2026 Performers: Comedy / Variety (all ages)

Below is a listing of the 2026 festival performers for the Comedy/Variety shows. We will update this page on an ongoing basis.

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A man with spiky brown hair wearing a blue collared shirt and plastic eyeball glasses mouth open wide

Alex Zerbe

With the energy of 1,000 suns, The Zaniac shines like a comedy beacon as he bounces from one end of the stage to the other like an untamed rubber band....

An athletic female figure, almost silhouetted against a bright white and gold background, performing an aerial act on a rope.

Amy Funbuttons

Amy Funbuttons is a fierce, flirty and fun performer specializing in aerial rope. She loves the challenge of the vertical apparatus and the freedom of dynamic movement. This irreverent showgirl...

A white woman with blond hair performing an aerial silks routine against a tawny brown background.

AmyLynn Aerialist

AmyLynn has come to share her passion for movement, and for what she calls ‘circus values’ – celebrating the human spirit through prioritizing self-expression and fun in our lives. AmyLynn...

Performance photo: a white woman in braced horizontally in the air in a large hoop suspended by white silks.

Avery Cluff

Avery has been climbing things since before she could walk, so it is no surprise that she fell in love with aerial arts early on. She grew up in Oakland,...

Performance photo. A young white woman wearing red pants, red gloves, and a black shirt. Her head is thrown back and she is swallowing a very long sword.

Bambi Karloff

Valentine Wulf, known onstage as Bambi Karloff, is a drag king, burlesque performer, and one of the fewer than 30 female sword swallowers in the world. Born and raised in...

An older man making a silly face, brown hair sticking up wildly holding a bomb inside a banana peel.

Bill Robison

Bill Robison is a physical comedian. His performances are a synthesis of outlandish comedy, an elastic face, a penchant for the absurd and a reckless sense of abandon. He has...

Performance photo. Two women in a wide leg split, one upside down and underneath the other like a mirror image. They are in the air, holding themselves up on silks. They are wearing yellow tights and white featery leotards like little baby chicks.

Chicks on Silks

Lyla Goldman: Lyla Goldman is an aerial and unicycle artist. Born in Seattle, she learned to unicycle at the age of five, before she’d even touched a bicycle. From there she...

Studio shot. Vignetted against a broze background, a white woman with long dark hair wearing a black short-sleeved shirt gazes up under a raised arm towards a club in mid air. She has a club in her raised hand and another, about to be thrown, in her lower hand.

Cindy Marvell

Cindy Marvell began juggling in New York City at age twelve. She juggled professionally as a teenager and graduated from Oberlin College in 1988. In 1989 she became the first...

Clara Scudder-Davis

Originally from Seattle, Clara is an acrobat specializing in hand balancing and hula hoops. She found her way to circus after studying dance and theatre, and fell in love with...

A white man with blonde hair and a white button down sleeves rolled up as he grins and spins a soccer ball on his finger standing between a tent and the tent stakes

Cory Black

Cory Black is a soccer freestyle performer with a competitive background, having competed in the USA and the World Freestyle Championships in the Czech Republic. Combining his love for freestyle and...

A white woman with long blond hair wearing a flesh-toned unitard patterned with a flame-like red pattern, in an elegant action pose during an aerial performance against a vivid sparkly purple background.

Cyara Hotopp

Cyara Hotopp is a professional aerialist and mother of two who has the honor of traveling the country doing what she loves most! She is also a former competitive figure...

Doc Sprinsock & the SANCApators

When Fabio Sprinsock was born on a cold, gray Seattle morning, he was so surprised he didn’t speak for a year-and-a-half. His parents were sharecroppers eking out a living growing...

Dream and Jill

Dream and Jill combine forces to bring you an amazing aerial spectacle!

Performance photo. A white man in jeans, sleeveless black tanktop, with a tattoo on his left arm, holds a woman over his head with his right arm. She is draped backwards, in a balletic pose, wearing denim shorts and a white tanktop.

Duo EnBalance

Adrian and Jessie have been training and performing partner acro together for over 8 years. They also coach partner acrobatics together locally in Seattle at SANCA. When they’re not training...

A black-and-white photograph of a Black woman wearing a fedora singing into a handheld microphone

Elnah Jordan Experience

From the church choir of her Ohio childhood to the streets of San Francisco, and then onto Broadway stages, Elnah’s powerful voice and engaging style have mesmerized audiences worldwide. Her...

Performance photo. A glamorously costumed white woman poses dramatically, perhaps midway through a dance, in front of a drum set and red theatrical curtain.

Emma D’Lemma

Emma Foster is a dancer, choreographer, aerialist, burlesque, and variety performer. As a choreographer and performer they are known for bringing a unique and quixotic movement quality to the stage....

Eric Haines’ One Man Band

Eric Haines began as a comedy juggler and became a stilt walker, puppeteer, actor, dancer, variety artist and one man band. He’s been on That’s My Jam with Jimmy Fallon,...

Frank Olivier

Frank Olivier is a three time world juggling champion, and an award winning magician. His comedy act has appeared on America’s Got Talent, The Tonight Show, HBO’s Just For Laughs,...

Studio shot of an aerial pole act. A bare-chested man in long black tights is braced horizontally away from the moving pole, holding on with two hands.

Franklin Mendoza

Franklin Mendoza is a Venezuelan circus performer based in Las Vegas, with over 12 years of experience. He specializes in aerial straps, corde lisse, hair hanging, teeth hanging, aerial pole,...

A black and white photograph of a very large, very formal orchestra. The image is a joke, because the Fremont Philharmonic is not a philharmonic orchestra in any of the traditional senses.

Fremont Philharmonic Orchestra

Originally the Freiberg Philharmonium, the Fremont Philharmonic couldn’t get a gig in town, as everyone in the little Alsatian town was in the band. Neighboring villages suspected with so much...

Go Janes

The Go Janes feature vocal harmonies, harp-like ukes, and guitar on all-original folk, pop and Americana tunes. These veteran performers present insightful beauty and humor from the long view of...

A tall puppet-man with unusually long arms is standing on one leg. He looks a little clown-like in his apparel and holds a giant red inflatable ball.

Godfrey Daniels

Moisture Festival regulars know Godfrey Daniels as one of our own. We’ve met his family and learned his ways. We’ve come to know what frustrates him and what makes him...

A young white woman, photographed from high above, in her Cyr wheel, olive green skirt flaring out beneath her.

Hayley Dynamo

Hayley is a multidisciplinary circus artist specializing in Cyr wheel, aerial silks & duo aerial. She received a BA in dance from Oberlin College before pursuing a career in circus...

Performance photo. A smiling young black woman in a gold sequined costume performs mid air in a pink hoop suspended by a black silk.

Heather Tipton

Heather came to circus later in life. She’d just had two kids and needed something that was just for her. Heather took her first circus class as a way to...

Iman Lizarazu

Iman was born in a small village in the Basque region of France. Iman is an Eccentric Performer and teacher. She worked around the world with her two 90-minute solo...

A girl in a yellow t-shirt, smiling, holds a blonde-haired, blue-eyed puppet girl on her lap. They are both looking at the camera and smiling.

India & Marigold

India Osebold is a budding performer who has brought Marigold to life through her ventriloquism act since 2023. Together, they have appeared in the Moisture Festival, the Seattle Folklife Festival,...

Performance photo. A white woman in a short red costume with long gray sleeves is lying on her back juggling a giant white and blue ceramic planter with her feet.

Jack Weinstock

Jack is graduate of the San Francisco Circus Center’s Clown Conservatory and holds a degree in Technical Theater and Scenic Design. Jack realized that building sets was fun, but not...

Performance photo. A white man with short, light brown hair, wearing grey pants and a vest over a white button down shirt and blue tie, performs with a diabolo.

Jan Damm

Jan (“Yahn”) Damm has been touring the U.S. and internationally as a circus artist for 20 years. He specializes in clown, juggling, acrobatics, balancing and eccentric skills. Originally from Augusta,...

Black and white head shot: An older white man with white hair and beard wearing glasses and holding the neck of his acoustic guitar.

Jim Page

Jim Page was named by Seattle Metropolitan Magazine as “One Of The 50 Most Influential Musicians In Seattle History.” He has recorded 24 albums over the course of a 50-plus year...

Jody Poth

Jody hails from Seattle and brings years of experience in all aerial forms and partner work. With a background in dance, Butoh, experimental theatre, flow-based movement arts, Jody also pays...

A bare-chested white man, balancing on one hand, torso and legs improbably skewed to one side, in an urban, concrete setting.

Joel Herzfeld

Joel Herzfeld is a Guinness World Record-holding handbalancer and cyr artist based in Boston, USA. Joel has performed around the world. With Les 7 Doigts De La Main, he toured...

Performance photo. A young black man, wearing jeans, a colorful striped sweater, and glasses, poses with juggling clubs in one hand while making a 'sshhh' gesture with the other.

Juggle Jawns

Jared is a juggler from Philadelphia, PA. Having started his juggle journey at the RIT juggling club in Rochester, NY, he has traveled around the world researching, teaching, and performing...

JWYOYO

JWYOYO (Justin “Wacky” Weber) is a yo-yo performer and object manipulation act that fuses what most consider a child’s toy with theatrical circus performance. He enjoys incorporating jazz and electronic...

Performance photo. A performer in a blue unitard, poised on a pink block, in a split legged handstand.

Kai Unruh

Kai is a senior high school student in Seattle. She became fascinated with contortion and has been training with Gunnar Field of Minneapolis since she was 11. Contortion has been a...

Karen Quest – Cowgirl Tricks

Dubbed America’s Funniest Cowgirl, Karen Quest has been blazing a trail since 1998 with her one-woman, award-winning original comedy act, Cowgirl Tricks. Skillful trick roping, impressive whip cracking, outstanding audience...

Katie Lynch

Katie is a full time aerial arts instructor and performer based out of Gig Harbor, WA. Her passion for fitness and people led her to earn a Bachelor’s Degree in...

Performance photo of a Chinese pole act. A performer in red tights, black jacket and white bowler hat poses as though simply standing in a wide stance with arms folded, but she is horizontal, holding herself out in space from the pole by her ankles.

Katie Russo

Katie’s performance career began sitting at a piano bench, refusing to practice. Still, she fell in love with music—especially the marching arts—where she performed with world champions Phantom Regiment drum...

A white man, facing the camera, with white curly hair and a long beard, wearing Scottish formal wear, juggles three yellow and one purple clubs. He is pictured in front of a purple back drop.

Kuzma Karamazov

Kuzma believes that laughter may be the only medicine that everyone can afford. After years of analysis, his theory on comedy can be summed up as follows: Quantity. In 1984,...

Performance photo. A white woman posed like a cupid with a bow and arrow, hangs from her hair. She wears high heeled fringed boots, and a black lacy costume.

Leila Noone

Leila Noone is a multidisciplinary circus artist known for her dynamic presence, technical versatility, and deep commitment to storytelling through movement. Trained across a wide range of disciplines, she performs...

A large group of child performers dressed in white t-shirts and denim.

Les Nuages

Les Nuages, “The Clouds” in French, is a group of almost 30 Youth Performers from the School of Acrobatics and New Circus Arts. They range in age from 7 to...

A man with black hair and glasses, holding a pack of playing cards in one hand and throwing a single playing card with the other, throws his head back in an open-mouthed laugh. He is wearing a dark blue jacket, white shirt and bow tie. Hi sleeves are rolled up and he's pictured against a mottled, dark grey back drop.

Louie Foxx

Louie Foxx celebrated his interest in childish pursuits even before the birth of his child gave him “a valid excuse to go to the zoo once a week and build...

Outdoor performance photo. With a crowd of spectators behind her, a woman with tattoos and dark hair, in black shorts, knee length boots, and a black and white top, poses on her stomach on a red platform, pushed up in a 'cobra' pose with a sword balanced on her nose.

Lucy Juggles

Lucy Juggles is a full time juggler based in the Bay Area. She currently performs a one woman comedy juggling show at Pier 39 in San Francisco, where she does...

Master Payne

Master Payne once again has made the long and arduous journey from the mysterious realm of Wallingford so that he can grace the stage at the Moisture Festival and entertain...

Mathieu Bolillo

Mathieu Bolillo is a highly skilled performer with 30 years of athletic and acrobatic experience and an insatiable drive to further his skill and push the human body to new...

A blonde woman onstage with a microphone and a swiffer mop. She wears a short red sequined dress and appears animated in talking into the microphone.

Montana von Fliss

Montana von Fliss is very happy to be a returning MC at the Moisture Festival! She has been stepping onstage for more than 30 years as an actor, a vaudevillian,...

A man with a blue and white star shaped hat with black hair wearing a white costume holding a set of paper dolls with yellow heads and blue and white bodies mouth and eyes open wide

Mr. Lo’s Paper Show

Mr. Lo’s remarkable skill with paper and his coy old-world sense of humor is a sensation when presented in European Varieté theaters and circuses. Aside from Seattle’s Moisture Festival, I’d...

Three older men with similar animal print vests and black shits and pants smiling and posing joyfully each one holding three shiny clubs

Mud Bay Jugglers

Masters of levity in several senses of the term. Mud Bay has brought their innovative approach to juggling for over 40 years now. They’ve passed some of their knowledge and...

Naked Truth

The Naked Truth show band. Their name? We looked up Naked Truth on the internet and found this story explaining the source of that idiom since the late 1500s: Truth...

Performance photo. A compact man wearing tangerine pants and suspenders and a fuchsia pink shirt and shoes, balances on a Rola Bola

Ori Quesada

Ori Quesada is an acrobat and circus performer born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. He began training in 1997 at 7 years old under Master Lu Yi...

Close up of a white man's face, framed by his hands one of which is much closer to the camera and the other close to the side of his face. One eyebrow is raised and he has a mysterious expression.

Paul Draper

Paul Draper is a world-renowned mentalist, comedy presenter, and keynote speaker who has captivated audiences from the United Nations to Apple, Cambridge to Yale, and Hollywood to Broadway. With appearances...

A white woman with dark hair smiles at the camera while appearing to pet the nose of a puppet black horse.

Puppetlandia

Annett Mateo believes anything can be a puppet! She has made all kinds of puppets out of all kinds of materials for people, projects and theatres both nationally and internationally....

Rain City Ropeworks

Rain City Ropeworks delivers a fast-paced, high-energy jump rope performance featuring a cast of 14 dynamic athletes. The act blends multiple styles of jump rope — speed, freestyle, partner skills,...

Performance photo. A white woman in knee-length white tulle skirt and red sequined top, elbow length gloves and elaborate flowered headpiece rollerskates in front of a shadowy audience.

Sandy

Sandy was one of Moisture Festival’s founding members and she continues to find ways to contribute despite the fact that she moved to Denmark several years back. We are so...

Scott Anderson

Scott Anderson is one of the few magicians from the Pacific Northwest who has been elevated to the national stage. He repeatedly amazed the judges on America’s Got Talent, starred...

Snakez Alive!

Thrill (okay, so maybe “thrill” is too strong a word there) to the meritorious and venerable musical stylings of Snakez Alive!, a spritely program of odd jass, hot swing and...

Snatch Adams

A trained clown, she joined the circus as a child and never looked back. She is now a globe-trotting variety performer back for her second year at Moisture Festival. If...

Spiderlounge

Spiderlounge is a horn-focused, groove band. Primarily featuring Funk and Soul sounds from the 70s, the band includes a diverse group of musicians with influences from Jazz to Heavy Metal....

A performance photo of 5 dancers in a V formation, wearing black pants and white sleeveless Ts. They are facing the side, one knee cocked, heads lowered, with a hand to the brim of their white cowboy hats.

Splinter Dance Company

Splinter Dance Company, under the umbrella of ajusticenetwork and the fiscal sponsorship of Shunpike, is composed of a diverse group of professional dancers from Seattle who have come together to...

Steve Owens

14-Time Award Winning magician Steve Owens has appeared on National TV around the world in places like China, Egypt, Thailand, and NBC Prime time in the USA. He represented America...

Suitcase Dance Theater Company

In the midst of the pandemic’s isolating grip, Suitcase Dance Theater Company emerged as a beacon of hope and creativity. Founded by Veronica and Mark Mendonca, the company grew from...

The Amazing MeeZee!

Classic American Circus & Sideshow artist in the modern day. Known as: The Chairman of Cheers, The Clown Prince & The Royal Rogue of Sideshow. MeeZee hails from the “Golden...

The Belugin Bros.

The Belugin Bros. hail from Vareniki, a small European country located somewhere between here and there. Growing up on their grandmother’s vineyard, they heard their calling at a young age...

Tumbleweed Circus

Tumbleweed Circus is a one-woman, eight-wheeled spectacle who captivates audiences with an exciting blend of physical comedy, roller skating, trick roping, fire manipulation and juggling stunts. Her dangerous and daring...

Photograph taken from an angle above three performers standing on a patio. A white man wearing a black beret in in the middle. To his right, a white woman in a yellow dress and black jacket and to his left a woman in a red shirt and black pants. Everyone is smiling.

Uncle Bonsai

“A folk-pop trio from Seattle, performs funny original songs whose exquisite musical detail and subtle needling wit attain a level of craft not often seen in pop” – The New...

Uncle Pappy

Meet the redoubtable beloved eccentric children’s entertainer UNCLE PAPPY, that lovable guy with a rubber nose and a soul to match! Uncle Pappy inspires kids to paroxysms of joy (no,...

Valentina

Valentina is an award-winning aerialist and coach. Her innovative acts earned her international recognition including a gold medal from Крылья /Wings International Aerial Festival for her tension chains act “Kill...

Veronica Blair

Veronica Blair has studied with prominent artists including LaNorma Fox, Ringling Bros. African-American Aerialist Pa-Mela Hernandez, and the renowned Gérard Fasoli of Centre National des Arts du Cirque / Cnac. Her...

Studio portrait. A cheerful white man with a mustache, wearing a hat, black shirt, and crossword puzzle patterned waistcoat, mid juggle.

Wren the Juggler

Northwest native Wren the Juggler plies his titular trade across fairs, festivals, and fetes, sharing his love for juggling, prop manipulation, dumb jokes, and general nerdery with anyone that will...

Xochitl Sosa

Xochitl Sosa is a versatile performer. Specializing in Dance Trapeze, her original work has won such praise as an Isadora Duncan Award, and most recently won 2nd place at Vivafest...

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