Fool Hearty

We speak in a slight accent, as our characters are from "Zanzibar". We wear clown makeup, lots of bells, and elaborate costumes. Our magic tricks involve audience volunteers, usually children, however we can cater our performance to adults as well. The dove illusion requires a backstage area to prepare. The shows we do, engage the audience on a personal level. We often comment on things that are happening in the moment, and we love to joke around and be silly. Marquise eats fire ~ and he does a tongue transfer to light an unlit torch. I provide the drum roll! We do juggling, that's not really our main focus. Our dog show has a lot of props that require assembly at the venue pre-show. Again, we will structure our performance to meet the needs and capabilities of the event venue.

Mark has been performing professionally for 44 years, and is a 2nd generation clown. Myself, Tara, I began performing in children's theater when I was 12 years old, and have been performing professionally for 25 years. We both love what we do!

Fool Hearty show is owned by Tara & Mark Reed; a husband and wife team of traveling Fools. :-) We've been traveling and performing the Renaissance Faire circuit for 24 years. We move around the United States doing shows, sharing smiles, laughter, and loving life!

We are currently located just outside of Houston, Texas. Soon, we will be traveling to and staying just outside of Austin, TX (March-April). Beyond those dates, our tour for 2020 is still being defined. We are open and receptive to wonderful new events.

Our act, Fool Hearty, has been awarded 1st place for "Best Children's Act or Performance" four times, and in 2017, we won 1st place for "Best non-musical Comedy Act" in the periodical Renaissance Magazine. We were also featured on the cover of Renaissance Magazine, issue #88.

Mark designs and creates our intricate costumes himself, our outfits are historicallly called "bells & motley". They are colorful, bright, and festive.

Our Jester characters: "Marquise, Zany from Zanzibar" and "Ima Nutte" are well defined, and have fun interactions! Our energy is upbeat and uplifting, and we come from the heart with our humor. Even when we are making jokes about being married (which we often do) there is an underlying joy and affection to everything we say. Our comedy is layered with jokes to appeal to people of all ages.

Although we are Renaissance themed in our costuming, with our jingly bells and festive face paint, we fit in well with diverse celebrations. Some theme ideas: Mardi Gras, Circus, Birthdays, School Shows, Street Fairs, State Fairs, & Christmas Parties ~ which reminds me ~ we also have a glorious Father Christmas character that's available. That costume was constructed to perform at Renaissance Faire's as well.

At Festivals, we present 3 different shows:

Fool Hearty's ~ "Magic Show" (Interactive magic, close-up magic, dove illusion)
Fool Hearty's ~ "Untrained Dog Show" (Comedy dog show with border collies)
Fool Hearty's ~ "Fool's School" (We bring up an adult audience volunteer and teach him to be a fool)

Depending on the event and venue, we will adapt our show to meet the needs of your clients. We can combine elements of our performance, and it can be free flowing. Our dog show, however, has necessary staging and timing requirements. Our other shows work well on nearly every stage. We have our own sound equipment if necessary and when appropriate. We are professional and experienced.

Our fee is determined by many details ~ travel distance, length of the gig, services provided, etc. It's best for you to have an idea of your available budget, and to provide us information about the performance space when we correspond. Thank you so much for your interest in our show and characters!

Will provide more info about our technical needs when discussing the event and the staging area. Dog show requires a proper staging area with enough room for the props, also needs a backstage area for their dog pens, typically we use sound enhancement for the performance because our dogs bark enthusiastically. Also requires at least an hour of set up and tear down of equipment. It takes us an hour to do our makeup, and 30 minutes to dress.