COURTESY OF TIM BOSTOCK PRODUCTIONS A couple of "AGA-BOOM" clowns in the midst of a hail of confetti.

Boom!

Juggling brothers’ show
features audience input

A BIRTHDAY cake with its candles lit, a Tupperware container partially filled with food, a skateboard, even a lawn gnome -- if you can get the item into Leeward Community College this weekend, there's a chance one of the Flying Karamazov Brothers will juggle it.

The Flying Karamazov Brothers Where: Leeward Community College Theatre When: 8 p.m. Oct. 23 and 4:30 p.m. Oct. 24 Cost: $22 general; $15 for students, seniors and military Call: 455-0385

Known around the world for their ability to throw a variety of objects into the air and keep them from hitting the ground (all while singing a song or telling a story), the Karamazovs are in town this weekend for two performances of "Life: A Guide for the Perplexed."

Those who have followed the group since its start more than 30 years ago know they aren't brothers, can't really fly and don't originally hail from Eastern Europe. Veteran members Dmitri (Paul Magid) and Ivan (Howard Jay Patterson) are joined by Alexei (Mark Ettinger) and Pavel (Roderick Kimball) in presenting "Life," a series of tales accentuated by singing, dancing, jokes and, of course, juggling.

But the highlight of the night should be "The Gamble," a regular feature of Karamazov performances that utilizes audience participation. With the threat of getting a pie in the face if he fails, Magid will attempt to juggle three items selected from the audience for 10 seconds without dropping anything.

Another segment of the show will feature the brothers performing "jazz" juggling, an improvisational display that showcases their ability to tie music into their performance while adhering to a series of rules that keep them from dropping items or running into each other.

"It's a real lesson in cooperation, improvisation and trust," Magid told the Boston Globe earlier this year.

The Cirque du Soleil-derived production "AGA-BOOM" continues for 10 more performances through Halloween at Saint Louis School's Mamiya Theatre. Filled with theatrical clowns, it's a comedic and exhilarating performance art romp suitable for the entire family, and is the creation of Dimitri Bogatirev and his wife, Irina Ivanytska, both former members of the arty circus troupe. "AGA-BOOM" cleverly brings together elements of circus, comedy and experimental theater.

Honolulu audiences are fortunate enough to get this world-class show before it goes to Broadway next month.

The remaining shows are at 7 p.m. today and tomorrow, and Wednesday through Oct. 30; 2 p.m. Saturday matinees; and 1 and 4 p.m. Oct. 31.

Tickets are $38 for adults, and $28 for children, seniors and students, with prices for the Wednesday and Thursday shows $10 less. $5 from every ticket sold for the weekday shows will benefit the Institute for Human Services Women and Children's Center in Iwilei, and the two final shows on Halloween Sunday will feature costume contests and candy giveaways.

Tickets can be charged by phone at 545-2820.

COURTESY AGA-BOOM Clowns in elaborate costume work the crowd, steering them through a range of mood shifts in "Aga-boom."

Aga-Boom lets crowd’s
inner children run free

It's a safe bet the pau hana crowd that filtered into Mamiya Theatre Wednesday for the opening of Aga-Boom's two-week Honolulu run did not expect to find themselves involved in the wild production by show's end. Yet as the wacky performance reached its rollicking zenith, the near-capacity audience erupted with giddiness and childlike glee.

Aga-Boom On stage: Through Oct. 31, at 7 p.m. Wednesdays to Saturdays, plus 2 p.m. matinee Saturdays Where: Mamiya Theatre, Chaminade University Tickets: $18 to $38.

It was a sight to behold as spectators, young and old, turned the venue into a playground, awash in a sea of paper streamers and bouncing, boulder-size balloons. Children rushed the stage to take part in the revelry with their giggling parents trailing not far behind.

Credit the imagination and artful execution of Russian-born Dimitri Bogatirev, wife Iryna Ivanytska (both Cirque du Soleil veterans) and Philip Briggs of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus for constructing an engaging 90-minute spectacle capable of leaving adults as delirious as their kids.

The evening begins innocently enough, with a frolicsome soundtrack and Ivanytska, outfitted in ragged clown duds, inducing laughter with sight gags and assorted shenanigans. She is soon joined by Briggs and Bogatirev, whose physical feats earn hearty applause.

The mood shifts with each scene, from cheery and buoyant pieces that see performers propel paper airplanes, banners and shredded bits across the stage and into the crowd, to pensive and mysterious scenarios, one of which includes an unusually pliable Tatiana Gousarova winding herself into positions that appear to defy human ability.

A virtually wordless production with a modicum of props, Aga-Boom is praiseworthy for its ingenuity, inventiveness and knack for sending off roomfuls of spectators reeling with delight.