Street entertainers star at EXP086

              Big budget, dull exhibits focus attention on live acts

 

Steve Westren

 

Like many a World's Fair before it, Vancouver's EXP086 liked to boast-of several world-record distinctions: the world's largest Swatch Watch; the world's biggest hockey stick; and the world's longest, largest and finest festival of street theatre.

 

With a budget of over $2.5 million, EXPO's street entertainment program featured performers from Canada, the USA, Great Britain and Europe. The program, originally designed to entertain long, hot, weary lines of tourists, quickly blossomed into the most popular attraction for EXPO's 20 million visitors.

 

The roster of musicians, mimes, magicians and novelty acts featured such notable juggling acts as The Flying Karamazov Brothers, Slap Happy, Garbo, Vaudeville Nouveau, Circus Shmirkus, Chris and Alex, Dr. Hot and Neon and Fred Anderson.

 

My partner, Fred Stinson, and I have one minor hang-up about traveling cross-country to gigs. It usually hits us at 35,000 feet that maybe this is all an elaborate practical joke. Maybe the jugglers back in Toronto simply made a few slick phone calls just to get us out of town for a while. After all, we'd heard that the Flying K's were going to be at EXPO. What the heck would they need Circus Shmirkus for? But when we were met at the airport by a nice lady holding a "Street Entertainers" sign and promptly loaded into a van with an all-female Polynesian toe-cymbal band I figured it was time to loosen up.