2019’s Amazing Performers & Roving Artists!
Circle Show Performers
As always, the all star line-up of jugglers, comedians and acrobats come from all parts of the world and are guaranteed to make you laugh and leave you in awe with their crazy antics and out-of-this-world stunts.
Pogo Fred Stunt Pogo Entertainment
USA
Pogo Fred holds multiple Guinness World Records for his extreme pogo stunts and is regarded as one of
the best jumpers on the planet. Check out his incredible tricks and flips as he jumps 10 feet (3 meters) in
the air on his next generation and 10-foot tall pogo sticks.
Fred is one of the original founders of the sport of extreme pogo and has progressed today to be one of
the best jumpers in the world. He has inspired countless younger athletes and is a major driving force
behind the growth of the sport. Fred has been featured on Jay Leno, America’s Got Talent, and notably
in a Nike commercial during the 2012 Olympics.
The Rodeo Riders Musical Cowboy Comedy
Alberta, Canada
The Rodeo Riders have been performing their special blend of music and comedy at various events across Canada since 1994. With Dusty’s palomino pony guitar (Spitball-The Wonder Horse) pumping out a steady rhythm coupled with Sam’s bunkhouse bass bringing up the bottom end, this group’s unabashed joy of performing is evident from the first chord struck to the last note played.
With smooth polished harmonies and great instrumental arrangements The Rodeo Riders
offer a unique presentation of some of the best songs ever recorded by such legends as Roy Rogers, Gene Autrey, The Sons Of The Pioneers, Hank Williams and many more.
It is not uncommon during their show for members of the audience to sing along or request their favorite classic western song. Being an audience member can sometimes be a precarious position to be in considering that The Rodeo Riders have been known on more than one occasion to rustle up a member of the audience to the stage and dress them up as a Holstein cow!
They have been likened to such iconic performers as The Everly Brothers and The Smothers Brothers.
It’s easy to see why The Rodeo Riders have gone on to become one of Canada’s favourite western musical and comedy variety acts!
Mike Wood The Original Cabbage Catch Kid
Canada
Combining two of Canada’s main exports, comedy and natural resources, Mike Wood is a comedian with a degree in mine engineering.
He has been making people laugh for money since 1994. From 1996 to 2003, comedy put food on the table and paid for an engineering degree. Mike Wood’s comedy and engineering careers are now themselves part of a clever balancing act that may someday pave the way for home ownership.
Starting out as a street performer at outdoor festivals in Canada, Mike developed a slick outdoor stunt comedy show, and has since moved to indoor stages all over the world. He is a successful stand-up comedian, MC/host and actor, but it is Mike Wood’s “Catapulted Cabbage Catch” that has taken him around the world. From Toronto to Singapore, Dublin to Christchurch, Bruges to Barcelona, Mike has performed in every province of Canada and 13 different countries.
Mike’s comedy is dry but affable, wry but off-beat. His smart sense of humour is informed by years of pop culture immersion and a love of language. He demands little of his audience except their attention and a willingness to connect a few dots
Grant Goldie That Man
UK
A man and his case in a world of chance and opportunity, creates a happening of interactive participation, acute absurdity and mesmerizing manipulation. A wordless performance of charming virtuosity and high skill. Not merely a juggling show, more a projectile assault on Gravity.
Refreshing, Engaging, Wholesome – 10/10
Grant says: “I’ve been juggling 25 years and performing for 19 of them. I like to juggle every day, eat broccoli, and look at video screens for only for an hour a day, or I get a bit depressed.
I tour Internationally performing in Circuses, Cabarets and Street Theatre Festivals. I have won many awards, from Best Hair Cut to Golden Hat and People’s Choice.
In 2016 at The Perth (Australia) International Fringe Festival I won ‘Best Circus’ for my first full length indoor show. I am mostly a non-verbal performer, which has enabled me to perform in over 30 countries, on 4 of the Continents.”
Reuben Dot Dot Dot Chinese Pole Specialist
Australia
Reuben DotDotDot defies gravity and death with acrobatic stunts and balances you need to see to believe. The show has it all – humour; handstands; and holding on for dear life! With a spinning one-handed balance 17 feet up in the air, concrete never looked so hard…
Reuben DotDotDot was born in Melbourne, Australia. At the age of 11 he discovered gymnastics and spent the next 5 years training and competing. At the age of 16 he looked at his competition leotard, realised that purple and gold were not his colours, and quit.
He spent the next 2 years of high school surfing, skating and snowboarding. He continued to nurture these passions through the first 2 years of his degrees in Computer Science and Philosophy, and subsequently failed them both. Reuben then began training in earnest to become the entertainer he is today. On his way he acquired (completely legally) a diploma in small company/community theatre, traditional acrobatic training from the Beijing Acrobatic Troupe, a huge range of circus and performance skills, and a complete loss of vertigo.
Performing professionally around the world at some of the biggest festivals such as Edinburgh Fringe, Christchurch World Buskers’ Festival and Ansan Street Arts Festival, as well as private performances for the likes of BMW and Land Rover, and to top it off, working for circuses as illustrious as Cirque du Soleil – Reuben is a true entertainer.
Her Majesty's Secret Circus Show
USA
Maya & Brent McCoy are British super-Secret Circus agents, Honeymoon & Butterfly, and they are on a mission. Using their extremely high IQs, plunger arrows, and a huge stealth unicycle, their original comedy and “special” tricks are bound to save the day. The show is action-packed stunt-comedy for all ages.
. They have performed Her Majesty’s Secret Circus Show, an action-packed spy-fi comedy show, since 2009. They have performed at festivals, fairs & colleges all over the world including these highlights:
Blanko
Germany
Johnman Presents: Blanko
During numerous international engagements and festivals from Oslo to Johannesburg, from Toronto to Shenzhen and Mumbai, Johnman has won First Place in 2010 and 2013 at the Living Statues World Championship in Arnhem, Netherlands. He is the first and so far only artist to be crowned world champion twice.
BLANKO follows a completely different concept than the other figures of JOHNman, which are much more elaborate in terms of costume and mask.
Completely white in the beginning, Blanko becomes a living projection surface for the spectators, who start to paint BLANKO with provided paints and brushes according to their own ideas. If the first brush strokes are usually a bit hesitant, the performance develops to a veritable happening.
BLANKO is painted with new layers of paint over and over again, until at the end a modern piece of art is created, which Jackson Pollock could not have done better
Roving Artists
These hilarious and engaging artists will be walking and performing all over the festival site.
The National Stiltwalkers of Canada
Edmonton, Alberta
Since 2001, the National Stiltwalkers of Canada have been sharing their “High Spirited Entertainment” at festivals and events throughout Alberta. With over 30 different characters they have performed in Ottawa, the Maritimes, Victoria, Oregon, Washington, DC, and at an International Circus Festival in Nanjing, China. They are super thrilled to be elevating the fun at this year’s Centre Fest.
Royal Gardening & Janitorial Service
Edmonton, AB
Her Majesty’s Royal Gardening & Janitorial Service is part of a tradition going back tens of years. To this day it is known internationally as one of the greatest gardeners and cleaners in the entire world. Invited by the Mayor of Red Deer, the Royal G&J Service joins Centrefest for the first time ever. Don’t miss your opportunity to experience this incredible historical event
The Lineup Maintenance Crew
Calgary, AB
The Lineup Maintenance Crew has been specializing in Joy Maintenance since Expo 86. An innovative take on the classic maintenance man, Moe, performs maintenance on people not things. The Moes can often be found in the thick of the crowd or making sure that the lines are in tip top shape.
Have nose, will travel.
Germany
Johnson Presents: Woody Woodman
WOODY WOODMAN is a wooden figure who carves himself out of a tree trunk. He is, so to speak, his own master Geppetto. Once alive and into the world, WOODY immediately makes contact with the people around him and curiously examines their characteristics and way of life.
Symbiosis between humans and nature appears to be possible!