BUSKERS GO BAD (R18)
29/01/2015 - 30/01/2015
Production Details
A cabaret style show for those feeling a little more daring. In this show, the street performers venture indoors and let their hair down. Sit at the front if you’re feeling brave!
Thur 29 Jan, 8pm & Fri 30 Jan, 8.30pm
The Boathouse
$30 pre sale, $38 door sale (plus service fees)
Tickets are available online at Ticket Direct, by phoning 03 548 3840, or in person at Theatre Royal Nelson, Nelson i-SITE, Richmond Mall and TicketDirect outlets.
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Bendy Em(UK/Australia) Emma is a gymnast and dancer originally from the United Kingdom who now resides in Sydney, Australia. This pint-sized entertainer will have you on the edge of your seat as she comedically bends and contorts her body into freakily mind-boggling positions. If you want to see something memorable and entirely out of the norm, watch Bendy. |
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Becky Hoops(Canada) Becky charms and cracks up her audience combining absurd characters and her many hula-hoops. She hoops in an unconventional, quirky fashion, combining parody and humour with her crazy tricks. Check out her quirky yet delightful daytime beach show! This loveable, yet peculiar, character truly lives in a fantasy paradise, bringing the sunshine of the beach with her everywhere she goes. She transforms her hula hoop into a miniature ocean, bringing the public with her on a breathtaking underwater journey full of surprises. |
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Pancho Libre(Mexico) Don’t miss Pancho Libre performing his incredibly energetic, hugely high skilled, comedic acrobatic show. Get ready to be entertained as you witness his playfulness unfold with the public while showing off some pretty impressive unique props, including the roue cyr wheel, the traditional chinese feitcha and a pole!!! Watch Pancho perform impossible feats of strength and danger in a non-stop action packed show! |
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Eddy Eighty (Spain) From a travelling seal tamer father and dress maker mother, Eddy Eighty grew up on the road and from the beginning he had a dream… to bring 80’s music to the circus world! Follow this heart-warming story of our charming hero whilst he delights you with equilibristics (yes, this is a real word), juggling, comedy and dance. Be surprised by his creations and atmosphere of humour, love and audience participation. |
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Vinyl Burns (New Zealand) World class, blistering diabolo juggling and wry, self deprecating magical illusion and physical comedy, building to a climax of live rock-guitar anthems and high altitude 80’s hair-rock singalong finale. Brimming with inept sophistication, extreme stunts and surprisingly polished skills, Vinyl rides in hot pursuit of his destiny… to deliver a glittering, escapist adventure just for you. It’s dramatic, silly, beautiful and hilarious… |
Excellently balanced
Review by Gail Tresidder 31st Jan 2015
What a gloriously zany, yet amazingly talented, group of entertainers! A few black marks aside – especially the deafeningly loud and absolutely music-less pre-show music – this capacity crowd laughs and marvels throughout.
From Canada, Compere Becky Hoops is in her Barbie persona this evening. Decked out in a blonde wig, baby-pink dress and glitzy panties, with stiletto heeled pink shoes, the whole topped off with two very large balloons strategically placed, she is ditzy and clever. It takes skill to get tangled up in hula hoops so convincingly and just to prove she can do it really, at the end of the evening the whole crew toss dozens of hoops at her: deftly she catches them all.
Key to busking is audience participation. Naturally there has to be a Ken where there is a Barbie and a very biddable young man is conjured up from the audience. Re-garbed in a shiny satin shirt with “Ken” on the back he is inveigled in to various compromising positions and this he does with good humour and great enjoyment. Perfect.
From Mexico, Pancho Libre juggles, does stunning acrobatics at the top of a tall pole, spins around inside a huge wheel and amazes us. He is not only an athlete of wonder but also clever and his modesty is appealing. Bendy Em, contortionist from the UK and Australia, is very funny indeed. She giggles delightfully and her UK deadpan sense of humour is quite a bonus for her as an entertainer. Sample: about to wedge herself in to a very small glass box “In Japan, this would be a 2-bedroom apartment.” Her amazing dexterity is of the “ouch!” variety.
At the outset, Vinyl Burns comes over as a total idiot, somewhat of the Barrie Humphreys Australian Cultural Ambassador ilk. He is irritating. He is also totally crazy and unveils his many talents as the performance moves along. He does great tricks with his unicycle, antenna/music stand, sheet music and guitar and the audience loves it, laps it up. He can juggle with knives, perform sleight of hand, and is one clever ex-American, now New Zealand, performer.
Charming, loveable, unutterably sweet and funny without being in anyway vulgar, Eddy Eighty of Spain is the shining star of the troupe. He can dance, he can mime, and he tells us about his father the seal-tamer meanwhile giving a fine seal impression. He is Michael Jackson with three hats. He is fabulous.
More performances this weekend at Fairfield Park, as part of the Buskers in Nelson Festival, and then Becky Hoops, Pancho Libre, Bendy Em, Vinyl Burns and Eddy Eighty move on to other New Zealand venues. They are an excellently balanced troupe.
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