This technically fits the criterea for being "Great CIRCUS Clowns of the Past" as Dimitri Bogatirev toured with Slava in Cirque du Soliel's ALEGRIA and he and his wife Iryna appeared as featured clowns in Cirque's "O" in Las Vegas. They are still clowns, but their circus days are behind them. The whiteface character in the show is a Ringling Clown College grad and road veteran, Philip Karp-Briggs. I've been told he's no longer with the show and currently can be seen with his own JUMBO SHRIMP CIRCUS. I saw AGA-BOOM two seasons ago at the New Victory Theater and enjoyed it quite a bit. Here's what their promo materials say about the show... --------------------------------------------------------------------- Aga-Boom is a 75-minute family entertainment created and directed by Dimitri Bogatirev, veteran clown of Cirque du Soleil, and produced by his Las Vegas-based Theatre of Physical Comedy and Circus Arts. Aga-Boom (a spin on the Russian word for paper, boomaga) "fills the theater with the laughter, whoops and screams of children and adults alike. Masterly clowning with its own originality. Pure family fun." - The New York Times. "Came closer to being literally riotous - as in so funny that the audience did more than just laugh - than any theatrical experience within memory. The kids in the audience were on cloud nine, but hardly more so than the adults. Infectiously silly fun." - Los Angeles Times. "Aga-Boom is a unique theatrical event that will have the entire family - young and old alike - laughing, smiling and thinking. Rooted in the unique style and universal language of clowning, Aga-Boom cuts through the barriers of language and culture with art of slapstick, the humor of physical comedy and the delightful excitement of childhood." - The Burbank Times | |
great show But, I gotta ask: Where was a leaf blower in the day of my youth? it woulb have made TP-ing oooh so much more fun!
ReplyDeleteI just had the pleasure of spending a week with Aga-Boom while they were performing here in Okinawa. They just left yesterday. As Larry said, they are super nice people. Dimitri told me that Phillip still performs with them sometimes when they are close to home. While here, the whiteface was performed by a Russian performer named Valerie. Clown College graduates may remember Val from the CC reunion in 2001. He and his wife performed a quick-change act for us during the banquet on the last night. He also did a jump-rope act at Circus-Circus in Las Vegas for quite some time. As said before, Dimitri and Iryna were in O and Dimitri was in Alegria. The third former Cirque du Soleil performer in the show is the contortionist. Tatiana was a flyer in the final act in Quidam for 7-10 years. Aga-Boom just keeps getting better as Dimitri is constantly fine tuning the show.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah....Philip graduated from Clown College in '88. His wife Heidi was CC '84
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