La MaMa Blogs: January 2022

Thursday, January 20, 2022

Photographer Jim R. Moore's book "Don't Miss This! A Decade of Eccentric Performing Arts" is out February 1, 2022!

Book cover of "Don't Miss This! A Decade of Eccentric Performing Arts"

Don't Miss This! A Decade of Eccentric Performing Arts by photographer Jim R. Moore is out February 1! The book is Moore's pictorial paean to the stars of today's circus, sideshow, burlesque, and new vaudeville scenes. It includes over 200 photographs, with accompanying essays, chronicling the last decade of eccentric performing arts.

Performers featured in the book's photographs include La MaMa artists such as Kevin Augustine, Yoshiko Chuma, Lisa Kron, Tom Murrin, Nicky Paraiso, Peggy Shaw, and Lois Weaver, among others.

Check out this Broadway World interview with Jim R. Moore about turning his love of the eccentric performing arts into a photographic collection!

Visit Jim R. Moore's website and follow him on Instagram at @jimrmoore_eccentric and on Twitter at @vaudevisuals.

Quotes

"Jim is a wonderful portraitist...the Nadar of the Eccentric Performing Arts!"

-DOMINIQUE JANDO, founder, Ciropedia; author, Big Apple Circus: 25 Years

In these pages, you will find the world's most eccentric extended family: clowns, acrobats, thespeians, musicians, contortionists, juggles, puppeteers, ventriloquists, daredevils, aerialists, opera singers, drags stars, monologiss, impressarios, magicians, impressionists, fire-eaters, nuts, and acts of the sort we still don’t have a polite name for. The best of these performers are several of those things at once. Some have international followings, some are the well-kept secrets of underground connoisseurs. One thing’s for certain: perusing these pages is like a trip to a circus with 300 rings. Prepare to be delighted.”

-TRAV S.D., founder, American Vaudeville Theatre; author, No Applause - Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous

“I salute my friend Jim Moore for always being present where the action is and for his talent at extracting the essence of a performing scene. Bravo, well done!”

-PHILIPPE PETIT, high wire artist

“Through his lens, Jim Moore has documented several decades of wonderful performers...who have always made me laugh!”

-PAUL BINDER, founder, Big Apple Circus; author, Never Quote the Weather to a Sea Lion and Other Uncommon Tales

“The minute I opened Jim Moore’s new book, Don’t Miss This!, I couldn’t stop. I had to turn every page. This isn’t Jim’s book. It’s my book. And, it’s your book too. Buy it now!”

-MICHAEL BONGAR, CEO, Bongarbiz

“Jim Moore has photo-documented at least an entire generation of my kind of performers, within the confines of a single decade. Included are a dozen of my former students (they know who they are), and a mentor of mine going back 65 years. (His initials are the late, great Ward Hall.) This book is a treasury of memories!”

-HOVEY BURGESS, circus performer and educator