Circus Amok

I'm on the Circus Amok mailing list, and I just received an e-mail saying that they're holding auditions for an acrobat this Friday in Brooklyn.

Circus Amok is politically subversive theater that drawns on the long tradition of the jester as social commentator. Circus Amok brings together the leftiest-of-left social commentary with juggling, tumbling, clowning and a bearded lady, Jennifer Miller, who is both the founder of Circus Amok and its mistress of ceremonies.

The shows are funny, ribald, and topical: last year's show, Bee-Dazzled, explored the link between the war in Iraq and a mysterious disappearance of honeybees. One sketch featured a spider called "Cheney" that tried to eat various performers.

You can see a video segment from The New York Times's UrbanEye by clicking here. Click here for Circus Amok's website. And for an insightful discussion of Jennifer Miller and the traditions she has inherited, see Sideshow U.S.A.: Freaks and the American Imagination by Rachel Adams (Columbia University). You can read a relevant excerpt via Google Books.

The circus will bring a new show to New York's parks starting this September 6th. Meanwhile, if you're an acrobat and you'd like to audition for the show, click on the continuation link below.