On Top of the Big Top

On Top of the Big Top
Christian Stoinev and Scooby / from Covington Connected

Tomorrow is Here

Tomorrow is Here
Photo at top: Giovanni Zoppe and son

Thursday, December 12, 2024

Beware the Pitfalls of You Tube Reviewing, -- Big Apple Circus Ill Served? This is NOT a review

Perfect example: I watched a video, in two parts,  of Big Apple Circus, apparently shot by a patron, lasting half as long as the actual show itself, with the Flying Poemas left out. I can see the included acts well enough to know, for example, that how three water exhaling guys turning themselves into Roman fountains --  Jesse Highley, Neal Skoy, and Robert Ryan  --- are as ingeniously brilliant as is a labored slack wire workout borderline amateur.  But as for the themed production casting the acts in hometown settings,  I am left  with a felling that maybe The New York Times got it right in calling what looks to me like a disjointed mishmash  “underwhelming.” But also left wondering, had I actually seen the new Ringling, might I have liked its production values as much as I did the acts?  Nothing beats being there.  

2 comments:

Blogger said...

I just watched the YT video you mentioned. The show is shit padded with crap. The incessant exhorting the audience to clap along and the styling for applause got so aggravating I didn't finish watching it. The production looked like a Saturday morning kiddie show. After just spending many days immersing myself in videos of European shows and their polished presentation I have to ask myself "why can't we have nice things" I used to drive 3 hours to NYC to see the show every year when Paul Binder had it. I wouldn't go across town to watch this crap. No wonder Soleil is still selling out at $150 a ticket after all these years. It's still something worth watching. Agggh!!! I am beyond pissed at what Big Apple has become.

Blogger said...

Oh, and to add. The dog act is weak too