Funnybone the Clown
Mike Ianneo Joined: April 4th 2007
Logged in: February 6th 2012
Logged in: February 6th 2012
Travel Blog Posts
RECOVERED
On this day off I spent the day in Nagasaki. Of course Nagasaki is famous for the day we sent a nuclear bomb called the "Fat Man" and destroyed most of the city on August 9th, 1945. The two main sites in Nagasaki are the Atomic Bomb Museum and Peace Park. It was a very emotional experience. My first stop was Peace Park and it was a fun place to check out. Peace Park is a park designed to give the world the promise of peace. The largest statue in the middle of the park is a representation of God watching down on a peaceful world. The park also has a large water fountain for peace and many little statues which as depict peaceful images such as children playing and a mother with her baby. ... read more
Chicken on the Barb-E
The latest fun thing we've done as a group is pitch in to buy a BBQ grill. It's intestesting...in Japan they use a gel instead of a liquid lighter fluid like we use. We BBQ fish, burgers, steaks and chicken...and if you know me...you know I love to BBQ. Stay blogged in for a future blog on our 4th of July BBQ and fireworks show party...we are planning a fun BBQ on that night. One crazy thing we did that night is after the BBQ was over James bet anyone that would walk on the hot burning coals he would give some yen. It took a lot of convincing but Rob Lok decided to give it a try. The deal was you must walk on the burning hot coals for five steps and James would ... read more
Shogun Mike
A one hour train ride and an hour on the bus from Huis Ten Bosch will get you to Hizen Yume Kaidou, the ninja training school theme park. During my time here at Huis Ten Bosch I want to check out as many nearby sites as I can. When I found out about the ninja theme park I was very intrigued. The theme park seemed old and run down but that is what gave it a charm of it's own. Most of the attractions were rusty and creaky but the heart of the theme park are the walk around characters and of course the ninjas. There was only one main ninja show where a hero character was trying to recover some secret plans and was stopped by the dark ninja and his henchman. In the ... read more
The big boat
Working a private party for Huis Ten Bosch Asia » Japan » Kyushu By Funnybone the Clown June 14th 2007 Mike Ianneo Every now and then I get booked for a private corporate gig after work for Huis Ten Bosch. When I do this additional work they of course pay me extra money above my normal salary. I love doing these type of gigs because they remind me of the type of work I normally do at home. At this event I performed on a chartered boat that went on a hour cruise around the bay. I was hired to perform a balloon stage show and a bit of walk-around balloon twisting at the cocktail party. They also had a violinist playing a couple sets. The boat was ver... read more
Mr.Yamashita and Mr. Nakamura
Meet the Staff Asia » Japan » Kyushu By Funnybone the Clown June 12th 2007 Mike Ianneo The Staff at Huis Ten Bosch are amazing. They treat the performers like superstars. When we have costumes that need washing or mending it's taken care of. If it's raining outside they hold our umberllas as we get to our set locations. They give us 10 minute, 5 minute and one minute standby cues before our sets. They open doors for us, drive us to the set locations and translate when needed. Without the help of this amazing staff it wouldn't be as great of a job as it is. This blog is dedicated as a big thank you to all the staff at Huis Ten Bosch. A special th... read more
Huis Ten Bosch
Some of my friends and family already know about this, but I wanted to make the official announcement on the blog. Huis Ten Bosch has renewed my contract agreement and giving me an extention from July 15th through September 5th. So I will be blogging for an additional couple of months and reporting all the wonderful adventures I have in Japan. Over the next few months I will have a six part mini series on Huis Ten Bosch with details from each land in the theme park including all the attractions. I will also have a section called Meet the Staff, where you will meet the amazing staff that has made my stay here in Japan so wonderful. I will also be giving complete reports on other nearby theme parks like Hizen Yume Kaido, the ... read more
The wading pool
After working a long day at Huis Ten Bosch, I enjoy winding down at the Rin spa inside Huis Ten Bosch theme park. Last week, all the performers wanted to try out the Rin spa also. It normally cost ￥２500 use the Rin Spa but for staff members of Huis Ten Bosch, it's only ￥500 (less than $5). At most Japanese spas or Onsen you must use the facilities completely naked but luckily for you and me at the Rin spa wellness center you must wear a bathing suit. The spa has a whirlpool, two full size hot tubs, a cool water plunge, a very nice steam room, dry sauna, and several very large wading pools complete with waterfalls and highly powerful water jets that give you a deep tissue water massage. This is a great ... read more
Scot Free shooting off a firework
Everynight after work we always try to do something fun. Usually once or twice a week James spends about 4000 - 6000￥ on fireworks (about $40-$60). I think he's crazy for spending that much on fireworks...but he has fun. James says in Australia he can't buy fireworks so he wants to have as much fun shooting them off in Japan as he can. Last Friday, we did something crazy. We pulled an all nighter by renting a car and driving to Fukuoka, a two hour drive from the dormitory. Scot knew a DJ from Canada playing at a club here in Japan called Keith Flack. It cost us 3500 ￥(about ＄３５) to get in. We all thought it would be fun even though we all had to work the next day. It's was bit crazy to stay ... read more
Dinner at MKs with the performers
Every morning, I come into work about 8:30 am to check my email and go on Skype to make my daily phone calls to the United States. I start putting on my clown make up at around 9:15 so I can be ready for my first set at 10:00 am. I finish my last set at about 4:20 and by the time I clean up I'm biking home before 5:00. That's my work day. But many of you are wondering what I do after work for fun. One day Ryan played on old clown trick on James and secretly put black makeup on a cane and had James balance it on his forehead. James didn't discover the black marks on his face until late that night. Sometime we play tricks on each other to amuse ... read more
Scot Free
When I first arrived the first performer I met was Scot Free, a Canadian comedy juggler. His real name is Jeff but he got his stage name after a DC comic book character Mr Miracle the escape artist. Mr Miracle's secret identity name is Scot Free. Jeff juggles chain saws while eating apples. His favorite TV show is "Trailer Park Boys", a mockumentary like the American show "The Office". Scot will be ending his contract in June because he has a major engagement in Canada at the end of June. Scot is also my next door neighbor. Michele "Frenchy" Mimo is another Canadian performer who does a balancing clown act on stage. Mimo loves to gourmet cook in the dorms and is an all around nice guy. He has a strong French accent with a ... read more
