by Carlina Grillo
Big shoes, small cars, red noses and life-sized giraffes filled the Gist Theater in the late nights of Nov. 15-17. The Cal Poly Humboldt Circus presented this semester’s show named, “Circus? You hardly know us!”.
Doors opened at 6:30 p.m. Students and community members alike packed into the cozy theater, and filled every single chair in the house. While the audience waited for the theatrics to begin, multiple acts took the stage in charge of keeping people entertained while waiting. To keep the stage warm, the pre-show consisted of music from their very own house band, balloon animals, juggling, (balloon) sword fights, fire twirling (minus the fire) and general tomfoolery.
lion sleeping, “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”.
After a colorful and entertaining pre-show, the circus commenced – promptly, as the poster suggested, at 7:27 p.m. It was clear from the introduction, this show would feature the coolest, craziest and most creative clowns this Cal Poly has to offer. With over 25 cast members, the theatrics these clowns put on were incredibly impressive.
The entire night was full of controlled chaos, but there were a few acts that got the audience particularly riled up.
In the first half of the show, the audience got to indulge in a high stakes game of hangman. An audience member was brought to the floor to guess letters, and every incorrect letter guessed was stapled onto a body part, of said audience member’s choosing, onto the “hangman” (yes, literally stapled onto bare skin. The performer came back out later with bandages covering the staple holes).
Other unforgettable acts in the first half included an ensemble of musical butt-slapping titled, “Ass Percussion,” and a live episode of “The Real Clown Wives of Humboldt.”
After a quick intermission for smoke breaks, vending machine hauls and bathroom trips, people regathered into the black box theater, and no one was ready for what would happen next.
The latter half of the show kept the audience on their toes with an aerial dancing cat named Damla the Feral, a deep-throat balloon dinner at a classy food joint, and – perhaps the act of the night – “Corno,” an X-rated performance that included a student and their “cornology” professor engaging in erotic behavior, like “sucking cob,” and a plotline that included raunchy archetypes straight out of “corn-hub.”
The night wrapped up with a musical performance featuring a group of circus animals, and told the story of a lion getting revenge on his showman – in a rather violent way.
Overall, the Humboldt Circus Club went above and beyond for this performance, and proved that the group is overflowing with talent and creativity.
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