beam, the bars in gym class as a kid?
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<v Nancy Magarill>I was horrified because I could never lift myself up with the pegs.
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<v Nancy Magarill>Like it always made me crazier, go up the rope, like all that stuff.
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<v Nancy Magarill>You could probably do all of that, right?
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<v Anna Venizelos>I was kind of naturally good at that stuff.
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<v Anna Venizelos>Yeah.
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<v Anna Venizelos>I was definitely, like I had fear and I had to overcome the fear, but I was naturally good at it.
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<v Anna Venizelos>Yeah.
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<v Anna Venizelos>I was always small, so that helped.
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<v Nancy Magarill>What was your fear?
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<v Anna Venizelos>I was afraid of heights.
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<v Nancy Magarill>Oh, interesting.
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<v Anna Venizelos>Yeah.
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<v Anna Venizelos>I was really afraid of heights.
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<v Anna Venizelos>Yeah.
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<v Anna Venizelos>I mean, I think I'm reasonably afraid of heights.
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<v Anna Venizelos>Like I'm not terrified, you know, but if I'm on the roof of a building, I don't really want to go and look over the edge.
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<v Anna Venizelos>That's, you know.
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<v Nancy Magarill>You don't have to worry about that for your work though, as a contortionist, do you?
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<v Anna Venizelos>Well, actually, I started as an aerialist, which is funny.
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<v Nancy Magarill>Then you definitely have to.
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<v Anna Venizelos>So yes, I spent three years with Cirque du Soleil as an aerialist.
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<v Nancy Magarill>Oh, wow.
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<v Anna Venizelos>Yeah.
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<v Anna Venizelos>So that was kind of my first foray as a professional into circus.
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<v Peter Michael Marino>So wait, how did you know?
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<v Peter Michael Marino>So you're like in your 20s, and you're examining these other ways to use your body.
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<v Peter Michael Marino>When did you kind of realize it was an art?
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<v Anna Venizelos>Yeah, that's a good question.
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<v Peter Michael Marino>You could have just tried to be in the Olympics, right?
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<v Anna Venizelos>Which I really wanted to, actually.
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<v Peter Michael Marino>Ah, I bet.
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<v Anna Venizelos>Yeah, like, I really, really wanted to.
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<v Anna Venizelos>I tried to convince my parents, but they weren't into that.
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<v Nancy Magarill>So a lot of money.
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<v Anna Venizelos>It's a lot of money and time and, you know.
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<v Nancy Magarill>I had a friend who trained as an ice skater and it was a lot.
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<v Anna Venizelos>It's a lot, yeah.
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<v Anna Venizelos>And the parents have to be very, very involved.
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<v Anna Venizelos>Yep.
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<v Anna Venizelos>So yeah, I came back to it in my 20s.
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<v Anna Venizelos>And I think I first realized it was an art when I saw a video of Quidam, which is one of the older Cirque du Soleil shows on TV.
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<v Anna Venizelos>And I was just mesmerized.
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<v Anna Venizelos>I was like, what is, I didn't know what Cirque du Soleil was.
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<v Anna Venizelos>I was like, what is this?
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<v Anna Venizelos>This is amazing, insane, just so moving, everything.
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<v Anna Venizelos>It just kind of hit me on all levels.
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<v Anna Venizelos>So beautiful.
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<v Anna Venizelos>So beautiful.
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<v Anna Venizelos>And from then on in, I became obsessed.
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<v Anna Venizelos>I'm not kidding.
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<v Anna Venizelos>I would literally watch Quidam on repeat, over and over and over.
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<v Anna Venizelos>And then I kind of figured out how to get into circus, to get my circus training.
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<v Anna Venizelos>I moved to Montreal for a while.
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<v Peter Michael Marino>Oh, that's the place to go, isn't it?
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<v Anna Venizelos>That's the place to go.
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<v Peter Michael Marino>Even clowns go to Montreal.
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<v Nancy Magarill>I didn't know that.
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<v Nancy Magarill>What's in Montreal?
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<v Anna Venizelos>Yeah, it has a very, very rich circus culture.
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<v Anna Venizelos>So they're very European in that sense.
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<v Anna Venizelos>And in Europe, as you know, the arts are very well funded and supported.
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<v Anna Venizelos>And so this whole sort of vibe is what's going on in Montreal.
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<v Anna Venizelos>So the arts are very supported, very well funded and circus in particular, which is really cool.
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<v Nancy Magarill>Is there one particular school there that everybody's trying to get into, or are there a bunch of different schools?
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<v Anna Venizelos>There's a few good ones.
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<v Anna Venizelos>There's a few good ones.
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<v Anna Venizelos>The National Circus School in Montreal is kind of the main one that people know about, but there's definitely a couple.
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<v Anna Venizelos>Yeah.
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<v Anna Venizelos>And that's where I went, actually.
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<v Peter Michael Marino>Wow.
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<v Nancy Magarill>How long were you there?
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<v Anna Venizelos>Yeah.
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<v Anna Venizelos>So I was, I lived in Montreal on and off for about three, three and a half years, and that included all my training and then my preparation to go on tour with Cirque du Soleil as well.
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<v Peter Michael Marino>Did Emily do that also?
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<v Nancy Magarill>No.
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<v Anna Venizelos>No, she didn't.
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<v Anna Venizelos>Yeah.
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<v Anna Venizelos>Completely different trajectory.
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<v Nancy Magarill>Yeah.
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<v Peter Michael Marino>So you went on tour with Cirque du Soleil.
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<v Anna Venizelos>I did.
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<v Peter Michael Marino>You didn't get to move to Las Vegas for a year.
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<v Anna Venizelos>No.
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<v Anna Venizelos>I don't think you'd like that.
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<v Anna Venizelos>No, I think I would like that.
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<v Anna Venizelos>Really?
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<v Peter Michael Marino>Because of the gig or because of the town?
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<v Anna Venizelos>No.
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<v Anna Venizelos>I think I like stability, and I like to go home at night.
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<v Anna Venizelos>Wait.
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<v Peter Michael Marino>Hold on.
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<v Peter Michael Marino>The contortionist just said, I like stability.
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<v Peter Michael Marino>That's so deep.
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<v Anna Venizelos>Love stability.
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<v Anna Venizelos>Yeah.
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<v Anna Venizelos>I like to just be able to walk away from work at night.
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<v Anna Venizelos>It was hard being on tour because you just felt you were always with the cast.
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<v Nancy Magarill>Did you guys travel by bus or fly?
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<v Anna Venizelos>No.
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<v Anna Venizelos>We would fly, but you get on the bus to go to the site, you spend whatever, seven, eight hours there, and you get on the bus and you go back to your residence, your hotel, and it felt like too much, too much.
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<v Anna Venizelos>It was an amazing experience.
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<v Peter Michael Marino>That was your late 20s?
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<v Anna Venizelos>Yeah.
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<v Anna Venizelos>So I did that.
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<v Anna Venizelos>I trained in the studios in Montreal to go on tour for about four months, and then I was on tour from about 24 years old to maybe like 27, 28.
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<v Peter Michael Marino>You had to audition for Cirque du Soleil, didn't you?
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<v Peter Michael Marino>Or were you plucked out of the?
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<v Nancy Magarill>Of course.
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<v Anna Venizelos>Oh, yeah, yeah.
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<v Peter Michael Marino>That's something, isn't it?
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<v Anna Venizelos>Yeah.
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<v Nancy Magarill>What's that like?
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<v Nancy Magarill>What's the audition process like?
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<v Anna Venizelos>Well, I was very lucky and it was a little different back then.
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<v Anna Venizelos>I had a friend who was in Cirque and I was on this track.
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<v Anna Venizelos>I became obsessed with getting into Cirque and actually this one particular act too, it's called the Contortion and Silks Act.
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<v Anna Venizelos>It's very iconic, actually.
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<v Anna Venizelos>It's like on a red silk and this woman does this and she's in a nude body suit.
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<v Anna Venizelos>So it's very androgynous.
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<v Anna Venizelos>It actually is suicide.
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<v Anna Venizelos>So yeah, it's a very deep, profound act.
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<v Anna Venizelos>But anyway, so I became obsessed with this act and I was like, I'm going to do this act.
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<v Anna Venizelos>And so I had this friend who was in Cirque and he made an introduction for me to one of their talent scouts.
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<v Anna Venizelos>And, you know, I think at that time you could kind of just call them.
00:09:26.340 --> 00:09:29.880
<v Anna Venizelos>Like there was no online application process.
00:09:29.880 --> 00:09:36.040
<v Anna Venizelos>They would have these big group auditions, but I remember just calling her like five or six times until I finally got her.
00:09:36.040 --> 00:09:37.840
<v Anna Venizelos>And I was like, I'm in Montreal.
00:09:37.840 --> 00:09:40.220
<v Anna Venizelos>I really need to come show you my act.
00:09:40.220 --> 00:09:41.920
<v Anna Venizelos>And, you know, I'm so and so's friend.
00:09:42.100 --> 00:09:44.520
<v Anna Venizelos>And she was like, all right, fine, come to the studio.
00:09:44.760 --> 00:09:50.140
<v Anna Venizelos>So I managed to score a private audition audition basically, which was really, really great.
00:09:50.140 --> 00:09:52.040
<v Anna Venizelos>You know, I still went through all the stuff.
00:09:52.040 --> 00:09:58.460
<v Anna Venizelos>Like they have you do all these different things, acting, dance, acrobatics, you know, strength, flexibility, conditioning.
00:09:58.460 --> 00:09:59.700
<v Anna Venizelos>So I went through all of that.
00:09:59.700 --> 00:10:05.040
<v Anna Venizelos>And then they called me pretty soon after and said, we'd like to offer you a training opportunity.
00:10:05.040 --> 00:10:07.860
<v Anna Venizelos>So then they bring you to the studio and you go through.
00:10:08.180 --> 00:10:16.140
<v Anna Venizelos>It's kind of like another audition process, but they select like 60 acrobats worldwide and they bring everybody in for a summer.
00:10:16.140 --> 00:10:17.840
<v Anna Venizelos>So it's like three and a half months.
00:10:17.840 --> 00:10:23.380
<v Anna Venizelos>And they place you where they think you do best, that they try you out here, they try you out there.
00:10:23.380 --> 00:10:28.480
<v Anna Venizelos>And then at the end of that period, some people will get contracts and some people won't.
00:10:28.480 --> 00:10:31.580
<v Nancy Magarill>Do they pay you while you're there or for that time?
00:10:31.580 --> 00:10:33.200
<v Anna Venizelos>A very small stipend, yeah.
00:10:33.200 --> 00:10:36.520
<v Nancy Magarill>God, that's a lot of time to have people come in and basically audition.
00:10:36.520 --> 00:10:37.820
<v Anna Venizelos>It is, it's very stressful.
00:10:37.820 --> 00:10:39.420
<v Anna Venizelos>It's like a three and a half month audition.
00:10:39.620 --> 00:10:42.580
<v Nancy Magarill>Yeah, you have to be able to afford to do that too.
00:10:43.120 --> 00:10:44.700
<v Peter Michael Marino>Are you in their database now?
00:10:44.700 --> 00:10:45.760
<v Anna Venizelos>No, I don't think so.
00:10:45.760 --> 00:10:46.900
<v Peter Michael Marino>Are you in anybody's database?
00:10:46.900 --> 00:10:49.880
<v Peter Michael Marino>Are you like, is that how you're looking for your next gig?
00:10:49.880 --> 00:10:54.540
<v Peter Michael Marino>I mean, I'm in the database for Spiegel Tent, Spiegel World.
00:10:54.540 --> 00:10:57.140
<v Peter Michael Marino>You know, like, maybe I should get in another one while I'm at it.
00:10:57.140 --> 00:10:59.020
<v Peter Michael Marino>Let me get something else together.
00:10:59.020 --> 00:11:02.220
<v Anna Venizelos>Yeah, to be honest, I don't think I'm in any databases at the moment.
00:11:02.220 --> 00:11:04.280
<v Anna Venizelos>Maybe I should get on top of that.
00:11:04.280 --> 00:11:05.720
<v Anna Venizelos>But we can talk about that.
00:11:05.720 --> 00:11:09.080
<v Anna Venizelos>We can talk about like, you know, kind of what my goals are for my career now.
00:11:09.500 --> 00:11:14.040
<v Nancy Magarill>Wait, I just have to tell you real quickly, I'm obsessing on your hair.
00:11:14.040 --> 00:11:16.880
<v Nancy Magarill>Like, it looks like you have the long, like, how long is your hair?
00:11:16.880 --> 00:11:18.460
<v Nancy Magarill>Do you have the start?
00:11:18.460 --> 00:11:19.840
<v Peter Michael Marino>I've never seen it that long.
00:11:19.840 --> 00:11:20.500
<v Peter Michael Marino>That's really long.
00:11:20.500 --> 00:11:26.200
<v Nancy Magarill>And it was so funny because the way it was around your shoulders, I was like, it looked like you were either wearing a fur vest.
00:11:26.200 --> 00:11:27.540
<v Nancy Magarill>I'm like, this silky vest.
00:11:27.540 --> 00:11:30.760
<v Nancy Magarill>I'm like, okay, I could kill because I have like nothing left.
00:11:30.760 --> 00:11:33.240
<v Nancy Magarill>And I'm like, oh my God, I would kill to have your hair.
00:11:33.240 --> 00:11:34.400
<v Nancy Magarill>It's beautiful.
00:11:34.400 --> 00:11:36.160
<v Nancy Magarill>But anyway, well, let's talk about your goals.
00:11:36.160 --> 00:11:37.020
<v Nancy Magarill>What are your goals?
00:11:37.420 --> 00:11:38.860
<v Peter Michael Marino>Yeah, cuz you're an artist now.
00:11:38.860 --> 00:11:39.980
<v Peter Michael Marino>You're an artist.
00:11:39.980 --> 00:11:41.980
<v Nancy Magarill>Well, it sounds like you have always been.
00:11:41.980 --> 00:11:46.380
<v Peter Michael Marino>Yeah, but I mean, like this is like, you know, you're at the point where you're teaching people how to do this.
00:11:46.380 --> 00:11:51.120
<v Peter Michael Marino>And you're I guess I guess what I'm kind of like, you know, I'm so not athletic.
00:11:51.120 --> 00:11:54.520
<v Peter Michael Marino>So I guess what I'm trying to find is like, is there is there a difference?
00:11:54.520 --> 00:11:58.860
<v Peter Michael Marino>Like, is there a point where you're like, OK, the athleticism is just in my bones now.
00:11:59.000 --> 00:12:00.240
<v Peter Michael Marino>You know, it's in my DNA.
00:12:00.240 --> 00:12:01.140
<v Peter Michael Marino>Now I'm the artist.
00:12:01.140 --> 00:12:02.580
<v Peter Michael Marino>I have to dream up acts.
00:12:02.580 --> 00:12:07.000
<v Peter Michael Marino>I have to visualize costumes, looks, characters, like all that stuff.
00:12:07.240 --> 00:12:08.440
<v Peter Michael Marino>Like, you had to...
00:12:08.440 --> 00:12:10.820
<v Peter Michael Marino>Who were you in the one of the last Moon Rises?
00:12:10.820 --> 00:12:14.060
<v Peter Michael Marino>You had to end act one as Medusa or somebody?
00:12:14.060 --> 00:12:16.580
<v Anna Venizelos>Yeah, I think I've been like three or four different goddesses.
00:12:16.580 --> 00:12:22.620
<v Peter Michael Marino>Yeah, and you got to like come up with, you know, like, I guess she probably has these eyebrows or, you know, moves this way.
00:12:22.620 --> 00:12:24.580
<v Anna Venizelos>No, I mean, that's a great question.
00:12:24.580 --> 00:12:48.080
<v Anna Venizelos>I think about it a lot, kind of that balance and also that transformation from athlete to artist and how to, you know, how to kind of reconcile the two and make them both work because there is a huge level of athleticism, obviously, but at the same time, there is this need for artistry and for being a performer and for telling a story.
00:12:48.080 --> 00:12:54.500
<v Anna Venizelos>And that's actually been so exciting for me as I get older and as I progress in my career.
00:12:54.500 --> 00:13:01.520
<v Anna Venizelos>Kind of that need to, you know, gain more skill, be a higher level technician has sort of quieted down.
00:13:01.720 --> 00:13:09.480
<v Anna Venizelos>And now I'm really interested in obviously maintaining my skills and, you know, keeping the level I have, which takes a lot of time.
00:13:09.480 --> 00:13:17.100
<v Anna Venizelos>But just telling the story and relating to an audience and, and also just entertaining myself too as a performer.
00:13:17.100 --> 00:13:19.640
<v Anna Venizelos>You know, I don't want to go on autopilot.
00:13:19.640 --> 00:13:23.620
<v Anna Venizelos>I'm not one of those performers that can just, you know, sort of turn on autopilot.
00:13:23.620 --> 00:13:35.500
<v Anna Venizelos>Like I want to come to the performance fresh each time and be very interested in what I'm doing and hopefully then that'll compel others to be interested to watch.
00:13:35.500 --> 00:13:38.340
<v Peter Michael Marino>How do you make it interesting every time?
00:13:38.340 --> 00:13:39.580
<v Peter Michael Marino>I mean, so a little back.
00:13:40.940 --> 00:13:42.420
<v Peter Michael Marino>That's not my thing.
00:13:44.340 --> 00:13:55.540
<v Nancy Magarill>Are you creating your own pieces now or is it, is Moonrise something where you develop your own characters or is it, or is it a piece where you're doing other people's work?
00:13:55.980 --> 00:13:56.140
<v Nancy Magarill>Yeah.
00:13:56.140 --> 00:13:59.720
<v Anna Venizelos>So Moonrise was the show that Pete and I did together for a while.
00:13:59.720 --> 00:14:05.640
<v Anna Venizelos>It was a show created by somebody and then each act embodies a different goddess.
00:14:05.640 --> 00:14:12.780
<v Anna Venizelos>So it's based around 13 moon goddesses and each act is dedicated to one specific goddess.
00:14:12.780 --> 00:14:15.540
<v Peter Michael Marino>So we met on a show called Moonrise.
00:14:15.920 --> 00:14:19.520
<v Peter Michael Marino>You came into the show, help me out.
00:14:19.880 --> 00:14:24.100
<v Peter Michael Marino>Oh, wait, you guys were there when I joined the show in Brooklyn?
00:14:24.100 --> 00:14:24.480
<v Anna Venizelos>Yeah.
00:14:24.480 --> 00:14:27.680
<v Anna Venizelos>So we came in spring of 2022.
00:14:27.680 --> 00:14:28.960
<v Anna Venizelos>You were already there.
00:14:28.960 --> 00:14:33.100
<v Anna Venizelos>It was when we made that switchover and we started the cocktail show.
00:14:33.100 --> 00:14:33.680
<v Peter Michael Marino>Oh, that's right.
00:14:33.680 --> 00:14:34.580
<v Nancy Magarill>And who is we?
00:14:34.580 --> 00:14:35.440
<v Anna Venizelos>My sister and I.
00:14:35.440 --> 00:14:37.600
<v Anna Venizelos>Yeah, my sister and I were performing together at the time.
00:14:37.600 --> 00:14:42.240
<v Peter Michael Marino>Okay, folks, this is how a lot of circus is, but this is a good example of it.
00:14:42.240 --> 00:14:47.060
<v Peter Michael Marino>So our dressing room in Brooklyn, because they turned a warehouse into a space.
00:14:47.060 --> 00:14:50.700
<v Peter Michael Marino>They literally created the stage, the rigging.
00:14:50.940 --> 00:14:52.760
<v Peter Michael Marino>There was nothing and they made a thing.
00:14:53.760 --> 00:14:55.040
<v Nancy Magarill>The magic of theater.
00:14:55.040 --> 00:14:59.760
<v Peter Michael Marino>Yeah, the last people who get the attention are the performers, which means that you are crammed.
00:14:59.760 --> 00:15:05.200
<v Peter Michael Marino>You have to climb up a ladder, which is not an easy ladder to climb, I learned very early on.
00:15:05.200 --> 00:15:16.580
<v Peter Michael Marino>And then you have to warm up around the lighting board and the sound board and costumes and Pete and other people on like different levels because nothing is level, it's all platforms.
00:15:16.580 --> 00:15:29.260
<v Peter Michael Marino>And when you do what Anna does, and what Emily doesn't, I guess everybody else in the show does, all they do is warm up, warm up, warm up, warm up, warm up, warm up, do their show, warm down, warm down, cool down, cool down, cool down, cool down.
00:15:29.260 --> 00:15:33.400
<v Peter Michael Marino>It is full on full two hour experience for them.
00:15:33.520 --> 00:15:41.720
<v Peter Michael Marino>And everybody else in the show had, you would have your act or an act and a half or whatever it was, but also you were part of other people's acts in some way.
00:15:41.720 --> 00:15:43.800
<v Anna Venizelos>Right, you have little cues during the show.
00:15:43.800 --> 00:15:46.540
<v Peter Michael Marino>Yeah, there's a lot of pageantry in the show and stuff like that.
00:15:46.540 --> 00:15:52.340
<v Peter Michael Marino>And it just, I think you were the first person to just say, fuck this, I'm moving downstairs into that weird hallway.
00:15:52.340 --> 00:15:58.820
<v Peter Michael Marino>Right, so I would always come in and like, you know, be stepping over and I'm just like, oh, this is such a much better place actually.
00:15:58.820 --> 00:16:01.480
<v Peter Michael Marino>Like, I'm so glad that you have your own space.
00:16:01.480 --> 00:16:03.120
<v Anna Venizelos>But Pete, you never stepped on me.
00:16:03.120 --> 00:16:06.280
<v Anna Venizelos>I definitely got stepped on by people sometimes.
00:16:06.280 --> 00:16:06.880
<v Anna Venizelos>Yeah.
00:16:06.880 --> 00:16:07.720
<v Anna Venizelos>In the hallway.
00:16:07.720 --> 00:16:08.820
<v Peter Michael Marino>That was a rough hallway.
00:16:09.400 --> 00:16:19.740
<v Peter Michael Marino>And then where we where we finished off many years later, I mean, yeah, I mean, maybe a year ago, the show moved to an edition hotel in Times Square.
00:16:19.740 --> 00:16:25.240
<v Peter Michael Marino>And it was like, oh, right, we saw the room and it's like this fucking huge room and it's got video screens.
00:16:25.240 --> 00:16:27.020
<v Peter Michael Marino>It's like so fancy.
00:16:27.020 --> 00:16:29.060
<v Peter Michael Marino>And then they're like, oh, and here's your dressing room.
00:16:29.060 --> 00:16:33.360
<v Peter Michael Marino>And it's like half of a conference room, if you're lucky, if you're lucky.
00:16:33.360 --> 00:16:36.520
<v Peter Michael Marino>Plus there's a snake in there in a giant cooler.
00:16:36.520 --> 00:16:37.920
<v Nancy Magarill>Oh my God, that would freak me out.
00:16:37.940 --> 00:16:41.120
<v Peter Michael Marino>And then for a little while, there was a baby and a snake.
00:16:41.240 --> 00:16:42.800
<v Peter Michael Marino>A baby and a snake.
00:16:42.800 --> 00:16:50.340
<v Peter Michael Marino>And the other thing in the circus world, Nancy, you might want to keep this in mind, is everyone's allowed to come backstage all the time.
00:16:50.340 --> 00:16:55.460
<v Peter Michael Marino>If they're like third cousins with the person on stage, they can just hang out in the dressing room.
00:16:55.460 --> 00:16:59.140
<v Peter Michael Marino>And I come from the theater and it's like, you need like a pass to come back.
00:16:59.140 --> 00:17:01.720
<v Peter Michael Marino>Like you just, nobody hangs out backstage.
00:17:01.720 --> 00:17:03.620
<v Peter Michael Marino>Circus people, they hang out backstage.
00:17:03.620 --> 00:17:05.380
<v Nancy Magarill>And there's not even a lot of room for that.
00:17:05.380 --> 00:17:05.640
<v Peter Michael Marino>No.
00:17:05.640 --> 00:17:11.080
<v Peter Michael Marino>So I would literally be like, just trying to find my corner, my space, my little area.
00:17:11.080 --> 00:17:18.680
<v Peter Michael Marino>And Anna was just always super, super respectful of what I was trying to accomplish on stage, which was create comedy.
00:17:18.680 --> 00:17:27.400
<v Peter Michael Marino>And then second was very conscious of my emotional journey, which was hard, you know, I'm a perfectionist.
00:17:27.400 --> 00:17:30.940
<v Peter Michael Marino>I want things to be good, but I also am very loosey goosey.
00:17:30.940 --> 00:17:37.180
<v Peter Michael Marino>And then you mix that with our boss, Lara Jacobs, who I love.
00:17:37.180 --> 00:17:43.300
<v Peter Michael Marino>She just comes from a very different angle as far as all of that goes, other than everything has to be perfect, right?
00:17:43.300 --> 00:17:45.680
<v Peter Michael Marino>Everything has to be professional, professional.
00:17:45.680 --> 00:17:50.220
<v Peter Michael Marino>But as far as the development and the putting it together, I just come from a whole different place.
00:17:50.220 --> 00:17:55.740
<v Peter Michael Marino>So I would just be very emotional at rehearsals while Anna was stretching, and she'd be, need a hug?
00:17:55.740 --> 00:17:56.380
<v Peter Michael Marino>Yeah.
00:17:56.380 --> 00:18:02.900
<v Nancy Magarill>I think it's really interesting how we all relate to the experience of performing in our art and all that.
00:18:02.900 --> 00:18:07.540
<v Nancy Magarill>And it also, I think that's the thing, just talking about the whole backstage experience.
00:18:07.540 --> 00:18:12.400
<v Nancy Magarill>I did a show at the Players Theater, and it was the smallest backstage area.
00:18:12.400 --> 00:18:19.160
<v Nancy Magarill>We were a cast of like 14 people, and we had teeny, teeny, tiny dressing room that we had to share.
00:18:19.160 --> 00:18:23.040
<v Nancy Magarill>And the first week, they didn't do any laundry.
00:18:23.040 --> 00:18:23.400
<v Anna Venizelos>Oh, God.
00:18:23.400 --> 00:18:30.940
<v Nancy Magarill>And the lead character's clothing was so nauseating, and it was hanging right backstage.
00:18:31.200 --> 00:18:32.780
<v Nancy Magarill>And I literally was gagging.
00:18:32.780 --> 00:18:41.200
<v Nancy Magarill>I finally, we all, all of us were like up in arms, and I finally said to the person running the show, we're not going on unless you clean these costumes.
00:18:41.200 --> 00:18:42.500
<v Nancy Magarill>We're not going on tomorrow night.
00:18:42.500 --> 00:18:45.140
<v Nancy Magarill>And I was the only one, I was the oldest person there.
00:18:45.140 --> 00:18:48.260
<v Nancy Magarill>I said, this cannot go on.
00:18:48.260 --> 00:18:49.460
<v Nancy Magarill>It's nauseating.
00:18:49.460 --> 00:19:08.520
<v Nancy Magarill>But I think that whole space, but the point of what I was saying is, having the space to prepare yourself before a show, not just physically, because physically is one thing as a dancer, as a singer, as a performer, and you have to, as a contortionist, dancer, actor, you need your muscles to be warm.
00:19:08.520 --> 00:19:14.760
<v Nancy Magarill>But then on top of it, having your space to get into your head space, because there's not enough attention to that, right?
00:19:14.760 --> 00:19:19.440
<v Nancy Magarill>Of what that takes to also perform, because you are performing.
00:19:19.440 --> 00:19:29.220
<v Nancy Magarill>And as you said, while Pete was getting the door, getting into that space, because you want to be present and in the moment in the show every night, you're not walking through it.
00:19:29.480 --> 00:19:31.680
<v Nancy Magarill>You are there, because some people can do that.
00:19:31.680 --> 00:19:32.820
<v Nancy Magarill>I can't do that either.
00:19:32.820 --> 00:19:35.440
<v Nancy Magarill>And if I do that, I'll get completely lost.
00:19:35.440 --> 00:19:38.280
<v Nancy Magarill>Being in the moment, and Pete, it sounds like you're the same way.
00:19:38.280 --> 00:19:41.420
<v Nancy Magarill>You're present, especially because you probably improv a lot.
00:19:41.420 --> 00:19:44.500
<v Nancy Magarill>You have to be present and you have to be in that space to create.
00:19:44.500 --> 00:19:46.420
<v Nancy Magarill>And that's a whole different world.
00:19:46.420 --> 00:19:51.140
<v Peter Michael Marino>And share it with a snake and a baby and a hair hanger.
00:19:51.140 --> 00:19:52.940
<v Peter Michael Marino>Was it a white boa constrictor, I think?
00:19:52.940 --> 00:19:55.200
<v Anna Venizelos>Yeah, I think we had a couple different ones.
00:19:55.480 --> 00:19:56.540
<v Anna Venizelos>It was large.
00:19:56.720 --> 00:19:57.080
<v Peter Michael Marino>Oh, right.
00:19:57.080 --> 00:19:58.380
<v Peter Michael Marino>We had a small one in Brooklyn.
00:19:59.440 --> 00:20:00.640
<v Peter Michael Marino>That was a sweet one.
00:20:00.640 --> 00:20:03.520
<v Anna Venizelos>They tried to get me to handle that one and I was like, I'm sorry.
00:20:03.520 --> 00:20:06.720
<v Peter Michael Marino>I have a friend who would not come to see the show because there was a snake in it.
00:20:06.720 --> 00:20:13.720
<v Nancy Magarill>I could go see a show with a snake in it as long as I knew it was in someone else's hands, but don't put that thing near me.
00:20:13.720 --> 00:20:17.480
<v Nancy Magarill>It's near a baby where I would think, oh my God, you can't leave it in a room with a baby.
00:20:17.480 --> 00:20:19.700
<v Peter Michael Marino>Circus people, no problem.
00:20:19.700 --> 00:20:24.100
<v Peter Michael Marino>Just another baby in a room with a boa constrictor.
00:20:24.100 --> 00:20:25.640
<v Peter Michael Marino>So yeah, Anna, let's talk about this.
00:20:25.880 --> 00:20:29.480
<v Peter Michael Marino>So yeah, you've got this act, you've got this point of view, right?
00:20:30.060 --> 00:20:34.300
<v Peter Michael Marino>You know, the act, there's a focus, which I think probably goes back to clown, right?
00:20:34.300 --> 00:20:38.840
<v Peter Michael Marino>Studying clown, being able to like tick everyone in the audience, you know, like visually.
00:20:38.840 --> 00:20:40.520
<v Nancy Magarill>What does that mean, tick everyone in the audience?
00:20:40.520 --> 00:20:50.920
<v Peter Michael Marino>I think I'm using the wrong term, but it's like you're taking in everyone, like without looking like a lawn sprinkler, you know, you're just catching the vibes of what everybody's about.
00:20:51.340 --> 00:21:00.860
<v Peter Michael Marino>Yeah, I mean, you can see like young performers are just almost in their own space and own head, and it's nice to see them grow.
00:21:00.860 --> 00:21:14.600
<v Peter Michael Marino>I mean, we've seen it happen with some young performers in Moonrise that they grow so much that they are able to face the audience, open up, be there, look vulnerable, look sexy, look like you're doing something dangerous.
00:21:14.600 --> 00:21:21.480
<v Peter Michael Marino>That's another thing I learned was like, oh, a lot of this is like setting up that what I'm doing is a real challenge.
00:21:21.480 --> 00:21:22.480
<v Peter Michael Marino>You're nodding your head Anna.
00:21:22.480 --> 00:21:24.720
<v Peter Michael Marino>Yeah, this is like a circus trick.
00:21:25.260 --> 00:21:26.180
<v Anna Venizelos>It's a little trick.
00:21:26.180 --> 00:21:30.940
<v Anna Venizelos>It's like what you're doing is, yes, it's hard, but you're doing it well.
00:21:30.940 --> 00:21:41.900
<v Anna Venizelos>You're executing it very well, but somehow you want to communicate to the audience that it's hard, that it's a moment where they should hold their breath, where they should just be there with you, you know, hanging on.
00:21:41.900 --> 00:21:45.000
<v Anna Venizelos>And yeah, I think that's a really interesting thing.
00:21:45.000 --> 00:21:55.400
<v Nancy Magarill>I learned as a performer that when I felt really confident and I thought my show was like kicking ass, that that was where people felt the most alienated.
00:21:55.400 --> 00:22:04.880
<v Nancy Magarill>But when I felt completely vulnerable and I was like, oh my God, that sucked or whatever it was, people would come up to me and go, oh my God, that show was so beautiful.
00:22:04.880 --> 00:22:06.420
<v Nancy Magarill>And I think it's vulnerability.
00:22:06.420 --> 00:22:23.260
<v Nancy Magarill>I think people want to feel like you're letting them in somehow and that there's a sort of, even though they may not even be aware of it, but whatever it is that you're showing a sense of vulnerability, even though you're not, because you have to be in total control of your body.
00:22:23.400 --> 00:22:26.000
<v Nancy Magarill>Yeah, well, it sounds like it is when you talk about it.
00:22:26.000 --> 00:22:30.380
<v Peter Michael Marino>A juggler is like, I'm going to juggle eight balls in the air, right?
00:22:30.380 --> 00:22:35.740
<v Peter Michael Marino>So they intentionally fuck it up a few times so that you're rooting for them.
00:22:35.740 --> 00:22:36.640
<v Peter Michael Marino>And that's to me-
00:22:36.640 --> 00:22:37.900
<v Nancy Magarill>Oh, that's so interesting.
00:22:37.900 --> 00:22:40.780
<v Peter Michael Marino>I mean, it's what storytelling is.
00:22:40.780 --> 00:22:41.960
<v Peter Michael Marino>It's what storytelling is.
00:22:41.960 --> 00:22:44.700
<v Peter Michael Marino>You were rooting for Little Red Riding Hood to get to her grandmother.
00:22:44.980 --> 00:22:49.680
<v Peter Michael Marino>You're rooting for Jack and Rose to stay together in there.
00:22:49.680 --> 00:22:51.720
<v Peter Michael Marino>You have to be rooting for somebody.
00:22:51.720 --> 00:23:01.860
<v Peter Michael Marino>So even like a contortionist, before doing some very dangerous looking trick, I'm sure that they're prepping themselves.
00:23:01.860 --> 00:23:09.520
<v Peter Michael Marino>But when you realize, oh, that's actually adding to the danger, that's adding to the suspense, that's adding to the challenge, that becomes part of the act.
00:23:10.080 --> 00:23:17.400
<v Peter Michael Marino>I mean, I know from watching Lara's, Lara balances 13 giant bamboo leaves.
00:23:17.400 --> 00:23:18.080
<v Peter Michael Marino>I'm sure that's what it is.
00:23:18.080 --> 00:23:18.540
<v Anna Venizelos>Palm fronds.
00:23:18.540 --> 00:23:19.020
<v Peter Michael Marino>Palm fronds.
00:23:19.020 --> 00:23:21.720
<v Peter Michael Marino>Thank you, bamboo leaves.
00:23:21.720 --> 00:23:22.380
<v Peter Michael Marino>I'm talking.
00:23:22.380 --> 00:23:23.740
<v Anna Venizelos>Sure love that.
00:23:23.740 --> 00:23:24.800
<v Peter Michael Marino>She's gonna love that.
00:23:24.800 --> 00:23:26.840
<v Peter Michael Marino>She's not listening to this, trust me.
00:23:26.840 --> 00:23:28.280
<v Peter Michael Marino>I'm not gonna let her.
00:23:28.280 --> 00:23:32.040
<v Peter Michael Marino>I know, it suddenly became, I suddenly became a koala.
00:23:32.040 --> 00:23:33.500
<v Peter Michael Marino>I became a koala.
00:23:33.720 --> 00:23:37.500
<v Peter Michael Marino>But, you know, we've all watched that thing a lot of times.
00:23:37.580 --> 00:23:41.800
<v Peter Michael Marino>It's a 15-minute act that the audience is dead silent through the entire thing.
00:23:41.960 --> 00:23:43.540
<v Nancy Magarill>And who is this?
00:23:43.540 --> 00:23:44.180
<v Peter Michael Marino>Lara Jacobs.
00:23:44.180 --> 00:23:48.180
<v Peter Michael Marino>She's the creator of the Moonrise and comes from a circus family as well.
00:23:48.180 --> 00:23:57.380
<v Peter Michael Marino>And you're just watching her balance, like one little thing, one little palm frond, and then another on top of, and then another on top of, and they keep extending out into the audience.
00:23:57.380 --> 00:24:01.040
<v Peter Michael Marino>And she's been doing it since she's very young.
00:24:01.040 --> 00:24:09.780
<v Peter Michael Marino>And so when you're watching it, you're like, oh, right there, there's always that spot where she goes, oh, and we all go, oh, but it always happens in the same place.
00:24:09.780 --> 00:24:11.360
<v Nancy Magarill>And she's doing it on purpose.
00:24:11.360 --> 00:24:12.580
<v Peter Michael Marino>Yeah, and I learned a lot.
00:24:12.580 --> 00:24:12.760
<v Anna Venizelos>Yeah.
00:24:12.760 --> 00:24:14.100
<v Peter Michael Marino>I learned a lot from her.
00:24:14.100 --> 00:24:19.080
<v Anna Venizelos>I mean, she did tell me that it's actually, it's challenging for her.
00:24:20.020 --> 00:24:30.340
<v Anna Venizelos>It's not easy, so I totally get what you're saying about sort of creating that suspense, but I think there's real, real moments of it, too.
00:24:30.340 --> 00:24:31.360
<v Anna Venizelos>I mean, I know there are-
00:24:31.360 --> 00:24:32.240
<v Peter Michael Marino>And for you, yeah.
00:24:32.240 --> 00:24:52.860
<v Anna Venizelos>There's times, like when I'm doing my contortion act, like recently, I did one in a water bowl, so I'm wet while I'm doing it, and I do this one skill, and normally, it would be very easy for me, but I'm like dripping wet, I can barely see, my hands are wet, I'm on an acrylic surface, and every time I do it, I'm like, am I going to make it?
00:24:52.860 --> 00:24:53.760
<v Nancy Magarill>What are you doing?
00:24:54.000 --> 00:24:56.360
<v Nancy Magarill>What is it that you're actually doing that you-
00:24:56.360 --> 00:25:05.240
<v Anna Venizelos>So I'm doing a handstand on this acrylic surface, hands wet, surface wet, water coming down my face, lights from below.
00:25:05.500 --> 00:25:08.940
<v Anna Venizelos>So you add all that in and it just, it makes it-
00:25:08.940 --> 00:25:12.640
<v Nancy Magarill>First of all, the handstand alone for me is enough to make me feel like-
00:25:12.640 --> 00:25:17.740
<v Peter Michael Marino>Then put it in water, then put it in the acrylic bowl, then put lights in it, and then put the bowl 10 feet in the air.
00:25:17.740 --> 00:25:19.100
<v Nancy Magarill>There's no wall behind you.
00:25:19.500 --> 00:25:20.300
<v Anna Venizelos>There's no wall behind me.
00:25:20.300 --> 00:25:26.320
<v Nancy Magarill>You're holding, like that is amazing to me, that you can do that instead and just hold on there alone.
00:25:26.320 --> 00:25:27.160
<v Nancy Magarill>That just to me is so cool.
00:25:27.160 --> 00:25:31.240
<v Peter Michael Marino>You started, you developed that during the cocktail show, I think, that water.
00:25:31.240 --> 00:25:33.400
<v Anna Venizelos>Yeah, it was a little different.
00:25:33.400 --> 00:25:35.660
<v Anna Venizelos>It was a different structure.
00:25:35.660 --> 00:25:38.500
<v Anna Venizelos>Now it's kind of, well, you saw, it's like part of the stage now.
00:25:38.500 --> 00:25:39.400
<v Anna Venizelos>Yes, it's a little different.
00:25:39.400 --> 00:25:53.060
<v Anna Venizelos>But yeah, I mean, my point being, I kind of hate and love those moments because they're real, because like, you know, I am afraid, I am like, you know, I'm 90% sure, but there's 10% of like, hmm.
00:25:53.060 --> 00:25:53.620
<v Anna Venizelos>What if I don't take it?
00:25:53.620 --> 00:25:54.500
<v Nancy Magarill>You're hitting the high note.
00:25:54.500 --> 00:25:55.920
<v Nancy Magarill>Basically, we're hitting the high note.
00:25:56.000 --> 00:26:01.500
<v Nancy Magarill>It's we all, every artist, we all have that thing, you know, that we're like, is it going to work tonight?
00:26:01.500 --> 00:26:03.760
<v Nancy Magarill>Is it going to be, is the voice going to be there?
00:26:03.760 --> 00:26:04.720
<v Anna Venizelos>You've got to have that.
00:26:04.720 --> 00:26:06.380
<v Anna Venizelos>I think, I think that's essential.
00:26:06.380 --> 00:26:07.240
<v Nancy Magarill>Absolutely.
00:26:07.240 --> 00:26:07.720
<v Peter Michael Marino>Right.
00:26:07.720 --> 00:26:11.980
<v Peter Michael Marino>When you lose that, then you're losing your authenticity, which is the thing we work so hard to have.
00:26:11.980 --> 00:26:14.440
<v Nancy Magarill>Well, then it's just rote and it's just work.
00:26:14.440 --> 00:26:15.240
<v Nancy Magarill>Which it is work.
00:26:15.240 --> 00:26:15.800
<v Peter Michael Marino>It's always work.
00:26:15.800 --> 00:26:19.080
<v Peter Michael Marino>Which is why I stop doing things when I'm aware that it's rote.
00:26:19.280 --> 00:26:20.000
<v Nancy Magarill>Yeah.
00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:21.180
<v Peter Michael Marino>Actually, that's not true.
00:26:21.180 --> 00:26:25.920
<v Peter Michael Marino>I stopped doing things when I realized it's a lot more work to look like I'm enjoying what I'm doing.
00:26:26.440 --> 00:26:27.080
<v Anna Venizelos>That's fair.
00:26:27.080 --> 00:26:28.120
<v Peter Michael Marino>Because I can't do rote.
00:26:28.120 --> 00:26:28.920
<v Peter Michael Marino>It's impossible.
00:26:28.920 --> 00:26:29.800
<v Peter Michael Marino>Even if I tried.
00:26:29.800 --> 00:26:31.380
<v Peter Michael Marino>Even my rote would be funny.
00:26:31.380 --> 00:26:32.860
<v Peter Michael Marino>That's just how I'm built.
00:26:32.860 --> 00:26:42.120
<v Nancy Magarill>This is one of the things we learned at the theater conservatory I went to, is that your job is to always keep it fresh and to always be in the moment.
00:26:42.120 --> 00:26:44.860
<v Nancy Magarill>And that, and I mean, Pete, we've talked about this before.
00:26:44.860 --> 00:26:53.800
<v Nancy Magarill>That's almost part of the thrill of doing that work is finding those ways to stay in the moment and make it new all the time.
00:26:53.800 --> 00:26:55.880
<v Nancy Magarill>It's not going to work all the time that way.
00:26:55.880 --> 00:26:59.480
<v Nancy Magarill>But that is part of the excitement of doing the work that we all do.
00:26:59.480 --> 00:27:00.040
<v Anna Venizelos>Totally.
00:27:00.040 --> 00:27:01.860
<v Anna Venizelos>And it's exciting for me.
00:27:01.860 --> 00:27:02.180
<v Nancy Magarill>Yeah.
00:27:02.180 --> 00:27:06.240
<v Anna Venizelos>I mean, like I was saying, you know, I need to feel entertained.
00:27:06.240 --> 00:27:08.580
<v Anna Venizelos>I need to feel committed to what I'm doing.
00:27:08.580 --> 00:27:11.060
<v Anna Venizelos>Otherwise, it's not going to read, you know?
00:27:11.060 --> 00:27:12.440
<v Anna Venizelos>And I'll just be bored.
00:27:12.440 --> 00:27:15.260
<v Anna Venizelos>And then, you know, it's just a big bore for everyone, right?
00:27:15.260 --> 00:27:15.900
<v Peter Michael Marino>Yeah.
00:27:15.900 --> 00:27:16.400
<v Peter Michael Marino>Yeah.
00:27:16.400 --> 00:27:18.420
<v Peter Michael Marino>Look, I just want to go back a second.
00:27:18.420 --> 00:27:26.160
<v Peter Michael Marino>I don't want to say that, like people listening who do Cirque du Soleil or don't, that it's not all, I'm not saying across the board everyone's faking it.
00:27:26.160 --> 00:27:26.960
<v Peter Michael Marino>That's not what I mean.
00:27:26.960 --> 00:27:27.700
<v Peter Michael Marino>No, no, no, no, no.
00:27:27.700 --> 00:27:28.560
<v Peter Michael Marino>It's hard work.
00:27:28.560 --> 00:27:42.880
<v Peter Michael Marino>You know, I mean, I can say, like when I, so I was doing, I was in the show Stomp for a very long time and we kind of learned, and like the final number is like a big freaking orgy of garbage cans and lids, just junk.
00:27:42.880 --> 00:27:46.940
<v Peter Michael Marino>It's like very, very, you know, it's very syncopated.
00:27:46.940 --> 00:27:48.100
<v Peter Michael Marino>And it's long.
00:27:48.100 --> 00:27:49.060
<v Peter Michael Marino>It's a long finale.
00:27:49.320 --> 00:27:51.860
<v Peter Michael Marino>And by then, you're totally drenched.
00:27:51.860 --> 00:27:55.280
<v Peter Michael Marino>But you're also like, I just want to go out to eat or I just want to get laid.
00:27:55.280 --> 00:27:57.220
<v Peter Michael Marino>Or I want to drink whatever it is.
00:27:57.220 --> 00:27:58.820
<v Peter Michael Marino>Like you're done.
00:27:58.820 --> 00:28:00.820
<v Peter Michael Marino>You've done 90 minutes of really hard work.
00:28:00.820 --> 00:28:01.200
<v Peter Michael Marino>Yeah.
00:28:01.200 --> 00:28:17.460
<v Peter Michael Marino>And although you're probably tired, what you learn is how to look more tired, how to how to wipe sweat that might not actually be getting in your eyes, how to put on this face and then be able to turn around to the person next to you and go, what are we getting for dinner tonight?
00:28:18.460 --> 00:28:24.560
<v Peter Michael Marino>You know, like literally, and that's, you know, that's, that's like, I mean, like, it's, it's showbiz, right?
00:28:24.560 --> 00:28:33.620
<v Peter Michael Marino>It's, we're charlatans, we're, we're, none of us are actually someone who is banging on a, we don't, whatever that story is, I don't know what the story is of stuff, what the story is of Moonrise.
00:28:33.620 --> 00:28:40.620
<v Peter Michael Marino>None of us are actually goddesses, but even I, like the first time I saw Moonrise, like I was like, wait, you're the same person that does that?
00:28:40.620 --> 00:28:44.780
<v Peter Michael Marino>Or like asking questions, like, how do you, how does your hair not fall out?
00:28:44.780 --> 00:28:46.200
<v Peter Michael Marino>We have a hair hanger in the show.
00:28:46.840 --> 00:28:47.940
<v Nancy Magarill>What does that mean?
00:28:47.940 --> 00:28:49.920
<v Peter Michael Marino>Go ahead, Anna, you can describe it better than me.
00:28:49.920 --> 00:29:05.200
<v Anna Venizelos>It's a very specific technique of tying your hair in a way that creates a loop, and then you attach the hardware into that loop, and then you're connected by that, like to a point, and basically you're hanging from your hair.
00:29:05.200 --> 00:29:06.220
<v Nancy Magarill>From the center of your head.
00:29:06.220 --> 00:29:07.820
<v Nancy Magarill>Oh, and twists around and all that?
00:29:07.820 --> 00:29:08.620
<v Anna Venizelos>Exactly.
00:29:09.400 --> 00:29:11.700
<v Nancy Magarill>I can't even imagine how much that hurts.
00:29:11.700 --> 00:29:17.300
<v Peter Michael Marino>Well, she would say when we had like a lot of tech, when we even have long tech days, she said those are the worst.
00:29:17.300 --> 00:29:23.180
<v Peter Michael Marino>Because at the end of a long day of having your head up in this ring, your hair is falling out when you take it out.
00:29:23.180 --> 00:29:28.360
<v Peter Michael Marino>But when you're just showing up to do your act, your hair is not falling out, because your hair is only up for three hours.
00:29:28.360 --> 00:29:29.400
<v Nancy Magarill>Well, her hair.
00:29:29.400 --> 00:29:31.880
<v Nancy Magarill>I mean, my hair wouldn't last a second.
00:29:31.880 --> 00:29:34.780
<v Nancy Magarill>I mean, it depends on how thick your hair is, how strong.
00:29:34.780 --> 00:29:36.880
<v Nancy Magarill>I mean, you can't do that if you have thin hair.
00:29:36.880 --> 00:29:37.120
<v Anna Venizelos>Right.
00:29:37.120 --> 00:29:39.880
<v Anna Venizelos>You need a certain type of hair, and a certain amount of hair for short.
00:29:41.640 --> 00:29:47.400
<v Nancy Magarill>Are there any tricks, like things that you can put in your hair that can make it so it is stronger?
00:29:47.520 --> 00:29:49.320
<v Anna Venizelos>There's a whole process.
00:29:49.320 --> 00:29:55.460
<v Anna Venizelos>This particular performer, she uses coconut oil and has to be very, very tight for her to feel secure.
00:29:55.460 --> 00:29:59.240
<v Anna Venizelos>There's a technique to braid it and you knot it in a certain way.
00:29:59.240 --> 00:30:01.800
<v Nancy Magarill>You can't do a wig because that could easily come out.
00:30:01.800 --> 00:30:03.400
<v Peter Michael Marino>No, don't do a wig.
00:30:03.400 --> 00:30:04.480
<v Anna Venizelos>No, no.
00:30:04.480 --> 00:30:06.080
<v Peter Michael Marino>That's a great bit actually.
00:30:06.080 --> 00:30:09.780
<v Nancy Magarill>Yeah, I've worn wigs in shows, but that thing's going to come off.
00:30:10.540 --> 00:30:12.400
<v Nancy Magarill>Unless you're like staceling it into your brain.
00:30:12.400 --> 00:30:17.360
<v Peter Michael Marino>A wig comes off going in a fast elevator, of course it's going to come off when you're facing into the air.
00:30:17.360 --> 00:30:19.100
<v Anna Venizelos>Yeah, yeah, totally.
00:30:19.100 --> 00:30:22.960
<v Anna Venizelos>I had a terrible wig moment in Cirque du Soleil once.
00:30:22.960 --> 00:30:28.320
<v Anna Venizelos>So like Pete said, you do your main act, but then you do little character bits during the show.
00:30:29.620 --> 00:30:35.980
<v Anna Venizelos>I played this one character that was this crazy clown, and she would wear this red wig.
00:30:35.980 --> 00:30:44.980
<v Anna Venizelos>Basically, all I had to do was run from upstage to downstage, do this big gesture, and then turn around and tear ass back.
00:30:44.980 --> 00:30:48.660
<v Anna Venizelos>So I really never did a great job pitting this wig in.
00:30:48.660 --> 00:30:51.540
<v Anna Venizelos>So I was like upside down.
00:30:51.540 --> 00:30:52.760
<v Nancy Magarill>You're running, go right in and out.
00:30:52.860 --> 00:30:54.560
<v Anna Venizelos>I was running in and out.
00:30:54.560 --> 00:30:55.420
<v Anna Venizelos>It's not a big deal.
00:30:55.440 --> 00:30:57.400
<v Anna Venizelos>It's a 30 second thing.
00:30:57.400 --> 00:31:06.760
<v Anna Venizelos>So anyway, as you can imagine, I come running in, I do my big gesture, the wig has a chin strap, so the headpiece flies off.
00:31:06.760 --> 00:31:09.180
<v Anna Venizelos>So now it's around my neck.
00:31:09.180 --> 00:31:11.600
<v Anna Venizelos>I'm wearing my wig cap underneath.
00:31:12.720 --> 00:31:14.360
<v Anna Venizelos>So I look like I'm bald.
00:31:14.360 --> 00:31:15.900
<v Peter Michael Marino>And you gotta laugh anyway.
00:31:15.900 --> 00:31:17.140
<v Anna Venizelos>Yeah, of course.
00:31:17.140 --> 00:31:24.020
<v Anna Venizelos>And I turn around and run off, and then everyone backstage is dying because they filmed the entire show.
00:31:24.060 --> 00:31:24.740
<v Nancy Magarill>Oh, wow.
00:31:24.740 --> 00:31:26.680
<v Anna Venizelos>So they're watching this as it's happening.
00:31:26.680 --> 00:31:27.840
<v Anna Venizelos>Oh my God.
00:31:27.860 --> 00:31:31.340
<v Nancy Magarill>I once actually had my whole skirt fall off in a show.
00:31:31.340 --> 00:31:31.700
<v Anna Venizelos>Oh my goodness.
00:31:31.700 --> 00:31:36.060
<v Nancy Magarill>Once literally just went right down, and I'm like, okay, gotta run off and fix that.
00:31:36.060 --> 00:31:38.300
<v Nancy Magarill>I mean, that's just the nature of the beast, right?
00:31:38.300 --> 00:31:42.900
<v Peter Michael Marino>I once had a dog walk up on the stage doing Shakespeare like outside in the park.
00:31:42.900 --> 00:31:44.080
<v Nancy Magarill>Oh, I love that.
00:31:44.080 --> 00:31:44.740
<v Peter Michael Marino>That was fun.
00:31:45.480 --> 00:31:49.080
<v Peter Michael Marino>But there's people, there's like actors who won't acknowledge stuff like that.
00:31:49.080 --> 00:31:50.160
<v Nancy Magarill>Yeah, that's weird to me.
00:31:50.300 --> 00:31:55.720
<v Peter Michael Marino>And then, there's me who then like suddenly does a whole monologue, which isn't the best choice either, but...
00:31:55.720 --> 00:32:01.580
<v Nancy Magarill>Well, I actually think it's really important if you're in the moment to acknowledge, because you know everybody's seeing the dog.
00:32:01.580 --> 00:32:05.360
<v Peter Michael Marino>Yeah, or the dropped handkerchief or the, you know, whatever it is.
00:32:06.180 --> 00:32:08.580
<v Nancy Magarill>It's always a strange thing when people...
00:32:08.880 --> 00:32:11.140
<v Nancy Magarill>That's how you know they're not in the moment, right?
00:32:11.900 --> 00:32:17.080
<v Peter Michael Marino>What's the most bizarre job that you've been hired to do?
00:32:17.080 --> 00:32:25.540
<v Peter Michael Marino>Because people listening, the circus people, like myself, I can now say, because I'm officially a character in that world.
00:32:25.540 --> 00:32:26.900
<v Nancy Magarill>Your character, all right.
00:32:26.900 --> 00:32:28.020
<v Peter Michael Marino>Yeah.
00:32:28.020 --> 00:32:29.980
<v Peter Michael Marino>We get asked to do weird things.
00:32:29.980 --> 00:32:35.420
<v Peter Michael Marino>We get asked to do weird events, openings, closings, parties.
00:32:35.420 --> 00:32:36.400
<v Peter Michael Marino>What's the weirdest one?
00:32:36.460 --> 00:32:37.600
<v Peter Michael Marino>If you can tell us.
00:32:37.600 --> 00:32:40.680
<v Nancy Magarill>I'm sure you've been asked to do a lot of weird things.
00:32:40.680 --> 00:32:41.120
<v Anna Venizelos>Yeah.
00:32:41.120 --> 00:32:45.660
<v Anna Venizelos>I mean, I've done weird stuff, but not as weird as you'd think.
00:32:45.660 --> 00:32:48.340
<v Anna Venizelos>It's more like the conditions I've been in.
00:32:48.720 --> 00:32:50.960
<v Anna Venizelos>There have been some very weird conditions.
00:32:50.960 --> 00:32:53.100
<v Peter Michael Marino>Tell us.
00:32:53.100 --> 00:32:55.720
<v Anna Venizelos>Like, okay, so warm up areas.
00:32:55.720 --> 00:33:02.380
<v Anna Venizelos>I've been put in a bathroom, a broom closet, a basement with rats in it.
00:33:02.380 --> 00:33:07.020
<v Nancy Magarill>Are these because they're private events and they're like, here, we have a broom closet for you to warm up in?
00:33:07.280 --> 00:33:09.820
<v Anna Venizelos>They have nowhere for us to warm up.
00:33:09.820 --> 00:33:12.620
<v Anna Venizelos>You're getting stepped on by the catering staff.
00:33:13.140 --> 00:33:16.520
<v Peter Michael Marino>The performers are the last, the bottom of the list.
00:33:16.520 --> 00:33:17.680
<v Anna Venizelos>Bottom of the ladder, absolutely.
00:33:17.680 --> 00:33:21.080
<v Nancy Magarill>And is this because they're like private parties that you're being hired for?
00:33:21.660 --> 00:33:22.060
<v Anna Venizelos>Yeah.
00:33:22.060 --> 00:33:23.920
<v Anna Venizelos>So it's a variety of gigs.
00:33:23.920 --> 00:33:32.860
<v Anna Venizelos>Everything from, I'd say, like the lower paying gigs, which would be like nightlife stuff, all the way up to the corporate gigs and the gallows where you're well paid.
00:33:32.960 --> 00:33:38.500
<v Anna Venizelos>But surprisingly, a lot of the time, you're very poorly treated backstage that you won't get offered.
00:33:38.500 --> 00:33:40.500
<v Anna Venizelos>You know, they don't offer you water or anything.
00:33:40.500 --> 00:33:46.240
<v Anna Venizelos>Like, forget food, but no water, you know, in these conditions that are really kind of shocking sometimes.
00:33:46.240 --> 00:33:48.040
<v Peter Michael Marino>Doing industrials and stuff like that.
00:33:48.040 --> 00:33:51.340
<v Anna Venizelos>Yeah, I guess that's what you'd call corporate gigs.
00:33:51.760 --> 00:33:55.360
<v Peter Michael Marino>Yeah, I guess industrials don't really happen as much as they used to, right?
00:33:55.360 --> 00:34:01.480
<v Nancy Magarill>What is the hardest act, I guess, or part of your act that you do physically?
00:34:01.920 --> 00:34:03.500
<v Nancy Magarill>What is the most challenging?
00:34:03.500 --> 00:34:05.660
<v Nancy Magarill>The most challenging, thank you.
00:34:06.840 --> 00:34:12.120
<v Anna Venizelos>Well, I do a fair amount of hand balancing, so I'd say that's pretty challenging.
00:34:12.240 --> 00:34:19.140
<v Anna Venizelos>Then I have a couple skills that challenge the end ranges of my flexibility as well.
00:34:19.300 --> 00:34:24.540
<v Anna Venizelos>Yeah, I would say that's a combination of the hand balancing and then the extreme flexibility.
00:34:24.540 --> 00:34:27.280
<v Anna Venizelos>I've had to pull back a little bit on the flexibility over the years.
00:34:27.280 --> 00:34:40.420
<v Anna Venizelos>I've had several joint injuries, so I do maybe fewer skills, but I try to keep the skills that I do very clean and comfortable, as comfortable as possible for me.
00:34:40.420 --> 00:34:44.280
<v Anna Venizelos>I don't like to get on stage and feel like I'm struggling.
00:34:44.280 --> 00:34:44.820
<v Peter Michael Marino>Yeah.
00:34:44.820 --> 00:34:46.160
<v Peter Michael Marino>No, you don't.
00:34:48.020 --> 00:34:50.160
<v Anna Venizelos>I like to be over-prepared.
00:34:50.160 --> 00:34:56.740
<v Anna Venizelos>If I have to hold a handstand for example, 10 seconds, 15 seconds, I'll be doing two-minute holds in the gym.
00:34:57.260 --> 00:34:59.280
<v Anna Venizelos>I'm just, I'm an over-preparer.
00:34:59.280 --> 00:35:03.600
<v Anna Venizelos>I hate that feeling of like, oh God, am I going to be able to pull this off?
00:35:03.600 --> 00:35:06.400
<v Anna Venizelos>We're being exhausted at the end of an act.
00:35:06.400 --> 00:35:08.880
<v Anna Venizelos>I want to be able to manage it well.
00:35:08.880 --> 00:35:13.760
<v Nancy Magarill>Have you ever had a show where you were like, oh my God, I'm not going to make it through tonight.
00:35:13.760 --> 00:35:15.000
<v Nancy Magarill>I'm so tired.
00:35:15.000 --> 00:35:15.760
<v Anna Venizelos>Totally.
00:35:15.760 --> 00:35:16.440
<v Nancy Magarill>Oh my God.
00:35:16.440 --> 00:35:22.900
<v Anna Venizelos>So many times, not just tired, but sick, everything, everything across the board.
00:35:22.900 --> 00:35:23.140
<v Anna Venizelos>Yeah.
00:35:23.140 --> 00:35:24.040
<v Anna Venizelos>And the show must go on.
00:35:25.100 --> 00:35:29.700
<v Nancy Magarill>Do you have swings, understudies for the shows that you do?
00:35:29.700 --> 00:35:31.160
<v Nancy Magarill>What happens if you actually do this?
00:35:31.160 --> 00:35:33.600
<v Anna Venizelos>It depends on the size of the show.
00:35:33.600 --> 00:35:36.540
<v Anna Venizelos>It depends on the size and the budget of the show.
00:35:36.540 --> 00:35:36.980
<v Nancy Magarill>Yeah.
00:35:36.980 --> 00:35:39.340
<v Anna Venizelos>So I'll give you an example.
00:35:39.340 --> 00:35:46.280
<v Anna Venizelos>I was performing for an opera, The Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center, and we had swings for every performer for that.
00:35:46.280 --> 00:35:47.420
<v Nancy Magarill>That's good.
00:35:47.420 --> 00:35:48.560
<v Anna Venizelos>But usually no.
00:35:48.560 --> 00:35:50.100
<v Anna Venizelos>Usually there isn't a swing.
00:35:50.100 --> 00:35:55.440
<v Anna Venizelos>I mean, there might be a backup act that can be thrown in last minute, but usually no.
00:35:55.440 --> 00:35:57.040
<v Anna Venizelos>Like you have to do it.
00:35:57.040 --> 00:35:57.600
<v Peter Michael Marino>Yeah.
00:35:57.600 --> 00:35:58.180
<v Anna Venizelos>You have to do it.
00:35:58.180 --> 00:36:04.820
<v Peter Michael Marino>When I went to see The Hook, which is a Spiegelworld show in Atlantic City, a friend of a friend was in it.
00:36:04.820 --> 00:36:05.880
<v Peter Michael Marino>I was curious anyway.
00:36:05.880 --> 00:36:09.640
<v Peter Michael Marino>After the show, he talked to us and he was like, oh, I'm so mad.
00:36:09.640 --> 00:36:11.220
<v Peter Michael Marino>I'm so upset you guys came tonight.
00:36:11.220 --> 00:36:12.720
<v Peter Michael Marino>And we were like, well, why?
00:36:12.720 --> 00:36:14.700
<v Peter Michael Marino>He's like, oh, two of the acts didn't happen.
00:36:14.700 --> 00:36:18.960
<v Peter Michael Marino>Like this one was sick and this one broke their clavicle, whatever.
00:36:18.960 --> 00:36:21.360
<v Peter Michael Marino>And I'm like, oh, well, we didn't see them.
00:36:21.460 --> 00:36:22.900
<v Peter Michael Marino>So we wouldn't miss them, right?
00:36:22.900 --> 00:36:24.180
<v Peter Michael Marino>You wouldn't know, right?
00:36:24.180 --> 00:36:28.420
<v Peter Michael Marino>But that's the thing in circus is you just take out that track.
00:36:28.420 --> 00:36:28.820
<v Peter Michael Marino>That's it.
00:36:28.820 --> 00:36:30.040
<v Peter Michael Marino>You just take out that track.
00:36:30.040 --> 00:36:42.840
<v Peter Michael Marino>But that usually means another two hours of rehearsal to figure out how to get in and out of the space that used to be that track, you know, because it's not so easy just to throw something like that in because there's no, not at all.
00:36:42.920 --> 00:36:43.180
<v Peter Michael Marino>No.
00:36:43.180 --> 00:36:47.720
<v Peter Michael Marino>I mean, in the beginning, like Lara, I'm sure she did the show with COVID.
00:36:47.720 --> 00:36:55.000
<v Peter Michael Marino>She had to because there was nobody else besides her sister, who lives, you know, around the world, who can do that balancing act.
00:36:55.000 --> 00:36:56.720
<v Peter Michael Marino>It's the end of the show, right?
00:36:56.720 --> 00:36:59.400
<v Peter Michael Marino>So she would, she had to do the act.
00:36:59.400 --> 00:37:01.660
<v Peter Michael Marino>There was, you couldn't see that show without that act.
00:37:01.660 --> 00:37:02.940
<v Peter Michael Marino>She would have to do that act.
00:37:02.940 --> 00:37:04.580
<v Nancy Magarill>What do you mean she did it with COVID?
00:37:04.580 --> 00:37:07.860
<v Anna Venizelos>Well, COVID, well, because we, she had, she had COVID.
00:37:07.860 --> 00:37:10.040
<v Peter Michael Marino>Yeah, we did the show very much.
00:37:10.040 --> 00:37:13.260
<v Nancy Magarill>You mean you're talking about after the, everybody was in lockdown.
00:37:13.280 --> 00:37:26.700
<v Peter Michael Marino>Well, we're talking about when people were allowed to go out and buy TSSD shows and it was still going around and it felt very weird for people in a show to wear masks, but also the shows in a round and it feels weird to look at people wearing masks.
00:37:26.700 --> 00:37:31.060
<v Peter Michael Marino>So we were just all playing Russian roulette and unfortunately, you know, Lara got sick.
00:37:31.060 --> 00:37:41.240
<v Peter Michael Marino>But you know, if I got hit by a car, they would have to go into rehearsals for like three more hours to figure out how do we, you know, I'm killing time a lot of the time.
00:37:41.340 --> 00:37:44.040
<v Peter Michael Marino>I'm filling space while something else is getting prepped.
00:37:44.040 --> 00:37:46.220
<v Peter Michael Marino>So that's how circus works.
00:37:46.220 --> 00:37:48.120
<v Peter Michael Marino>You just, they just cut.
00:37:48.120 --> 00:37:52.080
<v Anna Venizelos>And I will say like with Cirque du Soleil, there is a program.
00:37:52.080 --> 00:37:58.260
<v Anna Venizelos>So people, patrons will look at the picture in the program and say, for instance, where's this act?
00:37:58.260 --> 00:37:59.120
<v Anna Venizelos>I didn't see it.
00:37:59.120 --> 00:38:04.900
<v Anna Venizelos>And if it's, you know, if it's an iconic act, they expect, many of them expect to see it, you know?
00:38:04.900 --> 00:38:08.560
<v Anna Venizelos>And they're like, no, I was supposed to see this act, not a juggler, you know?
00:38:09.080 --> 00:38:16.000
<v Anna Venizelos>So they definitely encourage you to work when you're injured, when you don't feel well, all of these things, you know?
00:38:16.000 --> 00:38:17.900
<v Nancy Magarill>So what is next for you?
00:38:17.900 --> 00:38:19.240
<v Anna Venizelos>What is next for me?
00:38:19.240 --> 00:38:20.020
<v Anna Venizelos>That's a good question.
00:38:20.020 --> 00:38:23.100
<v Anna Venizelos>So I have a few projects that I'm involved in.
00:38:23.100 --> 00:38:27.040
<v Anna Venizelos>I'm actually working with my sister on a show, in a show right now.
00:38:27.040 --> 00:38:29.360
<v Anna Venizelos>It's a 30 minute cabaret, yeah.
00:38:29.360 --> 00:38:37.100
<v Anna Venizelos>And it's being performed at Casa Cipriani, which is kind of a really cool, are you, do you know about this?
00:38:37.900 --> 00:38:39.880
<v Peter Michael Marino>I don't know about this show at all, but it's a great location.
00:38:39.880 --> 00:38:40.520
<v Nancy Magarill>Where is it?
00:38:40.520 --> 00:38:41.100
<v Anna Venizelos>Yeah.
00:38:41.100 --> 00:38:46.260
<v Anna Venizelos>So it's this nautical themed hotel, right down by Staten Island Ferry.
00:38:46.260 --> 00:38:47.240
<v Anna Venizelos>So it's all the way downtown.
00:38:47.240 --> 00:38:48.680
<v Peter Michael Marino>Yeah, the South Ferry Station.
00:38:48.680 --> 00:38:49.860
<v Nancy Magarill>And when does it run?
00:38:49.860 --> 00:38:54.900
<v Anna Venizelos>So it's currently, it's just for, there's a members club at Cipriani.
00:38:54.900 --> 00:38:57.140
<v Anna Venizelos>It's kind of like a Soho House type of thing.
00:38:57.140 --> 00:38:57.720
<v Nancy Magarill>Yes.
00:38:57.720 --> 00:38:58.220
<v Anna Venizelos>Yeah.
00:38:58.220 --> 00:39:01.660
<v Anna Venizelos>So it's currently just being performed for them.
00:39:01.660 --> 00:39:04.960
<v Anna Venizelos>And it's like a dinner and then this cabaret show.
00:39:04.960 --> 00:39:06.500
<v Anna Venizelos>And we'll see, we'll see where that goes.
00:39:06.840 --> 00:39:14.020
<v Anna Venizelos>And then I'm actually still part of the cast of Moonrise, which is sort of on break right now.
00:39:14.020 --> 00:39:15.420
<v Anna Venizelos>We'll see where that goes.
00:39:15.420 --> 00:39:18.060
<v Anna Venizelos>And then I'm also, actually, I work with clients.
00:39:18.060 --> 00:39:20.100
<v Anna Venizelos>I teach people one-on-one.
00:39:20.100 --> 00:39:20.760
<v Anna Venizelos>Yeah.
00:39:20.760 --> 00:39:23.440
<v Anna Venizelos>So a few irons in the fire.
00:39:23.440 --> 00:39:25.260
<v Nancy Magarill>You have to let me know when you're performing.
00:39:25.260 --> 00:39:27.520
<v Nancy Magarill>I so want to come see you when it's something I can come into.
00:39:27.520 --> 00:39:28.060
<v Anna Venizelos>Oh yes, absolutely.
00:39:28.060 --> 00:39:28.800
<v Nancy Magarill>Not Cipriani.
00:39:28.800 --> 00:39:30.980
<v Peter Michael Marino>Oh yeah, I'll take you to Moonrise if I'm not in it.
00:39:30.980 --> 00:39:32.140
<v Nancy Magarill>Oh my God, I would love that.
00:39:32.140 --> 00:39:33.920
<v Nancy Magarill>Well, even if you're in it, I'll come.
00:39:33.920 --> 00:39:34.640
<v Nancy Magarill>I would like to come see.
00:39:34.640 --> 00:39:35.580
<v Peter Michael Marino>Well, then you have to come.
00:39:35.880 --> 00:39:36.320
<v Nancy Magarill>Yeah.
00:39:36.320 --> 00:39:43.620
<v Peter Michael Marino>Yeah, you know, we, I mean, we, there I go again, but like now that I've fallen into this world, it's all, it's so much of it is word of mouth.
00:39:43.620 --> 00:39:45.920
<v Nancy Magarill>I want to see you do contortion work, Pete.
00:39:45.920 --> 00:39:46.900
<v Nancy Magarill>That's all I can say.
00:39:49.500 --> 00:40:03.380
<v Peter Michael Marino>You're, you know, before I had my hernia, my herniated disc, maybe, but you know, that's the thing too, is like, I know that I'd have to change my act because in the past two years, my herniated disc has just flared up a lot.
00:40:04.060 --> 00:40:06.820
<v Anna Venizelos>And you know, my sister has two herniated discs.
00:40:06.820 --> 00:40:09.340
<v Peter Michael Marino>Well, and she's bending over backwards still.
00:40:09.340 --> 00:40:13.680
<v Peter Michael Marino>Well, actually, with herniated discs, bending backwards is actually is good.
00:40:13.680 --> 00:40:14.560
<v Peter Michael Marino>It's better for you.
00:40:14.560 --> 00:40:15.560
<v Peter Michael Marino>Yeah, you don't want to leave.
00:40:15.560 --> 00:40:17.420
<v Peter Michael Marino>You know, I'm not allowed to do yoga anymore.
00:40:17.420 --> 00:40:18.860
<v Peter Michael Marino>I have to only do Pilates.
00:40:18.860 --> 00:40:22.800
<v Peter Michael Marino>Not that I would do either, but no twisting, no twisting.
00:40:22.800 --> 00:40:34.480
<v Peter Michael Marino>Anyway, you know, it's, I was saying like to my sister, the chiropractor, it's sad because I feel like as I'm getting older, there's just things that I won't be able to do anymore.
00:40:34.480 --> 00:40:35.480
<v Nancy Magarill>That's life, right?
00:40:35.480 --> 00:40:37.260
<v Peter Michael Marino>Yeah, but I'm not quite ready to accept that.
00:40:37.260 --> 00:40:37.840
<v Anna Venizelos>It's hard.
00:40:37.840 --> 00:40:39.500
<v Anna Venizelos>It's hard to retire those things.
00:40:39.500 --> 00:40:40.320
<v Peter Michael Marino>Yeah.
00:40:40.320 --> 00:40:45.960
<v Nancy Magarill>I had shoulder surgery in March of 2021, and it's never been the same.
00:40:45.960 --> 00:40:50.640
<v Nancy Magarill>And I'm like, that's just, you know, that you just realize, okay, that's what happens.
00:40:50.640 --> 00:40:51.640
<v Peter Michael Marino>So what does that mean, Nancy?
00:40:51.640 --> 00:40:53.520
<v Peter Michael Marino>You're taking the shimmy act out of your...
00:40:53.520 --> 00:40:58.260
<v Nancy Magarill>Well, I can't, like, I can't, you can't see this, but see, I can't do...
00:40:58.320 --> 00:40:59.500
<v Peter Michael Marino>So you can't play a Vita?
00:40:59.500 --> 00:41:06.480
<v Nancy Magarill>I can't do a Vita, like, one arm is just never, I'm gonna look like it's sort of, it's just a weird V, right?
00:41:06.480 --> 00:41:11.400
<v Nancy Magarill>There's just certain things that you can't do as you get older, things happen, it's life, you know?
00:41:11.420 --> 00:41:14.360
<v Nancy Magarill>But then you morph into whatever the next thing is.
00:41:14.360 --> 00:41:15.420
<v Peter Michael Marino>Yeah, I guess that's right.
00:41:15.420 --> 00:41:23.680
<v Nancy Magarill>And then the younger ones, but someone like Anna's probably teaching younger ones to come in and do something new and take it from there.
00:41:23.680 --> 00:41:26.440
<v Peter Michael Marino>We'll see a young Anna balancing in a water bowl.
00:41:26.860 --> 00:41:28.600
<v Nancy Magarill>That's right.
00:41:28.600 --> 00:41:30.960
<v Anna Venizelos>I mean, hey, hey, hey, I'm not done yet.
00:41:31.260 --> 00:41:32.460
<v Anna Venizelos>I'm retiring yet.
00:41:32.460 --> 00:41:36.100
<v Nancy Magarill>And Anna, and listener, Anna is still young.
00:41:36.100 --> 00:41:37.820
<v Nancy Magarill>I'm looking at Anna, she's not old.
00:41:37.820 --> 00:41:39.860
<v Anna Venizelos>Well, I don't know about that, but...
00:41:39.860 --> 00:41:41.340
<v Peter Michael Marino>No, I just meant she's going to fill her...
00:41:41.340 --> 00:41:42.000
<v Peter Michael Marino>She's going to take...
00:41:42.000 --> 00:41:44.960
<v Peter Michael Marino>My student is going to fill in for the part that I don't really like doing that much.
00:41:44.960 --> 00:41:45.520
<v Nancy Magarill>Right.
00:41:45.520 --> 00:41:47.800
<v Peter Michael Marino>Yeah, just the one handstand.
00:41:47.800 --> 00:41:48.820
<v Peter Michael Marino>I do everything else.
00:41:48.820 --> 00:41:52.060
<v Peter Michael Marino>She jumps in, stands in her hand, she goes away.
00:41:52.340 --> 00:41:52.520
<v Anna Venizelos>Yeah.
00:41:52.520 --> 00:42:01.120
<v Anna Venizelos>No, it's really a process of learning to accept your body and still keep a very high level of technique.
00:42:01.480 --> 00:42:02.380
<v Anna Venizelos>It's very interesting.
00:42:02.380 --> 00:42:03.740
<v Anna Venizelos>It's very humbling.
00:42:03.740 --> 00:42:05.060
<v Peter Michael Marino>I'm so glad I know you.
00:42:06.260 --> 00:42:07.760
<v Peter Michael Marino>You're so inspirational.
00:42:07.760 --> 00:42:08.340
<v Peter Michael Marino>Thank you.
00:42:08.500 --> 00:42:08.820
<v Nancy Magarill>Thank you guys.
00:42:08.820 --> 00:42:10.500
<v Nancy Magarill>This is really interesting.
00:42:10.760 --> 00:42:14.140
<v Nancy Magarill>Please, please, please keep me posted so I can come see you perform.
00:42:14.140 --> 00:42:15.800
<v Anna Venizelos>Absolutely.
00:42:15.800 --> 00:42:18.060
<v Nancy Magarill>Maybe I'll even take a class if I get brave enough.
00:42:18.360 --> 00:42:21.720
<v Nancy Magarill>Do you teach people like me or is it really just people who want to do this?
00:42:22.380 --> 00:42:22.780
<v Anna Venizelos>Yeah.
00:42:22.780 --> 00:42:33.980
<v Anna Venizelos>So my clients really vary from people that want to do this professionally to people that I really do more like corrective exercise with, kind of rehab and prehab and stuff like that too.
00:42:34.040 --> 00:42:36.740
<v Peter Michael Marino>Prehab?
00:42:36.740 --> 00:42:39.800
<v Peter Michael Marino>I said no, no, no.
00:42:40.980 --> 00:42:41.540
<v Anna Venizelos>Yeah.
00:42:41.540 --> 00:42:42.500
<v Anna Venizelos>Yeah.
00:42:42.500 --> 00:42:43.600
<v Peter Michael Marino>Hey, thanks for checking us out.
00:42:43.600 --> 00:42:46.420
<v Peter Michael Marino>Links to today's guests can be found in the show notes.
00:42:46.420 --> 00:42:51.420
<v Nancy Magarill>Don't forget to subscribe, like us, rate us and tell all your friends about Arts and Craft.
