(Answers from both Dr. J.R. and Aurea Warlock of the Warlock Wondershow)
- What is it that you do?
Dr. J.R.- The weird stuff! Or at least, that’s the quick and simple answer. The fancy way is to say we are purveyors of the strange and unusual.. pain resistance, body manipulation, astounding acts of skill, and more. Our show has been described as a whip cracking, glass smashing spike hammering good time, with a dash of dad jokes and self deprecating nonsense. Thrills, danger, and daring escapes!
Photo credit to Sean Marquis
- Where are you located?
Dr. J.R.-Central NJ! Or right in the neck bolts I like to tell folks! (If you look at a map of NJ hard enough, it looks like a bust of Frankenstein.) - What got you interested in starting out in this business?
Dr. J.R.- It was honestly a desire to make a living somewhere that I would normally pay to be at. It was something I always had a low-key desire to be involved with, the real trick was finding something that I could offer that folks would find worthwhile.
Aurea- I grew up around adults who worked and played at faire and was always in awe of the family they built for themselves. Once I started spending weekends at faire myself, it was always such a letdown to have to go back to the mundane world. Eventually it clicked that the performers and vendors did this for a living!
- When did you start performing? In general or at ren fests?
Dr. J.R.- About 15 years ago I believe, I didn’t start in renaissance festivals. But my *goal* was actually to perform at renaissance festivals.
Aurea- I’ve been a theater kid since I can remember. I started out like a lot of Southern kids doing dance and plays through the church my family belonged to, and somewhere along the way went from Vacation Bible School to…sticking my body parts into wolf traps and climbing blade ladders!
- What was your local faire or home faire?
Dr. J.R.- I grew up spending my summers at the now Defunct New Jersey Renaissance Kingdom! They stopped running right around the time I started performing sadly. But a lot of the old crew has joined us at the Sparta NJ Renaissance Faire in.. Sparta NJ of all places. Which I heartily consider my home these days.
Aurea- My tragic origin story is that I hearken back to South Florida, so the Florida Renaissance Festival in Deerfield was my home faire before I migrated north!
- Why Renaissance Faires or theme? What is it that made you so interested in this period?
Dr. J.R.- My parents owned a video store growing up, I spent my formative years marinating in 80s sword and sorcery movies, got bit by the D&D bug as a teenager, so when I heard there was an actual place where I could dress up and carry a whip and sword without getting weird looks.. well..
Aurea- I watched Labyrinth one too many times as a kid, had the Dragonology book (with the shiny marble on the cover!) memorized, and am an armchair medieval fiber arts enthusiast! Something about the combination of fantasy and history just does it for me.
- What makes you stand out?
Dr. J.R.- Honestly? With us, I think a lot of it is that we aren’t as “stuffy” as a lot of the other acts out there. I mean that in the sense that we don’t take ourselves very seriously, and I think that makes us a little more approachable. We’ll break the 4th wall, we’ll wear our fandoms and our geekery on our sleeves, I’ll do things like explain why this or that bit of pop culture is responsible for me having a particular skill. ( I mastered the whip because I love Castlevania!) I think all of that together with our vaguely unhinged sense of humor makes us feel like we’re just your weird friends you haven’t made yet. - What was your very first experience at a renaissance festival? What education or training if any do you have that led to what you do?
Aurea- Sometime in early middle school I had a group of friends who were Rennie stock- their parents were dedicated patrons, and I was utterly fascinated by their stories about weekends spent at faire. I borrowed some garb and fell madly in love the moment I stepped foot through the gates and was thoroughly glitter dusted by a pack of faeries wandering the grounds!. As we got older, we helped run a haunted forest walk through for a couple of years at FlRF before everyone scattered at the end of high school. I was absolutely a theater kid, and fell in love with circus and clowning as a young adult. As far as education- I dropped out of college like any good sideshow freak! Most of what I do is either self taught, or comes from Dr. JR’s tutelage.
Dr. J.R.- I think my first renaissance festival was in the late 90’s, I had convinced my parents to bring me and they hated it! So I had to beg my friend from my gaming crew that had his license to drive me back for the next weekend. My initial training was at the hand of my good friend George of 3 D’s Juggling, who taught me to crack a whip. My skill with the whip got me a job with the Honor Amongst Thieves Sideshow, and through them I started picking up whatever skill they were willing to teach me.
- What is your go to for food at faire? You can name a food vendor or if you are a food vendor, what is your most sold item?
Aurea- I would sell my soul for a scotch egg and a maple lemonade
Dr. J.R.- I 2nd the scotch egg! Especially if it’s from Mel’s Magikal Meals! Ugh, I could go on about how amazing Mel is. She keeps us well fed at so many faires we work. - Plug your website or fan page here (or both)
https://www.instagram.com/warlockwondershow
https://www.facebook.com/WarlockWondershow
warlockwondershow.wixsite.com/warlock-wondershow
WFW credit to Jenny Bjorklund
