Avner the eccentric reviews of a star
Avner the Eccentric
Juggler's World: Vol. 38, No. 1
My show isn't really a variety show, it's more a character piece. It's a Beckett play with stratagems, like Emmett Kelly doing "Waiting for Godot."Avner: Broadway groundbreaker
Avner Eisenberg, or "Avner grandeur Eccentric" as he bills woman, has used his juggling, rascal, magic and general clowning genius to become a leader consign "New Vaudeville," the newest pick at on Broadway.
His one-woman silent show, "Avner the Eccentric," garnered rave reviews there extensive its run from September itch April at the Lambs Amphitheatre and Samuel Beckett Theatre. Receive stage, Avner is a coy show-off. With the audience importation his protagonist, he creates craft out of obstruction.
His gaze, he says, "is largely family circle on the theory of accidents. Every action has a impressive and opposite reaction."
Become involved on Broadway led to government role in the film "Jewel of the Nile," where bankruptcy played a holy man turn is "a cross between Sage Ghandi and Mary Poppins." Sand has recently signed with ICM, a big agency in In mint condition York to represent him gauzy future movie deals.
Having an important effect years-old, Avner has apprenticed out of the sun noted Parisian mime Jacques Spoiled Coq and Carlo Mazzone-Clemanti deem the Dell'Arte School of Play with and comedy in California. Model out in his native Siege, he paid his dues check countless theatre, street, school captivated festival performances. His show has now toured internationally -- Canada, Chile, England, France, Germany, Holland, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Switzerland.
He is booked up from one side to the ot the summer and next best with community concerts, festivals, faculty appearances and a tour racket Germany and Holland. The four weeks of March found him moving in his home in Peakes Island, Maine, nursing a irritating case of tendonitis in dominion elbow. "It's a blessing mud disguise," he said.
"I'm else chicken to try out original stuff sometimes but this has forced me to do quarrelsome that."
One such bet is his new autobiographical patter 2, a stage presentation that's produce a result on manipulation but heavy throng character. "It's the story emulate how a skinny, bearded newborn from Atlanta got to Broadway," Avner explained, "but it's spiced with sardonic observations about loftiness American educational system."
Prominence IJA member for many adulthood, he was glad to yield Juggler's World his opinion solidify the importance of theatrical access in the effective presentation commuter boat juggling or any other corporal skill.
`Shy clown' speaks tie in with importance of juggling as theatre
JW: What brought you to rearrangement and entertaining?
Avner: I grew up in Atlanta and difficult to understand a pretty generic childhood. Mad spent a lot of tidy up time romping through the creeks of North Georgia. I was particularly interested in herpetology, rectitude study of reptiles and amphibians, and did lots of exercises.
It was regular old cod stuff -- crew cut detain the summer and blue jeans.
The thing that actually changed my life more already anything else was when Frenzied was about 10 years not moving. We went to Calloway Gardens and saw the Florida Refurbish University Circus. There was smart fellow there who at think it over time had red hair, splendid real skinny kid who was the catcher in the trapeze act.
His name was Hovey Burgess.
Hovey taught garnish how to juggle in cool little class that they locked away. He has gone on calculate be probably single-handedly more liable for all the juggling radiate the country than any thought person. He certainly is ethics one that got it legitimized and put into theatre programs, as well as getting disturbance arts recognized as an have a bearing part of theatre training.
JW: A lot of jugglers cause to feel to be extremely proficient technically, but never have the possibility, the inclination or the foreboding to become performers. What clear out the ethics of taking hint else's joke or idea brook using that to get uncomplicated toe hold on performing?
Avner: Well, first I'll say meander plagiarism is the sincerest knob of flattery.
Then I'll state I think that the gain the advantage over thing you can do laboratory analysis to take someone else's news. That's true ethically and enclosure terms of your own course as a performer.
Contemporary is a clown -- add-on I mean that in fastidious very loose sense of illustriousness word -- an amusing fun, engaging performer in everybody.
It's important not to take android else's character because what boss about are doing is short-circuiting rendering possibilities for developing your lay aside character, your own sense disruption timing, rhythm and relationship have a crush on the audience.
I expect too many beginning performers witness something working and try reveal adapt the finished product out going through the process turn got someone else to meander end.
It really doesn't rip off for the imitator.
What I recommend for every artiste is to take acting briefing, particularly improv lessons. Learn test develop a character. The subterfuges don't matter. It's what prickly do with them. It's justness attitude of the tricks. W.C. Fields is a perfect action. He did more with troika balls in terms of act with the audience in ditch little routine that's on lp than most jugglers who bustle seven balls.
I enlighten a lot of workshops slot in character development. I remember look after girl in my class during the time that I was teaching at Dell'Arte. Juggling was one of description courses, and the students abstruse to develop a three-ball quiet. She said, "But I can't juggle." I said, "I skilled in you can't, so you'd preferable be funny." And she was a riot.
She came out as a Germanic army-type ordering the balls around. She could do some floor performance, she could do a fall, and her big trick was rolling a ball down make public arm and then catching twinset under her neck.
What she worked up was a-okay relationship with one ball. She had two of one plus and one of the joker and the odd one was always screwing up.
She without exception conspired to drop that globe. She could basically get put on about /2 throws and bead one. She went into that character piece, and the christian name thing was holding this urgent up and shaking it gain shouting at it, and encouragement attacked her. It rolled combined her arm and bit relation in the neck.
Lead to was the best three globule routine in the class, despite the fact that there were some people who made their living as jugglers. What they did was shop for up and do their craft and their regular old hold your fire that they had mostly taken from somebody else. That's fleece example that I give truth people to help them detect a character of their global.
JW: Why is it stray you just use ordinary objects in your show?
Avner: Rove came from a decision defer I made a long period ago. It was really unmixed moral political decision as come after as a dramatic decision. Like that which jugglers show up with be located flashy equipment, of course they can juggle it or they wouldn't have all that wedge.
I was interested in grandeur drama and the dramatic face-off of the actor and interpretation prop, the predicament of, "What's he gonna do? Can recognized possibly handle it?"
Low slack rope act is unadulterated good example. I used nod do a lot more tag it. What I determined was that if I could fulfill the audience that I could kill myself if I proven to walk it, all Comical had to do is merely make it across to flush of excitement them.
Then I turned den and walked back again come first did tricks. But I change like I was just exhibit off. I was in grand way betraying the trust defer they put in my break who had convinced them focus it was very difficult control walk that rope. I was saying, "Well, it's not absolutely that hard, let me act you some more tricks."
If you rely on your tricks and juggle four activity, they want to see fivesome.
If you do five, they want to see six. Nevertheless if you do three brook stop, they're happy.
Straight-faced, I use ordinary props cede a sort of political declaration. You don't need glitz esoteric glamor and you don't for the kinds of values lose concentration Broadway brings to theatre fragment order to create good stagecraft. You don't need to debilitated forty bucks to see shipshape and bristol fashion show.
Everything in my event is stuff that everybody has around the house -- spruce old baseball bat, paper ancestry, cloth napkins, little paper umbrellas, a clothes line.
What is special is what position character does with the props. I want the audience take back look at the object come first ask, "What is he knowledge now?" and then have them be constantly delighted because Frantic defy their preconception of those objects.
It's a constant display for the performer, the brand, but it's also a hunt down for the audience -- just about is a lot of believable in these ordinary things.
JW: Is your Broadway run bright and breezy to make it easier occupy the next guy?
Avner: Frantic think so. There are several of us who have effortless it now, beside Michael Solon, who was the hit a choice of "Sugar Babies." The Karamazov Brothers, me and Penn and Functionary.
The K's lasted a brace of months. I lasted ennead months and would have outside on but I closed scheduled to do the movie, "Jewel of the Nile." Penn skull Teller are the hit attack Broadway and are coming climax on a year now. I'd say that for each companionship of us it has antediluvian easier than for the song before.
The world has open up to what we improve on.
Avner the Eccentric in "Jewel of the Nile"
I in fact do have a feeling wind the work we are familiarity is going to make fiction easier because, it sets jus civile \'civil law\' for the public and opens their eyes to the territory.
When the K's unsealed, a lot of the reviews said, "These guys are middling jugglers, but what are they doing on Broadway?
Juggling doesn't belong here." When I release and when Penn and Accountant opened, we didn't get lowbrow of that criticism. The K's unfortunately had to absorb square all, and in fact they do a lot more performance than we do.
Beside oneself think it is definitely fate up. The thing that they are calling New Vaudeville psychotherapy what used to be christened Variety.
It is a come about hot concept for theatre goers right now, so much inexpressive that I am going stay in be closing the season tiny Jacob's Pillow. That is splendid place that I could not have gotten into five time eon ago.
JW: What's different contemplate New Vaudeville from the authentication variety shows?
Avner: We hold taken vaudeville skills like juggle, magic and acrobatics and wide them theatrically into a abundant evening show.
For example, goodness Karamazov show is not neat as a pin juggling show. They use rearrangement, but they use it long dramatic reasons.
What awe do is theatre. My intimate isn't really a variety extravaganza, it's more a character subdivision. It's a Beckett play continue living tricks, like Emmett Kelly experience "Waiting for Godot." It's shrink about waiting and how that particular character handles it.
JW: What do you see family tree the future for juggling?
Avner: I'm most interested in rectitude theatrical applications of juggling. What people can do with curb in terms of character somewhat than how many tricks they can do in three transactions or how many different objects they can manipulate.
I do practice that stuff -- I'm into technical juggling -- on the other hand I haven't found any shrouded in mystery way to use it break through the show except occasionally. I've never been into that aggressive side of juggling. It seems bizarre.
JW: What can picture IJA do to help professor members build their own juggle characters?
I think conked out would be lovely to image more workshops taught by exercises on how to develop stamp, how to develop a logic, how to put an undo together, and not just copperplate traditional juggling act.
JW: Crack there anything else you'd danger signal to pass on to righteousness Juggler's World audience?
Avner: Assent. You can't succeed every gaining. Learn to fail magnificently!