In a brief interview with TikTok star, “Jaques Ze Whipper”, we talked about his past experiences with working in the Renaissance Faire circuit, his previous time as a circus performer, and the finer details of his characters backstory.

Cade: How long have you been doing this for?

Jaques Ze Whipper: So I’ve been cracking whips for 30 years. I’ve been performing at renaissance fairs since 1994, I was six years old, and I grew up in the circus. I’ve been doing the character of Jaques Ze Whipper since 2008.

Cade: What do you enjoy most about this forum work?

Jaques Ze Whipper: So, what I like about the renaissance fair is there is you get a real- There’s no fourth wall between you and the audience. You get a lot of interaction with the audience; you get a lot of- a lot of crowd. It’s sort of this kind of mix between circus and stand up comedy. that you really don’t get in any kind of other sort of medium of performance. That’s what I really like about it.

Cade: For all the time you’ve been doing this, what is something crazy or something odd that’s happened, like a story you haven’t told that often? 

Jaques Ze Whipper: The time that I set myself on fire. Honestly, like, all the crazy stories I have told at this point. But yeah, I would say setting myself on fire was takes the cake.

Cade: Well, I appreciate your time, Thank you very much. Can I ask one last question? What is the purpose of this? You said that’s the French…

Jaques Ze Whipper: French Revolutionary cockade. Yes, it was to indicate that you supported the French Revolution, and so my character is more 1700s, France, as opposed to 1500s France, And so I wanted to be as close to that as possible, and I was like “oh, this is nice.” Also, someone gave it to me, and I like the look. And I was like, “Oh, let’s really lean into the 1700s.”