Noah Mickens
| Noah Mickens | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | William Batty |
| Origin | Portland, Oregon, United States |
| Genres | bohemian, burlesque, butoh, cabaret, circus, emcee, performance art, punk, swing, vaudeville |
| Years active | 1992–present |
| Labels | unsigned |
| Associated acts | Wanderlust Circus, NagaSita, Sam Mickens, 999 Eyes Freakshow, Cicuri Curajul, Die Wandlung with Implied Violence, The Greasy Demon Heat Cycle with The Villainaires Academy, 2 Gyrlz Performative Arts, 36 Invisibles, Nequaquam Vacuum, Poor Old Timer |
Noah Howard Mickens (born February 18) is an American performance artist, showman, and writer from Portland, Oregon, primarily known for his contributions to vaudevillian revival, and as a ringmaster and master of Ceremonies for several theatrical circus troupes. His stage persona, William Batty currently serves as the ringmaster of the Wanderlust Circus, as well as the emcee of numerous vaudevillian and bohemian events in the area. Mickens has worked in a variety of performance media: scrap-metal percussion, singing, butoh, drama, circus arts, rock opera, and fashion modeling. Several of his collaborative projects have been combinations of two or more of the aforementioned art forms. Mickens has also performed as composer, director, and producer of numerous theatrical productions, as well as show promoter and publicist for various venues in the Portland area, including Someday Lounge, Dante's, The Jasmine Tree, and the Rotture-Branx venue complex.
Mickens has described growing up in Los Angeles with his mother and his brother, Sam Mickens (a vocalist, guitarist, and composer for such bands as The Dead Science, Xiu Xiu, and Parenthetical Girls). In an interview with Portland Monthly, he said he was taught to juggle at age 14 by a homeless man named Robert.
:"I began to meet other people who were into that sort of thing," he recalls, "and I started to think of myself as a circus performer."
Mickens began singing in local punk and pop bands in Los Angeles, among them Poor Old Timer, which he described as "blues-inflected punk music".
In 1996, Mickens moved to Portland, OR, and quickly became involved in a variety of theatrical and musical endeavors, including Nequaquam Vacuum (Latin for "the void does not exist"), an improvisational "post-asiatic chamber noise" ensemble, which he formed in 1999 with Tyler Armstrong and Travis McAlister. In 2004, Oregon Public Broadcasting filmed a short documentary on Mickens and Nequaquam Vacuum for the station's Oregon Art Beat program. The program showed Mickens, Armstrong and McAlister performing alongside butoh dancers from the PAN Butoh troupe.
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