CREATOR / DIRECTOR SEBASTIAN ‘Bash’ GOMEZ
Sebastian started his performing career by necessity in the mid ’90s; On a 3-month European tour, bringing just $500, he was broke after 2 weeks and had to turn his hobby of juggling into a street performance in order to survive. Through the 1990’s, he continued performing comedic street and theatre juggling routines up and down the eastern seaboard, from Portland, Maine to famous Mallory’s Dock in Key West, Florida. He attended business school in the seaport city of Charleston, SC, financing his education by selling juggling equipment and street performing in Charleston’s Market district. During this time, he forged the Stickman Juggling Company, teamed up with comedic thespian Kevin Robertson to form the “Flaming Avocado Brothers.” Sebsatian returned to New Jersey upon graduation in 1996, to perform at Atlantic City’s Taj Mahal Casino~ but the cold weather was too much, and he moved back to Charleston, forming a 3-man juggling team – “the KingPins,” with brothers Mike and Matt Adams.
In the new milennium, he moved to Los Angeles to study with master performance artists and pyrotechnicians, to strengthen his act. It was here, that technical juggling took a back burner to the art of Fire Dancing.
Within the past few years, Sebastian has attached fire to over 30 separate juggling apparatus, including some more nonconventional items…Some of which include the Maori Fire Chains, A 6′ Fire Staff, a Flaming balancing chair, Fire eating torches, and fire diabolo. He has been involved with such groups as the Elemental Fire Show, Got Fire?, Hearthfire, Clowns of the US, Fireplay LA, and the Burningman Fire Conclave. He created his own performance troupe, Creative Flame Company, which has attracted attention from international clients & festivals.
in 2004, having performed feats of fire throughout 20 countries including the Middle East, most of North America, Europe, Mexico and the Carribbean, and always in search of a new challenge, Sebastian partnered with friend and coperformer, Marcy Whipkins to create A second Base near The east Coast Film Studios in Wilmington, NC. They created a Circus arts and musical entertainment venue called the Juggling Gypsy, which is still in operation to this day, attracting music, cirque, and fringe entertainment acts from across the world. HIs passion forthe combustible arts has recently led him into Creating flammable propane-based stationary art, music-reactive fire apparatus, firewalking, and Pyrotechnic / Fireworks displays and manipulation.
Sebastian currently manages operations of several simultaneous Creative Flame Projects, and though he isn’t on every performance, it doesn’t happen without him. Always carrying a torch for the fire arts, Sebastian performs worldwide with various incarnations of Creative Flame.
