Flying Funny: My Life without a Net

In Flying Funny, Riggs shares many highs and lows while describing circus life and the evolution of America’s popular entertainment during the twentieth century. Later, he moved to Minneapolis where he founded the Brave New Workshop, launching the careers of comic greats such as Penn and Teller, The Flying Karamazov Brothers, Louie Anderson, Peter Tolan, Pat Proft, Nancy Steen, Liz Winstead, Al Franken and many others. Son of the acclaimed aerial flyers Riggs and Riggs, he made his circus debut as a polar prince parading in a wagon pulled by a polar bear. In one way or another, Riggs has been flying ever since.The rest, as they say, is history. Home was the circus. Today, the Brave New Workshop thrives as the longest running improvisational theater in America. On a slow boat home and restless about his future, he developed the idea of Word Jazz—creating a script on stage as it is being performed—and shortly after he opened the Instant Theater in New York. With a wry sense of humor and infectious warmth, he shares the exhilaration of flying whether through the air or on the stage..  From flying funny on the trapeze to theater without a net, Dudley Riggs’s story is filled with hearty laughs and eyebrow-raising ins

Dudley Riggs had the good fortune of being born on the high wire with no other option but to fly. He let us perform at his theater when we were just getting started, so we owe him a blurb. So buy this book."—Penn & Teller"It’s a lucky person who finds their wings in order to fly in this life. One can equate Riggs’s big-top lifestyle to their own everyday circus and perhaps find some wings of their own."—Mo Collins"Always wanted to run away with the circus but your busy schedule never allowed it? Well, this book is the answer. If you love show biz, comedy, the circus, or ju

Flying Funny Kills! BOFFO! Loren Ek When I lived in Minneapolis I often attended shows at Riggs' Brave New Workshop. Great improv guests.Delighted that Dudley has written this all-consuming book. BOFFO!. Circus History realty Amazon Customer Interesting and fast read with lots of circus info. If you loved the circus as a child, you will find this book full of fun, interesting facts. A bygone time that is not disappearing, but Changing.. Amazon Customer said I don't know which stories I liked best--how Riggs' father used him as a tot in. A delightful account of a fascinating life by a master storyteller. Someone alive today who actually grew up in the circus! A trapeze artist no less.I read it to my partner and we both laughed out loud over and over. I don't know which stories I liked best--how Riggs' father used him as a tot in the circus and vaudeville, how as a terrified young man he had to drive a huge truck filled with lions and tigers across th