Saturday, February 09, 2008

SERGUEI CHACHELEV: Chair Gag, Cirque du Soleil's La Nouba

Video courtesy of Stevie Oddsocks, information courtesy of Michael McLeod of The Orlando Sentinel



Outside of David Shiner's appearance in Nouvelle Experience my favorite Cirque clowning is that of Russian-born Serguei Chachelev and his Canadian partner Michel Deschamps in La Nouba.

Chachelev is very unique in that he has been deaf and mute since childhood.

Most performers learn to listen for audience reaction to gauge how well a gag is going over. They adjust the act accordingly. Chachelev simply watches Deschamps for subtle cues. Because so much of clowning is about body language, he sees no reason to call his deafness a disability.

"I was born to be a clown," he signs.

1 comment:

  1. Hi, Mr Cashin. I posted this on youtube because it is so very funny, the whole concept of inanimate objects ganging up on the clown is superb especially when performed with timing this good and this level of subtlety. It reminds me of my alltime favourite George Carl (no higher praise)If more people see this because you have linked to it that is great.

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