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French Canadian pair bring their circus to town

French Canadian pair bring their circus to town image French Canadian pair bring their circus to town image
Parent Issue
Day
27
Month
June
Year
2009
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Donated by the Ann Arbor News. © The Ann Arbor News.
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French Canadian pair bring their circus to town

Circo Comedia excel with visual comedy

BY LEAH DUMOUCHEL

The Ann Arbor News

It’s always a blast when the circus comes to town.

“Here, let me read you this article,” said Circo Comedia’s Jean Saucier, rustling newspapers in search of a description from the previous weekend’s Luminato festival in Toronto, where he had performed with Cirque de Soleil. He then launched with a discernible note of glee into a quote from the Globe and Mail about ‘“a colorful, exuberant troupe of characters ... clambering into passing cars and chasing cyclists on commandeered police bicycles. And that was just the warm-up.’”

“So,” concluded Saucier, “we had a lot of fun there.”

He’ll arrive in town for an Ann Arbor Summer Festival show Sunday with the other half of his Montreal circus-duo act, Patrick Cote, so maybe the Ann Arbor Police Department’s bicycle division should consider this fair warning. But probably the fun will be confined to Power Center, where they present what Saucier calls - in his charming French Canadian accent - “an incredible mix of circus and comedy, mostly visual comedy.

PREVIEW

Circo Comedia

What: Circus-comedy duo brings a family-friendly act of acrobatics and clown antics to the Ann Arbor Summer Festival.

Who: Equilibrist, juggler, trick cyclist, acrobat and magician Jean Saucier gets a little "help" from burlesque clown, roller skater and drummer Patrick Cote. Both are Montreal-based Cirque de Soleil alums.

When: 4 p.m. Sunday.

Where: Power Center, 121 Fletcher St.

How much: $10-$25, available at the Michigan League Ticket Office, 911 N. University Ave. or by phone at 734-764-2538.

SEE CIRCUS, D2

Circo Comedia.

CIRCUS FROM D1

Saucier plays the 'straight clown' in French Canadian pair's act

"We do all the circus skills, and my partner tries to help me but of course it goes to disaster sometimes. Kids and families will love it - the kids just love the phyiscal stuff, and the comedy is for the adults, too. Patrick - we call him Gaston in the show, a real good French name - does a parody of 'Flashdance' that's really fun."

The pair has been together as an act for about five years, but knew each other for a number of years before that. "I was always a fan of Patrick's skills, to be a clown on roller skates, and to be able to fall down the stairs without hurting himself. He's got natural talent! And I think together we go further in the physical and visual comedy than I was going before. I think he's the right guy."

Saucier plays the "straight man," a role he says he didn't find right away. "It took me a long time to find my clown, my right clown. It's funny to say that, but the clown is already there - everybody's a clown, because sometimes life is really ridiculous. So for me, I was already talented in the circus skills, I started young and learned to ride a unicycle in one day." (A skill he immediately put to use in service of his paper route, by the way, although it didn't garner much of an audience because "people didn't run out of the house at 6 a.m. to see it." Huh.)

"And of course I wanted to be the funny one, but I realized that I was not as naturally funny as some people in the group. The straight man, though, is the rhythm of the show. It took me a long time to discover that. In clowns we call them a 'white clown' and a 'red clown'; the white limit is very, very serious and the other limit is the red one - just a total idiot. And there's lots in the middle. I'm not really white white white. I'm kind of stupid too because I'm always putting myself in danger. For me, a funny zone is to be in trouble, so I put myself in trouble.

"And everybody's got a funny zone. It's really a life comedy - it's the ridicule of human beings."