Asha Bagal Kelly on Jared Athias

Dear Jared,

I requested to see a juggling show for the Fringe Postcards project because it’s one of those art forms I find completely mystifying and delightful. I wanted to be able to feel like a kid again, but with your show there was a lot more that I didn’t expect.

When you opened with the ‘90s dancehall classic “Murder She Wrote,” dancing while gliding in skates in that Jamiroquai tracksuit and oversized Eagles hat, I thought…was this show designed for me? Then you did the Macarena and I just felt seen.

I laughed out loud so many times in Act 1. When you pooped the juggling balls during the John Coltrane number, juxtaposing high art with the most puerile of jokes, I definitely felt like a kid again (but you know, one of those kids that gets pulled out of class to do enrichment programs). I sometimes couldn’t tell whether the show was meticulously choreographed or expertly improvised. Were you dropping balls and pins because you were nervous, or winging it, or was it all an act?

Then, the turning point. I won’t spoil it for future audiences, but when you did “the thing” that we talked about after the show, I thought, there’s no way he’s really doing that. I must have been imagining things or putting my own lens on something more abstract. Because you can’t go there. Right?

But you did. And it led to a surprisingly haunting transition into Act 2, when it became clear that everything I saw in Act 1 was on purpose. It made me question whether pretending to be mediocre at something as physically and mentally demanding as juggling might be more difficult than just doing it well.

The frenetic, colorful TouchDesigner visuals, which had evoked a sense of chaos in a crowded airport terminal, became a serene backdrop to Act 2’s quiet virtuosity. The glowing pins looked weightless. I felt I could just sit back and trust the performance, letting myself get lost in the magic.

Thank you for making me laugh, wonder, and occasionally wonder whether I was allowed to laugh at what I was seeing.

Asha

Asha Bagal Kelly is a Playwright/Performer for My Carmilla.

Jared Athias is the Producer/Performer of Palatable.