Here’s another strong comedy acrobatic act, which you already saw a short segment of if you read my post on Charlie Rivel. That’s the Three Rebertis doing the “little bridge.” Thanks to Nicanor Cancellieri for sending me this one, which comes originally from Raffaele De Ritis, who I finally got to meet in Barcelona, and whose blogs, Novelties & Wonders and Storia del Circo, are well worth your time. Raffaele is also one of the brains behind the Circopedia web site, the internet’s best English-language resource for circus history.
The clip is from a 1966 Hollywood Palace television variety show, which is a good source for a lot of physical comedy performance. Like a lot of these acts, the sequences alternate between straight acrobatic tricks and some real nice comedy bits. I especially liked the mock combat segment, with echoes of the theme music to the Batman tv show, which had had its network premiere just nine months before then and was all the rage.
Click here or on the image below to go to the video.
