Flying Karamazov Brothers

In a world with disorder and chaos all around us, where crime and disasters and drug addiction and violence--ethnic, random, or domestic--and things way out of our personal control can all have devastating consequences on families and lives, you have to find your own order, meaning, beauty and happiness where and when you can find it.

That's one of the reasons I derive such fun and pleasure from updating all my various lists of books I've read, and new authors and books I find out about, as well as keeping my playlists of the Celtic music podcasts I listen to updated--almost as much as I get from reading or listening to the music themselves.

That's also why every now and then I need to watch the only FKB video my library system owns (and it's also the only copy)--the "FKB video scrapbook, 1973-2001".

For those of you who don't know these guys, they have been juggling together--in one lineup or another--since 1973 and are still in business. They have gone from performing at Ren Faires to being able to sell out performances in theaters in Seattle and other metropolitan areas, and on Broadway and on London's West End. Their longevity alone is a source of order and continuity in a way few other performing groups can provide.

These guys have always been amazing. They combine grace and skill and split-second timing and group coordination with technical innovation and an inspired silliness much like Monty Python at their very best. And from the beginning they have always combined the juggling with a very strong musicality, are excellent musicians themselves, and often include musical performances in their acts.

I have been fortunate enough to see them perform a few times. Back in the 80s they sometimes showed up at outdoor festivals in Portland and Seattle such as Seattle's Folklife Festival, which is going on this weekend. And back when I was in Library School in Seattle, before moving here to my current job in S Florida, I caught their theater show "L'Universe" (pronounced loony verse).

"L'Universe" was incredible and was a brilliant example of how these guys combine technical wizardry with their juggling wizardry. They had designed the show with the assistance of MIT's Media Lab. This allowed them do things like a routine where they were juggling in front of a projected video of themselves juggling, which they interacted with. For the most amazing routine, the entire stage had been digitally scanned, and they were wearing sensors all over their bodies so the computers knew exactly which part of their body was where, and they actually juggled a computer-generated image which had been programmed to mimic a physical, 3-dimensional body interacting with them and the set. You could see it bouncing off the floor, walls, and peformers.

I haven't seen these guys live since then, but as I said they are still around and still performing. They have a Web-presence of their own, and there are also several videos of them on YouTube. Check them out.....

The Flying Karamazov Brothers


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