What do The Grateful Dead, The Blues Brothers and Robin Williams have in common?
They've all shared the stage with The Flying Karamazov Brothers, the hilarious theatrical troupe that will shake up Spaulding Auditorium Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. with a performance titled "Club Sandwich."
They may sound like something from The Muppet Show, but these internationally known comic jugglers incorporate pointed wordplay and sharp political humor into their madcap slapstick, juggling and cavorting.
"Club Sandwich" is a zany murder mystery in which the Flying Karamazovs play an entire cast of wacky characters as they parody 1930s detective movies. "Club Sandwich" -- named after an imaginary elite juggling club, isn't plot-driven drama, but it's a hard-hitting tour de force in another sense: it's bursting at the seams with manic exuberance that can't help but sweep you along with it.
Woven into its action is their perennial centerpiece, "The Gamble." It's an audience's dream: you get to produce an object for master juggler Ivan Karamazov to deal with. In the past, audiences have tossed out everything from dead octopi to livers to computers. The only prohibition is "live animals," though its not necessarily from a sense of ethics: Ivan won't throw anything up in the air "that might stop the champ from being a live animal."
How do you classify the Karamazovs? It's tough: their act is rooted in vaudeville, slapstick and comic theater, but there's so much physical comedy, punning, music and tap-dancing that they truly provide a bizarre smorgasbord of treats.
Are they performance artists? Maybe they're just live Muppets on speed.
Don't turn up your nose, snobs: this is high art. The Karamazovs have played at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall and on Broadway, even if they did begin in 1973 as street performers.
You're never sure exactly what the Karamazovs will do during a show, but buying a ticket isn't a risky speculation: you're always guaranteed feats that defy gravity and hysterical fun. As one critic has speculated, "Somewhere, even God is groaning."
The Flying Karamazov Brothers appear Thursday night at 7:30 in Spaulding Auditorium. Student tickets cost $8.50 and are available from the Hopkins Center Box Office.
