The wacky genius of Cirque KikAsse

Food truck, flying and fun is all part of the Cirque Kikasse ensemble that performed on Saturday at Crellin Park in Chatham.

---

Each year, PS/21 Center for Contemporary Performance moves out of its theater and into Crellin Park. There, they share the joys of live arts with the community for free. And this year’s selection was as joyous and silly as it gets -- Cirque Kikasse in “Sante.”
 
This quintet of acrobatic clowns, who are toasting to its audience, performs — believe it or not — atop of a food truck. Yes, the stage is small but the view for the audience is spectacular. And with the help of a trampoline positioned out front of the vending windows, the artists from Quebec City fly and spin through the air and alit easily on top of the truck where the show unfolds.
 
It’s everything one would expect from a human circus – juggling, aerials, balancing, acrobatics and a lot of goofing around. And while the truck, selling beer and popcorn, seems like a gimmick, it works. Mainly because it’s a mobile stage for these artists – no need for a theater or a sound system ever in this all-in-one stage. It’s just so ridiculous that it is brilliant.
 
The troupe is the co-creation of Hugo Ouellet-Cote, the show’s biggest clown who feigns sneaking beers during the performance, and its narrator, the hand-barred mustached William Poliquin-Simms. The latter guides the audience through their daring – and dangerous – feats. The most nail-biting is the balancing act atop of a quartet of chairs. Upside down and scissoring and twisting his legs, the artist, only identified as Jim, hovers in the air – a sight that is nerve-wracking as much as it is awe-inspiring.
 
Yet the most amazing of their acts was the five-way, tri-level juggling. It was like watching an elaborate Rube Goldberg cartoon machine as the cubs fly every which way and mostly land in the right hands.
 
Of course, a lot of this is what one expects from a human circus – a display of moves that make us gasp. But after the show, Cirque Kikasse delivers more. It invites the audience to step up to the truck and buy some treats and drinks. Yes, this is actually a working food truck that helps this kooky ensemble pay the gas to move along to the next gig.
 
Like I said, it’s wacky, but it’s genius.