EXCUSE ME?!

While performing, it's really annoying and distracting to have cameras going off in front of you. Flashes can be dangerous, and that little red light is just plain aggravating. My circus is very anti-photography which has really rubbed off on me and made me far more protective, although I suppose that a photo taken on someone's phone probably shouldn't worry me. Even still, when I see cameras going off in the public, I immediately call up to the booth and tell them to go kick some ass.

Then, of course, there's the far more sinister act of filming...

We were performing a matinee with a relatively small crowd. The seats directly on the ring curb were all but empty. All but one. There was one man in a white t-shirt with no one sitting on either side of him. This alone would have made him stand out, but the fact that he spent my entire act pointing his phone at me kind of made the alarm bells sound.

You can bet I gave him dirty looks. I'm sure they didn't register with him, though they made me feel a little better in the moment. I was in a rage when I got off stage. What possible reason could a person have to film an entire act? I immediately thought of this.

One of my cast mates tried to reassure me that he was probably just filming it so he could show his family later that evening, but that seemed unlikely. I didn't have much time to talk about it though. I was working concessions that intermission and had only a few minutes to get ready.

I arrived in the buffet tent and began to share my story of the evil act filmer when the man in question came speeding out of the main tent. Not sure what to do, I somehow found the courage to confront him.

I asked him why he filmed my act. There was some language issues but then a colleague to the rescue and there was no more beating around the bush. The words that then came out of his mouth were like a smack in the face and left me too numb to move.

"I work for Circus Nock. I'm filming it for work."

EXCUSE ME?!

YOU WERE FILMING IT FOR WORK?!?

My colleague made sure the video of my act, as well as the number of other videos he had taken of our show, was deleted from his phone.

I couldn't, and still can't, believe it. When I think about it now, I still feel like the only thing I can do is shake my head in disbelief and slow burning fury.

A bunch of us ended up going to see the show at Nock that very night and, to be fair, I don't think I had very much to worry about. But that's still pretty unacceptable behaviour and seeing as act theft is a very real thing, you can't really blame an artist for being protective of their years of work and research.

In the end, I had the morally questionable satisfaction of seeing my would-be thief shovel camel poop during their show. Petty though that may be, it made me feel better.