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New York jugglers visit the NWT

Daron Letts
Northern News Services
Published Friday, October 10, 2008

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Jugglers don't break the laws of gravity but they have fun exploring the limits of the possible.

NNSL Photo/Graphic

Allan Jacobs, left, and Barrett Felker are The Gizmo Guys. The juggling comics will perform for all ages at Northern Arts and Cultural Centre on Oct. 24 and 25. - photo courtesy of The Gizmo Guys

The Gizmo Guys will entertain audiences in Yellowknife and Inuvik later this month with a variety of seemingly impossible feats of juggling.

The New York-based duo is the second featured act in Northern Arts and Cultural Centre's (NACC) 25th regular season.

"The thing that we try to accomplish in our public performances is to reach three generations," said Gizmo Guy Barrett Felker. "We love to see the kids out there with their parents and grandparents - families out together having a good time."

The comedians present a show that involves music, props, physical humour, witty repartee and lots and lots of tossing, bouncing, spinning, twirling, and catching.

"We practised years and years and years to do the things we do," Felker said. "But many of them are quite bizarre so it's just our feeling that audiences don't like to see us up there taking ourselves too seriously when we're doing silly things."

Touring the world since 1987, the Gizmo Guys have juggled across North America, in Japan and Saudi Arabia. They have taught students at circus schools in France and Montreal.

"The most important thing for us is connecting with the audience," Felker said. "We just don't feel that the average person cares all that much how difficult the juggling tricks are. They would rather be entertained than impressed."

The Gizmo Guys take the NACC stage at 8 p.m. on Oct. 24 and 25. They will also visit Inuvik to lead a workshop and present performances for students and the community.