Ian is not only a Juggler but a Gentleman also, making him a “Gentleman Juggler”. Taking inspiration from the great jugglers of the early 1900s and the legends of silent film and comedy, Ian brings a unique twist to the art of juggling entertainment.
His stage shows are full of high skill, low comedy and unique feats and turns. Using everyday objects such as hats, walking sticks, newspaper, crockery, hats and spoons, Ian will perform a variety of Vaudevillian skills to amaze and amuse. This can be done in 2 ways, either as a patter stand up style act or as a silent act to music. Shows can be any length up to 30 minutes.
Ian’s walkabout act is a roaming well dressed man, with many different short shows, routines and tricks all in one bag. You choose what you want to be entertained with from the items on offer then sit back relax and enjoy what unfolds in front of your eyes. The best bit is you don’t even have to move, Ian will bring the show to you! Perfect as an ice breaker at any event, works indoors and outdoors, you can expect lots of skill, fun, audience participation and above all lots of laughter.
Ian will perform unique turns with many different everyday objects. He will demonstrate classic vaudevillian feats of skill, mime, physical comedy and there will be plenty of audience participation, all wrapped up in a dinner suit, bow tie and a smart pair of shoes.
Hats will be juggled, table cloths will be pulled, crockery will be caught, walking sticks will be balanced, spoons will be flipped, nothing and nobody is safe from being used in this show. This silent show is perfect for all ages and situations and can be performed almost anywhere. Originally devised as an outdoor performance “Dressed for Dinner” has now been adapted for indoor performance.
Ian trained at The Circus Space in London and has been performing professionally for 6 years. The highlights so far have been performing his hat routine at the British Juggling Convention public show (2005), The Circus Space Cabaret (2005), at the Chameleon and Krystallpalast Variety in Germany (2003) and also at the Circus Massimo Festival, Sweden (2003).
He has worked with a variety of companies, including Opera North (A Batterd Bride tour 2004), Gandini Juggling (BIG, 10000, The Millennium Dome opening ceremony, various corporate events) and The Generating Company (Gangstars Regional Tour 2002, various corporate events). Ian has also been a successful solo artist as well as performing for companies ranging from Marks and Spencer to Unilever, Henkel to Miss Selfridges.
A skillful mixture of juggling, ball spinning, rola-bola, audience participation, chit chat and a bit of humour, this can be tailor-made for any event, occasion, theme, product or venue.
Both require a performance space of at least 2.5m square and at least 3 metres from the stage high. This needs to be well lit.
A madcap silent variety spectacular! Ian will perform unique turns with many different everyday objects. He will demonstrate classic vaudevillian feats of skill, mime, physical comedy and there will be plenty of audience participation, all wrapped up in a dinner suit, bow tie and a smart pair of shoes.
Hats will be juggled, table cloths will be pulled, crockery will be caught, walking sticks will be balanced, spoons will be flipped, nothing and nobody is safe from being used in this show. This silent show is perfect for all ages and situations and can be performed almost anywhere. The voice used in the show is very simple in can be translated easily into any language. This show is self-contained, family friendly, and created for outdoor festivals and events, with a small transportable set and cast of one.
…pleased to say all went really well and we got what my Art Director wanted – which is what it’s all about, after all! Ian is a top bloke, though I fear we grossly under-used his obvious talents! What he was very good / diplomatic about was in not betraying any disappointment as Gregg broke plate after plate that Ian had carefully set up. Which is a skill in itself, and we’d all love to work with him again.
Dolores Rae (Dee) Usher, 89, of Bainbridge Island, died on October 16, 2018 at her home. Born September 4, 1929 in Seattle, WA, she grew up in Three Tree Point. She loved music and swimming, and she continued her love of music throughout grade... View Obituary & Service Information
The family of Dolores Rae Usher created this Life Tributes page to make it easy to share your memories.
This somewhat untraditional pumpkin pie tastes absolutely fabulous. It is dairy-free and bursting with healthy ingredients. So why is the word ‘Healthier’ in parentheses? Because however healthy the ingredients are, put together they add up to a very rich, high-calorie dessert, so it’s best not to overindulge. Enjoy!
1. Process the pecans in a food processor until coarsely ground. Add the maple syrup, coconut oil, whole wheat pastry flour, and salt. Pulse until the mixture resembles a coarse meal, and is well combined.
4. In a large bowl, combine the brown sugar, salt, cornstarch, cinnamon, cloves, fresh ginger, pumpkin puree and coconut milk. Stir to mix well. Gently stir in the eggs.
5. Pour into the prepared pie crust. Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until the crust is well browned and the filling has set. Let cool slightly and serve warm or at room temperature.
To learn more about ingredients used in this recipe read our articles on pumpkins, pecans, sugars, coconut oil and maple syrup. Also, view our other Creative Winter Squash Recipes.
Update: This is still a great pie! I’ve made it multiple times since 2010 and we love it. Here’s a photo of a full sized slice. If blueberries are expensive or you don’t have a lot of people to feed, you can half the recipe and make it in a small 7 inch pie dish.
I’ll take whatever compliments I can get, but yesterday I got the ultimate. Or at least the pie did. Todd said this one, adapted from Pies & Tarts (Maida Heatter Classic Library) was the best he’d ever eaten. It was a nice surprise because I was a little worried this pie wouldn’t work out.
Unlike most blueberry pies which are filled and baked, the filling here is made in a saucepan, poured into a pre-baked pie shell, and chilled until firm. Because the filling is made with cornstarch, I was skeptical as to just how well it would set, but it set perfectly (which I suppose has something to do with the pectin in the mashed berries) with no runniness or seeping blueberry juice. The only problem with the pie was that I made it too small.
A few weeks ago I bought a 7 inch pie dish and have been cutting pie recipes in half and making small pies. That’s working out relatively well, but I don’t particularly like how the small pies slice. They’re nubby and squat, which brings me back to my wish that someone would create an actual semi-circular pie dish for half-pies. Sure, making a half pie is just as much work as a whole, but when you’re using expensive fruit in the filling and know the whole pie won’t be eaten, making a half-pie is practical.
Okay, that’s enough of my complaining about pie dishes for now. I should be happy that I’ve found the ultimate blueberry pie thanks to Maida and all the folks who’ve published or recommended the recipe on forums. You can find the actual recipe in the book or on-line using Google, but I’ve gone ahead and paraphrased it below. I think you can make this same pie with cherries.
In a medium saucepan, preferably a metal one without a nonstick coating, mix together the cold water and the cornstarch to dissolve the cornstarch.
Add the boiling water, sugar and salt. turn heat to medium. Add about 1/2 cup of the blueberries. Mix and stir with a whisk and a scraper, pressing blueberries against the side of the pan and smashing them (and any lumps of cornstarch), until the mixture thickens and goes from cloudy to translucent purple. Once this happens, continue cooking and stirring over a lower heat for about 2 minutes more.
Remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice and butter. Let the mixture cool for a few minutes, then scrape the warm blueberry gel into a bowl with the fresh blueberries. Stir to coat the blueberries with the gel mixture, then transfer to the baked pie crust. Chill for about 4 hours.
Just wanted to reiterate that this is DEFINITELY the Best Blueberry Pie Yet. I’ve been making it for years and passing it off as Farmhouse Blueberry Pie, and man, it always gets raves.
Nubby and squat–just like me! 😉 I’ll have to try the pie with my 50 cups of now frozen blueberries! (Well, I wouldn’t use them all with this pie.) hehe
Wow, simple and it looks very tasty. This is something I would like to make with my 10 year old. Thanks for the recipe we have blueberries in the store now and they are not to pricey at all.
Oh, this is really similiar to my favorite Open-face Fresh Blueberry Pie from Rose Berenbaum Levy’s The Pie & Pastry Bible…I have used a frozen whole wheat pie shell from WF on occasion. It is such a light tasting and pretty pie for a hot summer day! here is the link on Epicurious:
Yvonne, it’s probably an old one that Maida refined from something else. I saw a similar version in a Junior League book.
This is my mom’s “top secret” blueberry pie recipe. It’s delicious! I always wondered where she’d gotten that recipe and now I know. I bow down to Maida yet again. If you have not tried Maida’s polka dot cheese cake I would highly recommend it. Maida (and Mom) never fail to produce a great dessert.
Looks wonderful! The East coast heat wave has put a damper on my baking and I’m starting to run out of no-oven dessert ideas. Do you think that this filling could be used in something other than a pie…say a parfait with vanilla pastry cream or pudding? Or perhaps used to fill a no-bake graham cracker crust?
I use tapioca flour so unless it happens to clump up because I didn’t stir it totally around the fruit, it forms fruit goo like cornstarch is supposed to.
When you use tapioca in a blueberry pie the little “berries” sop up the fruit juice and they are like additonal bluberries. I don’t grind up tapioca for berry pies; just sprinkle them over the berries in the shell before baking the pie.
You’re so right about wanting a half-pie dish. I’d make a lot more pies if I could do a half. Congrats on the new kitchen too–it’s gorgeous!
Cheryl, I usually have decent luck with cornstarch, but sometimes it breaks down. I tried tapioca in a pie the other day. It worked well, but I didn’t grind it in my grinder so I got all the little lumps. The cornstarch was great in this pie
Corn starch has twice the thicking “power” as does flour, I would always expect it to produce a thicken product if using the correct proportion. Corn starch also produces a clearer product than flour. I actually prefer corn starch over flour in gravies also. Plus flour has to be cooked enough to get rid of the flour taste. The other alternative is tapioca which also thickens better than flour and is often called for in fruit pies.
Overcooking a thicken product is usually what will cause it to run, in essence you have burst the starch molecules and it is runny.