Despite his buffoonery, he is an accomplished juggler, mime, magician and slack­rope walker. But because he is a clown, he loses control of the broom handle as he sweeps the stage and dumps out his cigarettes when he takes a break for a smoke.

 

New York Magazine described his juggling routine as "an anti-juggling act."

According to the reviewer, "He cannot even pick up and hold onto the three clubs he wishes to juggle. However determinedly and more and more elaborately he undertakes to grab them, one of them, more ingenious than he is, succeeds in evading him. Yet this clumsiness, this ever more complicated way of dropping one club, is in itself a balletic discipline, prowess in reverse. And then sneakily, by a devious, unlikely collusion of hand, foot, and improbably parabolas, the clubs are made to acknowledge their master and crown him with their spinning halo. He who would find his soul must lose it first."

 

JW: You really make 'em laugh.

AE: No. Never.

 

JW: I saw the show, Avner.

AE: Stand up comics make 'em laugh. Loud comics push the tension and the release produces uncontrolled exhale. The laughter in my show is voluntary. It has to be. Defensiveness is held in the solar plexis. When you truly laugh, you let go of that capacity to defend. Laughter is the ultimate defenselessness. That's why acts like Penn and Teller and the Flying K's leave the audience content. They create empathy and then add the unexpected. it's hard to relate seven rings to my life. Feelings, I relate to. Audiences must have an emotional commitment to the character.

 

A native of Atlanta, Ga., and 1971 graduate of the University of Washington with a major in theatre (after attending three other universities!), Avner studied mime in Paris with Jacques LeCoq for two years. He took some time off to tour as a puppeteer with Vagabond Marionettes, and juggled in the streets of Paris to support himself. On returning to the USA, he taught with Carlo Mazonne Clementi at California's Delle' Arte School of Physical Theater. He gives credit for his success to "LeCoq who taught me everything I know, and Carlo, who taught me the rest!"

 

His career has been a whirlwind of success, including a nine-month solo show on Broadway in 1984-85, a lead role in Lincoln Center's 1987 production of Shakespeare's "A Comedy of Errors," and a lead role in the movie "Jewel of the Nile." He has toured the world, performing on television shows and at comedy, magic and theatre festivals such as The Edinburgh Festival, Israel Festival, Montreal International Comedy Festival, Fools Festival and London International Mime Festival.

 

He and his wife, Julie, collaborated in a show called "The Zoo of Tranquility," which presented a playful look at a world filled with robots. Avner played Professor Spooner, a mechanical engineering genius who couldn't change a light bulb without getting into trouble.

 

He and Julie also co-wrote, he directed and she starred in "Woman in a Suitcase," a one-person show about a woman who lives in a suitcase and travels to Carnegie Hall to attend a concert. The suitcase at various times became the woman's apartment, an airplane, a life raft, a bathtub and the Carnegie Hall stage.

 

Asked for his toughest moment onstage, Avner picked one that most of us would be all day trying to top. It happened during his Broadway run in 1985. One night a platform was put in the darkened wings and Avner tripped over it, tearing ligaments in

his foot. He finished the show, including a slackrope routine and a standing backflip, and swelled up like a balloon thereafter. Forced to cancel a week of shows, the box office simply told people that tickets were unavailable for those performances. Word soon got out that the show was sold out!

 

Residing now on Peaks Island off the coast of Maine, Avner admits in his press kit that he would "secretly rather be sailing." Asked what he would do if he had to pick a new career, Avner said he would cre­ate music. Doubtless it would have a compellingly innocent sound achieved through careful study and insightful application.

 

Avner's goals are good ones, and he makes mention of an interesting dynamic in this context. He says, "Every step up, from say the street to Renaissance Fairs or from same to cruise ships, is a trap door in the floor of the next level where, invariably, things are pretty much the same." In his career, he has gone way beyond goals he never had, including the movie and the stint on Broadway. Currently he aspires to raise a happy family and to teach his son how to be a good father. "I know this is really my job," he said with a broad smile.

 

JW: What do you have to say to fellow jugglers?

AE: Get your tricks right. You know what I mean? If you can do it one time in a hundred, you can learn to do it every time. Do you see that? Do not even think of putting it in your show until you have it down, and if you must fail, learn to fail magnificently.

JW: What can a juggler do who wants to relate better to the audience?

AE: That's what the course is about at the Celebration Barn. For now, ask yourself, "Why am I doing what I'm doing? Why am I dressed like I'm dressed? These are important questions, and you'd be surprised how many performers do not ask them. Also be aware of the "look what I can do that you can't" performance mentality. It does not translate to good theatre. I believe that in variety theatre the final technique is to hide the technique. To get them caught up in your character.

 

JW: Like Murph.

AE: Murph is very technical. But he slips it in before you know it. He sneaks it into the presentation, which is the trick. The art is to hide the art. One book every

performer should read is Zen and the Art of Archery by E. Herrigel. It explains all of this while talking about virtuosity and high skill. Oh, and one more thing. Always have one more good line than the number of drops!

 

Watching Avner, you definitely feel he performs for you. While he is doing the show, he sits in your chair. He plays with you. He is a walking wink.  

 

Karl Saliter is a juggler currently playing the intelligent role in the "Karl and Ned" show with partner Ned Gelfars, who in their recent Singapore tour was caned for bad visual punning.