by ***** (out of 5)
I’d seen Julia Masli last year, in her clown show CHOOSH!, which covers her travels from Estonia to London, and which she is reviving here again this Fringe (my review). But nothing could’ve prepared me for what she has accomplished with her newest show, an absolute triumph of clowning and the spirit of community.
Of all the countless clown shows here, none are pulling off the magic trick she is, night in, night out. At its base, she’s merely a problem solver. But there’s so much more to it than that. The night I attended (the last before her interval, as the Fringe wisely extended her run for the second half, albeit an even later time slot), an unexpectedly happy sequence of events coincided as one audience member’s very unknowing mother, woken up and put on speakerphone, dropped some hot wisdom on everyone, all while Masli’s own mother happened to be in the audience, seeing this show for her very first time. None of this is ever planned. Because who can plan for a hot and bothered tiny dog? One or two problems may recur each night, one in particular instigated by Masli herself. But other times, who knows? You might witness an impromptu love triangle, as we did. So expect the unexpected. Each night never like the last.
Masli embraces an economy of words, using impeccable timing in her delivery of them.
This show is simply transcendent. You’d be a fool to miss out.
Julia Masli: ha ha ha ha ha ha ha runs through Aug. 27 at Monkey Barrel 4
