This use of black light really made for some interesting effects that most people have never seen before, particularly young audience members convinced that Yoda and Obi Wan were indeed backstage.

 

Before the lights went up for the first time, the performers appeared on the partially lit stage holding brightly glowing "Bolas." These are hard balls on the end of a scarf. The trio spun the bolas in a variety of circular patterns, circular patterns, circular patterns, causing a hypnotic effect. They skillfully hit the stage floor with the balls in sync, creating a driving beat that really impressed the audience. This reaction was apparent from the number of "ooos" "wows" and "How do they do that, Moms?" I heard.

 

When the lights came up, a really silly dressed lady came forward claiming to be "Julia Childish." Sporting her best kitchen utensils and worst accent, Cindy Marvell grabbed a young audience member for a good, wholesome round of public humiliation redeemed by successful plate spinning.

 

The next segment was a real favorite, and it certainly gave those who appreciated Wild West stunts in the audience a chance for some honest down home applause. The lights went dark and a fluorescent ocowboy believed to be Carter Brown strutted onto stage and whooped up one heck of a show. He boot scooted a storm in one wholloping display of rope spinning tricks underneath the black light. Using brightly-colored cowpoke ropes, he jumped in and out of the spinning lassos with the agility of a super hero.

 

If this was not already enough variety for a vaudeville show, the next sketch was performed solely with laser beams dancing enthusiastically about a gigantic screen. Hence, the name "Lazer Vaudeville," and hence, some hearty open mouths in awe at the special effects.

 

The lights came up again to reveal Cindy Marvell, this time sporting a green and gold hand drum and a white ball rolling loose in the rim of the drum. After a minute or two of dance to windy flute and piano music, all the while manipulating the drum in different patterns without losing the ball, she was joined by the other two performers. The trio, each holding a drum and two balls, bounce the balls back and forth to one another, creating rhythmical patterns off the drum and stage floor. The drums fly through the air between the beats, always keeping pace with the music of Japanese Kodo drummers. It suddenly became a well-choreographed, wordless chant that drew the crowd into a trance of fascination and wonder to the haunting beat of the drums. This segment alone was worth the price of an Elizabethan art book, hands down.

 

Always keeping their vaudeville charm and savvy humor, Randy Johnson and Carter Brown then grabbed another audience member, this time substituting plungers, machetes, chainsaws and candy canes for kitchen utensils and bad accents. When Marvell got involved, the sketch turned into a debate over trio politics and the virtues of artistic enterprise versus cheap thrills and macho stunts.

 

Perhaps the most incredible part of the show, besides Alfonzo devouring Beevis and Butthead, is Carter Browns hoop act. In this part of the show, Carter takes antique bicycle rims and manipulates them in a creative and original way that, I think, defines vaudeville. He juggles up to five of them over his body. This hoop act is a "must see" and is material that has been mastered to a point where one could call it an art form.

 

He does a lot of things with these rims that are similar to the Native American hoop acts I have seen. Not only does he juggle and spin them off his body, but to end the act he rolls them so that they spin around his feet in wide circles on the stage like trained animals in a circus. As a finale, they all roll into their cage one by one. You can say what you want about Carter, but when it comes to bicycle rim juggling, he doesn't mess around.

 

At that point anything more was just a bonus gift since the show had already been worth the price of admission, but the trio gave the audience some tremendous club juggling that left them cheering for more to top off the evening.

 

Cindy Marvell began a solo act performing a dance and juggling mix that began with one club and slowly progressed to five. During the whole act she never tossed a regular cascade pattern. It was a tremendous display that combined juggling and interpretive dance to synthesized music. The audience managed to stifle applause until the end of her routine. As one spectator put it, "You don't want to clap during the act; it's like clapping in the middle of a classical piece."

 

A thick smoke then bellowed out into the audience, and just as I was about to dash to the nearest fire door, I realized it was just a fog machine. lasers shot through the auditorium, danced to the holiday music and panned through the audience.

Much to my dismay, the last number was up.

 

The trio broke into a frenzy of club passing. Clubs shot through the air in one magnificent display of aggressive juggling and three-way passing to music by Manheim Steamroller. They wowed the audience one last time with a humor-filled act of not just vaudeville craziness and cheap thrills, but with skillful juggling and an overall stupendous wrap-up of an especially entertaining evening.

 

To my eyes, this show really offered something incredible to everyone who watched it. The trio combined everything from lasers, amazing glow-in-the-dark stunts, cheesy humor, and conventional juggling made crazy, to original acts that won't be seen anywhere else ever. This is truly commendable because it's hard to find a traveling variety show like this one these days. I give a warm applause to these folks for making vaudeville in the nineties traditional as well as high-tech.

 

Their parents should be proud.