An immersion in the circus with Boxplanet

When one of her clients asked her to create a big event to celebrate the 75th anniversary of a construction company on the circus theme, Hle8ne Edouard immediately thought of us and our universe “The Amazing Travelling Imaginarium.” A few quotes later, it was on! Eat The Cake Studio started its collaboration with BoxPlanet, which we hope will be long and prosperous.

Our part of the event consisted of providing the entertainment, the show, the “wow” factor of the evening, while BoxPlanet took care of everything else (logistics, decor, catering, DJ...). Maddy and I first visited the venue with Hle8ne to better visualize how to install our artists and the possible flow of the evening. There were three spaces: the big top in which the caterer and the DJ/musician were located; the bathroom showroom where there was a small bar and a VR experience; and another showroom shop next to the big top. The client wanted lots of interactions and especially for guests to admire the new bathroom showroom.

We're getting active! I called the artists we wanted to hire for this event and they were all available, perfect! Frances, Maddy, and I held several virtual meetings to decide the course of the evening with several exchanges with Hle8ne to validate everything. Then, we organized a meeting with the artists to give them all the information and explain what we expected of them.

Manon David, who played Cle9mentine Delait, our bearded lady with clairvoyant powers, was set up in the bathroom showroom to perform a burlesque act and continuous tarot card reading animation. Christie Chery, our strongest woman in the world, Lady Hercules, was in the shop animating strength competitions with the macho construction guys. Lila Chupahoops, who played the tamer Priscilla Kayes, did a hoop and artistic whip learning animation in the big top. Kirby Marzelle, the extraordinary acrobat, did 3 acts on her Lyra, a hoop on a rod suitable for aerial acrobatic figures. Elena was our Ringmaster, Kitty Stark, and also did a burlesque clown striptease act. Each performed an act based on their character to highlight both their role and the artist.

As for Frances and Maddy, besides managing the flow of the animations, one warmed up the crowd with inexhaustible enthusiasm and energy, and the other added a touch of childhood memories holding a popcorn stand with hot buttery popcorn with unlimited toppings that tempted even the most serious guests.

Behind the scenes, Nawal Mrabet, a costumer we worked with during our Burlesque Moulin years, helped us find costume elements we were missing with her sewing machine, doing last-minute adjustments.

Before the big day, we coordinated with the DJ, Re9gis Suez, and the brass band “Les Enjoliveurs” so that all performances were coordinated and the evening had an overall coherence; the brass band agreed to play for the grand entrance of the artists, which added a touch of authenticity to the evening. Finally, we prepared detailed lists of everything that had to be brought, bought, and found. Everything was ready!

D-Day arrives, October 14. It was raining. That made the event a little more complicated, but we had more than one trick up our sleeve! Frances and I loaded my little car and I mistakenly thought I had enough gas to pick up Christie with her heavy accessories (strongest woman in the world obligation), get to the event place in Clamart, and make the return trip. (With the strike, gas was hard to find). We arrived on site. Manon had transportation issues. We couldn't install Kirby's Lyra on the stage as we had thought. The floor of the big top was wet and it kept raining. We were missing a costume element that hadn't arrived on time.

As almost always with events like this, there are twenty thousand solutions to find for unforeseeable mishaps, unfortunate surprises.

But as always, we find solutions with the energy of necessity, resourcefulness, and guardian angels, like the employee who cuts us a plywood board to create a base on which to place the Lyra.

Despite a hectic pre-event, our artists were amazing, everything went wonderfully. The guests and clients were very satisfied. Our artists were reassured. Cle9mentine Delait surprised more than one with her predictions - they didn't expect to meet a real psychic! And Lady Hercules was courted by one of the guests, amazed by her strength!

Solutions found. Event successful. We returned safely despite the lack of gas. We slept well, exhausted but happy to have done a good job!