The Tailgate Entertainer | Performers | Performance Business | Creatives | Artists | Talent Buyers

Welcome! Picture in your mind a little boy in the 1930's growing up in rural Arkansas. With his horse, Midnight, this boy never aspired to anything other than the cowboy life. At six years old, he would ride the train alone to Wyoming to live and work on a ranch for the summer---year after year after year. Bunky Boger grew up to be a rodeo competitor, bullfighter, and circus performer.

At age 64, his journey took a new path when he entered the fair industry as a promoter of hands-on, interactive agricultural activities for kids of all ages. Along the way, he met his girl, Connie, with whom he built his life, family, and business. It's a beautiful partnership that has endured the test of time and the ups and downs of life. Today, they travel to fairs with 225 animals housed in 4 tractor trailers. They've appeared in several TV shows, commercials, magazines, and newspapers. Listen in as Bunky and Connie share their favorite stories about their unusual life's work. Join us!

What you'll hear in this episode:

• Bunky's story: The theft of three chickens trained to play tic-tac-toe
• How they secured a 3-year stint at an Atlantic City casino with people paying to "beat the chicken"
• How Bunky started out in the rodeo business and was introduced to bullfighting
• What it was like working on a ranch as a 6-year old boy
• Catching gophers for a penny each!
• How Bunky ended up in the circus—for $3000/week
• Buffaloes, horses, and circus stories
• Transition to the fair industry
• How they handle finances in their unique business
• How he knew in three days that he should marry Connie---43 years ago!
• The multi-talented cowboy, Connie
• Financial hardships, bankruptcy, and losing it all—except ONE buffalo!
• Why their kids rode horses at one day old!
• The story of one bothersome employee
• Connie's advice for younger people in the fair industry? "Have a passion for what you do."
• Find out more about Bunky and Connie at fairanimalspecialties.com and www.casinochicken.com.

My guest today is one of the strongest women I've ever known. Ryann Boeger Newman grew up in the fair industry since her family ran pony rides at fairs. Growing up in the fair industry, Ryann learned to cultivate her entrepreneurial spirit, always looking for ways to improve the business. Following in her father's footsteps, Ryann has gone from vendor to fair manager. Her wise, hardworking, and ambitious spirit is evident to all who know her. I hope you'll understand what it's like to walk in her shoes.

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What you'll hear in this episode:

• Her family has done pony rides in fairs since 1961!
• How her dad encouraged her entrepreneurial spirit
• Growing up on the fairgrounds
• Beautiful memories
• The draw of the fair life—it's home for 5-1/2 months each year
• The family business, being passed down to Ryann's brother from her father
• Loves the variety, positive interaction, and family time of the fair life
• At age 21, she bought her own pony ride business
• Why Ryann's pony rides are different from others you've seen
• Working with children and animals?
• Ryann became a food vendor (shaved ice) for awhile, but then returned to pony rides
• Develops relationships with people through pony rides
• Husband, Mike, diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2013
• Mike's attitude: He chose NOT to be sick
• The shift for Ryann: hired as CEO of the Glenn County Fair
• How she continues the family business, too
• Why Ryann now has empathy for fair manager and their jobs
• The difference in working for a board vs. working for self
• The need for grass roots fundraising
• Bureaucracy and paperwork!!
• "Hire good people and get out of their way!"
• Ryann's advice for new people in the fair industry? 
• Goal is to make more money on the vendor and manager side
• "It's getting harder and less fun, with all the fees and regulations."
• Criticism hurts when you care so much!
• Will Ryann's children follow in the family business? She hopes so!
• Hear what Ryann's daughters, Mason and Hayden, think about the fair life!
• Connect with Ryann: www.happydayponyride.com. 

Welcome! Today I want to introduce you to an amazing friend, fishing buddy, and colleague. Brad Tylman's curiosity has led him to a vast knowledge of reptiles, ecosystems, education, and the fair industry. His commitment to education has prompted his travels to over 38 countries, researching, filming, and educating himself further. His attitude is, "How can I be a teacher if I'm not a student?" He is the owner of Brad's World of Reptiles, and appears at 25-30 fairs each year. Let's find out more about Brad!

What you'll hear in this episode:

• How his love of nature and animals was fostered by his grandparents as he grew up in Wheaton, IL
• Turtles! They have always been a favorite!
• How Brad grew up with his constant companions of fish, snakes, turtles, and bugs
• Brad worked as a deckhand on a fishing boat after moving to Oregon.
• Dream job! At age 18, he became the full-time curator at OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry).
• Other unusual jobs included working on a turkey ranch, EMT, and volunteer fireman.
• How every "job" Brad had blessed his growth and fueled his passion for wildlife
• 1991: Brad's first fair exhibit expanded his passion for animals, nature, and education, while providing hands-on animal interaction for kids.
• Why Brad is a "professional deprogrammer" about the irrational and impractical fear of snakes
• 1993: Brad travels the world to learn more!
• "You can't understand the place where you live until you look at your village through another village's eyes."
• Why humans must respect the world and its resources
• How Brad creates "maximum contact with minimum conflict" in his large-scale exhibits
• His thoughts on the recent alligator attack in Orlando
• How policy is made concerning animals and habitats
• How he restored an ecosystem on his property in Corvallis, OR
• "Saving a species means saving its habitat."
• Why Brad is committed to teaching conservation and biodiversity
• The criteria for Brad's animals: captivity-born, lower metabolic rate, and sedentary nature
• "Stereotypic behavior"—What is it?
• His thoughts on the life and impact of his good friend, Steve Irwin
• What can we do for the future?
• Brad's "Lucky" life: "Luck is simply the combination of preparation and opportunity."
• Find out more: bradsworldreptiles.com and find him on Facebook!

Welcome! My guest today is FULL of fun and laughter. Danny Kollaja, aka Lanky the Clown, is original, funny, and approachable. He knows his business and knows how to work hard. He's here to give us a glimpse into the life and work of a professional clown—which may not be all fun and games.

What you'll hear in this episode:

• Coulrophobia: Have you heard of it? The irrational fear of clowns
• Danny's home base: Corpus Christi, TX
• How a high school production launched Danny's career as a clown
• Danny's first "clown alley" of all older women
• "This might be interesting."
• Danny was in his late 30's before clowning became his full-time profession.
• Now, 90% of his income is generated from the fair industry.
• Danny sees himself as an "ambassador of goodwill."
• He brings "attitude adjustment" to people by helping them escape for a moment.
• Have you ever seen a clown driving down the road? Danny drives in full costume!
• Danny shares his worst clown experience, why you should pay attention closely to a child's eyes, and how it feels to be thrown up on!
• How Danny loves bringing joy to people of ALL ages
• Danny loves the opportunity to perform at children's hospitals across the world.
• "Stage acts bring people to your fairgrounds, but the ground (strolling) acts are what keeps them there."
• Danny shares his struggles as a clown
• How he performs as multiple characters all in one day!
• How he performs in other countries, "speaking the international language of laughter"
• Bodily functions: They ARE the universal language!
• The do's and don'ts of performing in other countries
• What do clowns do when they socialize with other clowns?
• A challenge for Danny is having to be "on" all the time that he's in makeup and costume
• Want to know more? Visit www.clownone.com or call 361-852-5696.

Welcome! Today's guest is John Allgaier, the owner of BC Characters, an entertainment company that started as a strolling fair act. If you think "slow and relaxed" defines a strolling act, then you've got the wrong idea here. John and his performers use body puppetry in costumes at a frenzied and energetic pace. Let's find out more from John!

What you'll hear in this episode:

• To get an idea of John's characters, think Fraggle Rock meets Captain Caveman, in full-size body costumes.
• Each costume is made of foam and metal, weighing 30-50 lbs.
• The fair industry IS John's source of income.
• A physically demanding test of endurance
• Why your performance must be STRONG
• John's business started in 1990, with only one costume. (The 12th one is in process now!)
• Why John has NO regrets
• "You will always learn more from your mistakes than from your successes."
• John looks forward to stepping aside and seeing his "guys" carry on the business.
• What's important to be successful in the fair industry? Be flexible to change, adaptable, and understand your customer.
• The patrons are your #1 boss!
• There is a power in the costume.
• Why families trust a character in costume
• Be aware of interaction and contact with patrons.
• John's biggest fear? Keeping his image and his quality of service
• Balancing family life, marriage, and life on the road
• John's biggest mistake? Trying to push and grow too fast and losing quality in the process
• People have to know about your act and you have to be good enough to be invited back.
• John's advice: Listen more than you speak, be flexible, and keep your demands low.
• Find out more about John: www.bigmouthe.com.

Welcome! My guest today is Michael Hilby, known as "Hilby, the Skinny German Juggling Boy." He is a really great performer who was born in Germany and became a social worker. Soon he transitioned to becoming a street performer who traveled the world. He now lives in Ithaca, NY with his wife and kids. His act is in high demand and is one of the best comedy acts to ever perform. 

What you'll hear in this episode:

• Hilby learned to juggle at age 23 in India.
• He traveled with his wife to Hong Kong and Japan, but then settled in NY, where her family lived.
• For five years, he flew back to Japan once a year for six weeks to be a street performer.
• This was his full-time income for the entire five years!
• He learned to speak Japanese to help with his performance.
• He soon stayed in the US and worked at Busch Gardens in VA for six months each year and transitioned to performing in English.
• On his one day off from Busch Gardens, he would go work as a street performer and was amazed at the money.
• Soon he left the amusement park and began full-time as a street performer.
• Why a tagline for your name is important
• He learned to connect and engage with people.
• He has no regrets for leaving his social work career. "Why? What's the point?"
• Hilby shares the uniqueness of this kind of performing and some of his venues.
• The worst gig ever was a college stint that was barely promoted and scarcely attended.
• The unexpected challenges make you a seasoned performer.
• Hilby has performed in 68 countries!
• Hilby loves to see performers who are committed and have a spark for what they do.
• His biggest fear is the age and physical limitations that will inevitably come to him.
• For young performers: practice your act, do all the work you can (NOTHING should be beneath you!), and take workshops.
• Performing can be a GREAT income!
• How learning to speak Japanese helped his performance there
• Hilby speaks Spanish, German, Japanese, and English—and will become a US citizen soon!
• Differences and surprises when he first came to the US
• Hilby still does cruise ship shows for German passengers.
• The hardest part of street performing is convincing them that it's a job you are CHOOSING to do!
• "When you are training to be a great performer, the first thousand shows don't really count."
• Find him at www.hilby.net.

Welcome! Today we're talking to Alyssa Daire Nelson about maximizing your strengths. The introduction to this episode was in last week's Episode 10. Please listen if you haven't! Alyssa is a personal strengths coach and the owner of Daire Success Coaching. She helps businesses and solo entrepreneurs maximize their innate strengths. Her greatest joy is seeing breakthroughs occur when people maximize their strengths instead of fixing their weaknesses. I met Alyssa at a podcast conference, where we were both learning about all aspects of our new journeys into podcasting. I was on her show recently and took her strengths test. She's here today to talk about her work and to analyze the results of my test. 

What you'll hear in this episode:

• Alyssa shares her "Aha" moment in her early 30's.
• The Strengthsfinder Profile test is the product of 40 years of research.
• The profile test has 180 questions, mostly based on "Would you prefer _____ or ______? It takes about 30 minutes to complete.
• The profile test helps you identify triggers about others that may "drive you crazy."
• Why people are not meant to be well-rounded!
• We lean into our top 10-15 strengths ALL the time.
• Each strength has a need, and when the needs aren't honored, we experience frustration.
• Alan's top strengths are positivity, maximize, learner, individualization, and achiever. Alyssa explains each strength and the danger in its overuse.
• "Two-thirds of our weaknesses are just strengths misapplied."
• In maximizing our strengths, we take care of many of our weaknesses.

Resources:

www.daire2succeed.com

www.strengthspodcast.com

Maximize Your Strengths podcast

Truth & Daire weekly email newsletter

Welcome to this Tailgate Talk episode! There is no guest today; it's just you and me, and we're talking all about YOU! We'll focus on your relationships with others and maximizing your strengths in this two-part episode. Next week, we'll be joined by Alyssa Dare Nelson, a strengths coach and host of the Maximize Your Strengths podcast. Visit www.strengthsfinder.com to find out how to take the online assessment test to identify YOUR strengths.

What you'll hear in this episode:

• The analogy of "the toolbox," birthed from my own experience working in my little corner of my dad's workshop, with child-sized tools and scraps of wood
• How each of us is given an individual "toolbox" in life, but many people don't know what tools they have or how to use them
• The mark of a successful person is someone who KNOWS what's in their toolbox and how to use it.
• The problem with school environments is that often we are put in places with no tools, with tools we don't understand, or with tools we don't know how to use.
• "Knowledge without action is useless."
• Success means taking your toolbox knowledge of strengths and applying it for maximum result in all areas of life.
• We have to learn to apply strengths without OVERUSING them. (That's our main focus for next week's show!)
• The more SELF-AWARE that we are, the better we become at developing relationships with others.
• I'll explain the self-awareness tool called the Johari Window—developed in 1955, using four "panes" to identify areas of strength and weakness.

On last week's show, I asked for listener feedback about the future direction of the show and what you'd like to hear. I still want to hear from you, so let me know your thoughts. Thanks for listening!

Welcome, and thanks for joining me! We've made it to Episode 9, which is a milestone that most podcasters don't achieve. Many start with a bang but quit before this point. I'm dedicated to bringing you quality content, but I want to give you what YOU want to hear. To this point, I've brought you  stories from performers in the fair industry, but you know there are many more people with amazing stories as well.  We call these people our "fair family," and they are a cross-section of grass-roots Americana—wonderfully talented people with stories that need to be told.

So, here's the question: Do you want the show to continue to highlight only performing artists? Or do I turn the spotlight on the huge variety of people that make up the many other aspects of our industry? I need to hear from you! 

Let me know what you think and what you want to hear. Email me: [email protected] or ask to join our private Facebook community. Look for Tailgate Entertainer and ask me to include you so you can comment. Thanks!

I hope you're ready for a fun time with my guest, Amanda McDaniel! Amanda is the co-owner of Friendly Farmer's Barnyard Review, a music, magic, and comedy production. Amanda and I performed next to each other for a couple of years, and I'll always think of her as someone whose stories WILL make you laugh. Join me to hear more of Amanda's crazy story!

What you'll hear in this episode:

• Amanda describes herself as a variety show entertainer who also owns a production company.
• She books variety entertainers for special events, spends four months each year as a fair entertainer, and has spent about ten years in the fair industry.
• She and her performing partner, Zakari Asiago, developed the idea of the farm-themed show.
• She and Zak are married, but NOT to each other! They are good friends who travel and perform together and are co-owners of the show.
• Although Amanda went to school to be a teacher, she has always loved the technical aspects of theater and started performing at a young age.
• While working at a fire department for 14 years, Amanda used her clown act to teach about fire safety, but she never dreamed of using her entertainment talent to generate an income!
• When she started doing paid entertainment at kids' parties, she felt empowered and fulfilled.
• The thing she enjoys most about entertaining is being on stage, playing a character, and interacting with kids.
• The biggest struggle in the entertainment lifestyle is being away from home, away from her husband, and from her elderly parents.
• Amanda, a relative newcomer to the fair industry, estimates that it provides 75% of her income.
• Amanda likes the fact that there is a clear off-season during spring and summer, when she can work at resorts near her home.
• She shares her worst gig experience about being in the magician's box when a severe thunderstorm hit in Hickory, NC.
• A big frustration for Amanda is agents who are unfair and charge more than the agreed-upon rate.
• Her advice for young entertainers? Put your show together and perform locally---A LOT! Talk to others in the fair industry, gather information, and ask questions. Be flexible and don't undersell yourself. Don't roll out your show until it's a complete quality product. Be professional and be impressive.
• Common mistakes made by entertainers are being too demanding of fair managers and having a generally "crappy" attitude.
• Remember that everything is about relationships, especially between performers and fair managers.
• For more information, visit www.barnyardreview.wordpress.com and join the Tailgate Entertainer Facebook group!