ENTERTAINERS

 

Las Piranhas... Tricks and Nunsense!

By Sandy Brown

 

An acrobatic/juggling comedy trio from Frankfurt , West Germany with a Spanish name which translates into "The Piranhas"? Hmmm... Killer fish. Ach!

 

Ray (alias Phillippo) from the Philippines says the present act evolved from a previous one and the name stuck. Franz Johann, not from the Philippines, believes European artists prefer unusual names and "Las Piranhas" is far from your typically generic juggling act title. Fritz Brehm grins and offers yet another explanation. "We produce another picture of piranhas ­very friendly and peaceful!" Jawohl! Makes nunsense...

 

These three clowns do agree that their show is about fun, the spontaneous kind. They are the quintessential happy campers.

 

The act is only a year old and is a product of improvisation from performances on the streets, in schools, and at special events. It remains chameleon-like with the trio keeping true to spontaneity between themselves and the audience.

 

Fritz, Franz and Ray combine their technical talents while keeping their stage characters distinctive. There's no getting these guys mixed up. Ray defines himself as the "serious" straight man, playing the perfect technician while jibing on the TA­DA stage persona. Franz is a gentle German giant ("...I try to be like a friendly mountain ") who plays haunting melodies on a squeezebox. Fritz is the true clown, always attempting what the others do but achieving the feats in his own stumbling,

wunderbar way.

 

The trio's forte is combining acrobatics while juggling. They do a clean 10 club, two man high feed and then switch to other 10 club patterns. Fritz juggles colorful

jumbo umbrellas and Franz spins a ball on each hand while Ray springs into a dive over Franz's head. Ray presents fluid hat manipulations accompanied by Franz on the accordion. Their finale is a triple unicycle comedy with Fritz goofing on a small unicycle while Franz and Ray ride giraffes.

 

Las Piranhas is genuinely refreshing because they imbibe the characteristics of old European clowning with an original, contemporary twist. That the performers have such fun with each other as partners makes the improvisation work and prevents staleness. When asked what they wanted their audiences to take away with them, the response was "freude," which means, simply, ':joy."

 

(IJA director Sandy Brown lives in Stuttgart, W. Germany, where she performs in clubs, schools and festivals throughout that country. This summer she will be sponsored by Miller Beer on a tour in Great Britain. She recently completed her first 10-kilometer race while joggling!)