Charming Downtown Clowns Make Due Without Big Shoes and Tiny Cars

Bam and Bouk do not wear white grease paint or painted smiles. They have no oversized shoes or gigantic bow ties. They do not laugh maniacally like the Joker. Instead, the clown team Bambouk takes its cue from an older, pre-nightmare-inducing clown tradition. Donned in tuxedos, and hairless save for one small tuft on Bouk’s head, Bam and Bouk resemble Beckett’s Didi and Gogo more than the evil clown from Stephen King’s It. Their silent antics are intended to delight, not frighten, and they deliver on this promise.

While Bambouk’s vaudeville-inspired show has clear echoes of the past, it is also an attempt to bring the old tradition of clowning back to life for future audiences. While Bouk plays the ukulele, Bam enters the stage to electric guitar riffs from a boombox. The message they elegantly convey is that the art of clowning is, essentially, timeless. The relationship between Bam and Bouk is a classic one, but it is shown with skill and charm. Bouk, the stern disciplinarian, chides Bam for showing up late and being generally disruptive. When a large covering spelling “Danger” is draped over a mysterious object in the corner of the stage, it is only a matter of time before Bam’s curiosity lifts it and wreaks havoc.

The skill in clowning, however, is to make tightly choreographed moves seem chaotic. For the most part, Bambouk appears like organized anarchy. Once or twice, however, the show seemed to slip a little from their control—most noticeably during a frenetic act-one climax, including spinning plates, a giant ladder, and a host of inflatable oversized cubes thrown out into the audience and tossed from person to person. The girl in front of me seemed more frustrated than amused when the inflatable cube kept coming back to her, pushing it away with forceful disdain. A few times during the show, juggled balls were dropped or spinning plates fell. Luckily, Bam and Bouk are charming enough to deftly belittle themselves and cover these mistakes while staying in character.

But while the show might slip away from them during some of its busier sections, Bam and Bouk shine most in the simpler portions. A stand-out moment involves Bam bouncing juggled balls off various sizes of drums. A similar moment occurs when the pair plays chopsticks on the bells, steadily increasing the pace to breakneck speed. Technically, they are not the most skillful performers in the world—there are better jugglers and acrobats. But the appeal lies in the nuances of their performance. Done silently, they manage to convey a series of emotions with their faces and body movements.

It is this ability to create a mood and feeling without words that captures the true essence of clowning. It is timeless because their wants and needs are simple—a hat or bell becomes an object of conflict. This is why clown shows are typically thought of as children’s entertainment. But this is not a show made exclusively for kids—rather, the performance is designed with the intention of attracting audience members of all ages.

The connections between audience and performer become even more pronounced through the show’s plentiful audience interaction. Members are incorporated into the show—made to float in mid-air or handed a spinning plate. At one point, an audience member is drafted as a replacement for Bam, who decides to quit the show. This reinforces the power of clownery. We all have a bit of clown in us. Indeed, clowning is about the simplest needs—material possessions, friendship, and love. If one enters the show knowing this, it will undoubtedly be an enjoyable evening.