Nursing an anal fissure and a purse with a prolapse, Paulie Accio, graduate from Philippe Gaulier’s renowned clown academy reluctantly takes on the gig of performing at the birthday party of nine-year-old Birchgrove bitch in training, Constantina Levesy.
That’s the set up of THE BALLOON DOG BITES, a one act, one man monologue that takes silliness seriously. Written and performed by Michael Louis Kennedy, this is a crowning piece of conversational, observational theatre, the tears of the clown and the tears of affairs (read it as rhyme), the humour hewed from humiliating gigs and the ever present class tabulation that feeds into the trials and tribulations of the children’s entertainer.
Pretentious parents, chilling children, and a dog named Daisy are all part of the make-up of this clown reverie cum anecdotal memoir mixed with present time performance anxiety, the expectations and demands, the slings and arrows of management consultants and their entitled brats.
Sight gags and salacious speech all tinged with pathos and a droll, deadpan delivery make for a full fathom fifty minute flight of fancy brimming with fun, a synchronicity of silliness, sarcasm and sentiment.
From the comical, conical clown hat, to the red nose and blowsy pantaloons, Kennedy’s Paulie conjures a come closer disclosure of his life so far, professional and personal, from the gruelling, goading tutelage of Gaulier to his infatuation with a fifo lover who roots like he’s boring a well.
Sublimely silly, radiantly ridiculous, just like his previous show at the Old Fitz, All the Fraudulent Horse Girls, THE BALLOON DOG BITES is an enthralling comedy with a bite equal to its bark.
