Portsmouth's Pontine Theatre Presents ZEST-FEST New Vaudeville Festival

26-30 December, Pontine Theatre presents a host of New Vaudeville performers at its Annual ZEST FEST New Vaudeville Festival. Each show features a different exciting performer. Performances are offered at 2pm, at Strawbery Banke Museum's Tyco Visitors' Center located at 14 Hancock Street in Portsmouth. ZEST FEST features family-friendly shows sure to delight audiences of all ages with magic, mirth, and mayhem. Tickets are $15 and may be purchased online at www.pontine.org. Tickets may also be purchased at the door a half-hour prior to each show, based on availability. Contact Pontine: info@pontine.org / 603-436-6660.

Monday 26 December & Tuesday 27 December at 2pm, Michael Trautman performs his original production, KING PONG'S PING PONG RODEO. Variously identified as a visual comic, performance artist, new vaudevillian, mime (gasp), physical comedian, storyteller, magician, and fool, he claims only to be a clown...and not a very traditional clown at that. He has appeared in such prestigious venues as the New York International Festival of Clown Theater, Festival D'Ete in Quebec, the GenerAl Jackson Showboat at Opryland USA, the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal, and The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Suitable for audiences of all ages.

Wednesday 28 December & Thursday 29 December at 2pm, John & Rebecca Higby's YOYO SHOW, brings back that nostalgic toy, the Yo-yo, reminding audiences of old favorite tricks such as Walk the Dog and Rock the Baby, then amazing them with new and bizarre tricks, such as Boingy-Boingy and Iron Whip. Yo-yos attached to bouncy balls, yo-yos with 10-foot strings, and multiple yo-yos looping while unicycling are just some of his finely tuned feats. High skill and deft timing to swingin' music coupled with high energy and sarcastic humor make the YOYO SHOW a favorite for every age. As seen on David Letterman, John Higby, holds a Guinness World Record, a Yo-Yo World Champion title, and has performed in over 20 countries. Suitable for audiences of all ages.

Friday 30 December at 2pm, Leland Faulkner performs his original production, WORLD OF WONDERS. Leland charms audiences of all ages with the actor's imagination, the mime's skill, and the conjuror's craft. Beginning with the amazing and lost art of shadowgraphs or hand shadows, Leland conjures up an amazing menagerie of silhouettes using only his hands. Discover classical magic from the Far East as a Japanese magician lets folded paper butterflies fill the air with color in a beautiful homage to Old Japan.