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Running away
from the circus
to join a museum

Just a few short and fleeting years ago, after 35 years of performances in venues ranging from the finest theatrical palaces to the most rickety fairground stages, R.W. Bacon closed the book on showbusiness in favor of the museum program "A Vaudeville Retrospective," detailed elsewhere. The links below are provided for those curious about (1) the now-retired touring theatrical shows (Mr Slim's Goodtime Ragtime Vaudeville Revival, and Mr. Slim & L.J.: Classic Comedy Juggling), featuring R.W. Bacon and his wife, L.J. Newton; (2) books & workshops on R.W. Bacon's juggling specialties; (3) career details, anecdotes, mentors, & friends. The links open as self-contained PDF files in a new window. Enjoy!

Vintage from Vinyl:
Early Recordings of the
Goodtime Ragtime
Vaudeville Revival

(Book & CD set).
The 1983 vinyl LP album, A Panorama of Musical Americana, is now available on CD, with its liner notes expanded into a 192-page excursion through the ragtime, jazz, and vaudeville years.

Welcome ...

Welcome to the Internet home of R.W. Bacon (that's me), an editor/designer, museum professional, historian/author, and performing artist whose tangible home-base in the world is in the coastal community of Newburyport, Massachusetts, USA. This web site summarizes the professional museum services and programs offered, including the illustrated lecture, performance, and exhibition especially for museums, "A Vaudeville Retrospective," the Living History of Early 20th Century Popular Entertainment, with presenter R.W. Bacon (me again) bounding into the role of "The Last Living Vaudevillian."

Note that this website purposefully retains its fixed-width design and logical organization ... for ease of navigation through its voluminous content.

Museum Services

The Museum Services section. When you explore the site and follow your areas of interest, you will find pages of informative content, representative samples of my museum-related work, and useful links to learn more about the areas of professional expertise. The no-nonsense mantra carried into the museum field from my performing days --- "Talk is cheap. See the work." --- is repeated frequently, with adjacent links to PDF files so you can "see the work" for yourself.

Presentations & Exhibitions

The Presentations & Exhibitions section of this web site leads to comprehensive information about "A Vaudeville Retrospective," and how to arrange a lecture/performance at your museum, historical society, library, or college theatre department.

Books & Seminars

Looking to purchase books by R.W. Bacon? To read complete descriptions of books by this author on multifarious history, performing arts, editorial, and graphics topics, or to make a secure purchase online via PayPal, vist the companion Variety Arts Press web site.

Looking for books and seminars by "The Cranky Typographer"? The traveling seminars have been retired --- but the informative books and the website remain! For comprehensive information about the books on writing, editing, typography, and design --- plus helpful tips for "do-it-yourself writers and designers --- visit the dedicated website, www.CrankyTypographer.com.

Looking for R.W. Bacon, showbusiness version?

To those looking for the veteran acrobatic juggler/unicyclist, jazz tenor banjoist/guitarist, and comic dancer --- Yes, that's me. I am now retired from a 35-year career in commercial showbusiness, but still include performance excerpts in the Vaudeville history presentation for museums, "A Vaudeville Retrospective." My wife and longtime performance partner, the sensational club-juggler L.J. Newton, preceded me into retirement by several years, after her own 25 years of dazzling synchrony on stage. Despite pushing to the limit in practice and performance for all those years, we remain happy, healthy, and relatively sane after a well-traveled and fulfilling career. (See the links in the sidebar at the right for additional information, especially the profiles on selected mentors and friends.) Since I was a journalist/editor/designer in my first career, and a researcher/author/historian during my showbiz years, the transition to the museum field was a natural fit. To distant friends, longtime fans, fellow performers, and former juggling/circus arts students, I would be glad to hear of your recent adventures. To new friends and museum colleagues intrigued about the performing arts career, please feel free to explore the various links at the right. Thank you. --- Reg Bacon

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A note on our cyber-world: Please note that except for a presence on LinkedIn (Reginald W. Bacon on LinkedIn), time constraints preclude participation in Facebook, MugShot, SpacedOut, UsedUp, or other similar social media activities. R.W. Bacon is fully engaged with today's technology, but he neither twitters nor chatters, and there is no separate daily blog site. (On this site, at the sidebar on the right, there are articles and essays, and more may be added.) Please be assured, however, that R.W. Bacon can be easily and readily contacted by e-mail or phone. Thank you for understanding.