38-1,p11

Avner: Broadway groundbreaker

'Shy clown' speaks on importance of juggling as theatre

Avner Eisenberg, or "Avner the Eccentric" as he bills himself, has used his juggling, mime, magic and general clowning talents to become a leader in "New Vaudeville," the new.est rage on Broadway.

His one-man silent show, "Avner the EccentrIc," garnered rave reviews there during its run from September 1984 to April 1985 at the Lambs Theatre and Samuel Beckett Theatre. On stage, Avner is a shy show-off. With the audience as his protagonist, he creates artistry out of obstruction. His act, he says, "is largely based on the theory of accidents. Every action has a terrible and opposite reaction."

Success on Broadway led to his role in the film "Jewel of the Nile," where he played a holy man that is "a cross between Mahatma Ghandi and Mary Poppins." He has recently signed with ICM agency in New York to represent him in future movie deals.

Now 38-years-old, Avner has apprenticed under noted Parisian mime Jacques Le Coq and Carlo Mazzone-Clemanti at the Dell' Arte School of Mime and comedy in California. Starting out in his native Atlanta, he paid his dues in countless theatre, street, school and festival performances. His show has now toured internationally - Canada, Chile, England, France, Germany, Holland, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Switzerland.

An IJA member for many years, he was glad to give Juggler's World his opinion on the importance of theatrical technique in the effective presentation of juggling or any other physical skill.

JW: What brought you to juggling and entertaining?

Avner: I grew up in Atlanta and had a pretty generic childhood. I spent a lot of my time romping through the creeks of North Georgia. I was particularly interested in herpatology, the study of reptiles and amphibians, and did lots of sports. It was regular old kid stuff - crew cut in the summer and blue jeans.

The thing that really changed my life more than anything else was when I was about 10 years old. We went to Calloway Gardens and saw the Florida State University Circus. There was a fellow there who at that time had red hair, a real skinny kid who was the catcher in the trapeze act. His name was Hovey Burgess.

Hovey taught me how to juggle in a little class that they had. He has gone on to be probably single-handedly more responsible for all the juggling in the country than any other person. He certainly is the one that got it legitimized and put into theatre programs, as well as getting circus arts recognized as an important part of theatre training.

JW: A lot of jugglers get to be extremely proficient technically, but never have the opportunity, the inclination or the intuition to become performers. What are the ethics of taking somebody else's joke or idea and using that to get a toe-hold on performing?

Avner: Well, first I'll say that plagiarism is the sincerest form of flattery. Then I'll say I think that the worst thing you can do is to take someone else's material. That's true ethically and in terms of your own development as a performer.

There is a clown - and I mean that in a very loose sense of the word - an amusing, entertaining, engaging performer in everybody. It's important not to take someone else's character because what you are doing is short- circuiting the possibilities for developing your own character, your own sense of timing, rhythm and relationship with the audience.

I think too many beginning performers see something working and try to adapt the finished product without going through the process that got someone else to that end. It really doesn't work for the imitator.

What I recommend for every performer is to take acting lessons, particularly improv lessons. Learn to develop a character. The tricks don't matter. It's what you do with them. It's the attitude of the tricks. W.C. Fields is a perfect example. He did more with three balls in terms of communicating with the audience in that little routine that's on film than most jugglers who do seven balls.