2024 marks the 20th anniversary of the Moisture Festival Comedy/Varieté in Seattle. Yet even though it’s been around for two decades, many still don’t know exactly what Moisture Festival is. Is it a circus? Or is it a musical, dance, magic, or comedy show?
The answer is YES. It’s all the above… and so much more.
What IS it?
Moisture Festival is the largest comedy/varieté (variety) festival in the world. With roots in vaudeville, varieté, and comedy, it is truly hard to describe. You’ve got to experience it.
Now looking before she leaps
by Tiffany Doerr Guerzon
The author's aerialist daughter is flying high. Photo courtesy Tiffany Guerzon
When I tell people that my daughter is a flying trapeze artist and aerialist, they usually say, “Doesn’t that scare you?”
Here’s what I answer: She’s been preparing me for this all her life.
As a child, she was all impulse and energy. She climbed tall objects, jumped from high places, and, at age two, I caught her on top of the fridge. Childproofing only slowed her down. After she did a cartwheel down the stairs and was miraculously unhurt, we put her into gymnastics in the hopes that she would learn to control her growing body — and to fall safely.
No one was surprised when she decided (at age 18) to become a flying trapeze and circus artist. In her first professional job, she learned the “Spanish web.” In this act, performers hang from a long rope via loops by their hands or ankles, doing tricks, often upside down, up to 30 feet in the air – while spinning. Flying trapeze didn’t scare me, but the Spanish web was the manifestation of my worst fear: of her falling and breaking her neck.
Then one day she showed me the rigging that she hangs from, explaining the safety mechanisms. As she described the type of rope used and how much weight the carabiner can hold at an angle while spinning, I felt my shoulders relax.
I realized that while her career can be dangerous, she is doing everything she can to keep herself safe. Not only in her rigging but also by training her body for the sport. Although I still feel my stomach clench when I watch her spinning high in the air, I know that she’s no longer that reckless child leaping before looking.
Montana von Fliss, a longtime festival volunteer, has been bringing her children to shows since they were young. “Not only do my kids want to go every year, but they want to bring their friends,” von Fliss says. “As soon as we see one show, they want to go back and see another.”
Her kids love the fact that the performers often mingle with audience members after the show. “They went up to the Bubble Guy, and he not only did a couple of tricks just for them but taught them a trick too.”
A festival is born
Moisture Festival Artistic Director Ron W. Bailey, a musician who spent time playing at Pike Place Market and the Oregon Country Fair, says he enjoyed the connection he felt with audiences in such up-close, outdoor scenes. He loved that the audience was invited to loosen up and join in on the fun. After attending a comedy/varieté fest in Berlin, where he experienced a similar audience/performer connection, he wanted to bring this unique entertainment to Seattle.
The name Moisture Festival came about when Ron and his wife were driving and saw a sign that read “Oyster Festival.” When his wife mistakenly thought the sign said Moisture Festival, he laughed and asked, “What the heck is a moisture festival?”
The group that would later become founders of the fest, Tim Furst of the Flying Karamazov Brothers, Maque DaVis, Simon Neale, and Sandy Palmer of the Fremont Players, were already brainstorming names having to do with rain. When Bailey brought up the name Moisture Festival, it was decided.
The first show was held in a tent in Fremont and only lasted three nights. Now the festival runs for four weeks every year. The company is a nonprofit, and performers are paid via a “share” system, with everyone getting paid the same amount per show. Aerialist Jessica Perry says that although the show pays less, it makes up for that in perks. For example, performers can stay in the homes of volunteers.
A family atmosphere for performers and audience
“Instead of being put up in a stuffy hotel, you stay with locals who love the festival,” Perry says. “It’s a soul-filling gig.”
The community culture continues backstage. Performers mingle with volunteers, eating a communal meal together each day.
“At other shows, the cast and crew are separated,” Perry says. “But at the [Moisture Festival] everyone is on equal footing; they’ve done a really good job at creating that culture.”
“The Green Room is its own little circus,” said Katherine Bragdon, a longtime volunteer. “There will be a person juggling, a contortionist stretching, and The Bubble Guy doing tricks, mixed in with volunteers and their kids.”
‘True community’
Over the years, more people have become involved.
“It really has gone beyond the founders; the festival has become a true community gathering spot,” says Bailey. “And so many of the people involved are ‘worker bees’ rolling up their sleeves and doing whatever needs to be done. It is a joy to behold.”
Each 90-minute show features a fast-paced assortment of short (less than 10-minute) acts accompanied by a live show band. Presented as a variety show, an emcee introduces each act. The show is different every night and runs from highly skilled circus acts such as aerialists and acrobats to clowns, prop comics, musicians, comedians, and more—often bizarre and usually humorous.
Variety is what it’s all about
“You go from the awe of seeing an aerialist perform to a guy making a sandwich with his feet,” Bragdon says. “If you don’t like an act, just wait a minute.”
The fast pace, variety, and humor are what make the show fun for all ages. “In this day and age, it’s hard to find something so joyful and pure,” says Bragdon.
Bailey says that his favorite part of the fest is seeing multiple generations enjoying the show and laughing together.
Fittingly, the festival motto is “Laughter is the key.”
Show information
Where: This year, shows will be held at Broadway Performance Hall, 1625 Broadway, on Seattle’s Capitol Hill.
When: Wednesday-Sunday, March 21- April 14
Tickets: Cost is $45 to $60 for Friday/Saturday at 7:30 p.m.; youth tickets (12 and younger) $32 to $42; Senior discounts (65+) $40 – $55. Tiered pricing is available on Wednesdays from $10 per ticket in advance, or pay what you can at the box office on the day of (availability permitting).
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