My son and I and a few members of the NYC Dads Group got a chance to wander over to the Metropolitan Room a couple of Saturday mornings ago to see Mario the Magician’s kids show.  The show was delightful, really a lot of fun.  The venue was…. interesting.

Mario is a very amiable performer.  He does a show that on paper sounds like a lot of typical kid’s magic shows- the bumbling magician who gets everything wrong.  What sets Mario apart from the typical is his energy and magnetism for the kids (they loved him) and his ingenious self-built prop, the suitcase machine.

This machine/suitcase is a wonder of little servo motors and other tricks that allow the suitcase and the props inside to flout Mario’s authority at every turn.  Flags poke out, things get shot out, and all sorts of other cool things happen.  Later in the show, he pulls out another cool invention, a robot monkey that helps him achieve some of his magic effects.   With both of these devices, Mario’s timing is spot on, and the machine has just the right amount of subversive lag time to make it hilarious.

I’ve seen lots of cool and funny and ingenious magic shows, and this one ranks right up there.   And more importantly, the kids in the audience were all ecstatic for Mario’s work, and followed the logic perfectly. At the end of the show, Mario brings out his bird Mozzarella to do one final trick, and the crowd goes wild.
While I thought the show was fabulous and well-done, I thought it starts on the wrong foot. The show starts out with a documentary movie about Mario and his wanderings, and his inspirations.  The movie is perhaps 10 minutes long.  While I thought the movie was interesting, and told us some stuff about Mario, including explaining his love of travelling and his love of inventing, and how Bob Dylan inspires him, but the movie seemed a little out of place in the context of the show It didn’t really do its job, which was to set us up to watch a very funny magic act.  However,  once Mario appeared and started doing his stuff, that’s when the magic really happened.

As for the venue, the space of the performance is fine, but I think the management is shooting itself in the foot.  The Metropolitan Room is a cabaret/theatre that mostly has cabaret/lounge acts, working at night but they’ve started doing Saturday morning kid’s shows.  My theory about this is that rent is expensive, and they feel that anytime they can utilize the space is better than not.  This works as a theory, but in practice the place is not designed for kids and the management hasn’t made any concessions to the kid’s crowd.   In my experience, this is typical of adult venues that want to attract kids– they don’t do it a lot, and they either don’t put any effort into it or don’t think outside their “adult venue box” enough.

For example, tickets to the show are cabaret priced ($30 for adults, $20 for kids) and there’s a 1 drink minimum per person on top of that. (Hey, it’s a 2 drink minimum during cabaret shows!) Drinks are $5-6 each,  And worse yet, they don’t have juice boxes, apple juice, or chocolate milk.   So this 45 minute show costs almost $100 for a family of 3. [PLEASE NOTE: We were provided complimentary tickets to the show, in order to write this review.  My thoughts about this show are not based on the free-ness of the tickets.]

My suggestion to the management is to lower your prices, and possibly make it a kid’s brunch, and include a nice little kid’s meal as part of the package.  A juice box, some cookies, and a cheese sandwich would go a long way towards making parents in the audience happier, and more likely to come back on a date night without their kids.

Upcoming dates at the Metropolitan Room:
Sat June 15, 11:30AM
Sat July 6, 11:30AM

PRICE: $20 child, $30 adult + one (1) food/beverage item minimum

WHERE: Metropolitan Room 34 West 22nd Street (between 5th + 6th Avenues), NYC

MORE INFO:  http://www.marioandhissuitcasemachine.com/

Mario is also available for private parties, and other events.

Here’s a calendar of some of his other summer events, including a number of opportunities to see him for free in the boroughs.:

Tuesday, June 25, 2013
6:00 PM family magic show
Mostly Music at Memorial Park Nyack NY FREE

Friday, July 12, 2013
4:00 PM family magic show
Family Fun Friday @ Westfield Trumbull Mall 5065 Main Street Trumbull CT

Sunday, July 14, 2013
3:00 PM family magic show @ Grasso’s Magic Theatre Philadelphia PA
$10 child, $20 adult $30 VIP (front row + popcorn)

Saturday, July 27, 2013
3:00 PM family magic show
accompanied by the Sleight of Hand Band
Lincoln Center Local @ Queens Library at Cambria Heights
218-13 Linden Blvd Cambria Heights QUEENS NY
FREE

Monday, August 12, 2013
6:00 PM family magic show
accompanied by the Sleight of Hand Band
Lincoln Center Local @ Queens Library at Lefrak City
98-30 57 Avenue Corona QUEENS NY
FREE

Thursday, August 22, 2013
11:00 AM family magic show @ Nyack Farmers’ Market
Municipal Lot, Main Street Nyack NY  FREE

At the Figment Festival this weekend, Jonathan Taylor of (Daredevil Chicken Club) and a host of his burlesque/clown/vaudeville comrades will be performing in a 52 seat minicircus tent, Le Tigre Tent.  All shows are free, family friendly, and open to admission. Shows are at Governor Island.

The Figment Movement is a grassroot efforts dedicated to creativity, participatory, and community art.  They run in a number of cities around the country.  Find out more about the NY Festival at http://newyork.figmentproject.org

If you are around this weekend, I suggest you don’t miss it!

Le Tigre Tent has been touring America since April Fool’s day, in the year of the tiger. Touring from coast to coast, performing for sold out crowds in Los Angeles, Washington DC, Chicago, Atlanta, San Francisco, Austin, Raleigh, Seattle, Boise, Tempe, and more.

Here’s the schedule of acts:

We’ve seen a lot of shows at the New Victory this year. So many in fact, that the guy at the Box Office didn’t need me to give him my name for him to give me my tickets! He just handed them over without a word.

Le Grand C is the fourth circus we’ve seen THIS SEASON at the New Victory. (There was the Colombian Youth Circus CirColombia, Australian Circus Circus Oz, Bello Nock’s Bellomania (American, I guess, although he could claim to be Italian) and now this. Le Grand C is produced by Compaignie XY, and it’s here as part of a French culture festival called Ricochet.

The show was VERY European. They started the first 10 minutes in near darkness doing a very slow 3-high, almost deconstructing the trick. Then they started doing some very simple stands on a cylinder. Stand, jump off.  It was the start of the trick.  The simple start.  The audience, esp. some kids in the back was pretty impatient, and sardonically began to clap when they did these stands (which were not very impressive looking) It was rude.  However, by the end of the show, these rude kids had been completely won over by some VERY IMPRESSIVE 4 highs and flips from side to side.

Most shows (esp. circus shows) start off with a bang, to get people moving and into it and wowed and impressed. These guys did not, and it took them a lot longer to win over the audience as a result.  There was something alarming about it (alarming in a good way)- they did stuff differently, with a different energy.

The tricks were phenomenal and original.  There was no juggling, or clowning, or aerial work (although a 4 high is pretty damned aerial.) I just mean no trapeze, no silks, no rings. What there was was phenomenal strength and virtuoso balance performed by an ensemble of 17.  It was pretty awe-inspiring.

Some tricks I had never seen before- they dropped a 4 high vertically. (Meaning they kept the 4 high intact and the slowly lowered it to the ground, until instead of vertical they were horizontal, and then they put the guys back in place, showing it in reverse motion)  It was VERY impressive. They also did a trick where they SHOT a person out of a cannon into a group of other people– except there was no cannon, it was all human propelled.

They finish this weekend at the New Victory, (BUY TICKETS HERE!) and then they have a very extensive South American and European tour.  They come back to the states for a 9 day run at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina (May 22-June 1)

This show is definitely worth seeing. If your younger kids get antsy in the beginning, tell them to hold on.

Here’s a video clip that shows some of the amazing acrobatics they perform:

Find out more about Le Grand C at the Compaignie XY Website (in French)

Find out more about the New Victory at http://www.newvictory.org

Joel Jeske is a professional physical comedian, director, teacher, and creator of his own theater shows.

He has appeared in major feature films including Two for the Money with Al Pacino and Two Weeks Notice with Sandra Bullock.

On television, Joel was featured in Sex in the City, The Late Show with David Letterman, Live with Regis and Kelly, and with partner Barry Lubin in Italy’s Circo Massimo. Internationally, Joel starred with Peter Shub at the Apollo Variete in Dusseldorf, Germany and was the headlining show at Festival Der Traume in Innsbruck, Austria, the COS Festival in Reus, Spain, and the AEMI International Clown Festival in Shanghai and Hangzhou, China.

Joel is a creator and performer for the physical theatre company Parallel Exit. He created and starred in Parallel Exit’s Off-Broadway hits THIS WAY THAT WAY, CUT TO THE CHASE, and ROOM 17B. Joel was nominated for a Drama Desk award in 2008 and 2010 for creating the Off-Broadway hits CUT TO THE CHASE and ROOM 17B. As a clown, Joel toured and created clown acts for Ringling Bros. & Barnum and Bailey Circus, Cirque Du Soleil, hosted The Big Apple Circus 2006-07 production of STEP RIGHT UP!, and tours with fellow clown Chris Lueck as the slapstick duo “The HeyYa Brothers.”

Joel teaches circus and clown with Parallel Exit, The Big Apple Circus, and Cirque Du Jour both internationally at home in New York.

Joel was honored as Clown of the Year 2007 won the Audience Choice Award for best clown act in 2009.

An encyclopedia of comedy knowledge, Joel is committed to passing along this unique and distinctive art form to future generations of performers.

Find out more about his work on his website:  http://www.joeljeske.com

And here’s a great video of Joel performing a Musical Chairs piece:

 The inimitable Trav S.D., author of (you guessed it) a brand new book, makes a vaudevillian style plea for you to liberate your wallet of that pesky green stuff and buy his brand new book,

Chain of Fools – Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to YouTube

which happens to be a fabulous and well-researched tome about the impact of older clowns on new generations.  There is a connection between  Buster Keaton and Steve-O and those kids who are constantly Youtubing their misadventures.  And Trav elegantly and expertly draws the connection for us, so that anyone (yes, even you!) can see it.

His previous book, No Applause–Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous was a wonderful foray into the history of Vaudeville (I hosted an online interview via the INkWELL series back when that book came out, you can read that interview here.)

The video is part of Trav S.D.’s and Jim Moore’s excellent series Vaudephone (of which, I am told, I will be in one of these days)

I love this video on so many levels– Trav is asking you to buy his book about Vaudeville using an old vaudeville-style song, using vaudeville techniques.  And the song is catchy, and funny, and corny, and self-effacing, and most importantly, IT TELLS YOU WHAT ITS PURPOSE IS!  One could easily imagine Groucho singing this very song.

So would somebody already buy his damned book already? They made him type it and everything!

Michael Miclon, a well known Maine variety entertainer and until recently, the proprietor of vaudeville theatre Odd fellows Hall of Buckfield ME, has been named Artistic Director of Johnson Hall Performing Arts Center.  Johnson Hall  is a nonprofit organization that presents a wide range of programs and community events in historic Johnson Hall Opera House in downtown Gardiner, Maine.  The Opera House was built in 1864, and is the artistic nerve center of Gardiner.

This is a great choice.  Miclon is one of the scores of performers in Maine who was inspired by Gardiner’s own vaudeville hero Benny Reehl. In fact, Miclon will be taking over the spot previously held by Benny’s wife Denise, who retired in December. SEE ARTICLE  (Prior to his death Benny was co-artistic director with Denise)

Miclon studied comedy and juggling with Benny and also at the Celebration Barn in nearby South Paris and started his life as a variety performer, touring schools, churches, theatres, and streets throughout the world. When the opportunity came to purchase a theatre (a dream of nearly every performer I know) he seized it, and for nearly 14 years presented amazing acts and nurtured all kinds of performances, some with startling national successes.
Folk star Ray LaMontagne got his start there. Odd Fellows Hall was the jumping off place for Eepy Bird (viral videos of Coke and Diet Mentos, and many other everyday objects). Amanda Huotari, current director of the Celebration Barn, would often perform there as part of the resident company.  Audio Body, the Tardy Brothers–all of them were supported and featured at Miclon’s Odd Fellows Hall.   After 14 years, Miclon felt it was time to move on, and closed the theatre in 2011 to pursue other projects, mostly with the cadre of performers and friends that he had made during his time at Odd Fellows Hall. (One cool project is a film based on an Odd Fellows show Richard ³.

This is one example of a theatre getting it right.  Although one might have the feeling that the lunatics are in charge of the madhouse, Miclon is clearly the right guy for the job.  He knows intimately the problems and travails of the performers that will be touring through the new facility, he knows intimately the pleasures and perils of running a venue, and  all that is associated with it. Now he will have the support of a community minded organization and a well-supported theatre to help him.  And he brings with him 14 years of good will and support from a nearby town.

Johnson Hall couldn’t have picked a better artistic director, and we wish Michael much success in the next phase of his career.

More about Johnson Hall:  http://johnsonhall.org
More about Mike Miclon: http://www.mikemiclon.com
More about Oddfellows Hall:  http://www.oddfellow.com/

 Read more about the end of Odd Fellows Hall

As many of you are no doubt aware, I am one of a handful of flea circus proprietors in the world.  My one man, two flea show, the Acme Miniature Flea Circus, has been performed in over 39 states and 6 countries since 1994.  We have been fortunate to have received a fair amount of acclaim for the show, including articles in the NY Times, the AP, the Los Angeles Times, Details Magazine, Travel and Leisure, and scores of other publications, television shows, radio programs, and other media outlets. We were even a question on Jeopardy!

It was with shock and horror that Midge, Madge and I (well, I read it to Midge and Madge) read the AP story about the death of over 300 performing fleas from the bitter cold that is currently plaguing Germany. We stand, of course, in solidarity with those innocent flea victims.

If this had been lions and tigers….or rabbits, I shudder to think of the penalties that would await the trainer of these animals.  Or worse yet, dogs or cats, our traditional family pets - is there any question that they would lock this trainer away forever?

But, because these are fleas, it becomes an odd story for the newspaper,a bizarre but true tale to tell.  There is no Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Insects to be outraged.

I want you flea circus fans and insect activists alike to know that when we travel, I bring Midge and Madge with me on my person in an escape proof fur-lined box.  There has never been any chance of this awful fate befalling my insects.  And there never will be.

The microscope was developed  by the Dutch scientist Anton van Leeuwenhoek to study the lifecycle of the flea.  For some time afterwards, the microscope was known as the “Flea Glass.”  Von Leeuwenhoek is famous for having said “God’s greatest wonder is in his smallest creature.”  (Naturally, he said it in Dutch!)

Let us please have a moment of silence for these innocent and wonderful creatures who have lost their lives in a senseless and preventable tragedy.

Related articles

• Tragedy under the tiny big top: Freezing weather wipes out entire German flea circus
• Freezing weather wipes out German flea circus
• German flea circus hit by freeze
• Entire troupe of 300 circus fleas killed by freezing weather in Germany

Mark Lonergan and Joel Jeske of the Physical Theatre company Parallel Exit  are teaching a Comedy Academy.

Open to all levels, the classes (8 in number) will give students practical knowledge and technique that will make them funnier as they develop and perfect their own performance, material, character, and style.Classes are mix and match (you can go to all 8, or take 1 out of order)  Attendance is open to all levels. 

WHEN:  April 1, 2, 3*, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11   7-10pm
LOCATION:  520 8th Avenue (btwn. 36th and 37th St.) 3rd floor (*April 3: Location to be announced.)

COST: 1 class            $75
4 class FlexPass            $250
8 class FlexPass            $500
More info at the Parallel Exit Website:  http://www.parallelexit.com

Joel Jeske is a physical comedian, director, teacher, and creator of his own theater shows.  He has appeared in major feature films including Two for the Money with Al Pacino and Two Weeks Notice with Sandra Bullock.  On television,  Joel was featured in Sex in the City, The Late Show with David Letterman, Live with Regis and Kelly, and with partner Barry Lubin in Italy’s Circo Massimo. Internationally, Joel starred with Peter Shub at the Apollo Variete in Dusseldorf, Germany and was the headlining show at Festival Der Traume in Innsbruck, Austria, the COS Festival in Reus, Spain, and the AEMI International Clown Festival in Shanghai and Hangzhou, China.  Joel is a creator and performer for the physical theatre company Parallel Exit.  He created and starred in Parallel Exit’s Off-Broadway hits THIS WAY THAT WAY, CUT TO THE CHASE, and ROOM 17B.  Joel was nominated for a Drama Desk award in 2008 and 2010 for creating the Off-Broadway hits CUT TO THE CHASE andROOM 17B.  As a clown, Joel toured and created clown acts for Ringling Bros. & Barnum and Bailey Circus, Cirque Du Soleil, hosted The Big Apple Circus 2006-07 production of STEP RIGHT UP!, and tours with fellow clown Chris Lueck as the slapstick duo The HeyYa Brothers.  Joel teaches circus and clown with Parallel Exit, The Big Apple Circus, and Cirque Du Jour both internationally and at home in New York.  Joel was honored as Clown of the Year 2007 won the Audience Choice Award for best clown act in 2009.  Visit his website here.

Mark Lonergan  is a New York-based director/creator, and the Artistic Director of Parallel Exit, a two-time Drama Desk Award nominee for Unique Theatrical Experience. With Parallel Exit, he has created eight original works of physical theatre and received several grants and awards. Mark’s work has been seen in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia, at festivals such as the Festival of Dreams in Austria, the COS Festival in Spain, the We Love Dance Festival in Japan, the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in the United States, and The Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland (Awarded: Spirit of the Fringe). In New York City, he has presented work at The New Victory Theater, Lincoln Center, 59E59 Theaters, the Duke on 42nd Street, Symphony Space, and the Guggenheim Museum. Mark also works as a freelance director of productions in the United States and Canada.

Here’s their video trailer for the class:

Parallel Exit’s COMEDY ACADEMY from Parallel Exit on Vimeo.

Sweatshop:

Made in Commedia

Friday – Sunday, March 29-31, 7:30PM
Circus Center, Theater

FREE ADMISSION (Reserve Online)

Rated PG-13. Commedia is a bawdy style of theater. Some material may not be suitable for children.

LOCATION
Circus Center
755 Frederick St SF CA 94117
Entry to this building and its bathroom facilities requires the use of stairs.
There are no ramps or elevators.

A night of High Fashion and Low Comedy! Love, Intrigue and Acrobatics~

Explorations in commedia, mask and physical comedy by the students of Clown Conservatory.

Lady Lucinda’s Red Line of fashion is hot! The trend setters and style warriors  want more, more, MORE! But she’s run out of the special dye that is at the heart of her genius design. Her employees are hapless, clueless clowns. But they have a solution to her dying needs and she’ll stop at nothing to get it!
ATTENTION: The performances will be videotaped as part of a documentary. Some audience members may be recognizable in the video. Your presence in the audience grants consent to the filmmaker and camera crew to record your likeness and appearance at this performance and to use your image in the video and/or in marketing materials for the video without compensation to you, and releases the filmmaker/videographer from all liability related to the videotaping of your presence in this venue.
ATTENTION: The performances will be videotaped as part of a documentary. Some audience members may be recognizable in the video. Your presence in the audience grants consent to the filmmaker and camera crew to record your likeness and appearance at this performance and to use your image in the video and/or in marketing materials for the video without compensation to you, and releases the filmmaker/videographer from all liability related to the videotaping of your presence in this venue.