the Way of the Showman

Captain Frodo
  • 5.0 (35)
  • PERFORMING ARTS
  • UPDATED SEMIMONTHLY

Philosophical and esoteric perspectives from a modern day Showman. Each season is different in its approach. S1 is essays. S2 is one book length attempt at Understanding Showmanship, S3 is conversations with remarkable Showfolk. The brand new Season 4 explores the relationship between Showmanship and Play.The host, Captain Frodo, internationally renowned circus performer, director, writer, husband and dad lays out, in great detail, his practical performance philosophy for performers who seek to deepen the conversation with their audiences and themselves. You can find him, and more of his writing at: www.thewayoftheshowman.com

  1. 165 - A Philosophical Map Of Showmanship - A live talk about my upcoming book

    1D AGO

    165 - A Philosophical Map Of Showmanship - A live talk about my upcoming book

    What if showmanship isn’t just flair, but a way of seeing the world? We open up the first public talk about our forthcoming book, born from years of touring, early mornings, and 160+ podcast episodes, and share how a single poem became the spine for a philosophy of performance. As the lines were learned by heart, their meanings deepened, revealing a core image: the showman is the one who faces the other way, gathers a field of shared attention, and returns borrowed time as something refined. From that image, we chart four working maps. First, the live situation itself: performer, audience, and the emergent dimension we call the show. Second, the human being at the center—thinking, feeling, and willing—as both subject and material. Third, the anatomy of an act, where choices in rhythm, structure, tone, and risk make ideas visible. Fourth, the values under intent, the quiet logic behind why we elevate a volunteer or make a joke at their expense. Along the way, we read from a chapter that unpacks the true, the good, and the beautiful, reframing them as guiding stars for craft: truth as resonant inquiry, goodness as lived action that helps others flourish, and beauty as attention’s welcome, from Baroque fugues to black metal’s frost. To make it concrete, we imagine a three-ring circus under colored lights—blue for truth, red for beauty, green for goodness—where performers fail and try again, and sincerity becomes the real feat. We share practices you can use tomorrow: capture moments that resonate, look beyond your field for patterns, follow fear to find what you value, and translate insights into movement, text, and timing until they live in your hands. If you care about performance, creativity, circus, magic, or the craft of making meaning in front of people, this conversation offers language, tools, and a compass. If this resonated, subscribe, leave a five-star review, and share it with a friend who faces the other way. For updates on the book, follow The Way of the Showman on Instagram and stay tuned for what comes next. Support the show ... After a long abscence our Merch Shop is back! Check out t-shirts, hoddies, and hats! Show yourself as a Follower of the Way of the Showman. You can also "listen" to the Way of the Showman at youtube. If you want to help support this podcast it would be tremendous if you wrote a glowing review on iTunes or Spotify. If you want to  contact me about anyhthing ou can reach me on thewayoftheshowman@gmail.com You can find out more on the Way of the Showman website. Follow the Way of the Showman on Instagram. If you're compelled to suport the showes and have the means to do so, you can suport the podcast financially at: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/captainfrodo

    34 min
  2. 164 - Redefining Progress with Jack Denger Part 2 of 2

    MAR 17

    164 - Redefining Progress with Jack Denger Part 2 of 2

    Skill can thrill, but can it also tell the truth? We sit down with Jack Denger to explore how a world-class technician turns juggling into story by weaving speech, music, and intentional structure into his act. Jack explains why he started with spoken text: immediate understanding, shared language, and space to breathe between bursts of motion. Those quiet valleys let the audience reset, rejoin the idea, and feel the lift when the patterns rise again. We dig into coherence—how drops can snap people out of the spell—and why that risk forces better architecture: choreography over trick parades, phrasing over sprints, and endings that land where the heart is most open. We talk expectations and surprise, from placing a biggest trick inside silence to curating moments that defy what a crowd thinks a juggler will do. Feedback splits opinions; authorship unites them. Jack shares how to choose music that isn’t just useful but personal, so the object work carries identity without a lecture. We also unpack context: halftime arenas, festivals hungry for high skill, theaters built for nuance. A single sentence of framing can change how people watch—like a gallery card beside an abstract painting. Commercial shows keep the lights on; deeper work grows alongside, in seasons, as you build a small repertoire that maps a real journey from concrete text to abstract sensation. Teaching comes into focus, too. Jack’s approach scales for five-ball builders and nine-club chasers by centering tactics that travel: chunking, transitions, rhythm, and presence. We champion open process—treating craft like open source—because sharing the messy middle helps the whole field move. And we face the inflection point: numbers will inch higher, but meaning is the frontier. If juggling is to matter more, it has to say more. Join us, reflect with us, and then tell us what you think. Subscribe, rate on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and share this with someone who’s chasing the next step in their craft.  Support the show ... After a long abscence our Merch Shop is back! Check out t-shirts, hoddies, and hats! Show yourself as a Follower of the Way of the Showman. You can also "listen" to the Way of the Showman at youtube. If you want to help support this podcast it would be tremendous if you wrote a glowing review on iTunes or Spotify. If you want to  contact me about anyhthing ou can reach me on thewayoftheshowman@gmail.com You can find out more on the Way of the Showman website. Follow the Way of the Showman on Instagram. If you're compelled to suport the showes and have the means to do so, you can suport the podcast financially at: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/captainfrodo

    1h 10m
  3. 163 - Redefining Progress with Jack Denger part 1 of 2

    MAR 3

    163 - Redefining Progress with Jack Denger part 1 of 2

    What if world-class technique isn’t the point, but the vehicle? We sit down with extraordinary juggler Jack Denger to unpack how a high-skill act can carry story, emotion, and authorship—without dumbing down the craft. Jack is in a season of change, and that openness sparks a different creative process: choosing constraints, curating context, and shaping movement to words and music so an audience feels guided instead of flooded. We start with the spark that set him on the path—Cirque du Soleil’s layered worlds—then fast-forward through years of meticulous training to the moment virtuosity wasn’t enough. Together we map the differences between music, magic, and juggling: music hits emotion directly, magic often delivers tight narratives, and juggling presents visible difficulty that can overshadow meaning. So Jack picks a frame with built-in resonance: Steve Jobs’ Stanford speech, already intertwined with score. That single decision solves length, sets tone, and invites big themes—finding what you love, connecting dots, mortality—while freeing Jack to choreograph for punctuation, phrasing, and space. The craft talk goes deep. Jack reveals how he assigns tricks for visual intent, times accents to musical peaks, and uses the entire stage as part of the composition. We examine cognitive load when layering speech over dense patterns, and share practical fixes: carve breathing room, let simple patterns carry crucial lines, and drop in clear visual metaphors to re-sync attention. Feedback becomes fuel—first drafts that feel “wrong” expose what to refine; theatrical framing (a lone microphone, approached then abandoned) signals authorship without breaking tone. It’s an honest look at creating an act that’s not just harder, but richer, where skill, story, and sound pull in the same direction. If you’re a performer, director, or curious fan, you’ll come away with tools for building meaning into movement and making choices that help your audience follow along. Subscribe, leave a review, and share this with a friend who loves craft and process—what part of performance do you notice first: skill, story, or sound? Support the show ... After a long abscence our Merch Shop is back! Check out t-shirts, hoddies, and hats! Show yourself as a Follower of the Way of the Showman. You can also "listen" to the Way of the Showman at youtube. If you want to help support this podcast it would be tremendous if you wrote a glowing review on iTunes or Spotify. If you want to  contact me about anyhthing ou can reach me on thewayoftheshowman@gmail.com You can find out more on the Way of the Showman website. Follow the Way of the Showman on Instagram. If you're compelled to suport the showes and have the means to do so, you can suport the podcast financially at: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/captainfrodo

    1h 6m
  4. 162 - How Artists Edit Reality To Tell Emotional Truths with Ivar Hackscher, Jay Gilligan & Frodo

    FEB 17

    162 - How Artists Edit Reality To Tell Emotional Truths with Ivar Hackscher, Jay Gilligan & Frodo

    Ivar Hackscher can also be heard sharing his wisdom in episode 90 & 91. A snowy museum visit, a restless soundscape, and a conversation that kept outshining the art on the walls—this one is about the moment when performance feels undeniably real. We dig into why sincerity and trust matter so much, how a chosen audience can change the stakes, and what happens when the right people step into a room with the right intent. When you take your crowd seriously, they rise to the occasion, and the noise—footsteps, hums, clinks—turns into texture rather than distraction. From there, we unpack the power of teams and the long game of collaboration. Keeping a core crew over years compounds trust and taste, especially in small, fragile communities where one loss can feel like a corner of the room disappears. We ask the uncomfortable question: does time served equal value? Sometimes a decade of work underwhelms; sometimes a poem drafted at 5pm pierces straight through. The difference is judgment. Artists are editors and choice-makers, and the craft is in choosing what to keep, what to cut, and when to let the gesture speak without words. We also wade into AI, authorship, and authenticity. If a machine can make the frame, who supplies the meaning? The answer lives in the curating eye: selecting, sequencing, and framing with intent. Outsourcing isn’t new—pop songs and comedy thrive on writers’ rooms—so we explore how juggling, magic, and movement reframe authorship and improvisation. Delay the narrative, read the room, and collapse possibilities into a single, resonant outcome. Along the way, we talk myth-making and emotional truth: the stories artists tell themselves to aim higher, and the stories audiences need to feel the aura of the work. If you care about performance that invites rather than insists, about teams that build taste over time, and about the razor’s edge between process and product, you’ll find plenty to chew on here.  Support the show ... After a long abscence our Merch Shop is back! Check out t-shirts, hoddies, and hats! Show yourself as a Follower of the Way of the Showman. You can also "listen" to the Way of the Showman at youtube. If you want to help support this podcast it would be tremendous if you wrote a glowing review on iTunes or Spotify. If you want to  contact me about anyhthing ou can reach me on thewayoftheshowman@gmail.com You can find out more on the Way of the Showman website. Follow the Way of the Showman on Instagram. If you're compelled to suport the showes and have the means to do so, you can suport the podcast financially at: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/captainfrodo

    56 min
  5. 161 - Folk Circus is Real Showmanship with Jay Gilligan & Captain Frodo

    FEB 3

    161 - Folk Circus is Real Showmanship with Jay Gilligan & Captain Frodo

    What if the most compelling part of a show isn’t the illusion, but the honesty? We sit down with juggler and creator Jay Gilligan to unpack “folk circus,” a performance style built on concrete skill, visible tech, and a fearless embrace of the room as it truly is. No hidden light booths, no invisible sound cues—just a performer hitting the button, moving the fader, catching the club, and meeting the audience where they are. Jay traces how constraints—touring by plane, school circuits, gym floors, libraries—shape an aesthetic that prizes minimalism without feeling small. We compare the spark of a set in a sports hall, where it transforms a familiar space, to the way expectations can swallow that same set on a grand stage. Along the way, we talk independence versus big-company sheen, why legacy comes from your own name on the poster, and how real-time presence turns glitches and interruptions into connection instead of cracks. The conversation dives into juggling as proof—throw, catch, repeat—and follows that concreteness through sound, light, and staging. We explore handling drops and disruptions openly, building trust by acknowledging reality, and crafting family shows that never talk down to kids. There’s a deep kinship here with folk tales and folk music: direct stories, shared moments, and a room that can swing from laughter to hush and back because everyone feels included. Authenticity isn’t a look; it’s when intention, skill, and environment line up so cleanly that the cables become part of the poetry. If you’re curious about making honest work that travels light and hits deep, this one’s for you. Listen, share with a friend who cares about craft over spectacle, and leave a quick review to help more curious minds find the show. Support the show ... After a long abscence our Merch Shop is back! Check out t-shirts, hoddies, and hats! Show yourself as a Follower of the Way of the Showman. You can also "listen" to the Way of the Showman at youtube. If you want to help support this podcast it would be tremendous if you wrote a glowing review on iTunes or Spotify. If you want to  contact me about anyhthing ou can reach me on thewayoftheshowman@gmail.com You can find out more on the Way of the Showman website. Follow the Way of the Showman on Instagram. If you're compelled to suport the showes and have the means to do so, you can suport the podcast financially at: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/captainfrodo

    1h 36m
  6. 160 - From Poolside Jam to Cabaret Juggernaut with Paul Dabek & Captain Frodo

    JAN 20

    160 - From Poolside Jam to Cabaret Juggernaut with Paul Dabek & Captain Frodo

    We trace the unlikely arc that carried poolside pandemic brainstorms into London Calling, a high-velocity variety show that’s genuinely all-ages without sanding off its edge. As the Pandemic hit Las Vegas Paul Dabek and Captain Frodo dreamt by the pool of acts, podcast, and shows. As it turned out these dreams all came to fruition. We get specific about how the show grew: a clear adult-facing voice, visuals that enchant kids on contact, and design that marries LED world-building with just a few tactile anchors—a lamppost here, an oak bar to sell entire neighborhoods of London. We talk quiet-loud pacing, compress-then-expand staging, and the power of a loose narrative frame (train rides, stations, quick jumps) that keeps momentum without burying acts in exposition. Think Covent Garden street magic flowing into Wimbledon athleticism, all while the ensemble’s micro-moments—prop handoffs, shared looks, quick riffs—telegraph trust. Paul Dabeck opens the hood on the growth curve: from small houses and street pitches to winning pick of the fringe and selling five-figure ticket totals. He shares the marketing pivots that worked, why “family-friendly” is a tone not a label, and how sweat equity turned Facebook Marketplace parts into automated scenic that looks West End-ready. We also dive into his Vegas warehouse: a black box, workshop, and filming space evolving into Make It Rain, a community hub for artists to prototype, connect, and protect their mental health. It’s church-without-religion, where the faith is craft and the sermon is showing up. If you care about showmaking—stagecraft, culture, and the long game of compounding relationships—this one’s a blueprint. We leave you with blunt takeaways: risk with purpose, design worlds with one tactile anchor, market like a story, film your late refinements, build a culture of generosity, and ship version one before you feel ready. Subscribe, share with a friend who builds in public, and drop us a note about the project you’re making right now. What plate are you willing to smash to make it sing? You can find Paul at all the usual social media platforms and at his website @ PaulDabek.com Support the show ... After a long abscence our Merch Shop is back! Check out t-shirts, hoddies, and hats! Show yourself as a Follower of the Way of the Showman. You can also "listen" to the Way of the Showman at youtube. If you want to help support this podcast it would be tremendous if you wrote a glowing review on iTunes or Spotify. If you want to  contact me about anyhthing ou can reach me on thewayoftheshowman@gmail.com You can find out more on the Way of the Showman website. Follow the Way of the Showman on Instagram. If you're compelled to suport the showes and have the means to do so, you can suport the podcast financially at: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/captainfrodo

    1h 28m
  7. 159 - The Paradoxes of Juggling - Michael Staroseletsky & Niels Duinker Publishing

    JAN 6

    159 - The Paradoxes of Juggling - Michael Staroseletsky & Niels Duinker Publishing

    In this episode I read the first chapter of the Paradoxes of Juggling by Michael Staroseletsky, a book published by NDjuggling.com which of course is run by Niels Duinker who was a guest on the podcast back in episode 135. If you are interested in ways to view the world through a craft this is a book you should check out. If you're interested in advanced practice and the technique of juggling this is a great read. It is also part of the brand new Compendium of Soviet Juggling Wisdom. What if a juggling act is more than patterns in the air—what if it’s a blueprint for freedom, identity, and the courage to keep going when you drop? We dive into a lyrical reading from Michael Staroseletsky’s The Paradoxes of Juggling and unpack why this art form refuses shortcuts and demands honesty. From the first image of balls moving like “living creatures” to the stubborn physics of clubs that won’t always obey, we sit with the tension between intention and reality and show how mastery grows inside that friction. Staroseletsky’s core claim is perhaps that the trick is both the vehicle and the destination. Juggling isn’t just technique polished to shine; it’s an inner practice that widens your tolerance for error and refines your timing until correction feels effortless. We explore the paradox that to juggle more, you must accept more—more variables, more variance, and more responsibility for recovery. We also talk about persona and truth onstage. Circus artists often “play themselves,” so the work only lands when the human behind the pattern is vivid and honest. Props aren’t passive; the moment an object leaves your hand, it asserts its own will, and the act becomes a dialogue you can see—rhythm as visible music, choreography in space, and story told through catches and drops. If Staroseletsky’s vision resonates, you’ll find the book at ndjuggling.com alongside other gems for artists, jugglers, and curious minds. Listen, reflect, and tell us what craft is teaching you about time, space, and self. If this episode sparked something, follow the Way, even better - share it with a friend, and leave a review so more curious listeners can discover it. Support the show ... After a long abscence our Merch Shop is back! Check out t-shirts, hoddies, and hats! Show yourself as a Follower of the Way of the Showman. You can also "listen" to the Way of the Showman at youtube. If you want to help support this podcast it would be tremendous if you wrote a glowing review on iTunes or Spotify. If you want to  contact me about anyhthing ou can reach me on thewayoftheshowman@gmail.com You can find out more on the Way of the Showman website. Follow the Way of the Showman on Instagram. If you're compelled to suport the showes and have the means to do so, you can suport the podcast financially at: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/captainfrodo

    24 min
  8. 158 - Jesus, Bananas, And Baby Unicorns Walk Into A Church w Clay Hillman & Captain Frodo

    12/23/2025

    158 - Jesus, Bananas, And Baby Unicorns Walk Into A Church w Clay Hillman & Captain Frodo

    Do yourself a favor before reading any more of this: Listen to the Road To Joy now! Also! Listen to Clay Hillman’s wonderful piano music   What if the spark that powers great rituals, great sermons, and great shows is the same playful force? Captain Frodo sits down with Clay Hillman to follow that thread—from the shaman’s circle to the market square—and ask how joy, surprise, and sacrifice can teach us to love without the cage of judgment. The claim is bold: ritual likely grew out of play, and when we honor that, truth arrives with fewer words and more presence. We explore grief as the felt weight of love, the paradox at the heart of Good Friday, and why beauty includes the costly and the raw. Clay reframes the Good Samaritan so we stop imagining ourselves as the rescuer and recognize our place in the ditch; neighbor becomes the person we’d want to lift us, even an enemy. That shift replaces right-versus-wrong scorekeeping with a practice of attention, the same practice that makes a show land when a moment of surprise cracks the shell and breathes. Along the way, we talk mythic truth over literalism, how children signal play and still know what matters, and why wigs, robes, and ritual dances appear when stakes are highest. We also swap creative maps. Clay’s Casey Bonkers universe offers constellations of play; Frodo sketches thinking, feeling, and willing as a triad for building fuller acts. Symbols do the heavy lifting: two sticks can hold a cosmos, a market square becomes a universe once the showman starts. Stories that aren’t “real” still become true every day, and the best work often feels discovered rather than made. If you’ve ever sensed that ministry and showmanship share a calling—curating time and attention so people glimpse the center—this conversation will feel like finding language for what you already knew. Listen to K. C. Bonkers Road To Joy!  Find Clay Hillman here! If this resonates, subscribe, share it with a friend who loves story and craft, and leave a review so others can find the show. Then tell us: where did you last glimpse that center of joy? Support the show ... After a long abscence our Merch Shop is back! Check out t-shirts, hoddies, and hats! Show yourself as a Follower of the Way of the Showman. You can also "listen" to the Way of the Showman at youtube. If you want to help support this podcast it would be tremendous if you wrote a glowing review on iTunes or Spotify. If you want to  contact me about anyhthing ou can reach me on thewayoftheshowman@gmail.com You can find out more on the Way of the Showman website. Follow the Way of the Showman on Instagram. If you're compelled to suport the showes and have the means to do so, you can suport the podcast financially at: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/captainfrodo

    58 min
See All (166)

Trailer

5
out of 5
35 Ratings

About

Philosophical and esoteric perspectives from a modern day Showman. Each season is different in its approach. S1 is essays. S2 is one book length attempt at Understanding Showmanship, S3 is conversations with remarkable Showfolk. The brand new Season 4 explores the relationship between Showmanship and Play.The host, Captain Frodo, internationally renowned circus performer, director, writer, husband and dad lays out, in great detail, his practical performance philosophy for performers who seek to deepen the conversation with their audiences and themselves. You can find him, and more of his writing at: www.thewayoftheshowman.com

Information

  • Creator
    Captain Frodo
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    166
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 the Way of the Showman
  • Show Website
    the Way of the Showman

You Might Also Like