Episode #182 Jack Lepiarz on Owning your Weirdness to live your dreams!

August 5, 2023 Ian Dawson Mackay ALL PODCAST EPISODES, REAL-LIFE INSPIRING, TRANSFORM YOUR LIFE 1:10:42 0 Comments

TODAY's GUEST IS Jack Lepiarz!

Today’s guest is Jack Lepiarz! 

Jack is Professional circus performer. 4-time Guinness World Record setter, American journalist, stage performer, street performer, and social media personality. Until recently he was also a radio anchor and producer at WBUR in Boston, Massachusetts. He is commonly known as Jacques the Whipper, where he performs amazing tricks with a bullwhip, cracking the whip to the tunes of modern songs and demonstrating amazing tricks that wows his audience.

A lifelong circus performer, he was onstage since before he could tie his shoes. He now performs shows where he takes the timeless fundamentals of circus and repackage them for a brand new, younger audience. He performs at Renaissance Faires around the country and appeared on season 17 of America’s Got Talent

In this interview, we discuss whipping, showmanship, circus skills, chasing your dreams, and owning your weirdness, and so much more!

#JackLepiarz #JacquestheWhipper #AGT #AmericasGotTalent #RenaissanceFaires #Circus #CircusSkills #Whips #GuinessWorldRecords #Journalism #StagePerformer #SocialMedia #Music

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KEY POINTS, Links & Actions

Here are some key points that I would advise you to concentrate on

  • If you cannot find the path you want in life, you can make your own! 
  • “I like to say is it’s standup comedy with a whip. Um, which is you know I am not the greatest whipcracker in the world I am not um, probably the funniest person in the world. But I’ve what I’ve got is I’ve got a unique shtick which is I draw on a dumb. Mustache I talk in a French accent and um, that character kind of informs the comedy and creates you know something fun.” 
  • “Delivering quips and that’s kind of the way I’ve always felt about it which is you know Jacques the Whipper is is me dialed up to 11 but also a lot of my positive qualities kind of amplified to give me some of that extra confidence.”
  • You should consider having a creative hobby to let you have an outlet, where you can create rather than consume, learn skills you wouldn’t find in your job etc.
  • Others will try and influence you, talk you out of things, follow the tired and tested paths, but it is your life so you need to follow your own path. Life is short, live it! 
  • Circus skills can teach you about showmanship, confidence in front of a crowd, skills that you would’t learn in normal life and so much more – many schools offer free or cheap sessions to attend at any age. 
  • Street performing is a great way to learn to dial in your performance, deal with tough crowds, learn the nuances needed for your tricks and  so much more! All performing will help you become better as a performer, all feedback will help you grow your skills and become more confident when performing, and learn where you need to improve to become better. 
  • “… started performing solo and this was after doing you know, high school theater high school drama just get yourself comfortable in front of a crowd. Um the process then was to figure out what the show is. Kind of learn the tricks and just get comfortable telling jokes in front of a crowd. So what I did um, starting very early in college is I just went out and street performed. Um, which is it’s a tough business I’m still not a great street performer. But what’s good about street performing is it gets you used to performing. Gets you used to performing in front of a tough crowd. Um, and it it helps kind of get rid of your fear of failure because when you street perform you’re going to fail a lot. Um not in terms of you know your trick is going to get messed up but just in that you’re going to have 5 people watching your show and it’s you know. Can you keep up the energy while you’re doing that.”
  • Creating a character for a performance isn’t just a good way to have your personal and work life seperate. Many top performers create an alter-ego, someone that they can become to enter into the alter ego, and act at the top of their game, truly confident etc. You don’t have your own baggage worries etc, you have this alter-ego, where you create this person who is brilliant at their game, who is a elite performer etc. For example, Kobe Bryan has ‘The Black Mamba’, Beyoncé becomes ‘Sasha Fierce’ when she performs, they step out themselves and become the alter ego and it lets them perform at a level above what they could do themselves. 
  • You can make a career out of your hobbies, but for most, they will be a hobby, a side hustle, something that you do and noone will ever see, and that is OK. We don’t need to be the best ever, we can do things simply because we enjoy it.
  • If you are going to try for your own business etc, try not to rush into it. Jack waited until he got enough work demand for his hobby work, to justify making it a career. You can cut down on watching TV, going to the pub etc and instead work on your side hustle or business out with your work, so that you can build them up to a level to go for it as a full time career, without jeopardizing a pay-check, rent money etc without seeing if you can make enough to support yourself without losing your work pay first and not end up in debt etc.  
  • “But the good tricks don’t necessarily make a great show. What makes a great show is having a unique character or a unique shtick or you know something that’s going to make you different from if someone else were to pick up a whip and do your exact same show”
  • Jack uses songs to get him into the mood to perform. Most people think of a warm-up as running on the treadmill, star jumps etc. But a warm-up can also be (and should include) a cognitive component and procedure that you use, that gets you mentally ready to perform, to enter the character that you will perform as, to enter your alter-ego and perform! 
  • Jack regularly analyses his performances to look at what he can improve etc, but resets and starts again at the next session. He will see what he can fix or wants to keep going next time, but doesn’t judge himself on his performance, be it good or bad, each new session is a chance to begin again.
  • You don’t need to be perfect in terms of your training and eating. If you need to get fast food when travelling, do it. If you can’t complete a full session, something is better than nothing. Don’t beat yourself up, just do the best you can and look to get back to your plan and schedule when you can. Little mistakes or substitutions will not ruin you. 
@jacqueszewhipper This is the last time I plan on doing this song #barbie #barbiegirl #aqua #jacqueszewhipper ♬ original sound – Jack The Whipper

  • Different styles of performing, will help you work on different styles of content, and learn how to build long and short style content, and learn how to work different audiences regardless of the medium they watch you on.
  • We are all unique, live your life, your way. The world needs you to be the real you, and let your gifts out into the world. As Jack says ‘Own your Weirdness’! 

  • “I mean I yeah I can get the whips and just kind of go into it but that never quite works out for me. Um, it’s a lot of caffeine first and foremost. Um. The second thing I I do is I kind of cycle through pump up songs. So like you mentioned one-w winged angel the the latin song from final fantasy for a long time that was the song that I would listen to right before I went onstage. Um I find I find some kind of music that kind of makes me feel centered makes me feel focused … before I go on stage chances are I am backstage for 3 minutes listening to something that’s too loud on my headphones and then as soon as the song ends headphones go down. We come out. And it’s time to be on stage and so I kind of I have that adrenaline to carry me out at the start.”

  • It is OK to make mistakes, do something stupid etc. As long as you grow, learn, and try to understand negative views or complaints etc. Jack likes to meet his fans after the show and discuss the show and any concerns he has, research more into the tools, references and cultures he involves, so he doesn’t offend to the extreme, but he improves his show so he can involve what he has learnt, and grow as a person too. 
  • “… if you have a bad first show. It doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to have a bad second show if you have a great first show doesn’t mean you’re going to have a great second show, you know every crowd is different. Um, one of the big things is kind of figuring out the energy of a crowd.”
  • Great relationships, regardless of the type, need good communication, respect and work.  

LEVEL UP Time WITH THIS KEY LESSON!

Creating a character for a performance isn’t just a good way to have your personal and work life seperate. Many top performers create an alter-ego, someone that they can become to enter into the alter ego, and act at the top of their game, truly confident etc. You don’t have your own baggage worries etc, you have this alter-ego, where you create this person who is brilliant at their game, who is a elite performer etc. 
For example, Kobe Bryan has ‘The Black Mamba’, Beyoncé becomes ‘Sasha Fierce’ when she performs, they step out themselves and become the alter ego and it lets them perform at a level above what they could do themselves.
The alter ego doesn’t have your worries, stresses, weaknesses etc, you can be a version of you that doesn’t have the things that could hold you back!  

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About the Author
I’m a podcaster who interviews great examples of people to discuss and highlight the methods, hacks, tips and procedures you can use in your own life to help you develop and better your life. I would definitely not consider myself an expert, so to improve, I ask them and action it in my own life! My personal journey has been marked by awkwardness and awesomeness, OCD and ‘OMG’. I have suffered with depression, shyness, unhappiness and lack of focus and motivation so I know what’s it like to feel lost and hopeless. Back then, I wished I had a podcast to listen to and find actual fixes and concrete action steps and not just unobtainable suggestions and promotion of their products but couldn’t find it … so I made my own!

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