Cirque Berzerk

Wow... what a paradoxical evening! I went to this show as I'm a big fan of circus and Cirque du Soleil as well. They said that this was a circus on acid and boy were they right! Now, I know this group performed at Burning Man and for those who saw it for free in any one of many states of intoxication or impairment, I'm sure it was amazing. For the $240 we paid for the 4 of us it was a real let down.

The good parts: The band before the show (Vaud and the Villions) was great! There is a great 21 and over area where we could hang out and have a few drinks and play pinball before they let us in. The tent is amazing! Walking in you really thought the potential was huge. There was a big stage and a few lights. Then sadly the "show" started. Evidently giving people a lot of corporate money doesn't make them talented.

Some of the professional acts they brought in were truly amazing and very polished, but the rest of the show seemed very amateurish at best.... and therein lies the paradox. It starts out (very slowly) as some sort of story driven piece with these characters and random "dancers", some of which apparently came right of the playa at Burning Man as their only apparent experience and some others that seemed to have taken at least a few classes. Then the show just dissolves into some acts.

Again, some of the acts were amazing. The Trampoline guys did an act that looked like it came out of La Nouba where they bounce off walls from trampolines and although derivative, it was very slick and professional. There was a spectacular couple doing a partnering act with dancing and lifting each other around that stopped the show. Some of the acts appeared to just be mediocre copies of things I've seen better in clubs all over LA, from some really boring bouncing on bungee cords where they did the same 3 tricks for about 5 minutes trying to get them right, to the girl that hangs on the cloth streamers. They weren't bad, but I've just seen so many other people that were really exceptional I just expected more from a show with these ticket prices.

If you get in for $25 - $30 dollars, you can get your money's worth from a couple of the acts, they were well worth it. Unfortunately the rest of the show with it's pretentious posturing and bad dancing was like giving some kids a lot of money and telling them to try and put on a show. You might see where they spent the money but it's just not good as a whole.

If you want to support art in Los Angeles, there are many people to give to. I would even say that the event they did last year in the smaller tent was probably better as they weren't trying to be something they're not, which is a group of professional performers and show producers.

I'm sorry but for $60 - $80 a ticket, you deserve real professionals and not some ragged amateur Burning Man types. Evidently this group received a huge amount of corporate funding this year. I can only imagine what could have been done if really talented people got a hold of that. It's a great lesson for those who say... "If I only had the money, I could be great!" This show proves that axiom wrong.