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By the end of faire in 2003 I
had made up my mind and was ready to move on. I must admit that I liked
being a pompous peacock, I love to swordplay and I love to be well dressed.
So based on these factors I auditioned and joined the Gentlemen Adventurers.
Not knowing it at the time, 2004 would be the last time the Renaissance
Faire would be held at Glen Helen Regional Park in San Bernardino, but the
GA has just gotten established and got our little plot of land in the the
Gulch of Death. Building the camp was a real bitch, but we had
almost 30 people in the group and when we hit the streets people were saying
every time they turned around there were GAs everywhere. The high visibility
was rendered by our distinctive costumes of tall hats, 2-3 layered
garments
and thigh high riding boots. Someone named us "a swell of Gentlemen
Adventurers." A name that I believe was very fitting for what we do. So
what's different about the Gentlemen Adventurers? Nothing and a lot. Apart
from the costumes, we'd walk the streets greeting and interacting with
patrons, have arguments and stage duels of honor plus provide the audience
with swordplay demonstration at the Maypole. Since I was bitching about not
getting out enough while I was stuck with St Michael's, we now do everything
I love and enjoy doing. Even better still is I don't have to do parades or
progress, and that takes the cake.
My problem with joining the Gentlemen Adventurers was finding a suitable character and getting a new costume. While the costuming part was easy, the research part took more time. I wanted Sir Francis Vere, but heard Aaron Johnson took that so finally decided on Captain Michael Geare who was a naval officer active in the Caribbean's. I was at odds with this character since I know next to nothing about sailing. As luck would have it, I was reading and came upon Edmund Carey, one of the younger sons of Baron Hunsdon Sir Henry Carey. Since Edmund was an infantry officer with a lot of experience and credits to his name, I decided on Edmund to be my permanent character at faire.
OPENING DAY IS EVERY DAY
When the 2006 faire season rolled around, many
people including myself was wondering what faire is going to be like with
the two new directors Susan and Ron Scott Fry. They were brought out from
the Bristol Faire to manage RPF. Things work differently back east than
they do out here, so how is it going down? Amazingly it was absolutely wonderful. The new
Directors had in fact managed to inspire and motivate everyone so much that
faire was able to recaptured its "Glory days". While the morning meetings
seem to be a drag, it was actually very refreshing. Most importantly there
was a renewal of energy from all the participants which made faire
absolutely fabulous. Feedback from the public and from the City of Irwindale
was wonderful and I believe everyone one had a great time. I haven't had
this much fun playing out at faire for a very long time and this year was
simply
amazing. The numbers were down this year for the Gentlemen Adventurers as
many people had personal issues, financial and work related matters to deal with and could not come out for the run but did
manage to drop in for a visit which was very nice. Of course there were
always diehards of the group like John Tripp, Charles Hanlan, Allan
Sherlock, Charles Dane, Margreth Dane, Karen Halan, and Samantha.
The Gentlemen Adventurers did their usual morning and afternoon sword demos but threw in some exciting moments in their confrontation gigs including the Derby / Mountjoy fight and the drunken improv fight between Sir Edmund Carey and Sir Martin Frobisher. I believe that fight/confrontation of 2006 was one of the finest improv street duels the group has ever done. While many knew how it would end, nobody knows what the "reckless and drunken" Sir Edmund Carey would really do, which translated into fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants scenario. I believe Steve had a time of his life as the entire fight scene was improv, but the unusual confidence and trust exhibited was one of the finest moments out at faire.
Furthermore, this year marked 3 people being admitted into the rank of Freescholar of Bankeside Schoole of Defense which includes Allan Sherlock, Charles Hanlan and myself. Of course I already had received my Freescholar rank abroad with due recognition. So If anyone thought dueling almost non-stop for an entire hour in the hot sun was easy, they should really give it a spin. Lastly but not the least was the Grand Ringout to signify faire has run its course. Like last year the GAs stripped down to just shirt, swords, hats and boots and added sunglasses to complete the look which again had ALL the women hooting and hollering. There's no doubt the GAs are truly "ATTENTION WHORES" and can you blame us?
WHAT'S DIFFERENT IN 2007
One could say a lot has changed and yet nothing has really changed. After all faire is faire, most of my friends are all there, guild yards have been shifted around, new acts added, some other acts have been removed, but in general no huge changes. We did have a new Queen's Show amongst other things but the Gentlemen Adventurers have no real estate this year. I think we're all fed up with construction and tear downs, so we allocated ourselves to the Guild Ghetto, which worked out excellent for all of us. The only construction we had to do was put shade up and we had a steel 10X12 container to secure our gear. Perry left faire permanently just before faire opened. He was fighting a loosing battle with cancer for many many years and so there was a very emotional memorial service for him at FOF.
The GAs were having fun with each other throughout the entire run. Steve got plastered one Saturday afternoon after Queen show and Charles feel asleep on bags of left over ice. I came up with the idea of cooling off on the ice one weekend when it was particularly hot and John brought out his travel bar to mix Bloody Marys. Everyday thereafter, many of the participants would sit or lie on the ice when they're off or if the day was particularly hot. The really great thing about the GAs and faire is, we can have fun both on and off stage.
No doubts for those of us who simply love to sword fight, that's what the GAs do. For most parts we managed to keep injuries down to minimal. But since we're swinging steel, accidents do happen. John got whacked with my longsword during a demo because Steve moved too soon, luckily it only split the skin and no serious injury resulted. The odd thing was John got hit in almost the same position four years ago when we were out at Devore also by me. Steve managed to get a fat lip from me while doing an a tiempo session in Court Glade, again with longswords.
Throughout the 2007 season, the
GAs performed quite a few gigs, some large, some small and almost every one
of the gigs were well executed. The drunk bit we did had some people worried
that we were all seriously drunk. "It looked so real!" someone said to me.
The abduction of Mahjani was a great gig and she thanked us by giving us a
bottle of champagne to boot. The verbal arguments between Matt Bowes who
played Don Tomasso, Eric Lanham who played fencing master Benetti and us
were always fun. The bullying and cursing always caused a scene on the
streets of faire. Of course I came up with the idea of doing Monty Python's
Holy hand grenade bit on the last weekend got a lot of giggles and laughs. I
made the grenade out of a German WWII potato masher, bejeweled it and gave it
to the Queen, with Joe and Andy jumping in to kick the gig into high energy
and laughs.
The group is much smaller this year than it has ever been. Many of the former members have other things going on in their lives and could not be with us. Brian Kurnow, Pickles and Dawn, Ryan, and Richard are among the few that weren't with us. The lack of manpower also put a damper on trying to do street confrontations as there weren't enough people to marshal the crowd. We had to pull other performers in to help with crowd control. John also came up with a great idea for a running fight throughout faire. However, until we can work out the logistics of the fight, that's still in the works. Little Charles has already informed us, he will not be doing faire next year since He and his father are arranging a Mini convention for Mini Cooper owners. There's also a good chance that Charles Dane will be gone as well since his company is moving to Atlanta and he's being relocated there. Allan is probably gonna try and get into the Police Academy, So what will come in 2008 is anyone's guess. With two to three of Steve's best fighters out of commission, there's no telling what will happen to the GAs. We can't push fighters into something before they're ready, and most of the GAs who fight out on the street and do 'A tiempo' sessions at the Maypole need to be completely competent before the fights can be interesting. With so many people gone in one year, we would be hard pressed to replace that many skilled swordsmen within a year. Mike Margolis is a potential candidate, but still has a long way to go before he can really sword fight, Matt only just started his training and Dan is usually stuck at home and was only out at faire two days during this entire run. I'm sure this thought has crossed Steve's mind, but we'll have to see what develops as the year progresses. Sometimes problems have a way of sorting themselves out, it just needs a little time.
THE 2008 SEASON AND MISHAPS
Up till the end of 2007, I was
planning on getting new boots for my costume as well as my Italian
Cut-n-thrust sword from Art Edwell. Practice has intensified at both schools
and the new scholars are doing their best to play catch up. The apprentices
are all hoping to take their scholar's exam come faire. It's kinda
exciting
as the motivation is making everyone work harder. I personally still believe
in more theory is necessary to keep par with the practical side of fencing.
Unfortunately I was struck down with Lung Cancer and metastasized brain
tumor in February. My sister had to come down from Canada to help with the
paperwork and hospitalization details. Although I was fortunate enough to
have the brain tumor removed, the lung cancer is a much more serious
condition. Adding onto the madness is Diane my roommate selling her house.
Having no insurance and not able to get Medi-Cal and with fast rising medical bills and steep treatment costs, I have no choice but to cut ties, loss and sell off everything to return to Hong Kong to get treatment. So I will not be at faire in 2008. The treatment for my lung cancer will probably take at least 2 years which does not guarantee a cure. Mother Rikki has requested I keep my current costume and weaponry to await my return to faire in the near future. My faire family were all very supportive when I did my yard sale and I managed to sell of almost everything that is faire related. I managed to get almost 4K for my books and weapons and faire accessories to help with my medical bills. I did manage to make it out to faire on the Sunday of opening weekend thanks to Kelly and Joanna Rogers, Lady Sutherland and Mother Rikki. I'll miss faire and my family there but hopefully I get to return in a few years.
The most fortunate thing for the Bankeside Schoole is, there are enough new students going for their Scholar's exam this year. Unfortunately most of them being with F O F has little or no potential of becoming GA material. However that may change. The girls certainly will not be carrying swords around faire. Jimmy, Mike and Cory all won their prize. and Mike got pulled into becoming a part-time Gentleman Adventurer, dividing his time between, work, FOF and the GA. Charles Dane did very well to pass his Freescholar's Exam. I saw his written essay which I was very impressed with. Unfortunately his new job is in Texas and he must relocate if he wants the job. Margreth his wife is not happy about the situation, but has no choice since she won't leave the army. So the GA will be down two more Freescholars for next year as well. Since neither Charles Halan, Chuck nor myself will be around, Steve is gonna be hard pressed for new people to train and be proficient to conduct street duels. Allan may have to work harder at training the newbies, but the last I heard, Sam his wife is with child, and that will also alter things that is currently not seeable.
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