Professional Whip Artistry Training & Entertainment

Professional Whip Artistry Training & Entertainment


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  • Whips & Wands – A one-of-a-kind, comedic combo

    IMG_4386In 1993, Gery Deer and Jim Karns met while working at an engineering design center in Vandalia, Ohio. The two had a common friend, co-worker, Dan Shotwell, who happened to be talking with Gery about Gilligan’s Island when Jim overheard from a cubical next door and joined the conversation.

    While Gery remained with the design center only a short time, Jim stayed on but it was the start of a lifelong friendship and a future neither of the men could really know was about to happen. Gery, already a well-established whip artist, was performing all over the area and had been giving whip lessons for several years. Jim, an accomplished stage performer, had undertaken classic magic as his calling card. Over the years, Gery and Jim found ways of working together, both on and off stage.

    A few years later, it would be Jim who fabricated the famous “Zorro Candle Contest Board” used in The Whip Artistry Studio for practice on the famous competition – which no one ever won. He also later joined Gery’s family music and variety show, The Brothers & Co., as a bass singer, writer, comedian and magician.

    It wasn’t until 2007 that Gery and Jim first combined their talents into a show that featured only the two of them – Whips & Wands. Utilizing some of the most basic classic magic, they wrote new routines around them that included their comic timing, natural gift for stage banter and, most importantly, brought their two primary talents together – magic and whip artistry.

    wandwslideThe first show was, in a word, terrible. Trying to capitalize on their Brothers & Co. content, they included music, and separated the magic and whip acts into different parts. Each performer was on stage separately, unless they were singing, and it left audiences cold, to say the least. Add to that the fact that it was a 2-hour performance – far too long for anything of that kind – and you have a disaster, albeit one with a good deal of promise. They would keep trying and refining until they discovered that the funniest and most engaging of their shows kept both men on the stage as a comedy team. Sort of Abbot and Costello meets Indiana Jones and David Copperfield. It seemed to work.

    Years after that first performance, Jim and Gery would learn about another dynamic duo who combined their show for a time – Lash LaRue and Harry Blackstone, Senior. At a time when promoting a movie meant sending the actor on tour, Blackstone and LaRue teamed up to do a full stage show, separately but on the same bill. While Jim and Gery combine their work in a kind of “Martin & Lewis” package, Blackstone and LaRue kept their shows individualized, one playing after the other on the same stage at a showing of a feature film.

    whipsandwandsToday, Gery and Jim have refined their show into a 45-minute, high-paced family act that includes everything that made each performer popular in the first place. The music has been removed and now the show consists of a combination performance of whip artistry and magic, sometimes combined, but always in a funny context. There is plenty of audience participation and even one magic trick that no one even sees coming, making it a fantastic finale.

    Whips & Wands contains the full talent of Jim Karns (two-time IBM Ring 324 Magician of the Year) and Gery L. Deer, champion whip artist and one of the fastest and most accurate in the world. This is a one-of-a-kind show and this Christmas, it’s coming to Columbus, Ohio’s Franklin Park Conservatory for two performances on Sunday December 29, 11am and 2pm. The show is free with general park admission and great for the whole family!


  • Near and Far – Nappanee, Indiana and the Medicine Show …

    From The Director …

    A note from Gery L. Deer.

    August 5, 2013

    I’ve worked all over the country as a whip artist, writer and performer. From small hometown stages to Hollywood television projects, I think I’ve seen just about everything. This past weekend, however, I had the privilege of working with a gentleman who, in my mind, is the quintessential entertainment professional. His name is Dan Barth and for the last 40-plus years, he’s been in the medicine show business.

    Dan Barth's Medicine Show

    Dan Barth’s Medicine Show

    Dan and his wife, Ulli, have traveled all around the country with his turn-of-the-century medicine show wagon and stage, telling the history of the craft and entertaining crowds with the same kinds of routines used in the original shows. From ventriloquism to magic, I sat and watched nearly every show he did over our four days together and marveled at how his audience was so taken with his work.

    In today’s high-paced world of technology and squirrel-like attention spans, I was fascinated to watch people of all ages sit in the hot, Indiana sun and hang on Dan’s every motion and word. It was gratifying to see that people still have an interest in this kind of entertainment; a type that now seems relegated to the odd variety act or child’s birthday party and even then, thoroughly under-appreciated.

    Not this weekend however. People loved watching Dan’s performance, myself included. Ironically, I felt good about the fact that in The Brothers & Co. Variety Show, we are using some of the same routines he includes in his show on a regular basis. Now I think I finally understand why they are always so well-received.

    Gery L. Deer and Dan Barth - August 3, 2013.

    Gery L. Deer (left) and Dan Barth – August 3, 2013.

    But from a whip artist’s standpoint, Dan’s presentation and his audience’s reaction to it allowed me to see more about my own show than I have ever noticed before. As performers, if our mind is in the right place, we work hard to entertain the audience. I have always believed that most skilled performers spend far too much time showing off their respective talents and too little actually entertaining anyone but themselves.

    Dan’s mind is always on the audience. His number one consideration is what will make them smile, laugh, ooh and ahh, all while carrying away a little history they may not have known about before. He may be in it to make a living, but he really wants his audience to have experienced something unique for their time and he genuinely appreciates their attention.

    Personally, I’ve seen just about every possible incarnation of sideshow, Wild West performance, medicine show and variety act. But there was something unique about Dan Barth’s performance. It was unassuming, generous and genuine. It had my attention every time, even though, by the end of the first day, I could practically recite his script verbatim.

    With a little history and a lot of charm, Dan Barth brings to life the 400-year-old linking rings to a whole new generation.

    With a little history and a lot of charm, Dan Barth brings to life the 400-year-old linking rings to a whole new generation.

    With a 25 minute show, Dan Barth’s Medicine Show captivated the audience with no more than four or five routines. But, in the end, it’s not what you do on stage, but how you do it. No matter how great your technical skill, there is always room to make your show more engaging to an audience. A whip trick is over in less than a blink of an eye, but if you package it properly, it will be memorable for a lifetime.

     


  • Don’t underestimate the value of the swivel-handled cowhide bullwhip.

    By Gery L. Deer

    Director, The Whip Artistry Studio

    Three of the Gery Deer's original cowhide, swivel-handled American bullwhips. (From Left) 10 foot, hand-dyed black with 1/2 inch flat latigo fall; 24-foot, brown with modified "Australian styled" fall and popper; 6-foot, brown with modified fall and popper.

    Three of the Gery Deer’s original cowhide, swivel-handled American bullwhips. (From Left) 10 foot, hand-dyed black with 1/2 inch flat latigo fall; 24-foot, brown with modified “Australian styled” fall and popper; 6-foot, brown with modified fall and popper.

    I started working with whips when I was very young, but didn’t get too serious about it until my college years. Back then, the best whip I could hope for was a cowhide, swivel handled number with a plastic grip and a rope or twine core.

    One of the first whips I actually paid for was a 20-foot, swivel handled American bullwhip with what looked to me like a bailing twine core. It was bulky, heavy and awkward. Even so, I think I learned more from that than any of the fancy Australian whips I use to teach and perform with today.

    Most of my original cowhide models came from Schutz Bros. leather products in Arizona. That 20-footer was a major purchase for me back then, it was $55.00 USD and cost $5 to ship it. So for a whopping $60 I  had acquired what most professional whip artists would call the worst whip ever – with the possible exception of those five-dollar, India-made paper leather whips from eBay.

    Over time, I bought a few more of this style, all various lengths and shades of brown cowhide. There were no black ones at that time. Anything you wanted black had to be hand-dyed. Whatever the look, I got used to them and learned most of what I know now on that style of bullwhip.

    As a professional performer and competitor in the whip arts arena, I would never choose my old swivels over my Joe Strain or Paul Nolan Aussie styles. They’re superior in nearly every way. But I do get frustrated when I hear whip practitioners complain about the fallibility of their equipment. Naturally, as with any mechanical activity, like sports, learning the violin or racing a car, the better the equipment, the lower the learning curve. You’ll advance and learn faster with a better whip. Why?

    Put simply, you’re spending more time on learning to handle the whip instead of, at the same time, having to adjust to its deficiencies. For example, a swivel handle requires a different pitch and wrist motion to put the tip where you want it for targeting. A whip with no plaited belly or rope in the center is virtually impossible to throw ‘slowly’ and requires an excessive amount of energy.

    Even so, if you get too accustomed to one style of whip, no matter what kind, you’re cheating yourself out of the ultimate goal – to be a true whip artist, not just someone who crack one and make a big noise. The best whip handlers can maneuver virtually any kind of whip to do mostly what they want it to, even if it takes more effort or some adjustment. One whip may be more accurate or ‘prettier’ in motion than another, but they all can achieve the same tasks.

    I can honestly say that there is very little I can do with my Indiana Jones copies that I can’t do with my old swivels. Naturally, I prefer my professional whips, but it’s fun to give the old cowhides a run in the sun now and again, just to stay sharp.

    A few years ago, Chris “The Whip Guy’ Camp and I were doing some targeting at the Annie Oakley Western Arts Showcase in Greenville, Ohio. We were really just goofing off with our long whips, cutting spaghetti and Styrofoam from our contest stands. Chris was using a 25-foot Australian whip recently made for him by Joe Strain. It is a beautiful piece of work, as most of Joe’s whips are, double-bellied, 12-plait (thought it might have been 16, I don’t recall), and incredibly accurate considering its length. Of course, a large part of that depends on the skill – not to mention the eyesight – of the user.

    As Chris worked his targeting skills with the whip he now calls, “Big Momma,” I jumped in at the stand next to him with my 24-foot, cowhide swivel-handled whip. Over the years, I’d modified the fall to something that more closely resembled and functioned like an its Australian cousin. After a few minutes of acclamation to the older style, I found myself performing nearly as accurately as Chris at a similar distance and using the same materials for targets. We were each taking an inch or so from the spaghetti sticks with each cut.

    We were both surprised at how accurate I could be with the old cowhide, even at that distance and within the space – considering we were standing only a few feet from each other, side by side. Though I tired out faster, because of the excessive energy required for the belly-less swivel, I was able to keep up with Chris’s targeting level for the majority of our experiment.

    Over time, I decided to use the longer cowhide whip for more and more, wherever space allowed. It’s impressive to watch and makes a pretty nice “bang” indoors, depending on the popper material. Plus it’s virtually indestructible. Since that time I’ve created a candle snuffing routine around this 24-foot beast, I’ve done basic targeting with it and also re-created one of Chris’s signature routines, just to see if I could get it to work.

    Chris has one stunt he calls “Jumpin Jack Daniels” where he places a tin cup of water on top of a small paper Dixie-style cup, a wax-paper cup about two inches in height. The goal is to crack the paper cup from beneath the tin cup, letting it fall to the table without spilling any of the water. It’s not particularly hard with an average size whip but the size of the paper cup adds to the difficulty, requiring a respectable level of precision and talent from the handler. But it looks far more impressive when it’s done using a long whip like Chris’s “Big Momma.”

    Chris Camp’s version …

    With no ‘Dixie’ cups available, I tested it out using a 12-oz. Styrofoam cup below and an aluminum metal cup (about 1/3 full of water) above. After a few tries, I figured out the physics behind using the big cowhide swivel in such an accurate side-arm throw. It’s actually most functional in a side-arm or overhand flick because you’re using the weight of the whip to help build the momentum automatically granted by the bellies of other styles. In short, it’s not only possible but a crowd-pleaser. People seemed to marvel at the whip’s sheer length and power. Makes the performance side a snap (pun intended).

    In any case, the point to all this is my personal advice not to get too hung up on the type of whip you’re working with but to try to learn what you can from any and all styles you come across, provided they’re somewhat functional. You will be a better whip handler by the experience of diversity when it comes to your equipment and when you use your favorites, you’ll find you learn faster and with greater precision. Good luck and keep the knots out of your popper!

    Here’s the first and only video of Gery Deer’s version …

    Learn more about handling all types of whips!

    Schedule your lessons today at The Whip Artistry Studio!

     


  • Bandares / Berry Screen-Used Whip Featured On Local TV

    LD_GLD_ZORROMoraine, OHThe Whip Artistry Studio director, Gery L. Deer, appeared on the February 18th edition of WDTN-TV2’s Living Dayton program to talk about film and television collectibles. Deer, who is also creative director of GLD Enterprises, a media relations and commercial writing agency, is a regular business contributor on the program.

    The segment featured a series of Star Trek and related collectibles and costumes and the only bullwhip in existence to have been used by both Antonio Bandares (The Mask of Zorro) and Halle Berry (Catwoman). Previously owned by legendary stuntman Alex Green, the whip was made by David Morgan and dyed black for a single shot in Zorro then kept by Bandares for a period of time. It was returned to Green a few years later, with Deer taking possession of the whip just after Green used it to train Halle Berry for her Catwoman role.

    The whip is a 12-plait, 6-ft, Australian style bullwhip with an 8-inch handle and double belly. It was originally made in brown but dyed for the Zorro film shortly before shooting in Mexico City in 1997. Since coming to the collection of The Whip Artistry Studio Museum, it has appeared on screen several more times used by comedian Steve Harvey, talk show host and actress, Bonnie Hunt and several others.

    Watch the clip from the WDTN website …

    Sci-Fi Collectibles




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