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Archive for the ‘Acrobats’ Category

Big Apple Circus: Dream Big (TD Bank Ballpark, Bridgewater, NJ, March 15, 2012)

Posted in Acrobats, Animals, Big Apple Circus, Bridgewater, NJ, Circus, Illusion, Magic, Peking Acrobats, Set in New Jersey!, TD Bank Ballpark on March 25, 2012| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 15, 2012] The Big Apple Circus

When I was a kid, we went to the Ringling Bros. Circus a few times. (I still have the program).  I had never been to the Big Apple Circus.  When we saw that it was in Bridgewater a few years ago we went (Tabitha was a baby and fell asleep after the intermission).  The year after that, the kids both enjoyed the show.  We missed last year due to a scheduling conflict.

When we heard that this was going to be grandma’s last year of the show, we decided we had to go.  For those of you unfamiliar with the Big Apple Circus, the one constant every year is “Grandma:” an old clown lady who meanders into the ring, causes mischief and is generally very funny.  Grandma, played by Barry Lubin, is leaving the show because “Mr. Lubin will spirit Grandma away to Sweden, where he moved last January to live with his partner, Ann Hageus” (NY Times).

I assumed there would be a huge send off to Grandma, but it was a surprisingly low-key show for her.  She had some great bits and was very entertaining (as always) but there was no major farewell.  Oh well.

The big surprise for our show was that Dr Oz was the surprise host.  And he handed out really stinky paper rulers (I can’t get over how badly they smelled) so that we could all measure our waists to see if we were fat or not.  Okay, first of all most of us don’t need to measure to see if we’re fat.  Second, this is a circus–not a single foodstuff out there is good for you.  Was I really going to measure my waist while holding my kids’ cotton candy.  No, I was just going to feel like a fat schlub.  Yaay!  Fun for the whole family.

My biggest victory of the night was when Dr Oz came into the crowd and his publicist asked if I (we) wanted to meet him and I was able to curtly say “No” and watch her look of surprise.  I have better things to do than to meet a TV doctor, thank you very much.

Like watch a circus. (more…)

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The Peking Acrobats (RVCC Arts, Branchburg NJ, February 24, 2012)

Posted in Acrobats, Branchburg, NJ, Peking Acrobats, RVCC Arts, Set in New Jersey! on March 18, 2012| 1 Comment »

[ATTENDED: February 24, 2012] The Peking Acrobats

Raritan Valley Community College continues to impress me with their wonderful selection of performances.  And this was another amazing one.  It had me literally slack jawed.

The Peking Acrobats (let’s start simple) are acrobats from Peking, China.

As the show opened, there were ropes hanging from the ceiling (not secured to the ground).  And then several men came out and climbed the ropes.  Which would be no big deal, except that they climbed them like monkeys do–or more literally as if they were walking up the rope while holding on to the rope like a grappling hook line.  From there they proceeded to leap back and forth between the ropes, winding themselves up and then rapidly spinning down until they almost hit the floor.  Nothing I write will convey how amazing it was to watch.

And the best part about it was that that was, when all was said and done, perhaps the least interesting part of the show. (more…)

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