I remember when I first joined here there was a link to a page that was basically a "where are they now?" for the pioneering professionals of freestyle. They mentioned Mongoose (and less notably Dyno) pro Chris Lashua and included a still picture of what he was doing these days.
I met Chris a few times and held him in high regard for his skills and his ability as an entertainer. Nice guy, too.
I recently came across this video and really dig it. Looks like fun, and props to Chris for doing what he loves to do and still entertaining people.

Not exactly flatland, but pretty cool if you ask me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9lUu2QAltA...443&index=5

i would say that that's CONSIDERABLY harder that ANY flatland!!

way cool!!

Dude, that is insane. How did you find out that it's Lashua?

I'm not saying it doesn't take some practice, but I personally don't think it looks harder than flatland. Looks like fun. If I had that kind of spare time and space I'd give it a try.

The apperatus being used is actually an antiquated German exercise wheel (the same folks that brought us Artistic Cycling in the nineteenth century).

I remember the old info I saw about Chris saying he was rolling his show with Cirque Du Soleil. It had a picture of him and the wheel but the rest was up to the imagination. Just the other day I did a search for Lashua on YouTube and there it was...

I remember he got into that stuff quite awhile ago.
Back in '88 I was talking to him at one of the King Of The Flatland comps about it.
Chris is one hellava cool guy!

Wow. Josh.
That's pretty crazy. But - on many levels it can definitely be considered a progression from where he started on his bike.

I'd agree with you to say that it's probably not harder than most flatland. but to polish up his movements to such a high level of showmanship - must have taken an amazing amount of discipline. Chris was always an energetic and showy rider. And always wore that 'goose uniform like it was meant to be there. Thanks for posting. That's petty interesting. My mom likes the Cirque stuff. now I can tell her it is one of the guys she used to see in my Freestylin magazines.




(maybe I'll even wear some clown make-up while I ride my 87 Decade.... j/k)

I have a lot of admiration for all the Cirque Du Soleil performers. What they can do is simply amazing.

It's made in Germany...you know the Germans make great stuff.

LOL! Good one Matt!

I ran into that a while back too but in a really random "it's a small world" kind of a way. Sometime after that aired, my dad passed me a copy of the whole Cirque du Soliel performance on video tape but only because there is a bike performance right before Chris. The tape sat with my other tapes and a few years back I was going through them all triying to digitize them. There was a sticky on this one that said something about bikes so I watched the bike performance and just happened to watch long enough to see Chris. I think I'd heard he did this stuff and it just clicked - "holy crap! That's Lashua!"

Chris was at the Joe Kid premiere in LA and seemed to be doing well. I don't know that it's harder than modern flatland but I'd say it's harder to get in Cirque du Soliel than a lot of things! Good for him.

That is Chris for sure.We have been great friends since late 1983..Here we are in Times Square at one of his own productions.



This is my favorite.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojHQHZzoc04...443&index=7

Back in the summer of 1990, my riding buddy and I saw one of Chris Lashua and Scott Moroney's freestyle shows. We talked to them after the show and told Chris about the ramp we just build in my buddy's backyard (a halfpipe with a mini on one side, and a 6' quarter on the other side). Chris wanted to ride it, so my buddy rode in Chris's van back to my buddy's house. Chris and Scott sessioned the ramp with us for a couple hours. Great time!!! Chris is a great dude, I'll never forget that day.

That was amazing, thanks for the link! I would have never known it is THE Chris Lashua i've seen in magazines, i am very impressed and love the fact he did sort of flatland related tricks like the "track/forkstand" at 2:45 and the "no-hander" at 3:20 with the wheel. Especially the no-handed spin was crazy among so many "tricks" he did. This was the best vid i've wathed in long while. Great skills for sure.

Another thing, i wonder what material the wheel is, aluminum? Anybody have info about it? Also, you probably have to have a pretty grippy surface too?

It is made of steel. I was going to help him weld one up the last time I was in Vegas but my girlfriend shot that down....Here is his new tour scheduale.




A Little Bird Told Me...
October 2009


CIRQUE MECHANICS BIRDHOUSE FACTORY NEWS
Cirque Mechanics Introduces Boom Town
Fall Tour Dates for Birdhouse Factory
Meet The New Director of Business Development
INTRODUCING OUR NEW PRODUCTION

Get ready to fandango next fall when Cirque Mechanics unveils its second production!
The creative team at Cirque Mechanics is venturing from the factory to the old west in their new production, Boom Town. You will be transported to an 1860's prosperous gold mining town, where the prospector acrobats will amaze you with their interactions and feats on a whole new set of mechanical creations by Creative Director, Chris Lashua. Expect a sneak peek at some of the new apparatus next time!

Boom Town premieres fall of 2010, date and location to be announced soon.

For a brief description of the show visit: Boom Town
The website will be updated regularly so check back often.

NEXT UP:
BIRDHOUSE FACTORY BEGINS FALL TOUR

Long Center -Austin, TX October 20,21

Miller Outdoor Theatre -Houston, TX October 22, 23
Temple Theatre -Lufkin, TX October 25
Merrill Auditorium -Portland, ME October 29
Flynn Center for the Performing Arts -Burlington, VT October 30
Redfern Arts Center -Keene, NH November 1,2
Music Hall -Portsmouth, NH November 6,7
UMASS Fine Arts Center -Amherst, MA November 10
Capitol Center -Concord, NH November 12
Providence Performing Arts Center -Providence, RI November 14
Savoy Theatre -Helsinki, Finland November 27- December 4
TIM Show Center -Istanbul, Turkey December 10 - 13

CIRQUE MECHANICS WELCOMES SARAH SHEEHAN

Cirque Mechanics is proud to announce the addition of Sarah Sheehan as Director of Business Development. Sarah comes to Cirque Mechanics with over a decade of event production, marketing, sales and PR experience. Sarah spent most of her career with corporate giant MGM Mirage, where she "ran" up the ladder to become Executive Director of Event Sales and Production. Sarah holds a degree in Theater Arts/Performance and is excited to now be part of an innovative arts company where she can use her talents in a more creative environment. Sarah will be hard at work with sponsorship and new business. We welcome Sarah with enthusiasm. Feel free to welcome her too at: sarah@cirquemechanics.com.

Best of luck Sarah from your friends on the assembly line!!!

CASTING NEWS

Birdhouse boss character and juggler Patrick McGuire will be leaving Birdhouse Factory after our trip to Istanbul this December. He will be returning to perform in Cirque Du Soleil's Quidam which is touring South America. Thanks Pat, you've been a great "Boss".



Steven Ragatz will be returning to Birdhouse Factory and to the role he created as "Boss". Steven has been performing in South America for Cirque du Soleil and will be coming home to also serve as Writer and Assistant Director of Boom Town.

Congratulations and welcome back Steve.

Boom Town casting has begun. Auditions to be announced next month.

Birdhouse Factory fall cast includes: Sagiv Ben Binyamin, Beth Carpenter, Jesse Dryden, Aloysia Gavre, Thayr Harris, Wes Hatfield, Patrick McGuire, Lindsay Orton, Ganchimeg Oyunchimeg, Michael Redinger, Russ Stark, and Chris Lashua

JOIN OUR FACEBOOK GROUP click here


Check out the Birdhouse Factory group page on Facebook.

click here to check out the facebook group page
visit the Birdhouse Factory website




If there is something you'd like to know about the show, or our gang please send us an email by
clicking here.

Cool stuff, that looks like fun. I was just at Venice Beach CA. a couple of weeks ago and there are a couple of guys that do that same type of balancing but on a single hoop, very cool to watch also.

X

I was with Chris this past weekend at his stage show in Providence Rhode island and he is now bound for TURKEY!!!...I will post some pictures later...Here is a promo video..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDDAVB24zlw

Here are some.....

Hey please tell chris that Rick says hey !
We go way back from our GT days (he was on mt dew GT team)and him and Dennis Langlais ripped up the payment.Later we both toured and competed for mongoose.
I learned my handstands from him.Still love that move chris ,thx.
Also,if your reading this,love the german wheel and your lifestyle of traveing ,congradulations.
I hope to see all of you old timers soon.
LATERS,RICK ALLISON

Rick...I will get him the mesage..he is not on the BMX sites..I remember footage the Ron Stebenne gave me from the first trip out to GT to get the first gear package at GT and Ron documented you in the parking lot putting your bike together...REMEMBER THAT????..I have the tape here somewhere...