- What is it that you do?
-We are a fire performance and variety show that leans heavily into fantasy and D&D offering attendees side quests in between our stage performances. We also do other period festivals as well.
- Where are you located?
-Eastern Iowa but travel where we are asked.
- What got you interested in starting out in this business?
-I fell in love with the renaissance faire scene the moment I stepped foot in my first one, the next event I went to I brought side quests to hand out as a playtron. Then I saw a need for the fire performance side of things and applied, looking to add my own brand of magic to the scene
- When did you start performing? In general or at renaissance fest?
-This troupe formed in February 2024 and has continued to shift and grow since that point.
- What was your local faire or home faire?
-Our home faire is Iowa Renaissance Festival in Middle Amana, Iowa
- How are you compensating for this strange time we are in now?
-More or less throwing ourselves fully into the fantasy to encourage the immersion and escape most people look for when attending these types of events.
- What advice do you have to give to others that are just starting out in this business? Or how to stay in this business?
-The best advice I can give is the best advice I received. “If you’re afraid, be afraid and do it anyway. You’ll never not be afraid. You’ll never know exactly what’s going on and may very well not know what your next step is. You could be the first person to do what you do. You don’t know where you can go until you get there. The world is looking for your gifts, don’t let fear stop you.”
- Why Renaissance Faires or theme? What is it that made you so interested in this period?
-Please refer to question 3 for a good majority of my explanation but, I too love the escapism and fantasy this world holds. It’s just as much of an escape for me as it is for the patrons that come to visit us.
- In five years (or less) our goal is to:
-Touch all corners of the United States at least once, we’d also like most of us to be able to do this full time as we love the travel and the experience.
- What makes your act/wares unique or different?
-While we host our fire performance we also do a variety show of sorts with short skits in between the fire acts. We are an immersive experience ourselves as our performance troupe all have character personas that we have developed like D&D characters, making us NPCs at the events. This ties in to our side questing in between shows as well as gives us the ability to play more into the fantastical side of things. Every show at each event is unique with performers and skits; never the same show twice as we work with a loose outline for a set list and the NPCs fill in the rest to allow for creativity to strike as it wants and leaves the audience wanting to come back for the next show to see what could happen next.
- What makes you stand out?
-While the above is all impressive we also prize fire safety above all else and lay strong boundaries at every show while encouraging enthusiasm and cheers from the crowd with our own set of “NPC” lines.
- 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?
– I’ve been performing with fire since 2013 and have been in a handful of other troupes. Everyone in our troupe is safety trained through the flowarts institute as a requirement for performing with us.
- Plug your website or fan page here (or both) We are most active on Facebook but our Linktree has the whole breakdown. linktr.ee/incendiary.npcs
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Author’s Note: I’m giving one more week to the folks that have not responded to my last email blast for interviews and then after my son comes back from college this summer, I’ll resume more interview requests! In the meantime, please remember that this is a Promotional Site only and to please do your research/homework on any performer/vendor that has been featured on this page. #HUZZAH!
Also a tip : Yes, the FIRE IS REAL, please do NOT try this at home unless you are thoroughly trained. Please do not have your little ones go close to the fire and be aware of flaming things that are thrown. This is for entertainment purposes only!
