The latest news and events with A Handful of Hats...
Cowboy fun galore when A Handful of Hats organised a full day of Wild West acts , walkabouts and Whip Cracking and Knife Throwing workshops for the UK No1 Favourite Park at Margam Park in South Wales this Bank Holiday . Here's a taste of the fun with a great act from Si and Tor from Flambe Circus. Our thanks to Andrew McFetters
Peter started with a swivel handled leather bull whip, it was, in hindsight, truly horrible, but it was the only type of available in juggling shops 20 years ago, it took him three months of hitting chunks out of himself to finally make it crack, but now he can teach people how to crack a whip in three minutes, give him three hours and he'll have you performing an act.
Eventually, he was then very fortunate to be taught an Australian stock man and Royal Sydney Show Whip Cracking Competition Champion, John Leech, he used stock whips and guess which type Peter then favoured?
Stock Whip 4 plait red hide, very plain , very simple tough whip.
He then started to lean towards long handled bull whips for target work, but It took a trip to America to take part in the International Championships in Fort Worth that he came across the nylon or parachute cord Performance Hybrid or "tube" whip, when they are well made they crack so readily you wonder where the batteries are fitted.... The originals were designed by the world famous Circus Artiste Gary Brophy and made by Simon Martin in Tasmania.
Performance Hybrid Whip (plastic tube handles and nylon braid)
I always think that you can see their origin in the Florida Cow Whip which was made out of nylon parachute cord to cope with wet weather and Florida swamps. This whip was made by the lovely Lauren Wickline who has sadly had to stop making whips because of the RSI it had brought on. Get well soon Lauren.
Which one to go for will depend on your budget and access to the makers listed later on in this page, your budget and what you fancy doing with it , if you want to do multiple fast cracking routines then shortish stock or PH whips are great, if you want to do body wraps and target work then a long handled bull whip can be better.
But if you just want a good all round whip and unless you are an ardent traditionalist or need a whip to suit a character or costume (I feel it has to be a bull whip for Indiana Jones or a Medieval act , but then again I've used a PH whip for years and no one has noticed) then I personally think that a 4 1/2 ft Performance Hybrid whip if you are over 5 ft tall and a 5ft whip if you are nearer 6 foot would be a great way to start, they are light, tough and crack easily if they are well made.
PH whips from Adam Winrich . Mmmmm
(If you can't make your mind up, then catch up with me at the next whip or juggling convention workshop and try the different styles out or you can book a personal workshop here in Barry South Wales, which is now available every Thursday at our practice studio . ( I will however, travel pretty well anywhere if you need a lesson :-) )
If you want to see the different types of whip, here is Adam Winrich, the 12 times Whip Cracking Guinness World Record holder, WWPAS World Champion Whip Cracker, International Grand Master and Champion whip maker with one of his many great video's demonstrating the different types of whip. I met Adam when I competed in America at The International Championships in Fort Worth -Dallas where I was very fortunate to win the Freestyle Championship, competing against who? I couldn't possible say .. :-)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eHDeRxypFE
There's a new Marshall in town!
Needed some training in knife throwing for a new film and guess who had the pleasure of teaching her knife throwing?
With the opportunity to attend a performance master class from two of the UK's leading comedy circus performers everything got put on hold!
Merlins' Walk Retail Park in the historic town of Carmarthen was the campsite for Champion Whip Cracker "Pecan Pete" to round up the wagons at the end of the trail. Well one wagon actually , but what a wagon! especially designed to haul essential supplies the length of fetes , festivals and retail malls around the country, delivering fun half term activities for all ages. We had the Chuck Wagon Plate Spinning Challenge, Lasso spinning , Lasso throwing , Whip Cracking , Cowboy ropes tricks and even horseshoe tossing contest. Cowboy Fun for All!!
Yeehaw!!! Come and join us on Bank Holiday Monday May 30th from 11am to 4pm for the biggest and brightest collection of Western performers in the UK!!
Delighted to say that we are now able to offer weekly expert tuition in whip cracking and other circus and western skills in our own rehearsal space here in sunny Barry in South Wales . Whether you are a beginner or a skilled performer you'd be very welcome to hone your skills, develop new routines and try out amazing stunts with the help and guidance of Pete Gamble.
As the founder of the UK National Whip Convention and the International Western Skills Festival, he has over 20 years experience as a professional whip cracker and circus performer, a qualified teacher and sports coach, he's an international champion and has trained and competed in the UK, France , America, The Netherlands and The Czech Republic, having performed in the street, in stadia , on stage , in the circus and on Television numerous times, he has also taught at Circus Space, many British Juggling Conventions, is the Western Skills Trainer for No Fit State Circus and trained the cast of Barnum , the National Theatre and a number of stage and TV personalities.
Available as a "drop n " facility from 1p, - 3pm , or available all day with private tuition with refreshments provided , accommodation available and excellent transport links from London and the rest of Europe . For further information about costs and what we can do to help you please don't hesitate to contact Peter on 07875 826773 or 01446 747176 or email ahandfulofhats@gmail.com . Training is also available in Welsh or Peter's appalling French.
Having run whip cracking workshops once in Brighton , twice in London , and once in Glasgow this month, it was nice to be nearer home in a fantastic concert hall at The Lisaght Institute in Newport . Jan and Stephen Morgan had a refresher lesson with a two hour Introduction to Whip Cracking that not only covered the history of the whip, whip safety, whip maintenance and the myriad different types available but the opportunity to practice six different cracks with over twelve different types of whip from ten different makers from around the world to help decide what whip would suit them best ... so far we agreed that they really wanted one of each ..... :-)
Both Jan and Stephen are both experienced cow pokes having worked on cow and sheep ranches in America and wanted to add to their skills ready for their next trip out West. Yeehaw!!!
Delighted to say that due to ever increasing demand AHOH has now got exclusive use of a wonderful hall in sight of the sea in sunny Barrybados ! Used by us in the past for show rehearsals and practice, it is now available during the week for one hour tasters, two hour workshops and all day intensive classes for groups and individuals. Led by the International award winning Whip Cracking and Performance Champion Pete Gamble, they are perfect for performers to learn and hone their skills, enormous fun as a unique birthday treat, a challenging and fun alternative for Corporate team building and hen parties loved it!!
With a unique range of whips available to try from Hungarian bull whips, modern performance hybrids, snake whips, 20 ft long whips, short whips, fat whips and thin whips plus Indiana Jones bull whips plus Australian stock whips in leather and nylon, throwing knives and axes galore and a range of lassos to get in a spin about. For more details contact Peter at ahandfulofhats@gmail.com or have a chat on 07875 826773.
April has seen " A Handful of Hats" busy all month so far moving amongst the Science community with a fascinating trip down to Brighton University and a day in the Fluid Dynamics Laboratory with Research Fellows galore and one of the fastest frame rate cameras in existence , what for ? well it involved a whip ..:-) and if all goes well we are off up to Scotland at the end of the month to do it again in a TV studio .. and talking about TV studios we were treated royally at another Studio last week for a different project that we are sworn to secrecy about until April 2016. " I'm ready for my close up Mr De Mille!!!"
Bank Holiday Family Fun Day
Not only is it a stonking great tale of good over evil by Sam Johnson, they even made a film about the making of it and Peter is in it !! ( he's very excited .. ) and you can see it here https://vimeo.com/128184229
What better way to celebrate a loved ones' 40th birthday party than to book a fantastic ancient barn and the best rooting tooting last remaining English Cowboy in Wales to come on down and entertain your guests.
“We booked Peter for a 40th Birthday Party and he is amazing great guy and we had a great show!
”
Meeting and greeting the guests outside with a warm welcome of western music, blazing guns and cracking whips, Peter set the scene for an evening of fun and games, during the Reception we had table entertainment of rope tricks, " Prairie Dogs" "Texas Roses" and gun spinning and then the "Pecan Pete Wild West Show" Pony Express horses raced across the stage, lassos skipped and span, shots were fired, targets were hit, hearts were broken and kisses given .......
our thanks to the talented Lewis White for the photos. " He learnt to crack a whip that evening too"
Building on the success of the 1st International Western Skills Festival that Peter organised last year, a fantastic team of volunteers staged a sell out Festival in Swansea this February, with over 50 guests and tutors from around the world, including America, The Czech Republic and even Iceland!
Featuring whip cracking, gun spinning, fast draw , lasso, knife and axe throwing workshops, this year also saw "Bow Tag" (think Paintball with bows and arrows!!) all of which we are delighted to be able to offer at your event, plus mini lasso making, safe use of Replica Firearms talks, whip making, whip and lasso shows, a dance with a live band and all topped off by the presence of The Bandoleros re-enactment group who we will be working with again at Wild West Shows this Summer ! For more information contact Peter at ahandfulofhats@gmail.com or 07875 826773
So, if you need ideas for unique event and family fun day themes, don't hesitate to drop us a line, ahandfulofhats@gmail.com . Peter has a portfolio of great ideas with the performers you need to make it all happen and although the summer bookings are coming in nicely we have some dates still available, so get the lead out and write! or ring me on 07875 826773 .
How about " Dads Army! or Fun with Flags! or Space Wars and this year Pete is getting his most colourful headdress out and practising his Salsa for a " A Day in Rio" for a fantastic Village Fete in the Vale of Glamorgan that he looks forward to every year
Bath University host one of the earliest in the year Juggling Conventions on the Circus calendar, with a full day of workshops, lovely people and plenty of space to practice, it's the ideal place to blow away the winter cobwebs and work on your new act. A joy to meet up with some of the hardest working performers in Europe with Steve White, our personal hero, Steve Rawlings and his talented son Jay showing us all that to be the best relies on practice practice ... and more practice.
( Golf Club) .... Don't mind if we do ... looks like we are off to do Meet and greet and Pecan Pete Wild West Shows in the Royal Borough very soon , bookings fort the Western Entertainment are coming in very nicely with large shows lined up for the Bank Holidays later on in the year.
With Christmas firmly packed away it has been a busy busy January and February finishing off and moving into the new stores, workshop and offices, the replacement for the old wooden sheds is so posh we're tempted to call it The Stables.. :-) and now we are busy waxing the whips and sharpening the knives, ready for The 2nd International Western Skills Festival here in South Wales at the end of February, there are limited tickets available so hurry up pardners and come on down!!
Hundreds of children and their delighted parents visited the flagship National Trust property of Duffryn House and Gardens to visit that special person and ensure he had their names on the right list, for some, promises had to be made, for others made decorations and present lists to present personally, for all involved, great fun was had.
““Just the most super experience, utterly convincing, enormous fun and what a fantastic setting, you don’t often find Father Christmas in his own Victorian Living Room either , Thank you so much .. ”
““ Never seen the children so delighted! Thank you so much! ”
““ It was so nice that the whole of the Irish Dance Team could visit him at the same time and that he joined in the dancing, such fun! “ ”
