www.nicolowhimsey.com
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Reviews and Recommendations!
The Washington Post- Thursday February 26, 1987- Style and Arts B7
On Nick Newlin's first day as a Harvard freshman, he found his true calling. "I came into my dorm room, and one of my roommates was juggling, doing a few three-ball routines," explains Newlin, a k a Nicolo the Gypsy Juggler. "I had never seen juggling up close before, and was really floored by it. It excited me incredibly right off the bat. So I started practicing." Though enrolled as a psychology major, Newlin spent the next two years perfecting his new-found craft and playing electric piano in a rock band. Then he made his first significant career move. "I had a vision in my mind that I could make a living as a street performer in Paris," says Newlin. So he took a year off, found a nice little apartment near the Centre Pompidou--a prime location for outdoor entertainers using that museum's huge courtyard as their stage--and began his self-styled internship. "I wrote a poem in French about rabbits and hunters and had the -juggling balls go along with the story, so that as I increased the number of balls, the rabbits were multiplying. I also juggled burning torches that I carved out of broom handles ..-. I was miserable at first, .but I watched the other performers, and learned how to gather a crowd · and get people to pay afterward." For a time, Newlin teamed up with a French entertainer, and then rounded out his year abroad with a - working tour of southern Europe. On his return to the States, he plied his trade on the streets of Boston, San Francisco, Key West, Fla., and other venues, taught juggling and, in 1982, even managed to complete his undergraduate degree. It was during that period that Newlin become aware of and eventually associated with the New Vaudevillians, a young crop of clowns, magicians and stunt people--among them the Flying Karamazov Brothers, Avner the Eccentric, Bill Irwin, Penn and Teller, and :the members of the Chesapeake Vaudeville Revue--intent on both celebrating and reenergizing a classic theatrical form. The latter group, a loosely organized ensemble of artists founded by New York tap dancer "Toes" Tiranoff, provided Newlin with a particularly congenial forum for his act. "We all met in Baltimore, while performing side by side at Lexington Market as part of this 'sprucing up the atmosphere' job. Toes originated the group and the name, and different performers have come and gone." (The current roster includes Tiranoff; 7l-year-old hoofer Lewis (The Hawk) Hawkins; Joanne Flynn, a tightrope walker and mime who calls herself "The Queen of Whimsey"; drummer/guitarist/pianist Alan Paul Dean Jr.; and Newlin.) "We decided we didn't want to crowd each other out, so we live in different cities," Newlin jokes. "We all rehearse our bits individually, and then bring them together in as cohesive a way as possible. In the best tradition of vaudeville, we present one unusual act after another." Take, for example; Newlin's "fruit flambayonet": "It's an invention of mine, the only one of its kind I think. I knew that a lot of jugglers I juggled flaming things and;sharp things, so I thought,'Why not do something that is both flaming and sharp?' So it's essentially a torch with a blade attached to it, and then I juggle another sharp object while , eating an apple, and then I throw the apple up and attach it to the blade while the flames are licking around me." Aside from his work with the Chesapeake Vaudeville Revue, Newlin makes his living by appearing in theatrical productions such as the Folger's zany "Merry Wives of Windsor" and on the Renaissance fair circuit. With the Queen of Whimsey and her animal associates--two mules, a donkey and two performing roosters--he travels for nine months out of the year, residing in a little pop-up trailer on various festival sites. Newlin says the transient life style suits him just fine; when things get to him, he just starts juggling. "It's kind af like meditation," he explains. "You're so concerned with keeping the balls going that you can't think about your car payment."
Washington Times November 02, 1996 FOLGER SHAKESPEARE LIBRARY
September 1, 2002 Mr. Newlin has been a director-in-residence at Banneker High School in the District of Columbia for the past six years, preparing students to perform a Shakespeare scene at the Folger's yearly Student Shakespeare Festivals. This type of artist-in-the-school residency requires professional experience in working with and directing students; experience Nick Newlin has in abundance. It also requires, however, a strong commitment to helping students, particularly inner-city students, recognize their own potential as creative artists, a goal that is made more challenging by language that even many adults find difficult. Engaging students in the process of understanding, rehearsing, staging, performing, and enjoying a Shakespeare scene is something Mr. Newlin does with such mastery that his scenes are often awarded special recognition by the commentators at our festivals. Mr. Newlin has also had a long history (about 20 years) of working at the Folger as an entertainer. The NicoloWhimsey Show has been featured as part of the Student Shakespeare Festivals and also as part of other celebrations that the Folger sponsors yearly, including Shakespeare's Birthday. As a performer, Nick Newlin entertains with wit and wordplay, stressing the importance of language and movement to performance and art. The NicoloWhimsey Show has always had a very strong message--each show ends with the words, "Remember: If you shoot for the moon, and miss, you're still among the stars." Mr. Newlin is now incorporating the theme of teaching tolerance into the NicoloWhimsey Show-our experience with him as an arts educator recognizes this as a natural progression for a show that has always entertained and inspired students, teachers, and the public. Nick Newlin is one ofthe best performers I
know to introduce young people to performance in an educationalcontext.
He is an artist, but he is also, first and foremost, an inspirational
teacher, and his work with the Folger has been exemplary. Please
feel free to contact me personally at the Folger via email: jfieldpickering@folger.edu
or by phone: 202-675-0372 
Anne Arundel County Public Library October 1, 1998 To Whom It May Concern: 
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing
Arts 05 April 2001
Nick Newlin has served as a Kennedy Center Residency Artist for
the past two years. Kennedy Center Residency Artists are selected
from a large pool of talented and qualified professional artists
in the Washington Metropolitan area. Following extensive training
in standards of learning, classroom management, curriculum design
and other arts education-related topics residency artists are
placed in classrooms in the D.C. Public Schools. After collaborative
planning sessions with the assigned classroom teacher, the residency
artist designs a curriculum that can last between five and fourteen
weeks.
Mr. Newlin's work as a Kennedy Center Residency Artist
has always been exceptional. He approaches each assignment with
enthusiasm and creativity. His experience using drama and storytelling
to reach children of all ages was evident in his ability to work
with a broad range groups and skill levels. I was most impressed
with his ability to adapt his drama residency content to children
with special needs. Each residency artist is required to plan
and present a culminating event at the conclusion of the residency
period. I was always amazed at Mr. Newlin's ability to bring
even the most shy child to the stage, and have them perform as
a member of an ensemble with confidence and amusing characters.
Always I was met at these events with high praise from the teachers,
administrators and students for Mr. Newlin's work. I was proud
to have him on "the team." And a true team player he
was! His insight into the human psyche always kept workshops
and discussion sessions on a positive and uplifting note. He
is truly an advocate of the child, of the arts and of humanity.
It is my hope that Mr. Newlin will continue to share his gifts
and skills with the children of Washington, D.C. His work fills
a void in their education and their lives.
Manager of Community Partnerships Education Department The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The Benjamin Banneker Academic High School 15 June 1998 I would like to recommend Mr. Nick Newlin, theater director- in-residence of the Folger Shakespeare Library (Washington, DC), for a position in teaching/directing drama and theater. For the past several years Mr. Newlin has worked with English teachers at Benjamin Banneker Academic High School to prepare our students for the annual Shakespeare Festival at the Foiger Library. Benjamin Banneker Academic High School is a magnet school that attracts many of Washington, D.C.'s finest and brightest public school students.
This year I had the distinct privilege of working with Mr. Newlin who introduced a freshmen class of twenty-five students to acting. Mr. Newlin's preparedness for the working sessions with students was always evident. I was impressed that he learned every student's name in only one session. He assessed each individual's strengths and commitment to optimize the contribution each student-actor could make to our production of Shakespeare's Merry Wives of Windsor. Mr. Newlin maintained control of the enthusiastic freshmen. He managed to keep the students focused and engaged while providing an enjoyable leaming environment. Mr. Newlin's commitment to excellence in secondary education enabled my students to be the beneficiaries of his hard work, brilliance, and knowledge of Shakespeare's texts. His ability to motivate and direct students in an award winning production of a Shakespearean play is an extraordinary feat. He works well with students from diverse economic -and cultural backgrounds by consistently encouraging each individual to reach for his or her full potential. Mr. Newlin is a superb communicator and handles complex and sensitive situations with tact and firmness. He is constant professional with whom it has been a pleasure for me to work. If you have any questions concerning Mr. Newlin, please contact me at tel. (202) 673-7322 or (202) 667-0192. |
In
a Juggler Vein
 NICOLINKS!
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