The New York run began on July 22, 2010 following a limited winter engagement which was received with critical acclaim, popular success, several pies in the face, and an offer to teach juggling in space*.

If you see one group of multi-faceted new-vaudevillians at the apex of their ambidextrous and alliterative ability, see The Flying Karamazov Brothers also. They are not your father’s wild-haired, juggling, flame-throwing, kilt-and-tutu-wearing performers. This group of screwballs boasts an impressive collective resume.  Between them, they have:

•Played piano with Bo Diddley and sung with The Grateful Dead and Los Lobos.
•Played Mozart’s bassoon concerto in B Flat Major on euphonium at Carnegie Hall
•Sent a Big Mac on a cab ride through the Portuguese countryside.
•Made bottled water come out of Rosie O’Donnell’s nose.
•Shared the stage with Frank Sinatra, Bill Gates, Sarah Ferguson Duchess of York, Bozo the Clown, and Dolly Parton, who challenged the FKB’s to “juggle these.”

Each night, the audience is invited to bring objects to the theater for the FKBs to keep airborne in a challenge that ends either with a pie in the face or a standing ovation.  As director / founder/ performer Paul Magid says, “Juggling is dropping.”

The objects provided must conform to the following rules:

1.Must weigh more than an ounce (28 grams)
2.Must weigh less than 10 pounds (4.5 kg)
3.Must be no bigger than a breadbox
4.Must not be a live animal
5.Must not be able to stop the "Champ" from being a live animal

The Flying Karamazov Brothers (FKB) are a juggling and comedy troupe who have been performing since 1973. They learned their trade while performing as street artists in Santa Cruz, California. They began by busking, but have gone on to perform internationally, including on Broadway and West End stages.  The Flying Karamazov Brothers appear in the film The Jewel of the Nile, the sequel to Romancing the Stone.

The "brothers" take the name of their act from the Fyodor Dostoevsky novel The Brothers Karamazov, and draw parallels between themselves and the characters of the novel. Though they refer to themselves onstage as "brothers", none of them are actually blood relatives.

The Karamazovs perform a wide range of shows, that is suitable for the whole family aiming to take live comedy to new heights with a raucous blend of lingustic and physical stunts including conventional narratives that incorporate juggling, "variety" shows that incorporate old and new elements from their repertoire, and shows backed by city orchestras.

Book The Flying Karamazov Brothers tickets online now.

[posted by Louise, 05/04/2011]

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