A few of you might have been asking yourself where have I disappeared yesterday. Rest assured, small but dedicated readership, I haven't scratched Thursdays from my posting schedule. Yesterday was the St-Jean-Baptiste, Quebec's national holiday. Not that I really care, but I took the day off work, hell-bent on having the time of my life. I did, I had a wonderful day, crowned in the evening by Totem, Cirque Du Soleil's latest creation.
You might not know yet, but Josie is super-pimp when it comes to Cirque Du Soleil. Due to the fact that she's the nicest girl to hang around with, she can get anywhere because everybody loves her. Totem is the latest creation of Robert Lepage, child prodigy in filmmaking and playwrighting. He's one creepy looking dude but he knowns what he's doing as a director.
It's the third Cirque Du Soleil show I see and by far the best. For those not used to the Cirque's approach to fucking blowing your mind, know that there's a method to their madness. It goes like this:
Stage 1: Make Believe
They make you believe that it's just a circus trick.
Expected Reaction: "It's cool, these guys are skilled".
Stage 2: Upping The Ante
They add a layer of difficulty.
Expected Reaction: "Oh, more of the same, but damn, these guys are real good"
Stage 3: Crossroads
They cross the road of physical safety.
Expected Reaction: "This is about to get gnarly, very gnarly".
Stage 4(final): They fuck you up
They just do, they throw what you learned in school to the garbage.
Expected Reaction: "FUCK YOU GUYS, THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE, PHYSICS DON'T WORK LIKE THIS".
For example. Five guys come on stage wearing tiger suits. Four amazing young Russians bucks and one old dude with a mustache. He's a good foot under everybody else on stage.He could have been named Bruce Robinson for all I know. I tapped Josie on the shoulder and said: "Looook, they missed a guy and put a jacket on the soundman. Ain't that cute?"
Young buck does the human flag on the pole and I'm like "Woah". Young buck goes on the pole again and does the same thing while the pole holder climbs another pole. When I start holding Josie's hand a praying for that dude's life. Then ANOTHER DUDE hops on the pole WITH HIM. And believe it or not, as a show stopper, Bruce Robinson (who is Andrei Somethingski)hops on the pole himself, does a handstand on the pole who's itself going a polestand on the holder's forehead. A tiny gust of wind separates Bruce Robinson from death every night and motherfucker smiles in his tiger jacket, under his thick mustache. These guys left my heart throbbing in my throat.
That's only one of the numerous numbers that played with my sense of reality throughout the night. That's the power of a good circus number. Making you a kid again, huffing, puffing and praying for the performer's life as his body hangs in between dead space and death. Business as usual will resume next Thursday on Dead End Follies. Meanwhile, get in line and go see Totem, it's worth the admission price, your time, your evening and your sanity!
