Perhaps a dose of Clownzilla is the antidote.

The clown troupe, replete with white faces, bulbous red noses and nearly all-black clothing, takes on the holidays with "Clownzilla: A Holiday Extravaganza," its second production at Rude Guerrilla Theater and second show overall.

This show may be loosely "about" the winter holidays, as well as many others plucked from any American calendar, but its subjects are far and wide-ranging. Like the great silent film comedians, these clowns never speak (other than via supertitles), and just a little of the troupe (80 uninterrupted minutes) goes a long way.

In trying to present a roughly alphabetical list of holidays, the troupe has given itself an admittedly tall order to fill. The obvious – Halloween, New Year's Day, Thanksgiving, Easter – are easy to depict, but what about K? "Kinky Day." Q? Easy: "Quick Day" (which passes in the blink of an eye).

And so we go, through Yo-yo Day, O.C. Day (for Orange County), Unbelievably Bad Teeth Day – a complete Clownzilla roster, from Arbor Day to Zilla Day.

X gives us X-Mas Day ("C" is reserved for Chanukah) and a chance for the troupe to offer some fine funny business as well as a slower, more contemplative look at this holiest of days.

The show's story line, if it can be said to have one, is that of a family of sad clowns who discover joy through their observances of the holidays. There's mother and father (Adrienne Mueller and Heraclio Pimentel Jr.,), Brother and Sister (R.J. Romero, Betsy Mugavero), Baby (an ingratiating Elizabeth Graciano), Uncle Fank (Frank Miyashiro) and the family's maid, Molly (Cambria Beilstein).

Written and created by this septet and director Eli Simon, Clownzilla's artistic director, this "Extravaganza" offers an inspired idea: that happiness can be found in an "A to Z Book of Holidays."

The humor ranges from all-out slapstick to political commentary (Presidents Day opens the door to a series of George W. Bush malapropisms) to raunch to the kind of sad-clown technique perfected by Emmett Kelly. Yet with a hit-or-miss philosophy, only some of the show's continuous stream of jokes and gags hit the bull's-eye.

All seven clowns are physically agile, easily capable of switching from frantic activity to more sedate goofing. Precious few of the gags require more than a few props and minor costume changes. With Clownzilla, there is no fourth wall: troupe members always play to us, even circulating among us.

Mugavero, Romero and Beilstein perform with ease, while Mueller shows the maternal instinct's aggressive side. The diminutive Graciano's endearing Baby is an adorable imp who adds to many of the evening's best moments, doing the Mexican Hat Dance to honor "Fivo de Mayo," grilling mom with typical kid questions on Mother's Day, functioning as the horns for the bull (Mueller) during "Running of the Bulls Day" and playing Cupid on Valentine's Day.

Vincent Oliveri's sound effects and original music and a series of black-and-white supertitles lend a silent-movie flavor to the proceedings. Holly Poe Durbin (costumes), Lonnie Rafael Alcaraz (lighting design) and Alex Phillips (stage manager) help maintain that illusion.

If you think that clowns are not your cup of tea, give this troupe a look anyway, because they may surprise you. Not only that – they may also touch something inside you relating to your own holiday experiences.

Clownzilla exorcises your clowndemons
By STACY DAVIES
Friday, December 7, 2007 - 2:00 pm


The art of clowning might seem like an oxymoron—there are a lot of people who hate clowns, and I’m among their bitter ranks. The key with hate, of course, is to occasionally face it square-on and expose yourself to that very thing you loathe just to make certain you still do. That makes Rude Guerrilla’s Clownzilla: A Holiday Extravaganza the ideal show for a clown-hate showdown. But be warned: Not only might it exorcise all the negative clowndemons from your soul, but it might also elevate clowns into your realm of love—or at least like.

Director Eli Simon’s clown troupe is neither the Barnum & Bailey variety nor the Cirque de Soleil kind, more like a gang of Marcel Marceau mimes with red noses, propelled into the abstractions of existential light and shadow as they tell the simple story of a “sad” clown family on the brink of suicide from ennui. Every day is the dreadful same for them until they discover a golden book of alphabetized holidays. With this new calendar of daily events to look forward to, they’re suddenly ignited to live out each holiday on record—and some that aren’t—with their own unique interpretations.

It’s these interpretations that are often exquisite, such as when R.J. Romero’s Clown Son does a mad, slow-motion dash during Running of the Bulls Day. Adrienne Mueller’s Mother Clown and Elizabeth Graciano’s Baby Clown are also keenly expressive in their space and gag work, pretty much stealing any scene they’re in, except for Dia de los Muertos, when Father Clown (Rac Pimentel) does his crazy, limber chickenhawk dance, or whatever it was. All the clowning would be only half as effective if it weren’t for sound designer Vincent Oliveri’s aural creations blanketing each scene—a mélange of layer upon layer of human utterances, sometimes rolling into humming song, sometimes into guttural special effects, sometimes into both.

But the key to the show isn’t really the clown gags—this type of miming has roots deep in the human experience. While there’s a squirting flower and lots of confetti at one point, the clowns also bring some poignant moments to light: a child asking her mother if God exists, a wee slap at George W., Cupid turning male/female friendships into all-out wars with a single arrow prick. And what could resonate more than the family’s initial disposition of depression and gloom at being trapped in a monotonous life before they found the holiday book—and thus, the will to live? That sounds like everyone we know. Except maybe for the finding-the-will-to-live part.

Clownzilla: A Holiday Extravaganza at Rude Guerrilla, 200 N. Broadway, Santa Ana, (714) 547-4688; www.rudeguerrilla.org. Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m. Through Dec. 15. $10-$20

With this, Clownzilla's second show at Rude Guerrilla, the U.C. Irvine - based troupe pulls humor from the various holidays found on any American calendar. In trying to present a roughly alphabetical list, the company has given itself a tall order to fill. All of the obvious holidays -- Easter, Halloween, Independence Day, Labor Day, Mother's Day, New Year's Day, Thanksgiving, Valentine's Day -- are here, but the troupe stretches to fill in the gaps with Yo-Yo Day, Quick Day, Kinky Day, O.C. Day (for Orange County), Zilla Day, and others. X? X-Mas Day, of course, which gives the show's seven white-faced, red-nosed, black-garbed clowns a chance for fine funny business as well as a more contemplative look at this holy day.

The humor ranges from all-out slapstick and raunch to political commentary -- Presidents' Day opens the door to a series of George W. Bush malapropisms -- and the kind of sad-clown technique perfected by Emmett Kelly, all accompanied by Vincent Olivieri's sound effects and original music and a series of black-and-white supertitles that lend a silent-movie flavor to the proceedings.

Adrienne Mueller, Betsy Mugavero, R.J. Romero, Cambria Beilstein, Elizabeth Graciano, Frank Miyashiro, and Heraclio Pimentel Jr. wrote and created the work with director Eli Simon. Not all of the show's continuous stream of jokes hit the bull's-eye, but these clowns are physically agile, preserving the art form with stylish twists. The conceit of a family of sad clowns discovering joy in an A to Z Book of Holidays is inspired, and if the show offers any standout performers, it's the diminutive Graciano, whose endearing Baby is an adorable imp who adds grace notes to many of the evening's best moments.

Presented by the Rude Guerrilla Theater Company at the Empire Theater,

202 N. Broadway, Santa Ana.

Fri.-Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 2:30 p.m. Nov. 16- Dec. 15.

(714) 547-4688. www.rudeguerrilla.org.