The Leader
Life & Arts

Kaleidoscope Series returns, brings laughs to Marvel Theatre: SMIRK! Jokesters of Juggling and Kings of Chaos visits Fredonia

MOLLY VANDENBERG

Staff Writer

 

Many say that vaudeville-style comedy is dying, but it’s still integrated in some parts of American comedy. It will always leave a lasting impact on our culture and the work we see from comedians in this day and age.

SMIRK, consisting of Reid Belstock and Warren Hammond, provided some insight to this comedic world on Feb. 9 at the Marvel Theatre as a part of the Kaleidoscope Family Series to a room full of all ages.

It’s rare nowadays to see a show where everyone, even the parents and older adults, are laughing along as much as the children.

The duo entranced the audience with an hour of juggling, dancing, whip cracking, riding unicycles, rocket launchers and engaging in different slapstick antics. The whole time you were wondering what they possibly would do next, but it had the same “wow!” factor everytime they moved on to a new part of their act.

Belstock and Hammond have been compared to Abbott and Costello — a comedy duo active in the 1940s and ‘50s.

“In their movies, Bud Abbott really man-handles Lou Costello. While they get along and are funny, it’s also very volatile. It’s not, ‘You go do this.’ There’s a few shoves, and he yells, ‘You! Go do this!’ I really want to push Warren’s buttons and be slapped around for it,” said Belstock in an interview with the International Jugglers Association. “We actually watch Abbott & Costello before writing dialogue to try and get a sense of conflict between us.”

These juggling partners didn’t start off together. They actually have very different backgrounds.

Belstock began juggling at age 15 in efforts to overcome some fine motor skill impairment. He received his first performing opportunity at age 16. After high school, he went to study at the Barnum & Bailey Clown College. This is where he developed a lot of his slapstick comedy traits. He then went on to work at a Walt Disney College program with Director Lloyd Brant.

Juggling has changed for Belstock over the years.

“I think I enjoy juggling more from a social aspect than from an activity aspect now,” said Belstock.

Hammond discovered juggling when he was 14 years old but didn’t initially pursue a performing career. He went to the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, N.Y., for biology and worked as a genetic engineer. However, he eventually gave up the idea of graduate school to pursue a career with juggling, as this was his passion.

Hammond has been trained by great jugglers and performers such as Evgeni Biljauer, Peter Davison, Michael Menes and Eric Farone. He toured with the off-Broadway show “Lazer Vaudeville” before partnering up with Belstock. He cites juggling for helping him break out of his shell.

The duo has two very different styles, but they compliment each other well.

“With Warren, I didn’t want to be the vulnerable, soft, likeable nerd guy. I wanted to be more aggressive and I wanted to misbehave. I wanted to be a little more, not adult, but edgy,” said Belstock in an interview with the International Jugglers Association.

SMIRK has earned awards such as the 2009 and 2011 International Juggling Association Silver Medal in team competitions.

Hammond also had advice to offer about jugglers thinking about going on to perform and the difficulties about performing with a partner.

“You need to know what’s unique about this partnership that you’ve got . . . I come from a much more technical juggling background with some artistic background, while Reid has an amazing clowning and performing history,” said Hammond in an interview with the International Jugglers Association. “Blending our two juggling styles has created something that I think is very unique. Find what’s unique about your partnership, not just as jugglers, but as people.”

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