Today we’d like to introduce you to Liam Mysterious Woodard

Hi Liam Mysterious, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?

I started juggling when I was a kid, after seeing a local juggling club in the atrium of the children’s science museum, begging my mom for an instructional book the moment I saw one in our local bookstore. I didn’t really think much about it other than as a party trick until after graduating college. I was regularly singing and playing guitar at open mic nights, when a friend introduced me to an amazing woman (who they would go on to marry) who asked us if we wanted to learn how to eat fire. It may have been late on a work night by the time the question was floated, but who turns down that opportunity? Not me, that’s for sure. She’s a very accomplished performance artist, and introduced me to many fantastic skills. I quickly became hooked, but it was definitely still a hobby for me.

When I took an opportunity to move to Dallas to explore more job options, I sought out someone to continue playing flow arts with and found the Circus Freaks, a performing company that hosted a biweekly open practice space. Eventually I found myself volunteering at one of their regular events, and then eventually joined the company as a tech/roustabout and then as a clown.

I’d always enjoyed performing, dance, music, but clown? Clown I love. It’s emotionally connected performance, and I can bring any and all of those skills and more to it. My time performing as a clown with the Circus Freaks while in Texas was absolutely splendid.

When the pandemic hit, I realized that I couldn’t endanger audiences by bringing people together, and so had to go on a performance hiatus. I filled the time with training acrobatics and starting a podcast with my clown and acrobatics partner Russ Sharek. Eventually I had the opportunity to move, not just out of Texas, which had become a necessity for me as a trans person, but to a wonderful location just outside of Pittsburgh, PA where I’m now in the process of renovating a lovely old building to build a clown school and creative residency location with a few of the core members of the Circus Freaks team.

When I’m not busy doing reno, practicing acrobatics, or developing clown work I’m enjoying playing with mixed media and fiber arts, and I’m looking forward to getting back to teaching and performing!

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?

I think that I’ve been exceptionally lucky in the people I encountered and the support I’ve been given along the way. Joining up with an established performing group meant I got to do a *lot* fewer “bad gigs” than many have on the way to better ones, and I’ve been encouraged in exploring creatively my whole life. The challenges I’ve faced are ones that I think almost all creatives do. A period of taking the risk and taking the barista job over the office one so that I had the flexible schedule to gig, and that only sometimes properly making ends meet. Taking the time to really, deeply explore who I am so that I can be honest in my artistry and that revealing changes I needed to make that upset a good amount of my life. I think that part of exploring the world in a creative way is finding and taking on challenges, so those will always be part of the journey but I’ve had a lot of privilege on my side and I’m very aware of it. One of the goals of the new space is helping others who haven’t had those same privileges to explore clown and circus.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?

What a dizzying array of questions! I perform European-style theatrical clown. I do emotionally connected performance, primarily on stage, but also amongst people at large events. While I can list off some of the circus skills I bring to the work, diabolo, juggling, hand balance, partner acrobatics, etc. none of those things are what I specialize in, or the primary thing someone would bring me and the rest of our clowns to an event. We use those skills and tricks on our way to connecting to people, bringing them to a place where they feel seen, heard, or simply emotionally moved. We’ve had calls from people who have encountered us saying “I want you at my event, doing.. That thing you were doing!!” because it’s hard to pinpoint what exactly it is we *are* doing, but it’s something very easy to feel when we do it.

In answer to what I’m most proud of and what sets us apart from others, it’s that connection to our audience. Every time I have an interaction where I can tell that I’ve improved someone’s day, or said what they needed to hear, or made them feel like things are going to be ok? That makes me proud to do what I do.

What does success mean to you?

Success? To be doing the things my heart cries out for, to be helping others and to be confident in my ability to continue to do both of those things. And by that metric, I’m more successful than I could have hoped.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://circusfreaks.org
• Other: https://socialgaff.whirling.top

Image Credits

Photo Credits:

Russ Sharek

Circus Freaks

John Allen Grant

Wetdryvac