By Gene Jones, IJA President, New York City

New York City continues to attract top­notch juggling talent in a wide variety of settings.

Michael Chirrick .is performing at the Chateau Madrid until June, when he opens at the Chateau Champlain in Montreal. Slap Happy continues its successful run at the Other End in Greenwich Village, and the Big Apple Circus begins its summer season with Francis Brunn as the headline act. Michael Marlin is scheduled for a few weekends at the Ritz and Flip the Clown has established himself as the resident street performer in front of the Plaza Hotel.

Michael Moschen, Bob Berky, and Fred 'Garbo' Garver have taken the Big Apple by storm with their new show FOOLSFIRE, which opened in late March.

The trio has been working together for a year, and in that relatively short amount of time have merged talents into a sensational production now evoking rave reviews from all New York tabloids. The New York Times aptly commented that the show is a splendid example of "foolproof virtuosity."

From the understated opening of rolling a lacrosse ball across the stage until the final extinguishing of flaming torches, FOOLSFIRE never falters for even a moment. It contains a comfortably-paced up tempo collection of solo and ensemble pieces executed flawlessly by three hard-working performing artists who share a commitment to integrity.

Juggling is a major ingredient in approximately half the show, highlighted by Michael Moschen's sensational crystal ball routine. The group performs a lighthearted ensemble ball juggling act as an opener and later Moschen and Garbo team up for a delightful club passing routine set to classical music, concluding the pseudo-elegance with a slapstick cleanup of their paraphernalia. The duo reunites to finish the show with a powerful synchroniz­ed torch swinging routine.

Bob Berky proves himself a master of comic timing and spontaneous hysteria in his two mime/clown solos, successfully employing audience participation, kazoos, concertinas, and apparent complete relaxation with his occasionally precarious plights. Although nothing of any consequence transpires in his clown pieces, Berky leaves the audience with a rich feeling of having been royally entertained.

In the midst of all this dexterity and well developed talent, Michael Moschen's crystal ball work shines as a pinnacle of achievement. His mesmerizing routine begins with the manipulation of four crystal balls flowing through both hands. Utilizing many textures of music accompanied by overhead lighting, Moschen evolves the piece across the stage, eventually eliminating all but one ball.

It is at this point that Moschen's total artistry renders the manipulation of objects into an emotional experience. The ball flows like a river over his arms and through his hands with weightless majesty. The audience is instantly gripped by his startling intensity.

When manipulating the single crystal, Moschen epitomizes the serious artist passionately working within a style of his own invention.

The chemistry of this routine draws heavily from dance movements choreographed to place theatrical focus on the crystal. Moschen con­cludes his performance by lying on his back with the crystal balanced lightly on his forehead. As he folds his arms behind his head as if to take a nap, the audience is instantly reflexed to a standing ovation.

Speaking with Garbo, Moschen and Berky offstage reveals three very strong and varied individuals. They originally decided to work together under the assumption that "there is more power in three" on stage. Through a process of extensive brainstorming and rehearsal, they began to evolve an ensemble concept complementing their individual skills.

Berky commented, "All in all, each of us gleans quite a bit from the other two. Our sensibilities are slightly different, which very often makes the sparks fly in the process of creating a piece."

Moschen added, "This is the greatest attraction of working together. We have such varied skills and backgrounds that this has become a long-run process. At the same time, all of us feel that our individual stuff is dear to our hearts. I am specifically working on techniques I began working on a number of years ago that are just coming into fruition."

Whereas Moschen and Berky primarily were solo entertainers, Garbo has always preferred working with partners. He finds great inspiration in this. "By all of us focusing together, we come up with new ideas that are greater than anyone of us. With three people, your dreams are larger... it's a nice 'baking' process."

As a trio, they are just beginning to realize their collective potential, with numerous creations still on the drawing board. To shape and facilitate growth, they have employed the 'fourth eye' of a director.

Bob Berky expressed FOOLSFIRE's cornerstone philosophy, saying, "When people go to a theatre, they want to see individuals. When they see a trio, they want to see three persons work as one. As we develop more ensemble pieces, more sides of our characters are emerging. "

Garbo added, "We're all getting to the point where we would like to use more elements of our backgrounds. All of us have a big bag of tricks, but they must be tailored to fit the needs of the show."

Moschen explained that the use of overhead lighting during his crystal ball routine was for theatrical purposes in hopes of achieving what he termed a 'reach' effect. In response to the notion he is paving 'new ground' in juggling, Moschen commented, "The idea for what I'm doing now started about eight or nine years ago. I knew that I wanted to work with crystal balls, but didn't want to do it unless I found a way that was organic and natural towards the presentation. It took a long time to figure out a technique. What I'm doing now is trying to express that technique, and use it as a vocabulary to express other things beyond that.

"I'm presenting a lot of different techniques that are coming together in a congealed mass, which will eventually sprout a collection of pieces, while working more and more towards a dance expression. Rather than simply staying with the body, I utilize apparatus. There are just a few key movements and key ideas that are the basis for all that I'm developing. The rest is extrapolation."

Fortunately for people who arrive at the convention early, FOOLS FIRE will be performing at SUNY/Purchase on Sunday, July 17 at 3 and 8 p.m.. Berky, Moschen, and Garbo will also be teaching at the Antic Arts Academy at Purchase from June 27 to August 7. They will be teaching character work, juggling, clowning, and gymnastics, in addition to the dance and voice training included in the curriculum.

Both Garbo and Berky are former students of Tony Montanero, whom they regard as "having his own special brand of genius." They differentiate the tone of instruction at the Antic Arts Academy from Clown College by explaining that students will be encouraged to develop their own style, rather than adhere to a pre-formed concept.

The trio plan to visit the Annual Convention and soon after take FOOLS FIRE on the road to Scotland, London, Hong Kong and Australia. Explaining that their collaboration is still in its "infancy," all three exclaimed the feeling of being "tickled to be working together as much as we are!" So is the rest of the world.

(l-r) Moschen, Garbo, and Berky  - 'Foolsfire'

Return to Main Index

Next Page --->