Circus Ringbarkus: Walkies On The Wild Side
Note: This review is from 2008
Review by Steve Bennett
Comedy festivals can be broad churches – hence the inclusion of ‘Australia’s funniest travelling dog show’ in the Melbourne programme.In truth, this dog circus, who seem to be named after long-forgotten Aussie Perrier winners Los Trios Ringbarkus, pretty much involves cute pups jumping through hoops, cylinders (which are surely only hoops with a third dimension), or human legs designed to look like a hoop. It is of limited appeal, no matter how well-trained the animals, and this aspect of the show is certainly subject to diminishing returns.
Between the canine entertainment comes circus tricks from this family troupe. It’s all very traditional street-performance fare - unicycles, juggling, hula-hoops and so on, with no attempt to do anything innovative with these tried, tested and dated routines. For the most part these are done with skill, but little showmanship, and even the children in the audience don’t seem that enamoured.
Only patriarch Gus has much of a spark, proving a decent clown from the old school of kids’ entertainment with comedy hat, declamatory delivery and an exaggerated clumsiness that means any bucket will end up stuck on his head, and any deckchair assembled ineptly.
But otherwise this is a selection of competent, old-fashioned vaudeville, mildly diverting for an hour, but far from thrilling.
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Review date: 2 Apr 2008
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
