Camvention 2013, a brief review

charlieh - 2013-10-28 10:34:05 UTC #

Camvention 2013, a brief review

Back in the late 90s and early 2000's I was involved with running five one day conventions in Cambridge: I remember endless meetings, endless photocopying of flyers, a day of mad rushing about and some great shows. I can't remember why we stopped running the event: perhaps people were just a bit tired of all the effort. In any case a few months ago Katie Struthers from the Cambridge University juggling club came to the town club (now generally known as Camcircus) and confessed that she was thinking of organising a one-day event. I spent an evening telling her what I could remember and duly sent over a pile of documents from the old days - timetables, budgets and flyers mainly. She gathered a team and as far as I knew they just got on with it - I heard very little more, my contact with Camcircus these days being limited to about 45 minutes juggling on a Sunday followed by the pub.

Fast forward to October and we're on the way to Cambridge Regional College for the event, Libby and Ben in the back of the car, bouncing with excitement (they're old hands at conventions, having been to Bungays, Bristols, bits of BJC and a few one-dayers - not bad considering they're 5 and 3). We arrive to find the usual slightly incongrous sight of jugglers we know from all over the country in our own home town. The hall is very busy already and the organisers are looking...well, not too stressed actually, I suspect because they've realised they've broken even financially and so far no-one's impaled themselves on a Radical Fish. We spent time catching up with friends old and new, passing clubs with people who confessed they hadn't done it in ages, watching the games and failing to win any. Libby and Ben were chased about the hall giggling by various other grownups they know and managed to run under various precarious looking juggling patterns without getting hit on the head too often (it's OK, they're used to it and I've already explained how they probably won't be clever enough now to go to university). Top marks to both of them for sprinting to me *through* the club gladiators. I practise the Bungay Trick and manage a backcross or two, and creep ever closer to my goal of five clubs for more than ten catches.

It's time to get some food and we drive into town, meeting Abby, Dawn and some others at a pub at 5.30 - luckily for us the kitchen doesn't close until 6 but unluckily for the chef 15 very hungry jugglers have just arrived. Due to the lack of child portions, Libby and Ben are faced with huge plates of fishfingers and chips - Ben somehow manages to demolish most of his but there are plenty of people to steal chips when required. A swift pint washes down my BBQ Pizza that contains far too many spicy green chilies. It's off to the St Pauls Centre which is very full already and we manage to squeeze in near the front so the children can see.

Cambridge's Eddie Konig takes the mic as a masterful and highly cynical compere, sadly not wearing a dinner ladies' outfit as memorably once happened at a Cambridge convention in the past. This is probably my only small disappointment as the show is high quality and fast paced. I loved the ball juggling duo as did the kids, Shaun Clarke's old school hat,cane & cigar and box juggling was fun and the 14 year old diabolo act was frankly insane....at one point he's doing a reverse cascade on the string with 3 diabolos and the 'big finish' involved 5 diabolos. At the interval the kids are nearly asleep so Alex takes them home although I stay for the rest of the show and then for beers afterwards, narrowly avoiding the karaoke that has infested the pub by bolting for the damp garden. Post convention buzz abounds and everyone is talking about next year.

Apart from the chat with Katie in the pub I've had absolutely nothing to do with organising this event. It was marvellous to attend just as a punter and see how well it was put together, a high quality show and a lot of happy juggling faces. Congratulations to all the team, you've done us proud! Cambridge is back on the map for a one-day convention, to go along with the massive expansion in all things circus happening locally (7 days a week of classes, workshops and open practise sessions). See you next time!