26th Decemeber 2002

Episode II: Attack of the Clowns

An unexpected treat was had by all this Boxing Day as a troop of entertainers made an unscheduled appearance in Barkingside. I had never heard of this troop before this assignment but they are apparently making a name for themselves as they tour the south of England. What they lack in fame they make up for in originality. The general gist of the show is that a large number of performers, between 15 and 20 at a time, perform feats of slapstick and tomfoolery while dressed as Disney characters. Which means that every cartoon character imaginable was on display at the same time in a brilliantly choreographed show designed to look like a shambles. The effect was reminiscent of Tommy Cooper, except that they were 20 of them. And they were wearing big furry costumes.

The show opened with a virtuoso display from Lee 'Mickey Mouse' McGill. The talent of this particular performer is to miss open goals in a way I never would have thought possible if I hadn't seen it myself. And I speak as something of an expert in this field. Mickey's most remarkable ability is to be able to swing his left foot as if it has just been attached to his body and is still controlled by its previous owner. There were clear allusions to his hero Jim Carrey's performance in 'Me, Myself and Irene'.

"Carrey is an inspiration to me. I started by throwing myself out of a car using just my left leg, and it grew from there", explained Mickey after the show. His finale it to do the splits in the middle of a muddy field and be banished to be goalie for the rest of the game.

This might have been a loss, but his presence is immediately filled by a host of talented performers. Deserving of particular mention is Malcolm 'Baloo' Berry. His act starts off by running up the pitch and looking lost, which sent most of the crowd into hysterics. To top it off, he repeatedly hits a football towards a net which appears to be completely empty. But as the ball approaches, we see that there is in fact one leg covering a tiny party of the goal. Sure enough, the ball hits the leg and bounces straight back out to Baloo, where the feat is repeated till the crowd can take no more.

A clever touch in the show is to have a brief display of normailty so we appreciate how talented these clowns really are. This was achieved by sending an unidentified artist in a Sausage Dog costume forward after the interval. He had taken much abuse as the victim of all the custard pie gags in the first half, and proceeded to put 3 goals past a delightfully unpredictable goalie.

For the climax of the show, and instead of taking a bow, the entire cast lines up to take penalties in a finale that brought the house down. The pin-point timing and the length of time for which this display goes on will leave you gasping for breath and longing for more. I lost count, but I am certain that at least the first 7 penalties were missed, and probably many more. When you expect something different, you get the same thing repeated, and it still gets funnier. Then when you've given up wanting something different, they start missing the goal altogether rather than having them saved. Inspirational.

This was not a show I was expecting to enjoy. Slapstick is not my favourite type of comedy, but these talented young performers won me over. They will be at Oakfield Arena for the next 2 weeks. If you can see them, you will not be disappointed.

Cast: Mickey, Minnie, Daffy, Goofy, Baloo, Kermit, Miss Piggy, Ronald McDonald, the Energizer Bunny, Marge Simpson, Sausage Dog.