MR. MARIO'S SECRET CIRCUS

The child and I headed over to King's Books this morning for the latest installment of Mr. Mario's Secret Circus. It is best described as vaudeville for children. The child seemed to have a wonderful time. There was also enough entertainment and corny humor to keep Troy's Work Table laughing throughout. This is a must-see for children in the greater Tacoma area.


(1) Hedda Gabner/Hilda Gabbler/Helda Gebner telling the kids the true story of "The Three Little Pigs." Her name kept shifting throughout the show.


(2) Ryan Christiansen juggling pins thrown at him by an audience member. He juggled various objects and performed other tricks. Ryan also related his recent climbing of Mount Kilimanjaro, of which the children seemed very enamored.

(Troy's Work Table was called up on stage during Ryan's set to participate in a "human architecture" exercise in trust. This is the one where four audience members are brought up on stage and lie back into one another's laps, whereupon the four chairs they are seated on are removed and the four audience members "hover" above the stage, supported by one another's legs and laps. I kept thinking it was going to kill my back, but it didn't. It was actually rather strange to be part of this "trick.")


(3) Cindy Arnold of Live Paint told and acted out an adaptation of "The Basket," a Korean tale complete with motions, music, and artificial leaves falling upon audience members as Cindy passed by with her basket.


(4) Children and adults creating baskets like the one in the story "The Basket."


(5) Mr. Mario bringing his basket to life.


(6) Mr. Mario closing out the show by "interviewing" one of the children from the audience.