vlad.tribnet.com / Issue #147 / Arts and Ideas / Reading article...

The Moscow Circus of Parodies has announced it expects gymnasts and panthers to join its program. That's a good thing, because right now, animal and tumbling acts are limited. You can have your photo taken with a monkey that cringes like an abused child every time its keeper shakes her fist. You can send your kid for a ride during intermission on a very male stallion that seems to be enjoying the trot far more than the circumstances call for. And you can watch two rowdy clowns run around like drunks at a New York City policeman's banquet. But the traditional fare of a circus, lions and high wire acts, are missing.

The circus does win some points for off-beat entertainment. The parody part involves oversized masks worn by the performers, so they resemble giant Mr. Potato Head toys. There is a dancing Michael Jackson, and a harrumphing Vladimir Zhirinovsky. And there's a guy who whips roses and strips of paper out of the gritted teeth of his lovely assistants.

The best way to enjoy this circus might be to show up an hour late. That way, you'd miss the interminable hypnotist act, whose performer reminded me chillingly of a cult leader I once covered in rural Oregon.