Comedy Table Routine
Posted By thecircusblog on September 23, 2010
I always liked slap stick comedy and how in a moment it could change into a serious trick or stunt. Some great examples of slap stick comedy were the vaudeville team The Black Bros, or a clown alley boxing routine as well as the great comedians of the movies like Laurel & Hardy, Keystone Cops and of course the Three Stooges. It all kind of came to me while rehearsing Riley hand balancing with my chimp Bongi. Chimpanzees are naturally funny and love to play. The challenge was how do you control it and not go overboard one way or the other. I took advantage of the natural play in Bongie and taught him to play like a kid. I remember seeing a comedy hand balancing act where the top mounter stepped in the face of the bottom man before going up into a one arm handstand. It got a laugh and applause. Within ten minutes of showing him what to do we had the bit down. Now it was just a matter of being creative with the trick and the comedy. I must say, I was not in totally responsible for all the funny stuff that Bongie did. He began inventing his own humor and I just played the straight man.
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