[LEMONS] 2.14.2002
Ok, I feel much better now that I’ve had a coffee and escaped my boss’ morning check in meeting. I went out with two very lovely (and tall…and blonde…and stylie…) women last night, and was a little aggressive on my consumption of mint drinks.
In the midst of our escapades, we went to see Frank Olivier's 'Twisted Cabaret.’ I would never buy tickets for a Cabaret, but we had free passes, so we popped in to check it out. The show was a mix of juggling, gas passing, fire eating, and unicycle tricks. It was all pretty typical street performer stuff, but Olivier is a so loopy that I had to laugh. Everyone laughed. Even the stuffy cool kids that squirm and look busy when they pass gas laughed.
Two things stood out, the fire eating, and the finale. The fire eating took place on a set he called "Cafe Flambé." The Emcee acted as a waiter and delivered increasingly difficult "dishes" of fire for Olivier to eat. One part of the fire scene blew my mind because I counted how long he kept the fire in his mouth:
one-one-thousand
two-two-thousand
three-three-thousand
four-four-thousand
five-five-thousand
That's a long time when you get right down to it. He had his head tilted back with the fire leaping from his mouth like he was a fondue pot. I was totally amazed. Shocked. I have seen fire-eaters before, but I can’t remember anyone ever holding the flames in their mouth for that long. Imagine fire in your mouth and count to five slowly. See what I mean?
For the finale, Olivier rode a unicycle in circles while playing a Hendrix tune on the guitar. A band backed him up. In between licks, he juggled four balls. When the time came for him to play another lick, he caught the balls in one hand, played the lick, and resumed juggling. Then he turned it up a notch by playing the licks behind his head. It was quite a set.
After the applause, Olivier stood at the center of the stage and told a story of how performing the Twisted Cabaret was a childhood dream. It was a very humble and gentle speech, and reminded me why I love the theater. Good show.
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