A zany circus treat for Halloween

Aliens juggling, screwball captains who forget to drive the ship, special attendants who bring… Aliens juggling, screwball captains who forget to drive the ship, special attendants who bring meaning to the word “special,” anti-gravity acrobats, large puppet snake-monsters and umbrellyfishes? Are you lost yet? Well you should be. Just board the Fireball-XL7 spaceship and blast off into “Circus in Space,” the Zany Umbrella Circus’s Halloween spectacular this weekend at The Brewhouse in the Southside.

Unlike the circuses we are all used to, the Zany Umbrella circus is a human performance circus that uses handmade props to put on performances to live music. They write, produce, direct and choreograph their own shows — utilizing each individual performer’s talent, such as juggling, tightrope walking, unicycling, dancing and anything else they can conjure up, to get a good laugh. They take pride in being a group that makes “something out of nothing” by taking everyday objects and creating side-splitting acts with them.

The Circus has been performing shows as a group during the past six months or so, but many of the participants have been doing things like this for years.

Ben Sota, founder of the Circus, has been performing since he was 12 years old. A Pitt graduate with a degree in architectural studies, he chose performance as his full-time job. Even though the big shows he puts on are funded by grants — this one generously funded by a non-profit organization in Pittsburgh called Artists and Cities — he is not in it for the money.

“We don’t get a lot of money performing things like this. Think about it. We charge $10 dollars max, and we can fit 200 people in here,” Sota explained. “With musicians and equipment cost, we are lucky if we break even.”

They make a living through the interest that their shows create. People come to see them perform and become interested in the characters. They are then hired to perform those characters at different openings and festivals.

“The best part of the show is that we all have such unique talents to add to it,” Mitch Kulkin, the Circus’s artistic director, said with pride. “We went from five to 15 people in a matter of months. Friends kept approaching me, wanting to be involved.”

Jeff Gordon, a man in his 50s, is the oldest member of the Zany Umbrella Circus. He has been doing circus performing for half of his life. He founded the “Big Apple Circus Clown Care Unit” in New York City to visit terminally ill children — working with the likes of Patch Adams.

“The healing power of humor is something both doctors and families understand, but cannot be medically proven. Amazing things can be achieved through laughter,” Gordon said. “These kids are doing a great thing, providing laughter for their community. I can see myself in every one of them performing with me today.”

Finding laughter in everyday things is the Circus’s specialty. There is a skit that Gordon — sorry, Special Attendant Gordoon — performs using just rolls of toilet paper. The Circus presents the show as joke that the audience is in on. It gives the show a sense of reality that the audience can connect to.

“No one understands magic, but with our show, you can see the sweat dripping off faces expecting things to go completely chaotic,” Sota said. “A big part of our show is improvisation. We just invite the chaos in, embrace it, and take it to our advantage.”

The main focus of the Zany Umbrella Circus is having fun. They will do all they can to provide that along with a smile. They aren’t only entertaining the young, but bringing out the young at heart. That, as Sota understands, really is magic.

Check out the crazy spectacles of the Zany Umbrella Circus in “Circus in Space” along with The Bread and Puppet Theatre’s “World on Fire” in the Black Sheep Puppet Festival this Weekend at the Brewhouse, 2100 Mary Street, in the Southside. Show times are 8 p.m. on Oct. 29 and 30 with a 2 p.m. matinee on the 30. Tickets are $10 for general admission and $5 for students, seniors, children and artists at the door. Costumes encouraged!