By Crimson Cat

How did you get the nickname “Dan Hat Man”?

Funny thing is I don’t actually like the nickname ‘Dan Hat man’. I'm trying to go with just Gorski, like Madonna… being my last name but because of the many Dan’s in Melbourne circus community most of them know me as Gorski anyway.

But the story is that as a child I had a massive hat collection and that is an understatement, one count I remember was 150 including a davey crocket hat, a medieval polish war helmet, sombrero, a bowler hat and that’s how I started manipulating hats.

You’re trained in traditional and contemporary circus. Where did you train and when did you know this was what you wanted to do as a career?

I started performing at age eight with a theatre group and continued for around 8 years. Always given the physical comedic roles, I started training circus at age 14 with a community circus ‘Little Big Tops’ that had classes in different suburbs around Melbourne. It was when the teachers noticed that I was at all of them and invited me to train with them. After becoming fascinated with the world of circus, I started researching what I wanted to learn and where I could do that. I went to Christchurch NZ for a year to work with a Russian teacher, and came back to Melbourne when NICA had a teacher who could pass on the skills that I was after. I often go visit my first mime teacher David Cassel in Europe for advanced performing classes.

So you can juggle and can ride a unicycle. What else can you add to your list of talents?

I can do the most amazing thing with kitchen utensils, including fitting a teaspoon into my nasal cavity. I have way too many party tricks. There are tricks that I can do that are close to being lost, some tricks people haven’t seen in 50 years!

You toured internationally with a renowned deaf physical theatre performer back in 2006. What was this experience like for you? Were there any challenges?

Asphyxia is one of the most organized people I know - nothing gets passed her. With international tours there are always challenges. And having an added communication difficulty didn’t make it any easier because the sign language I know is Australian and the American sign language is very different. I had to basically learn to communicate all over again.

Where has been your favourite place in the world to perform and why?

I had the opportunity to perform in Japan and that was amazing. Antwerp was pretty cool and Holland is a little bizarre, London is tough, but Red Benny’s at home is very cool…. hehe

What is the most interesting thing you’ve realised about yourself in your travels?

That my inbuilt compass was built for Europe. I have the worst sense of direction of anyone I know. And if you ask anyone who has known me for a while they just laugh at me when I try and give directions. I drive with a Melways on my lap in Melbourne! I grew up here! BUT in Europe I don’t have the same problem, it’s weird.

Do you have anyone that inspires you?

MANY MANY people inspire me, my friends and colleagues’ who keep following their dreams.

Melbourne is your home town, but where do you call home at the moment?

My new panel van is home right now. Her name is Bobby May and has a very comfy bum to curl up inside of….

You performed at Red Bennies back in March this year for ‘Red Bennies Cabaret and Bamboozled present Sexy Party’. What was your most memorable part of the night?

Well that might have been running into some old friends whom I hadn’t seen since high school and them being blown away with what they saw me and my good friends do.

Where can we see you perform next?

If you are going to be a passenger on the P&O Pacific Sun cruise ship between May and July you will definitely see me there.

Don't miss Daniel Gorski performing for the Red Bennies Cabaret on Saturday, May 15th!