A Funny Thing Happened at the Circus

These two performers were the highlight of the show for me. They did an elaborate routine in which they slowly moved into all kinds of absurd balancing postures that no mortal human could replicate. For several minutes, no part of her body even touched the ground. And then the tables turned:

This four story tower was formed when the two men to the left of the tower basically launched the fourth man while he was standing on their clasped hands. He landed perfectly on the wobbly shoulders of the third tier, eliciting a gasp from the crowd.

As Betsy and I sat raptly watching Cirque du Soleil on Saturday afternoon, we were wondering if the "volunteers" from the audience were actually Cirque employees. One woman, in particular, seemed mighty comfortable in her improvisational performance, and when she turned to go offstage, I noticed well-defined triceps that spoke of many hours practicing acrobatics. At intermission, we looked toward her seat to see if she'd return for the second half of the show. As the second half began, almost immediately a clown came out and the spotlights searched the audience for another volunteer. Our skepticism was soon banished when the spotlight landed on me, and I was invited on stage. My doubt quickly turned to fear as three other volunteers and I had to act out an elaborate scene with minimal instruction. I remembered why I never took part in school plays. My knees started knocking. And then my part (a jilted lover) began. I don't remember much, only that I didn't completely embarrass myself, and that my part ended with me shooting "the other man." Unfortunately, you're not allowed to take pictures during the performance (I stole all of these from the web), but below is a picture of the clown who hurriedly whispered stage instructions to me while running around. The show, "Quidam," was incredible. If you ever have a chance to see a Cirque show, do it. And if possible, get tickets in the front row!