Festivals
Sometime toward the end of high school I started running a computer bulletin board system (BBS). It was kind of an early version of the Internet where people could call up and leave messages for each other thru their computer. It was thru the BBS that I met and briefly dated Kirstin. It was a very important point in my life, because she introduced me to an event she was involved in called the Renaissance Festival.
I believe my first festival was in 1985 as a mime, of course. It was great! I got to do mime, play dress up, and scam on girls! I was a horny 18 year old after all. My 1st year I didn't even get paid. But I did meet a guy named Riki that did an elf character. (Obviously another important point in my life) He seemed pretty cool, we had a lot in common, and he was old enough to drink! WOW! 
In my second year, I decided to get involved with the human chess match. It was a stage combat production that Riki did. It was also that year that I noticed that people confused Riki and me for each other often. Another important event that occurred that season was my first visit to 'The Ocean Club' Its importance will be made clear later.
Anyway, after the '86 season Riki and I thought it might be cool to do 'twin' brother characters, capitalizing on our likeness. (A likeness that has long since faded) Plus, we were tired of our two 'silent' characters. We needed a name. HMMMMM- Well, back then there was an underground comic book that was gaining popularity. It was called 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'. We were both somewhat fans of it. We wanted something ethnic sounding since we were going to play gypsies of a sort. Tortuga Twins had been mentioned, which I believe led us to the TMNT comic. We really liked the way it rolled off the tongue. Riki decided to take the name Raphael and I took Donatello. Little did we know how popular those little turtles would get. After they exploded on the scene with movies and toys, we started getting lots of comments about our names. So, I decided to change my name to D' Angelo. It was another name I really liked and thought would quell some of the TMNT comparisons.
Of course, just like every other teen, I had the slew of silly 1st jobs. Grocery store, fast food (BK) and a pizza chain call Dino's which I eventually managed for a while, where just a few. I ended up leaving all them behind because they interfered with the Ren. Fest. Cast parties. (ahh, the priorities of youth) After that, I landed a job with an up and coming new TV network called 'The Home Shopping Network'. I started as an audio technician then was promoted to Graphics coordinator and then technical director in record time. Basically, I was directing a national broadcast reaching 14 million homes at the age of 20. I have to admit it felt pretty cool, but it was still just a job. I was still young, quite the night owl, and loved to go clubbing. (Ocean club in particular) Which didn't mesh well with my 8 to 4 work schedule. Later that year I ended up leaving a great career based job to work in that very nightclub I loved hanging out in so much. I got paid more than in TV, got to work (and party) at night and worked fewer hours. It was the perfect job!
Meanwhile, back in the festival world, Riki and I were receiving great praise for our new lane act, 'The Tortuga Twins'.
We received best new act awards in both The Bay Area Renaissance Festival and The Ringling Museum Medieval Fair for our lane show loosely based on the Cinderella story. The basic gag was that we were twin emissaries from a distant land looking for our 'lost' princess. We would frantically run up to a random woman and start yelling 'iieeeee!!!- It is her, It is her! We've found our lost princess!- After that, we would go through the process of trying on a very tiny slipper to see if it would fit. It was a cute bit but only lasted about 10 minutes. That's why we could only do a lane show, but that didn't pay nearly as well as a stage gig. So, we decided to expand the show and build a 'Sacred initiation test' around the trying on of the slipper. Some of you older die-hard twin fans might remember that show. I think it was 1988 when we brought the show to the stage for the first time. Our crowd gathering skills were improving but our humor was still quite sophomoric.
In the summer of 1988 my mother was diagnosed with cancer. It was very tough on me. I found myself trying to escape the reality of the situation through my usual trips to the nightclubs, parties and even drugs. (Yes, another A&E moment.) Thank god I had a wonderful friend at my side other than Riki, whom I found it hard to discuss these kinds of things with at the time. Her name was Sharon. Coincidentally, her aunts worked in the Largo festival office and were fans of the show. We were kind of dating, but I was resistant to it 'cuz I thought I didn't want to be tied down that way. Little did I know what a big part she would play in my future. Before we get to her, let me introduce you to Ronn and how he joined our merry band.
Ronn, or 'Space' as we knew him then, (I'll never understand that nickname) was this guy I was acquainted with but Riki really knew better than I. He did a juggling show under the name 'Scaramouche, comedian jongleur'. He (Ronn) always said he was a big fan of our show. (There's no accounting for taste) He watched the show quite a bit and used to joke about being the third Tortuga.
In 1989 we got an offer to do a show in the Keys. It was late in January but my mother's condition prevented me from traveling. I didn't want us to lose the opportunity to do a show away from our home fair, so we decided to send Ronn along to do the show with Riki. That spring it was business as usual. Riki and I did our usual Tortuga thing in Sarasota and Largo. But, Largo happens to run during April fool's day and Ronn wanted to play a joke on us. During the Human Chess Match Ronn tore off his clothes revealing a mock Tortuga costume. It really had the cast and us in stitches! Later that day we invited him up on stage to do the show with us. It was the first time we ever performed together. It was sloppy but very funny.
Shortly afterwards, Ronn used his connections on the road to get us some gigs and guest appearances on the road. My mother's health was still failing and I was holding down a great DJ gig with great pay. Even though we were stronger as a trio, it only made sense to send the boys on the road without me. This continued for a couple of years until my mothers passing.
