Duck Soup is my favorite Marx Brothers movie, but it was not a big box office hit. I loved the satire and anarchy, but the general public apparently less so. The reaction of Irving Thalberg at MGM was next time to bring in playwright George S. Kaufmann (You Can’t Take It with You) and give the boys a script where they’d have more pompous (and nasty) straightmen to do battle with. The happy result was the mega hit, A Night at the Opera.
I mention this because clowns thrive when they have something to play off of — contrasto! — and are most appreciated when juxtaposed to people and behavior that are dignified and highly formal, and what could be more dignified and formal than flamenco dancing? Flamenco is great, but it’s so serious! Which brings us to Paul Morocco & Olé, musicians and jugglers, who wreak some very funny havoc from this classical Andalusian dance form.
[TOTAL ASIDE: Did you know there are more flamenco academies in Japan than in Spain?]
Here’s a one-minute trailer, followed by a more informative 8-minute video of an entire numéro:
Click here for the Olé web site.
Thanks to Monika Schneider of CliniClowns Voralberg for the link.
