[2015016] Dr Brown Brown Brown Brown Brown and his Singing Tiger… Again!
Philip Burgers & Stuart Bowden @ Garden of Unearthly Delights – Le Cascadeur
2:30pm, Sat 14 Feb 2015
The last time I saw Dr Brown and his Singing Tiger was a bit of an adventure: I was well versed in Dr Brown’s clowning skills, but his very… adult nature had me curious as to how he could adapt his style for children. The end result was a bit of a revelation: Dr Brown’s rubbery antics (and incredibly endearing looks of surprise) translated incredibly well to a younger audience.
The 2015 version of the show – with Dr Brown accompanied by Stuart Bowden’s softly-spoken, ukulele-touting Tiger – bore a strong resemblance to my previous encounter with Brown: Philip Burgers begins by running in circles around the tight Le Cascadeur space, collecting shoes and money and food(!) from the audience, and performing magic tricks to conjure a larger suitcase. His physical antics whip the younger members of the audience into a high-pitched tizzy, but the biggest laughs are reserved for the audience member who is convinced to act like a ball.
Bowden’s Tiger gently cajoles the audience while Brown remains largely mute, his seemingly simple questions eliciting some glorious responses (“Why is Dr Brown looking for a donkey?” results in the astute “Because he’s bonkers!”). There’s familiar eye-rolling by the adults in the room as he creates a repetitive “But WHY?” prod that gets all the children yelling out in an incoherent rabble, before he wraps things up with an ending monologue that engaged the children in some (surprisingly) existential musings.
Having seen Dr Brown the previous evening, I can now categorically state that back-to-back Brown is barely enough. The addition of Bowden’s paradoxically cheery & melancholic Tiger remains a wonderful contrast, and this show remains a comedic clowning must-see for all ages.
(16) Dr Brown Brown Brown Brown Brown and his Singing Tiger…Again!: Brilliant, imaginative clowning for kids of all ages. #ff2015 #ADLfringe
— Pete Muller (@festivalfreakAU) February 14, 2015