Fall is full of crunch, whether it be the first bite of a Honeycrisp apple, piles of leaves underfoot, or if you ask Rusty Pliers, vanilla cookies.
Rusty Pliers, a live actor specializing in ventriloquism and magic, is responsible for manning the ever-popular pig races at Eckert’s every fall. As for the magic involved in the pig races, Pliers says, he just “gets them addicted to cookies” (after seeking medical approval from a pig nutritionist, of course). For the most part, “the pigs will do the entertaining,” Pliers explains. The staff at Eckerts will tell you, however, that this is a humble representation of all the work Pliers puts into both the pig races and the pumpkin cannon shows each season.
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For the last sixteen years, since 2009, Pliers has been a part of creating fall memories at Eckert’s for families across Missouri, Illinois, and neighboring states. What began as puppet shows was elevated to the pumpkin cannon show, as it’s known today, in 2017. Shortly afterwards, Eckert’s veteran pig-race emcee–a man who went by the stage name of Smooth–retired, leaving Pliers in charge of the pink-bellied babies.
Pliers credits Smooth with his introduction to the Eckert’s community, as well as for his further growth and development as a performer. From the beginning of their friendship, Pliers says he felt that, “This guy was just a genius. So creative. I [felt like I] gotta try harder to be worthy of doing shows with this man.”
For Pliers, that meant finding innovative ways to engage his audience members. Unlike his pigs, his generally younger audience requires a bit more than knockoff Golden Oreos to entertain and amaze. Most of the time, he draws inspiration from this age group by incorporating their own suggestions into his repertoire and seeing what lands.
It’s a practice that consistently keeps a segment of his performance fresh, while the core of his 300 shows over the course of eight fall weekends remains the same. The ad-libs are a welcome variety to the “tried-and-true” foundation of the script, explains Pliers.
Of a similar manner are his fashion choices. Pliers’ bib-overalls continue to be his signature look, despite the challenges the ever-changing autumn weather might present, and his fans have taken notice. One enthusiast’s mother, on a second trip to see Pliers, regaled him with tales of her son’s outfit of choice. “He just fell in love with you,” the fan told Pliers, “He would only wear overalls. To school, the church, a funeral–everything he did was in bib-overalls.”
It’s shared moments like this that continue to adhere the entertainer to Eckert’s. “When people walk up to me and say, ‘Your show was worth the price of admission,’ now I’ve accomplished my task for the day,” Pliers says with a smile.
Tickets can be purchased here. Eckert’s Millstadt Farm, 2719 Eckert Orchard.
