About – Home

Bio
Nathan is a variety entertainment performer, historian, and advocate from Southeast Michigan. Since he was a young boy circus, magic, and other forms of variety entertainment have fascinated him. As a practitioner, he specializes on the subjects of juggling, sideshow, and fire entertainment. Nathan performs within these genres and has a deep historical and technical knowledge of them as well.

With juggling, Nathan has sought out the best jugglers in the world to learn from, and is constantly pushing himself to learn new feats of manipulation. He enjoys presenting highly creative and conceptual forms of juggling and has innovated countless original juggling tricks. In addition to using common juggling props, Nathan also enjoys researching old vaudeville era gentleman juggling tricks, which he then engineers props for and recreates these old feats, most of which are rarely, if ever seen these days.

From 2012-2018, he served on the Board of Directors for the International Jugglers’ Association, and operated as Chairman of the Board from 2014-2018. During his time as Chair, he was responsible for overseeing the operations and direction of the 401(c)3 non-profit organization. This included budgeting for international programs, large-scale festival planning, and year around operational management, all in the name of the organization’s mission to “render assistance to fellow jugglers.”

Nathan has produced numerous variety shows, emceed large events, worked with countless booking agencies, been featured in several books, and has acted as a consultant for various media and publishing endeavors. He released a non-fiction book of his own called The Rise and Fall of the Sideshow Geek. The work is dedicated to the untold history of the sideshow geek and also presents an examination of adjacent acts. It was released in 2023 through Outside Talker Press. He has written about juggling for several online publications, such as eJuggle. In 2022, Nathan was a featured juggling coach on the HBO television series Hard Knocks.

Outside of live entertainment, Nathan is also involved in film, as an actor and award-winning independent film maker. He has also released several musical albums themed after variety entertainment and regularly lends his music to independent films as well as using his own original music during his performances.

As a fire performer, he is well versed and trained in multiple fire disciplines. Several of his fire props are original innovations and are exclusive to his performances. Nathan holds numerous certifications in the fire arts, including being a certified Firewalking Instructor through the Firewalking Center.

When he performs, he uses completely original presentations and material, as he is of the belief that he wants to leave his audiences with truly unique experiences that they will not encounter anywhere else. His stage name is “McScary” because he has always had a love for horror and the macabre, often bringing a playful dark flavor to his performances. However, Nathan’s goal is to be charming and fun during his performances, leaving both him and his audiences entertained. Hence, he’s not really scary, rather he is simply McScary.

Much like P.T. Barnum and other great showman, Nathan has a deep understanding and appreciation for how vital marketing is. He believes in quality, creativity, and honesty when it comes to the art of promotion and show. Outside of live entertainment, Nathan holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing. He has years of experience working in the field of marketing as a Consultant, Administrator, Analyst, and Multimedia Content Producer. The industries he has lend his marketing skills to include information technology, supply chain management, and escape games. He has written numerous articles on indirect material procurement for trade publications. Regularly, he helps with the media and marketing strategy for live events and branding for individual performers. Nathan continues to use his diversified marketing skillset to aid in his ongoing work in variety entertainment.

Nathan is available as a performer, producer, emcee event host, workshop instructor, team building exercise facilitator, and consultant. If you would like to talk with Nathan for your next event, or would like to discuss a topic within his wheelhouse of expertise, please drop him a line.

Testimonials

“Nathan McScary is always a pleasure to book, his entertainment style is both enthusiastic and awe-inspiring. He never fails to deliver a jaw dropping show or even create smiling memories for kids trying to juggle for the first time. His prompt arrival, entertaining attitude, and raw talent are the triple threat of performing that is sought out world wide. We are always happy to hire and work with Nathan McScary.” – Kay Janiczek, Owner, KJ Art

“Carpe Diem Flow Arts Festival had the privilege of having Nathan McScary part our 2023 event in Iowa! Nathan exceeded our expectations as an instructor, performer and emceeing one of our showcases! It was truly an honor to work with someone with Nathan’s expertise as he showed true professionalism. Would definitely bring him back for our future events!” – JonBrown, Founder, Carpe Diem Flow Arts Festival

“Nathan McScary is a favorite at Sideshow Gelato. Nathan’s act, in true sideshow form, shocks, amazes, delights and terrifies! I’ve seen it all but…I pooped a little.” – Mr. J, Impresario & Thaumatuge of Gelid Confectioneries, Sideshow Gelato

“I hired Nathan McScary to entertain a group of about 20 friends at a house party and bonfire. He was very professional and courteous throughout the entire process and offered options to tailor the content of the show for my audience. Nathan arrived on time and set up everything he needed for the show in my backyard, including a backdrop, lights, sound system, and props. The well-organized show was packed with talent, humor, danger, history, audience participation, suspense, and magic. Each impressive act flowed seamlessly into the next and captivated my guests. All of my guests loved the show and couldn’t stop talking about it all night long. I would recommend Nathan McScary for any size event.” – Dan Saims, Private Event Client

Performing Resume
Nathan has proudly performed with the following entertainment companies and events:

Achievements in the Variety Arts
• Co-Founder N.E. Entertainment, Acrobatic Juggling Duo, 2011 – 2014
• 2nd Place, 2012 World Joggling Championships, 1600m Men’s Open
• Winner, 2019 Saline’s Got Talent
• Certified Youth Education Program Juggling Instructor (IJA)
• Certified Flow Arts Fire Safety Personal (FAI)
• Certified Flow Arts Fire Safety Personal Instructor (FAI)
• Certified Firewalking Instructor (Firewalking Center)
• Best Trick Competition Winner, Ann Arbor Juggling Festival 2017 and 2018

Variety Arts Publishing Achievements
• Featured in the history book Uncovering Juggling History Volume 3 by David Cain
• Featured in the book Cirkus in Quarantine by Rich Potter
• Annotation Consultant and Image Archivist on the 2019 re-release of the 1921 book Juggling or How to Become a Juggler by Rupert Ingalese
• Article contributor, The Rise of Bosco, published in MUM, July 2023.
• Book Author, The Rise and Fall of the Sideshow Geek: Snake eaters, Human Ostriches, & Other Extreme Entertainments
• Layout Designer, Memoirs of a Coney Island Clown: Jellyboy’s Sideshow Saga

Media Coverage

• Canvas Rebel – May 6th, 2024 – Meet Nathan Wakefield

• The lecture given by Nathan Wakefield at Coney Island USA – April 7th, 2024 – “The Rise and Fall of the Sideshow Geek”

• Jim Rose of the Jim Rose Circus – February 28th, 2024 – Who is NATHAN McSCARY?

• Vaude Visuals – October 10th, 2023 – Vaudevisuals interview with Nathan Wakefield ~ The Rise and Fall of the Sideshow Geek ~ A new book!

• Travalanche – May 26th, 2023 – On The Rise and Fall of the Sideshow Geek

• The Carpetbagger Vlog – Apr 24, 2023 – Oddities and Curiosities Expo Columbus 2023

• The Pop Of Zero Podcast – January 22, 2023 – The Juggling Horror Show with Nathan McScary

• HBO Hard Knocks: Detroit Lions, Episode 4 – August 30th, 2022 – Juggling Coach Nathan Segment

• Vaude Visuals – March 10, 2020 – Vaudevisuals interview with Nathan Wakefield – juggler

• Detroit Metro Times – August 3, 2019 – Everything we saw at the Oddities and Curiosities Expo 2019 (Slides: 43, 53, 54, 55, 59, 72)

• The Journal Gazette – June 30, 2019 – Harrison Street gives way to magic

• Adrian Daily Telegram – August 11, 2018 – ‘Barnum’ draws in a crowd

• eJuggle – January 15, 2018 – The Table Cloth Pull Trick

• Adrian Daily Telegram – Aug 11, 2013 – Duo from Adrian performs acrobatic, juggling feats