COURTESY CHRIS BENNION The Flying Karamazov Brothers combine various theatrical techniques, in this case comedy and puppetry, in "Life: A Guide for the Perplexed," coming to Leeward Community College Oct. 23 and 24.

Flying Karamazov
Brothers alight
at LCC

Can the Flying Karamazov Brothers actually fly? Residents of Oahu will have the opportunity to judge for themselves on Oct. 23 and 24 when the Brothers bring their "Monty Pythonesque" new show "Life: A Guide for the Perplexed" to the Leeward Community College Theatre.

The Brothers are renowned for their adept juggling, wild antics, bad jokes and adaptations of familiar stories and themes. Their current offering is no exception. In the show, the mysterious Man in Black gives the Brothers a strange box that contains a book, "A Guide for the Perplexed," which provides rules, parables and puzzles to help the reader cope with the challenges of life. It is the very thing Dmitri needs to deal with his midlife crisis.

The show takes its name from a noted work by a 12th- century rabbi, Moses Maimonides, who was attempting resolve a perceived conflict between religion and philosophy.

As esoteric as this all might seem, the Brothers approach the concept in the same way they have dealt with Shakespeare's "A Comedy of Errors" and Dumas' "The Three Musketeers" -- by making it their own. Their particular method of solving the problems of life include a visit with an under-the-weather Babylonian Emperor Hammurabi; a cooperative music-making task where each Brother fingers another's musical instrument, juggles and sings a different tune; their signature Jazz Improvisational Juggling; and "The Gamble," where the failure to juggle any three objects the audience contributes results in a pie to the face.

Tickets are $22; $15 for students and seniors; available by calling the LCC box office at 455-0385 or by visiting LCCTheatre.hawaii.edu.