The Flaming Idiots, a trio of madcap jugglers and comedians,will perform for one night only on Saturday, Oct. 4 at 8 p.m. inMcFarlin Auditorium.
The Flaming Idiots began performing in 1984, in Texas, intights. The trio met while working as actors at Scarborough Fairein Waxahachie. Individually, the zany talent of the show are RobWilliams (Gyro), who left behind a promising career with theMcDonald’s Corporation; Jon O’Connor (Pyro), who quit his jobas a control expeditor for the Tandy Corporation; and Kevin Hunt(Walter), who received a degree in aircraft maintenance andpromptly became a Flaming Idiot.
Their fun brand of stage show — which includes a good doseof new material — is funny for 5-year-olds (they get to peltthe stage with tennis balls), filled with enough droll wit toentertain the most jaded adult (they get to pelt the stage withtennis balls, too) and foolish enough to make Falstaff proud(he’s probably pelting the stage with tennis balls fromShakespearean heaven).
The Idiots juggle knives, beanbag chairs and fiery torches, andfor the most part, they don’t drop anything. Pyro lines upsix coins on the back of his hand, flips them and catches them …well, most of the time. Gyro leads his fellow idiots and theiraccompanying crack, three-piece band in perhaps the whackiest— and sweetest — version of “The Little DrummerBoy.” Later, he gets tough and cracks playing cards in halfwith a bullwhip. Walter really swallows a balloon. And together theIdiots attain new artistic heights (well, kinda) with a trio ofleaf-blowers and beach balls.
Vaudeville for the new millennium, the Flaming Idiots blend reallive circus skills with shtick-infused sketch comedy to end up witha show that’s supremely foolish and never stupid.
The group last performed in Dallas at the Dallas Theater Centerin 1998 and before that as part of the Big D Festival of theUnexpected in 1996. They were regular performers at ScarboroughFaire in Waxahachie for 15 years before abandoning the 16th centuryand the great outdoors for the off-Broadway New Victory Theater in2001. The Idiots sold out all 15 performances and received ravereviews from The New York Times, The New York Daily News, and NewJersey’s Star Ledger.
Tickets went on sale Sept. 15 and are $20 for adults and $12 forthose under 12, and are available by calling (214) 528-5576. Visitwww.flamingidiots.com for more information.
