By kSea flux

This isn’t your typical magazine article, I understand and admit – but this isn’t your typical magazine, either. It was created by a person who wants to do whatever he can to change the world, and as a result has created a vehicle for it that just might reach further than a blog. I most certainly wish to entertain and to make it interesting, as it needs to be in order to survive – but sometimes – sometimes, other people’s needs far transcend my own, and yours as well. THis interview, even though I screwd it up, has transformed itself into pisssobly one of the most imporant things I could have ever have imagined. While editing it I received a forwarded message from Andrea saying that one of the orphanages Laughing for Life visited was in dire need of support. Here is an excerpt from that email:

"Because of relying on donated money from generious people, we are facing hard time for money expenses in the shelter when there is not enough donation. Last month, we did not get enough donated money for food so we didn't have budget for food for 1 week. We had to find the shell in canal , wild vegetable in farm around the shelter, vegetable in our farm that is not enough, and fish in canal for food to pass hard time. We passed such hard time. Our staff don't get paid for 2 month . It is hard time for us and the kids in the shelter.
And now we have money for food just 1 week and after a week we are not sure we will face that situation or not.
So we would like to let our friends and one knowing us know the situation and ask for help if possible."

So here we go – these are real people, making as much of a difference as they can. Raising money to keep children alive, bringing smiles to give them hope. In one of their efforts, the King’s sister had just died, (no, this is not a fairy-tale) which passed a regulation across the country that there was to be no celebration of any kind. “and has a formal mourning period, in which no singing or dancing or parties or shows are permitted. they even cancelled childrens day. So, our fundraiser I have spent months working on, and about 700 dollars, is cancelled. And now who knows where the funds for the kids will come from? I am sad, and frustrated, it is like a peice of art that never got made, a sculpture blown up while still in the kiln...” that was taken from Andrea’s blog. This year, 2008, in January. Once again, this is real. Very, very real.

An orphanage they visited in Mae Sai now needs help. Many of these photos are from that place. Once again, as you drink your morning coffee or tea, this is happening, and they need us – today. I admit that I, too, am so far removed from the reality of the rest of the world that this is difficult to comprehend – but then again, I haven’t been there, and I realize how incredibly blessed I am to have as little as I do… Please read on.

kSea: Hello, this is kSea flux, talking with Laughing for Life. So, here we go. Please tell me your names, first of all.

Andrea: My name is Andrea, and this is my friend Khan.

Khan: Hello.

kSea: Khan?

Khan: Khan.

kSea: Khan.

Khan: Yeah.

kSea: How do you spell that?

Khan: Like, K-H-A-N. Like in ‘Chaka’ or ‘Ghengis.’

[everyone laughs]

Andrea: I like that ‘Chaka’ goes first, before ‘Ghengis.’

kSea: Okay, what we’re here for is one of the most important things, a direction that I want this magazine to take, and something you’re doing - which is bringing laughter and smiles to people who normally wouldn’t have that – and what you’re doing is something of a grassroot circus and workshops in Bangkok, Thailand. Tell me how that came about and how you first thought of it. Tell me of the inception.

Andrea: Okay, well, the idea – actually, it’s from my friend Glenna. She was living in Thailand and had a house near the beach and all these wonderful circus-y fire spinning people would keep coming through all the time and eventually somebody said, ‘Damn, we ought to do a show! We’ve got everything we need to do a show.’ Glenna had seen the poverty of some of the kids up in the north and knew what was going on up there, so she said, ‘Yeah, let’s go. Let’s bring everybody up and do a show for a couple of days, bring some joy to these kids that are illegal migrant kids, and they’re refugees, and some of them are orphans. So, she started doing that three or four years ago, just small, almost spontaneous, just small groups of people going up and doing it, and then it just kind of grew. She took a year this year and wanted to go away, and I came on holiday in Thailand. She said, ‘Hey, want to rent my house for a year and run my circus?’ and I said, ‘Yeah, okay!’ So, that is pretty much how that happened. I just knew a lot of the same performers so I figured it wouldn’t be too difficult to get a bunch of people over there, and that’s how we started. I’ve been doing different kinds of relief work with kids off and on for a couple of years. My passion is poi spinning, so it was great to roll all that together and take it up.

kSea: Performing for these children, for these people – What is the most rewarding thing that you’ve found through it?

Andrea: For me, circus skills and performing skills and that whole lifestyle has always been what really gave me a sense of self. It was where I found my challenge, and I’d find my inspiration and I’d find my flow, my real sense of being present. It’s my meditation, it’s how I really understand the bigger picture, and so to be able to offer that to somebody else – It’s about play, but it’s a lot more than play. It really transforms lives and it really gives an idea and opens things up. That was what I was hoping to bring to the kids, as well as a bunch of toys. We donated a bunch of toys.

kSea: Yeah?

Andrea: Massive amount of toys.

kSea: Right on. What kind of toys?

Andrea: Juggling toys. Poi, staffs, hula hoops. We had everything.

Khan: Devil sticks.

Andrea: Devil sticks. I mean, it was mad. We had donations from Home of Poi, Flowtoys, Nick at Play Poi helped us out, and Ut from Juggle Works in Bangkok. We had a bunch of donations and we raised a bunch of money and we bought toys. We did the performances for the whole communities and taught workshops for the kids, so the biggest reward was just seeing that chain carry on – the positive changes it made in my life, watching that kind of flow on down the path to somebody else. For me, that was it.

kSea: So essentially it was more than just “toys”, in the classic sense – they were toys that could be used as tools to learn skills…

Khan: I wanted to take part in the project for similar reasons. I knew that, when I got into the stuff, it was really more to just have fun.

kSea: The stuff, the stuff? Explain ‘the stuff.’

[everyone laughs]

Khan: Spinny, object-manipulation circus skills.

kSea: Okay, what do you do?

Khan: I contact juggle and spin poi, and hoop. Poi is how I started, but I’m really – the hoop’s kind of taken over my life at this point.

kSea: Really? That’s a strange reach from CJ to hoop.

Khan: I’m trying to figure out a way, as an aside to what I’m doing with hoop, to combine hoop dance that we see a lot -- Burning Man stuff -- with the more juggly manipulation stuff. So I got into this stuff mostly just for play, and just because I wanted to play with fire, stuff like that, but then it really became kind of an almost spiritual, meditative practice. I knew that part of it would probably not convey to the kids, especially because I couldn’t really speak any of the languages [everybody laughs], so there wasn’t a way to talk about that.

Andrea: I think they feel it when they do it. Some of them, not all of them.

Khan: I think some of them do feel that, but mostly it really activated my imagination and got my physical and so I wanted to bring some of that, and just a sense of play.

kSea: So, performing for these children brought a lot more out in you?

Khan: Oh, it did. For sure. I’ve done shows pure, and I’ve performed at Burning Man. I used to be part of a fire troupe, we did a lot of corporate gigs and private parties. I’ve done floor shows in clubs. After a while, it just started to feel empty. It was just, ‘Look at me, look what I can do.’

Andrea: Yeah.

Khan: So then, doing it for the kids, and in particular, for these disenfranchised populations brought a little bit more meaning to it.

Andrea: It’s almost opposite. When you perform in North America, there’s a lot of ego involvement. It really is. ‘Look at me, look at how sexy I am. Look at how hot I am, I’m on fire.’ And then you’re in Thailand, and it’s almost the opposite. You’re saying to yourself, ‘What can I give to them? What can I share with them?’ It’s absolutely not about being sexy because it doesn’t fly in their culture. That’s not going to carry any weight. It’s about engaging them and involving them and getting them inspired through movement and through color and light and silliness. It’s a real fun way to flip those things around. I think it comes back to the truth of performance.

kSea: I haven’t been there yet – ‘yet’ with a big exclamation point, as I’ve been invited by both you and Jerry Snell to come and teach, and perform – but I would imagine that their lives are entirely different from ours in North America. They don’t have what we have - we are entirely blessed with many things and sometimes we don’t realize how far away the rest of the world is from that. Or, at least, parts of the rest of the world.

Andrea: Yes, it really makes you appreciate what you have so much more but also have really full-on respect for the fact that the joy and the silliness exists with these kids and these families. They don’t have all the crap that we have. They don’t have TVs, they don’t have more than a change of clothes, sometimes no shoes, and very simple meals every day. Yet, they’re still full-on able to access silliness, merriment, joy, wonder.

kSea: They still know where to find their hearts.

Andrea: Yes, absolutely. They’re the most connected audience I’ve ever had in my life. You can perform here, and everybody is separate from you. They’re watching you like you’re on TV or something. They *might* applaud at the end, if they’re really motivated. But these guys are calling out – at everything you do, they’re commenting and screaming and talking to you while you’re performing. There’s no separation between audience and performer, so it’s really connected. Towards the ends of the performances we’d shake everybody’s hands in the audience after. They want to touch you, they want to be connected to you.

Khan: And say thank you. They want to look you in the face and say, ‘Thank you.’

kSea: Wait, just a second – I left my hat inside… how do I pause this thing?...

The interview continued beautifully, but I either pressed the wrong button or just completely forgot to un-pause the recording device. Thankfully, a few months ago Andrea wrote an amazing blog entry about Laughing for Life, so I’ve been able to include some of the key points here, much much shorter – it is pages long, and incredibly beautiful, incredibly inspiring. Though in whole it is much more telling, Andrea has understandably asked that I don’t include a link to it as there are far too many idiots on the web, but for info on how to contact her or donate to the school, that can be found at the end of this article. She has also expressed that she is not the founder, that is a person named Glenna Crawley, and in Andrea’s words, she has “just took care of the project for the year, and developed it some.” It will continue next year, and needs your support, so please help…

Andrea’s Blog -
We wrapped the Laughing for Life circus project a few days ago, and I have been in Bangkok hanging out with some of the team and other friends, recuperating....

It was an amazing experience, and will take some time to process enough to write about. For me, I think of all these clichés, things like" it was the best of times, it was the worst of times... " Dont even know where they come from but somehow, they are true.

First off, I want to just comment on LOVE. The kind of love that brings ideas into action, takes thoughts and makes them manifest, the kind of love that puts aside ego and makes dreams come true. The kind that is fuel the kind that is fire, the kind that heals wounds, the kind that changes the world- or changes your life. We had so much of this, and sharing it with such astounding inspiring people just made it grow in an exponential fashion, until everything felt possible... My team, thank you guys- was the best I could have ever imagined, they were what I imagined in fact. Scary even, how close the reality was to my vision. Some days, walking with them, working with them, I felt like laughing inside, going man, how did I manage that. How was I so blessed to be able to gather such a talented, smart, fun compassionate group of people, and get them to come and work their asses off with me under such hard conditions? Laughing, cause I saw my hopes realized, often in such unexpected ways. Friends brought in friends, all the pieces falling into place, and despite a few shaky moments, everything ultimately demonstrating the profound interconnectedness of the world. I will describe the cast of crazy wonderful characters, just really briefly. There is so much to say about them, it is hard to keep it short. But here goes :
Phillippe, otherwise known as Fuzzy, or sometimes,outrageously, as Big Daddy( the man with the big balls). He was the theatrical clown of the crew, engaging the giggling admiring kids in Monkey chants, and becoming a Master of Balloon Animal fun. French Canadian living in San Fran., an delightfully unexpected late addition to the team. He has left hoardes of kids playing with their er, ( juggle) balls, all over the North...

Khan- A laughing buddha spinny sort, who bravely challenged himself to move through his travel fears to join us. He had never really traveled before, never mind done so in the hilltribes and the jungle, border camps and migrant schools. He never once complained to me, and I love him all the more for that. He inspired the kids with the hoop, and his poi, his grace and his smile... He is so modest, I honestly think he has no idea how talented he is. Which is VERY! He not only inspired the kids, but me too. Such clear flow...

Matt- Matt helped from the beginning, when I was still sorting out the plans--connecting me up with some people who I now really treasure, people working with the NGO's in the North. He is an amazing man, so intelligent and organized and efficient, yet sensative and funny and kind, with one of the most delightful twisted senses of humour. The kids loved his funny faces and his smile, and his super hot rope dart duo drew gasps of admiration from the audience wherever we went. Poi too, there is probably nothing this man can not do.His community was also a big generous help with fund raising from afar. I soooo appreciated that!

Hitch- another of the unexpected additions... he is an acro yoga teacher, from the san fran scene. He blew us all away by putting on a performance with Kim, another new addition, within hours of meeting... it looked like they had been training with cirque de soleil for years... later in the circus he showed us how in addition to being so talented in acro, he is also a stellar team coordinator, leading meetings, and guiding the delegation of duties effectively. This made not sound important, but man, it saved my life ;) This is a man who uses his strength, flexibility and kindness well, in every little thing he does.

Kim, and Buzz- they are friends of Andre, who joined us just after arriving in Thailand. I loved them both immediately for their sweet balanced energy, and gentle humour. Kim is a beautiful dancer, and became Hitches acro partner, and stepped right into the fire with Matts rope routine too... Was a big help putting together the toy kits. And Buzz, well, he can do everything, and do it well. He was hugely popular with the kids, making them scream with joy and surprise with his poi tricks, and his waterfall of fire. I am so glad to have met these two. Buzz has a juggling shop in Barcelona, so if you are out that way let me know and I will connect you up so you can go get some cool toys. They also brought some donations for the kids, so spread the joy all the way along their journey with us.

Nao- oh, what a performer. Nao is one of the most charismatic performers I have ever seen. A little mysterious this man, but that just intrigues us all the more. His stage prescence is irresistible. His fuel injector propelling streams of flame into the sky simply left peoples jaws on the ground, and his fire farts were by far the most popular trick we had. He is also a true professional, and someone the whole team could count on. He filmed the whole adventure, with great dedication and skill. I cant wait to see how the footage comes together!

Bao- my sweet b boy became a superstar on this trip... he faced many of his own fears, joining us without his posse, and going places he had never gone before. But he met every challenge with a smile, and had a fan club screaming his name after every workshop... so much charisma, so much talent, His break dancing style is contagious, watch out, little rockin' Baos will be all over the north now. Could not believe how he got those kids dancing, performing, b boy battling, after just a few hours! And he took the time to share his thoughts and wisdom, taking the opportunity to use his influence with the kids in a positive fashion. What a man... A good friend too, he was always there to make me laugh, and help carry my shit when it got too heavy for me to manage.
Diaw- A tiny pixie beauty, who was just a treat. She had a gaggle of preteen girls attached to her wherever we went, begging to help her dress in her costume and do her make up. She is an elegant thai dancer,using fire candles too, one of the best I have ever had the pleasure of watching. Her Kim and Hitch also created a ferociuously funny dragon creature, ( a three person walking acrobatic posture) that was one of my favorite parts of the show. Diaw helped so much with everything, patience and grace just seeps from her pores-- accompanied by a smile that could light the world.

Thomas- my little bunny. Nick gave him to me for my birthday, and it was by all and any standards the best gift I have ever recieved. Thomas is unbelievably inspiring, so talented. His poi is transcendant, you have to watch to understand what I mean. ...he is a joy to watch, and he teaches so well that he leaves you thinking, someday, someday, you will be able to do as he does... He is sweet and funny and loyal and gracious, and a superb photographer too. What a man. Divine, truly.

Andre- BigBunny, but don’t call him that. he hates it ;) Andre performs with captivating skill and flow using contact ball, poi, staffs... he also choreographed a lot of the group segments of our show. He has an eye for performance, what works and what does not. I think he also wants to share the meaning/purpose/ possibility behind the skills we play- or rather , give the kids an opportunity to discover the meaning these skills has brought into our lives. More than just playing around , this man. He is like watching magic, mesmerizing. Literally, people would gasp in surprise at some moments of his show, it seems like pure magic. Andre appears tough, hard and edgy- and maybe he is- but the image that will stay forever in my mind is the huge silly beaming grin on his glitter stickered face as he plays with the kids, them hanging off his two meter high body as though he is some sort of playful tree... I really appreciated this mans clarity, and solidity with him you always know where you stand. Straight up, as they say. Beautiful in all senses of the word.

Zamir- we could not have done it without his drums and musicality-! he amazed us all by providing music for our whole show whenever we did not have access to power! Wow. He is also a fabulously expressive clown, and everyone loved, absolutely loved, his poi spinning. He did a show with playful Bollywood indian style poi dance and music, that had the crowd in squealing and laughing, and dying to get up and dance with him. Oh, and if that wern't enough, he is also pure Magic. Like really, his magic tricks are astounding...


Schyler- another san fran friend of the crew, he is sweet and funny and brought alot of pleasure to the audience by being the only one of us that thought to use popular Thai music for his performance! The audience immediately broke out in smiles of recognition and appreciation as it came . I think they liked the silver lame costume too..

Terri -Anne- came all the way from Canada for this , and leap right in without even taking a moment to recover from her jet lag! heart of gold, this woman brought so much love and vibrancy for the children, making outrageous bright crepe hats with them. One of my favorite parts was seeing the transformation from the start of the day- quiet kids, silent, reticient, a little grubby, everything around them dull and brown--, then by afternoon, like little flock of tropical birds chirping, laughing playing, covered in colour and life, radiating happiness... such a powerful rapid shift. Something inside, just waiting for help to come out...

Oud- some of you will have heard me mention Oud before. He is a kind dear man who helped me working after the tsunami, doing some projects with the kids and orphans there, donating toys, and eventually coming down to share his expertice too. This trip I got to see another side of him, the sweet comical clown, and realized just how good he is with children. They loved his goofy character. I love his vision; he wants to see us also teaching the kids how to change their lives with circus, to give them skills for independence, teaching them to make toys and everything. He made most of the wonderful toys we donated. All the staff spinners were coveting his staffs-- he makes them with perfect balance! He was a huge help and support on this trip.

Aidan- Aidan is a true master with double staff, and contact staff... it was a joy watching the clown in him come out to meet the kids, and he inspired so many with his amazing flow and dance skill, it looks like the staffs are some kind of extension of his energy, miraculous. He made a fabulous stage manager, and toy builder, and set us up so well each night-- helping transform dusty little patches of dirt into a show place for magic...


And me of course. A Ridiculous Ringleader, of sorts. [edit - Andrea, it's RingMASTER, not ringleader. Ringmaster = Circus, the one who brings and announced the entertainment, sets it up, keeps the audience enthalled.. Ringleader = what the crime boss is called by the agencies who want to pin his (or her) takedown on their lapel...]
Rainbow dressed- my tough spikey punk cronies from the past would be amused to see me in so much fluffy glitter and colour... Though tired, I did feel radiant. Bao would tell a story in Thai during the intro, about a rainbow falling down and getting stuck to me... lol. It felt like it some days to be sure...

But the me that was seen on this trip is not one I like to be for long periods, that is certain. No audience or workshop group ever saw or applauded the extreme trick I was performing, the incredibly intricate juggle of people, places, money, fun, fear, time, toys, intention, bureaucracy, business , play and personalities. Some may have caught or understood hints of it, but even to relate the whole picture to anyone took more time than I had available! I was trying to be efficient organized multi tasking maniac me, who is juggling so many things at once I could hardly say a casual word for fear that in distraction I would slip up and drop something crucial. And seriously, I am not joking. I discovered my limits on this trip, how much one can actually fit into a day (and my brain) without going nuts. It was crazy how hard [it was] to keep it all together and flowing.

 Despite the pressure of organizing, I took some time each day to just be with these kids, generally face painting, or sometimes teaching flags or hoops. I was so often surrounded by, and buried in, beaming sparkly faces, that no matter how tired I was I felt elated inside, knowing we had touched and transformed so many. Even if all it was was one happy smiley silly day, well, that is plenty accomplishment... I felt LOVE. and peace, and joy, and laughter...And my team members, so full of inspiration . I really can’t thank them enough. Wheee! I had my heart touched in so many ways.…

We just lit things with a little spark from our heart fire, sharing something that brings us all joy, and trying to bring some for them. It seems like play is not important sometimes, but really, really, it is. We have to stay in touch with our playful sides, it is how our lives are worth living, how we laugh is how we survive. We grow through play, discovering social interactions and interdependancies, developing physical skills, exploring mental concepts... it can be a distraction, or a tool, a release, or an entire way of looking at the world, discovering patterns and exploring the spaces in between... so important.

So, some of you are still wondering what it was that we did up there? Well, simple summary is we were on circus skill tour in northern Thailand for about two weeks. We were in the vicinity of Chiang Rai, Mae Sai, and Mae Sot primarily, working with the illegal migrant schools for the hill tribes and burmese refugees,orphanages for street kids, and also with the hill tribes( Akha, Lisu, Mian, Pokaren, Shan, and Karen) We laughingly taught a workshop series to the children on a daily basis; in skills like hoop, poi, staff, contact balls, juggling, breakdance and devils stick spinning. Most often a new group of kids each day. We also madly face painted,blew bubbles, balloon made, hat made, sang, danced and played group games... During that time we performed over eleven spectacular fire circus shows for the various local communities ( yes, I am biased, but man, they were spectacular!!!!) , about an hour and a half each show. We lovingly left toy kits with ten different schools( and the refugee camp) including packages of art supplies, an assortment of all the toys we had been teaching with, and little treats for the kids, like mirrors, combs, socks, hair elastics and barrettes, little whistles and bubble supplies.

Why? you ask...

Laughing for Life just wanted to reach out to these kids, who are caught in an restrictive environment not of their choice, and give them some joy, some challenge, some laughter, a sense of possibility... to let them know we care, put compassion into action, and PLAY.

And man, we did that, and did it well.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Laughing for Life will continue to do that, but needs your support.

You can contact Andrea directly at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or donate directly to the orphanage at www.childlife-maesai.org Some of the organizations we worked with that are accessible online:
The Mirror foundation- www.mirrorartgroup.org- near Chiang Rai, works with Hill Tribes and social development
Help without Frontiers-www.helpwithoutfrontiers.org- Mae Sot, working with illegal migrant support near the burmese border
World Education-www.worlded.org- in the burmese refugee camps on the Thai border
Child Life Orphanage-www.childlife-maesai.org- helping street kids/orphans in Mae Sai

Companies/groups that lovingly donated toys,goods, money or space for shows:

www.homeofpoi.com
www.flowtoys.com
www.playpoi.com
www.thesanctuarythailand.com
www.renagadejuggling.com
www.jugglingworks.com
www.tamarindsprings.com

( and lots and lots of wonderful individuals!We love you!)

for Glenna Crawley contact through: www.dokbua.org

Photo credits: most of them are by Thomas: www.nevisoul.com ; the rest are from an assortment of Laughing for Life team...

We are looking for more teachers and performers for ongoing projects, anyone interested get in touch!

Please help, in any way you can and check out the video below.

~ kSea flux