June’s Man of the Month is:
Neezar Joseph
Here’s a little bit about him:
Neezar’s answering machine sings it all: “Stilt-walker, fire breather, opera singer, actor, dancer, puppeteer, mime you can call anytime!”.
Neezar showed much interest in the arts at an early age singing, dancing and acting in various school and church plays. He would later take this experience and apply it to a few different theatrical rock musical projects.After running its course he began setting his sights on the circus arts learning stilt-walking, fire performance and mime/character. He is also a working actor, stunt performer and trained opera singer. He has worked on such Film productions as Davinci’s Inquest, X-men 2 and more recently NBC’s Psych.
And here’s how he answered my 6 questions about creativity:
What does it mean to you to be creative?
Being creative is our artistic interpretation of life, and how we see the world. I tend to choose more fantasy based creations and exaggerate the everyday. Fire breathing to me is an explosion of expression, and stilt walking is a giant trying to co-exist in a small world. Essentially being creative is a life line into a side of ourselves that must be expressed.
What keeps you moving forward in making things happen?
Living in the now, not being hung up on the past or worrying about the future. My parents who grew up in Lebanon during the civil war had no choice but to live day by day because they never knew if tomorrow would ever come. Having their stories etched in memory, I will always take a moment to stop and think…if I’m unhappy today, how can I turn that around and live this day to its fullest.
What’s the wildest journey your venturesome spirit has taken you on?
Performing at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece with the lovely and talented Dolly Hopkins and 6 others.I will never forget how this was my first trip overseas with a fantastic opportunity to perform Stilt-walking Daily and a Fire Show nightly. It felt as if the world was our audience, with only the finest performers and facilitators, this adventure was un-forgetable – not to mention the greek food was amazing…efharisto!
What’s the boldest, most provocative statement you are willing to make about yourself, your business or the industry that you are in?
What I love about my industry is that there are no limits to what you can create as an artist, Imagination is one thing that can never be measured. The mind is the most powerful device, and I’m constantly trying to out do myself and learn as much as I can in the process. It blows me away to what we can achieve, when we just simply try.
What’s next for you?
This year has been quite exciting up to now, I’ve filmed three commercials performed at the 2010 Vancouver Games and just finished filming stunts on the NBC show “Psych”. I’m involved in a few exciting musical projects that will come out in 2011.In addition, touring with “Duh HockeyGuys” (www.duhhockeyguys.com) which is a Stilt based comedy act that I’ve been part of with some super talented artists…its loads of fun playing hockey on Stilts, you Just gotta watch out for duh high stick! Also the Doggie walking business is getting quite busy for summer, and thats always a fun gig! (www.justlikehomedogs.com)
And what inspires Neezar’s creativity…his dog “Chloe Bear Running Cloud” a kindered spirit and old soul.
Cheers to the present and future free of limits Neezar!
Be sure to check out Neezar’s website: www.neezar.com
