Christian Slater paying £100 for a hat might sound like a throwaway festival story, but it’s also a perfect time capsule of a moment when a whole scene was coming into focus. We pick up our conversation with Hamish McCormick, founder of Carnival Cinema, to revisit the early La Clique years at the Famous Spiegeltent, the style and chaos of the Edinburgh Fringe, and the kind of backstage reality that never makes it into a glossy promo.
From there, we zoom out into the real-life decisions that shape a performer’s path: the grind of street shows and living out of cars, the tempting promise of a new cabaret project, and the shock of landing a steady touring wage with Circus Oz. We get into touring logistics, Japan customs treating swords as weapons, and the constant problem-solving that comes with working in circus, sideshow, and live entertainment.
The heart of the conversation is documentary filmmaking and archival work. Hamish talks candidly about stage anxiety, stepping away from performing, and becoming the person who documents the Australian circus community from the inside out. We unpack how media changed from VHS and DVD promos to YouTube links, why “longitudinal” storytelling becomes priceless over decades, and how perfectionism can trap art on hard drives. We also touch on the Carnival Cinema hoodie phenomenon as a weirdly powerful symbol of belonging, plus Fluke magazine, the essay “Where Is My Art?”, and what it means to capture an ephemeral art form so it can burn again later.
If you care about contemporary circus, cabaret history, independent filmmaking, or how creative communities actually survive, hit play and come along for the ride. Subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find the show.
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