Pickle Barrel
LAST MONTH I went to a swanky meet-and-greet at the Spoke Club for magician Chris Angel, who was in town as part of Richard Branson’s AIDS fundraiser. I thought I might see Angel do a trick or two, but he just signed autographs and looked like a rock star.
Until recently, I always thought magicians were cheesy guys in bad tuxes, but then Angel, and David Blaine before him, broke the mold. I like them both, and although I wouldn’t exactly call them funny, there’s a definite sense of humour in their work.
People often ask me why I don’t book magicians at my clubs. My answer is usually the same for other “variety” acts: they’re not funny.
I can’t laugh at borrowed jokes, or tricks bought in a magic store. The shows are designed for families, so anything remotely controversial is impossible. And worst of all, there’s rarely any subtlety to the performance. But you can’t disregard the charisma of the professional magician.
No wonder most magicians dislike Penn and Teller, who break all the rules and then tell you how they did it. Now that’s a hoot.
Comedy pros usually take a snobbish position on variety acts, and you can’t blame them. The only acts worse than ventriloquists are jugglers — the less said about mimes the better.
At Just For Laughs, there’s a variety act on every gala, to satisfy the needs of a bilingual audience (The French love this stuff, or so we’re told.). This is the moment I get up from my seat to check my messages.
But, I have seen some variety acts I’ve enjoyed over the years. Of course, you won’t catch them in Vegas, on a cruise ship, or at your next company party.
Mimes are the lowest on the comedy food chain, but they’re not always “walking against the wind.” Some groundbreaking work is being done in Eastern Europe. A few years ago, my friend Emo Philips begged me to see a show called Slava’s Snowshow. I wasn’t impressed with Slava until his finale, which involved covering the entire proscenium stage with a blizzard of snow in a scenario which was heartbreaking and hilarious. Paul Wildbaum, a local performer who has become a star in Poland, is renowned for his brilliant use of the audience as silent props in his skits and sketches.
And then there’s Billy the Mime. You may have seen his brilliant turn as the only mime in The Aristocrats, doing filthy things mimes aren’t supposed to do. But his off-Broadway show gives a real indication of his nerve, with pieces on abortion, Iraq and other hot-button topics. He doesn’t say a word, but there’s no mistaking his point of view.
If you think ventriloquists are guys with a creepy intimacy with their puppets, you’d usually be right. But then, you wouldn’t be familiar with Otto and George. The puppet and puppetmaster form an unholy alliance to take on every twisted topic you can’t even imagine. The finale comes with a replay of the JFK assassination, complete with the dummy’s head wired to blow off.
Locally, it’s John Pattison who should make us proud. Although his live act runs to the bland side, it’s his stewardship of the Comedy Network hit Puppets Who Kill that earns him a place in ventriloquist history. If you haven’t seen the show, it’s about a bunch of miscreant puppets who live in a halfway house and lie, cheat, and steal every chance they get. Hilariously funny.
Jugglers particularly make me
cringe, but even I have to admit I
think the Flying Karamazov
Brothers are great. A team of black
clad, mustachioed ninjas mix
juggling with Eastern philosophy,
literary references and stuff in the
air to create theatre shows of real
wonder. Now that’s… magic. 
Post City Magazines’ humour columnist, Mark Breslin, is the founder and owner of the Canada-wide Yuk Yuk’s chain of comedy clubs. The former comedian and TV producer is also the author of several books, including Control Freaked.
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