Champagne and Popcorn

A Sweet Mélange from the Ridiculous to the Sublime

 

Hamburger Cat Cabaret

July 1, 2017

Great Star Theatre, 636 Jackson St., Chinatown, San Francisco

At last! After many months of agonizing, teeth-gnashing anguish, I found the perfect fix for my circus jones! I didn't know how much I needed to laugh until I saw this inspired, completely unpretentious, and captivating show!

Leading this cast of feline fanciers is Fleeky Flanco, equilibrist extraordinaire. Whether it’s hand-balancing or klishnig contortion, Fleeky regularly pushes the boundaries of circus technique and theatrics as he challenges himself to exceed his physical limits. With this intimate show he reaches a new depth of audience connection, scoring big with his selection of the perfect song to accompany his barrel act, infusing it with a light-hearted sex appeal, and giving him space to revel in the audience’s enthusiastic response. His genuine surprise made it that much more effective.

 

 

“So You Think You Can Dance” alumnus Darius Drooh, dynamic dancer and storyteller, goes full confessional about an “Ideal” relationship poisoned by Grindr, and displays his formidable physical fluidity while discovering his inner resiliency. Throughout his routine, his dance moves magnify the impact of his story.

 

It used to be true in vaudeville that attempting a solo acrobatic act is impossible.  A notable exception is Lou Wills, Jr., who, in his youth, performed a kick-ass solo acrobatic turn as a jack-in-the-box.  Yuko Hata has created a new way to present a solo acrobatic act, combining old acrobatic tricks with new, slow-motion balletic touches. Yuko can be said to be a female counterpoint to acrobatic dancer extraordinaire Micah Walters, as both Micah and Yuko evince a post-post-modern sensibility. Her incorporation of a tinsica, a move seldom seen today, but with a controlled, slow-motion presentation, makes the trick look contemporary. Yuko also presents an aerial tissu act that displays a meditative, inner-directed style that deeply effective.
 
Stefania Devire’s alternative chanteuse can be smoky and sultry or cool and intimate, depending upon the requirements of her choice of song. She can sing to the entire audience or make it sound like she is singing only to you.  This works well in a cabaret setting. She can play an effective alterna-folk singer with acoustic guitar and then contrast that with a classic cabaret rendition of Roy Orbison’s classic “Only the Lonely.”

Street performers can be marvelous of course but all too often I see a lot of replication of tricks and lines. These lines are lines to increase the amount of money made passing the hat, or to humorously or seriously make the audience believe that what they are about to see is extremely dangerous. I enjoy seeing street performers without predictable or hackneyed or familiar lines. So I was delighted to watch Kevin Armour’s new wave street act. Kevin is solid with his extensive variety of tricks. He is nimble and enjoys toying with his audience, especially the volunteers. His act culminates with him standing on high pedestals, juggling, but unable to reach forward, backward or very far to either side or he would lose his balance. He doesn’t need to artificially amp-up or exaggerate the risk, because it’s palpable. He closes with a crisp power-tumbling run performed with panache and technical brilliance.

 

When I first saw Paul Nathan, he instantly conjured images of all those 1930s movies set during the British Raj, which invariably starred middle-aged aristocrats sitting around in men’s clubs in Rangoon or Bombay and discussing their military exploits in “In-jah!” Paul is a veteran magician who exhibits great timing, and relishes teasing his audience. By transferring his material to the past he makes it appear fresh.  Using sleights of hand, he confuses the audience, delight them once they finally catch on.

 

And yes, there really is a hamburger (eating) cat!

Hamburger Cat Cabaret fulfilled its objective of cleansing the mind of all troublesome logic. You can’t beat that!

 

Photos by Gary Thomsen

 

 

"Take the Cannoli ... "

Flynn Creek Circus: A Show You Can’t Refuse

This past Saturday I saw the 2017’s Flynn Creek Circus across the Bay in Sausalito on a day that can charitably be described as an outdoor sauna. Fortunately, this irresistible circus provided the perfect distraction from the crispy afternoon. In this new show "Inter-Active," Flynn Creek ventures into improv territory as it as it plays with audience volunteers and allows the audience to choose the acts it wants to see. The cast has commandeered the show, taking it into the realm of the imagination in which the worlds of the circus and “The Sopranos” collide.

Presiding over these mixed (and very talented) nuts is Amelia Van Brunt as the Dick Tracy style Detective Kachinko, as well as Pesto, an immense henchman who also has curiously tiny hands; and Ross Travis as a supposedly bubble-headed blonde reminiscent of Blanche Dubois, and Riggy Rigatoni, the dreaded mob boss. And if you ask what the Mafia and the circus have in common – you haven’t been paying attention. That’s exactly the point: when you experiment, you take audiences to places they’ve never been before.

Featured is Duo Have a Ball, a wildly inventive and sexy ball-bouncing/passing duo, Clementine Stadler Bert as the (dancing) Entertainer, and Mike Leclair as the flirtatious Bartender. These two play with the nature of the five ball bouncing and cascading patterns, displaying a disarming ambidexterity in a complex array of permutations and body positions (Clementine even bounces balls in Chinese splits!). They conclude bounce passing ten and eleven balls and tossing away their high level skill with lighthearted abandon.

 

Jan Damm is the comic Other Bartender who, with Leclair, astounds in a rapid-fire diabolo passing duet in which the diabolos are blindly snatched out of thin air only to be rebounded into their orderly patterns. Their mood is fun and they belie the effort an act such as this takes. They can keep two diabolos apiece going and we are also treated to Mr. Damm’s successful three diabolo pattern.

Ariele Ebacher, as the Boss's Daughter, who has done a classic tight-wire dancer act, thrills here with a wire act in which she walks the wire in brilliant red heels. As a prelude to the wire act she walks on wine bottle tops. Once on the wire, where she is completely at home, she displays fluidity with a dancer’s grace, leaping over the wire and flexibility in the form of splits on the thin strand and once again effortlessly.

As a fitting Ninja legend, Miles Stapp performs an intriguingly mysterious acrobatic act, outmaneuvering his foes in a graceful, but deadly battle. Miles was trained by Master Lu Yi and appeared in his company, Acrosanct. His acrobatics are beautiful to see and possess that Chinese quality that enables the acrobat to suspend time and space in the middle of a trick.

Shem Biggie, playing "the bad boy from a good family," has matured into a full-fledged rope aerialist, integrating both depth and technique into a unified performance. Shem injects an impressive display of strength and power, performing an original sequence of moves, including atypical mid-sequence body tableaus. I look forward to following his continued development as an artist.

Exhibiting impressive leg-flexibility, Maya deLoche as the Gushy Secretary delivers a classic aerial hoop act. Maya exhibits an elegant array of splits that exceed accustomed hip flexibility. Her glowing smile melts the audience’s collective hearts as she smoothly transitions into and out of her aerial voyage.   

 

Passion 2 Balance’s Goulia Rozyeva (absent her hand-to-hand partner, Nelson Pivaral), as a doddering elderly woman, performed solo hand-balancing on her walker. Her believable character elicits a mixture of empathy and laughter.   

 

Goulia and Nelson’s daughter, Sasha Pivaral, as the Mob’s Hitwoman, incorporates the bow-and-arrow trick shot with her feet from a contortion handstand, shooting the arrow to a bull’s-eye. Her dramatic contortion handstands and splits are the essence of cantilevered body poetry. Her enigmatic smile and rockstar charisma elevate her performance to crystalline art.

 

Kicking the show through the roof is the magnificent Duo Daring Jones, David Jones and Blaze Rose Birge, has garnered accolades across the globe. The term “world-class act” has been promiscuously overused by reviewers, but is a perfectly accurate fit for these superb artists who are quite simply the best in this genre. Keeping their act fresh, Blaze and David have added astounding new moves and increased speed to their already supersonic aerial drops, slides, twists, and spins. They absolutely must be seen to be believed!

 

Not to be missed is their latest reinterpretation of the classic knife-throwing act, reversing traditional roles, and eschewing the sinister for the light-hearted.   

 

 

Bravo! to Flynn Creek Circus for having the audacity to re-envision the circus audience’s expectations and giving this assemblage of zanies and virtuosos a sphere in which to radiate.     

 

 

 

 

Photographs by Gary G. Thomsen

Echo's Reach Review

By Judy Finelli and Justin LaneLutter

Echo’s Reach Reaches New Heights

An urban landscape atop a city building with disembodied tree branches and monolithic towers set the tone for this years’ City Circus. The best thing about the show is the driving pace and abundant energy, which never lag for even a nanosecond. It is performed by an enthusiastic, sincere and animated group of young people alongside a talented live band, a virtuoso beatboxer, Carlos Aguirre, and a mellifluous spoken word narrator, Delina Brooks.
This aspires to be a circus with a message, actually three messages, all intertwined. Here is a circus that sets out to change the world. The narrator and some of the cast convey the themes of the show: conquer internal limitations, build communication within society and that freedom without love is worthless.
The show centers on Echo, whose toughness belies her vulnerability, and is a penniless artist that excels as a circus performer. Echo is played touchingly by Chloe Bowie, who brings vitality and an ironic twist to the role. She displays a plethora of skills – aerially, as a juggler and as a silent actor. In keeping with its urban circus sensibility, the show encompasses breakdancing and parkour, although their parkour star was out with a back injury the afternoon I saw the show. Parkour is a newer form of acrobatics that consists of performing athletic stunts in urban environments.
The two breakdancers pop. B-Boy Black and B-Boy Iron Monkey (Ed Johnson and Shawn Hallman) are dynamic performers. They are among the best I’ve ever seen. One does a seemingly endless, eye-popping, hands-free head-spin that must be seen to be believed. In addition, they have many repeating asymmetrical, complex twisting moves. As if that wasn’t enough, they executed those moves effortlessly and flawlessly. These movers and shakers choose to cover their faces, emphasizing the spiritual nature of their Shaolin monk connections. These breakers are, at once, physical and mystical.
Jan Damm and Olivia Weinstein share a successful clown partnership that really adds to the show. These two have enough energy to be plugged into the PG&E grid. They are never on too long and seem to intuit exactly what the show needs. They use their formidable acrobatic skills to advantage in a knock-about, break-neck style. The words “Clown Transaction” are projected on the backdrop whenever they appear. One even “murders” the other and performs an impromptu Latin gibberish in an attempt at a funeral service. Olivia performs once again with her uncooperative tire, but this time they have obviously had some couples counseling and seem to communicate better.
Olivia will be attending the National Circus School of Canada in Montreal this fall as a clown student. What a coup for AcroSports! Jan also returns with a rola bola board/bucket stack that is well played and well-presented. He has tremendous potential. I would be glad to see what else he is capable of.
The aerial work is inventive and well executed with some new twists. Aerialists include Chloe Gordon-Murer, Chloe Bowie, Sasha Harrington, Chris Lee and Stephanie Haber. They did duo and solo work on circeau, tissu and rope. The aerial action is sometimes performed above the breakdancers.
The contortionists have also grown in skill, namely Nancy Kate Siefker, Nicolas Torres-Labarca, Wren Aubry and Allton Vogel-Denebeim. Joining them unexpectedly is Fleeky Flux from Circus Center. He single-handedly boosts the level of the act, literally. His act now features three one-arms: one on each arm and another in piked position.
Echo somehow manages to fall in love with Glass Slipper, the daughter of a high society couple who do not appreciate Echo’s advances. However, her sincere circus artistry wins them over. Echo and Glass Slipper unite at last and true love triumphs against all odds.
Circuses, in my experience, can easily drag or become bogged down in spots. However, City Circus has found the key to keeping the action bouncing and the audience entertained. A nod must go to director Tim Barsky and choreographer Shannon Gaines for their achievements. Weaving traditional circus acts together with modern elements is no mean feat, but what makes Echo’s Reach so successful is that it has something to say.

Jane's Hula Hoop Act

A student of mine turned me on to Circus Guide Entertainment, an agency that books high end circus acts. I found this little gem on their youtube channel. Jane is a hula hoop juggler who also toss juggles the hoops and rolls them across her back a la Nichols, etc. The act looks original and is brimming with creative ideas. Since she is restricted to a tiny pedestal, her throws need to be perfect, and they are!
I did not understand the ripped out heart, but I'm sure she did.

Jen Slaw

I came across Jen today and wanted to post her on this blog. She is a good illustration of a fine commercial act with great movement, a sense of fun, originality (incorporating contact, club swinging, toss juggling, and moves with single objects.) Her act is very enjoyable to watch and I wish her great success. She has the skill to juggle five balls, but that just serves to make her that much more confident. She is a juggler who is really able to deliver the goods.

Les Kiriki Acrobates Japonais

This is a very interesting idea.
We are looking down on the acrobats as they lie on the floor and go into what looks like multiple, impossible acrobatic poses. Very inventive. Very engaging and entertaining. Only on film, though.
Lovely body configurations. I haven't seen this before.

Solid Potato Salad

Here are some tricks that aren't being done anymore. The Mystic Pixies do the running around the circle on chest. However, the three person pull from back bend is not done. It is only done with two people. The fact that they sing like the Andrew Sisters AND do acrobatics is unusual. It is usually either one or the other. So, they are new circus in feel and temperament. There are many acrobatic vaudeville tricks that used to be done by female acrobats or "close-benders," as they were called in vaudeville.
Illusions, changing walk-overs, swing-throughs, tinsicas, walking in splits and changing legs with each step (very difficult) and aerial forwards (or walk-overs) done in place is another great trick.

Human Shadow Puppets

A friend just sent me a clip of Pilobolus. This company has been around since the 1970's, I believe. They started in Connecticut under the direction of Moses Pendleton. Originally they were an innovative combination of dance and mime. I was impressed by this foray into human shadow puppetry. They use their bodies and some objects to create amusing and effective images. I am glad they are still working. There just aren't that many mime companies doing such creative work.

New Trends in Juggling

Here is an example of the new style in juggling as exemplified by Wes Peden. On a video it is hard to tell much in the way of stage presence or style, but technically one can see what this new juggling is all about. The props "dance," not necessarily the juggler. The patterns are difficult and intricate. Numbers are used. I am told he can pass 13 clubs, a record I think. This act goes beyond the work of the jugglers in Finland, who juggle difficult patterns but don't project much in the way of audience connection. The style is slightly choppy or, perhaps, it is just how it is photographed and presented. I would have to see him in person. However, it is clear that he has worked long and hard on perfecting these tricks. I'm impressed by the new style. It is clear that juggling will continue to evolve and expand.

Here we go baby!

Here is something that is just plain fun. Eddie Izzard as Mr. Kite in Across the Universe, in the song Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite. He manages to be larger than life, and yet retain his identity. Nice feat!
A fun pickup for a sometimes sleepy movie. I was surprised, and hope you will be too.

Training

The secret is training. In Quebec City, the curriculum is 25-30 hours/week, not counting personal practice. So, how can a school hope to do it for less hours? Obama said that if you give Americans a challenge, they will rise up to it. So, it needs to be presented as a challenge. Get the funders. They're out there just itching to give money to something as sexy as circus. But, circus needs to grow up as an art form. It needs not only great tricks, but great music and great choreography. These artists are out there, I have met some. Don't try to guess. Collaborate. Elaborate. Let's not just pretend to "do circus" without any understanding of what that means. Doing a handstand is not doing an act. Many will be called, but few will be chosen, just like in any art form.
Think outside the box.

Acts from North Korea

Acts from North Korea are amazing. I refuse to believe that acts that are high level are impossible to have in America. All it would take would be time and space and the right equipment. And the right teachers. Why is there only "indie" circus? Meaning mediocre, but clever? Why is the packaging of the mediocre all that happens?

Reflection

The biggest thing that holds the circus school back is the confusion between amateur and professional. It is a natural reaction to like the students who are trying to learn and make an act. However, in order to have a truly professional program, honesty needs to rule, instead of emotion. Students won't get jobs because they are liked. It is a harsh reality, but that is what the outside world expects. Friendship is a great thing, but if one is in the business of making sure students learn at the highest levels, then the rules will change. It's not that I am advocating that one should be mean, it's just that I'm saying that one should be honest and realistic. It's the only way to pull the circus up and out of its morass.

1/24-25/09 Shows

I saw a rehearsal of the JCC show done by what was referred to as The Pickle Family Circus, even though that show died a few years ago and this was really a conglomerate of different student acts from the SF School of Circus Arts and the Clown Conservatory. Since no one ever takes any official criticism for any shows, I will write this review:
The circus show "Recess" played for three performances this past weekend at the Jewish Community Center. The people at the center insist upon calling it "The New Pickle Circus" even though there is no such animal and whatever the show thinks it is, it is running on fumes from the past. The performers were likable enough. That wasn't the problem. The problem was that the performers, by and large, are not held to professional standards. This shows in an overall feeling of sloppiness. Some acts, the contortion duo and the straps duo, were simply not quite ready for performance. Their acts looked incomplete and it was confusing as to what they wanted to convey. The clown who started off the show, telegraphed one of the early gags and this killed the opening somewhat. The opening jump rope charivari was a bit sloppy, as acrobats snagged the rope several times. Were they trying to perform too early? Or were they just unprepared emotionally and mentally?
The clown act with the rolla bollas was promising, but felt incomplete. The stacking of boards on one cylinder makes the trick easier, not harder. The act needs two double-rolling cylinders and the performer is working on this. It will be better with this addition.
A young man with a great look did a tap-dancing/juggling act. The tap-dancing needs to be show dancing and the juggling needs to be more difficult. If these things happened, the young man would work internationally.
The solo trapeze act was competent, but not especially difficult. The hoop act and juggling displays needed more work, but were enjoyable when the tricks worked.
The duo clown couple (music number) was confusing. An audience member was embarrassed and that shouldn't happen. Volunteers should be kidded, but not embarrassed.
Only the hula hoop female act was almost professional quality. She has improved by a quantum leap and I think the act will be very marketable and fun.
I always enjoy seeing a show, but professional standards are not set by me. I don't make the rules. Out in the marketplace is a different story from a show done for an audience that is not too picky.

There Are Countries and There Are Countries

America is not in step with Canada, France, Russia, Ukraine, Hungary, etc. Those countries support the arts and consider circus an art form. The US, by contrast, does not support the arts in the same way. I think what they do is the equivalent of pennies-a-day for all the arts. The National Endowment for the Arts is a joke. They just recently considered circus as an art. But, the American public still has a hard time with considering circus as a legitimate art form. In Europe, the public understands that circus is an art form for families, that families can enjoy. This puts circus in America in the awkward position of having to scramble for funding.
The Big Apple Circus in New York City tapped into the world of very wealthy donors who are circus-lovers, so they are well-off and have a healthy endowment and donor-base. That is the most successful circus in America. Circus Flora, in St. Louis, does OK, but they have a very short season because that's all the money they can get. Circus Sarasota in Florida is also doing well, but they are tying it into money being raised for the Ringling Mansion Restoration Project. Circus Vargas in Vermont, Circus Juventas in Minneapolis and the Circus Space in Seattle are amateur circus groups that have been able to get funding. But, being able to fund a circus school in which young men and women can learn circus skills to an advanced level is still extremely difficult. When will there be any parity worldwide?

Clowning

Clowning is a strange animal. Dimitri's daughter, Masha, said it: "So many clowns; so many bad ones." Why? I think it's because we, as Americans, need to orchestrate our attempts at clowning so that no one ever fails. But, if no one ever fails, then no one can be great either. That's the problem. Everyone wants to "have it down," but a CLOWN NEVER HAS IT DOWN. NEVER.
So people might as well get used to that. To feeling uncomfortable and at a loss - FOREVER! There is no getting around it. Unless one is on the edge at all times, who will care in 2009? People have seen everything. Perhaps there will always be a place where the classic routines are performed WELL, and are preserved. That's OK, I think, but if one is talking about cutting edge clowning, one is in a land beyond Beckett.

Les Chiche Capons is a hot, new, modern clown group from France. I hear they are histerically funny. They are not like anyone else. 'Nuff said.

7th Revision

I wrote a book about ten years ago. I revised it many times and am revising it for the 7th, and I hope the last time. It is going well because I have a real comic writer helping me make it funnier. I think this is what it needed all along. The subject matter is deadly serious, so humor strategically placed, will make it more readable to the average person. I am having fun and that, in itself, is an indication that I am going in the right direction.

Does Over 40 Years of Experience Count For Anything?

My observation is that students of circus today want to re-invent the wheel, at least in America. They "guess" and do an act without realizing that years ago there already were people doing the same act. This was true of two young men who tried to do an act with one person on roller-skates and the other on those athletic shoes with wheels in the heels. They did not do anything interesting or difficult. It was as if just wearing the wheels was enough. Well, it wasn't. There was no build to the act, no finish trick and no entrance, nor exit. The audience, made up of parents and friends, was kind. However, the applause was sparse. No one seems willing to listen either. No one seems to care what someone who has seen a lot observes.
And elephants cannot paint pictures!

Example of Alan Sulc

This is Alan Sulc. He is a phenomonal juggler who does not miss, has great stage presence and movement skills. I wonder why American jugglers don't even come close?

Why is it?

How come it is that there is a lot of circus activity in the US, much of it is derivative and mediocre, compared to Europe and other parts of the world? American students take some classes, often achieving intermediate level results, but never the over the top highly advanced results achieved by other countries. Often the students have a self-congratulatory air about this as if whatever they happen to achieve is the ultimate. I have seen Alan Sulc of Romania, I think, and he is a phenominal juggler/ball bouncer. I haven't seen anything like that in the US. In the past there have been great American acts, but I don't see them today. Instead people claim they are "doing circus," but they're not taking top prizes in Paris or Monte Carlo.
Anthony Gatto is a great juggler, to be sure, and has developed some showmanship to go with it. His wife, who assists him, is in a gorgeous costume. However, the great solo juggler assisted by the lovely female is straight out of the 50s. Where are the great aerialists, great hand-balancers, etc.? Why are American students in such a hurry to perform before they really have the necessary high level skills?