Circus Contraption Is Great!

At long last, Rhias and I went to Circus Contraption on Saturday night. You might be thinking "Monty, you only started planning to go last Tuesday; how is that At Long Last?" But what you don't know is that the discussion of whether or not to go has been raging for months. Well, maybe not "raging" exactly, but Rhias suggested it a couple times and I wasn't that into the idea.

And that was sheerest foolishness on my part, because Circus Contraption was lots of fun. I could tell I enjoyed myself because at the end of the evening, my hands hurt from all the applauding. And the weird thing was, even though we'd decided to go, we almost missed the entire show. Trigger flashback.

We got to the theater-like building in which Circus Contraption holds their shows about an hour and a half before showtime, having stopped off for a tasty dinner at the International House of Pancakes. Classy, yes? We were there early on the offchance that they were going to have a tiny midway or something, as (sort of) implied by the show title being "The Grand American Traveling Dime Museum". They did not, but luckily the line for Will Call tickets was, in many ways, a freakshow in itself. I was pleased to see the wide variety of dress -- there was everything from guys in jeans and hawaiian shirts to people in full formal going-to-prom attire. And there aw a girl wearing fairy wings, because it's apparently a law in Seattle that there always has to be a girl wearing fairy wings.

We stood in the Will Call line, serene in the knowledge that I had bought the tickets ahead of time. Sadly, when we got to the front of the line, my name was not on the list. Not on the list? But I received a confirmation email! Well, no, I didn't bring it with me. But I -- okay, look. It's still some forty minutes before the show. I can probably drive home, print out the confirmation, and get back here. Okay?

So off we went, grumpy as all get-out. I'd considered staying at the ticket line and arguing with the people there, but they seemed really busy and I wasn't at all confident I could hold their attention through the argument, let alone bully my way in. And in retrospect, it's good that I didn't, because were only a few blocks away when I realized I'd almost certainly bought tickets for Friday, not Saturday. D'oh!

The reason I remembered that is that Saturday was the very last show of the Seattle run (they're going off to New York for a month or so, and I highly encourage anyone in New York to go see them), and I'd decided I didn't really want to watch the final show, since I suspected it might contain goofiness of the blowing-off-steam variety. Plus, the last show was more expensive, sinec it contained a special Champagne Gala. Anyway, I realized I'd forgotten which show I bought tickets for, so we turned around and went back to the theater.

Sure enough, they said that the previous night had had "a lot of no-shows" and were able to verify my story. We had to come up with ten more dollars (cash!) to make up for the difference in prices, but we were able to get in. Most nights, Circus Contraption tickets are twenty bucks, but on Saturday, there were $25 tickets (which is what we got) and special $40 VIP things that came with wristbands and a goodie bag. Naturally, I wished I had a goodie bag and a wristband, but since they only took cash or checks, we were sort of limited in our options, not having thought to being huge handfuls of cash to a local circus.

But we got in and took our seats about two-thirds of the way back from the stage. We'd have been closer, but those were the special seats for the special people. Although I do kind of approve of this kind of capitalistic elitism, where you become a VIP just by forking over the dough.

The theater was very warm. Uncomfortably so. Indeed, if Rhias had not had the foresight to bring a small fan, we might well have perished of heatstroke. As it is, we were able to fan ourselves (well, mostly it was Rhias doing the fanning, but I took over when her arm was about to fall off) and pretend we were elegant people at an opera. Except for the "opera" part. Really, it was more like we were elegant people at a really good circus.

The most important element was the music: the Circus Contraption orchestra is very good and reminded me a bit of the Tiger Lillies (the music behind Shockheaded Peter) and sometimes of the Residents. Rhias recognized the singer/accordionist/banjo player (who called himself Schmootzi the Clod) as a guy who sometimes plays ukelele down by Pike Place Market. She says he's very good!

For me, the standout part of the show was Bunny Lamonte (a stage name; I forget his actual name). Most of the time he was just the drummer in the orchestra (where he did a fine job), but he also participated as a stuntman a few times, like when a devil was needed. However, his spotlight moment came in Act I when he gave some sort of poorly thought-out travelogue.

I'm not sure if it was supposed to be what we saw, because the structure was relatively straightforward: pictures of various world locales flashed on a screen while Bunny supposedly talked about his bicycle trip around world. Simple, right? Except that it seemed like Bunny didn't really have a script; every single slide was greeted by Mr. Lamonte with an awkward pause and a grand "...next picture!"

I thought it was hilarious. It had all the trappings of a real act, but it was absolutely content-free. Unfortunately, Rhias and I were the only ones laughing and applauding, so I have to be open to the possibility that it was all a horrible mistake. To close the act, Bunny enthusiastically announced that he had a machine. Just like that: "I have a machine!" That killed me.

In Act II, it turned out that he did, in fact, have a machine; it was mostly an excuse to drag someone out of the audience to participate in a bicycle race on tiny little pennyfarthing bicycles. The Someone in question was a slightly drunk gentleman in what was probably a kilt. Except that instead of a big heavy Utilikilt (which are actually pretty common in Seattle) he had a black velvet deal that looked a lot more like a skirt. And I do not think it was designed for riding on miniature pennyfarthing bicycles, because when he came around the tight turns (and when you keep in mind that this bicycle race took place on a pretty small stage, I think you'll understand that all the turns were pretty tight; it's not like they had room for a velodrome) -- well, let's just say more was revealed than is usual in polite society.

My favorite act (as opposed to my favorite performer, who remains Bunny Lamonte) was The Drunkard's Lament, in which four people in goofy devil outfits harassed a bald guy. They told the story very well and stayed strictly on theme, which made the acrobatics much more impressive. The actual circusing was mostly several people balancing on a strong,am (the aforementioned bald drunkard) or getting flung about. The devils performed their antics with glee and the Drunkard did an excellent job of appearing oppressed and bewildered. It was quite amusing.

After the first act and the intermission, there was a special "Send a clown to New York" auction. They auctioned off a signed cd of the show's music; apparently this was the first time the cds were available. I got one after the show. It's good! They also auctioned off things like "a champagne brunch with the Aerialistas" and "a bicycle tour and picnic lunch with Bunny Lamonte". Rhias almost bid on "an evening of drinks and conversation with Schmootzi the Clod" so she could get ukelele lessons, but chickened out.

Act II had more of the same: Cool circusy things, rope swings, and an interesting trapeze act involving Bunny Lamonte and a woman; it was odd because they used the trapeze without swinging on it; it was al pretty much straight vertical stuff. Also, the plot of the act was that Bunny was trying to escape the woman, so he kept dropping her on purpose and then laughing at her.

There was also some juggling, both character-based (a caveman juggling bones) and just neat-looking (three people juggling glowing red balls in the dark). It made me wish I juggled more often, and I might go hang out with the Cascade Jugglers some weekend. It's an open juggling club which is, interestingly enough, affiliated somehow with Circus Contraption! I'm a little nervoud, though, because although I'm pretty good with solo juggling, I've never learned to pass. So when I'm in a big juggling group, there's usually a moment when some big passing thing develops and I stand off to the side awkwardly (or get involved and mess everything up due to my lack of experience).

Anyway, the circus was just great. It's a shame it was the last show, because now I can't encourage everyone I know in Seattle to go see it (although people in New York, they're playing from September 1 through October 1). I did notice signs for Cirque de Flambé, who appear to be a fire-based circus very near where Circus Contraption works, so Rhias and I will probably go see them in the very near future. They've got Circus Arts workshops, which might also be fun; I can juggling flaming torches (while handcuffed!), but I've got very little else in the fire area.