Pontine Presents WEST-FEST New Vaudeville Festival, 12/26-30

Pontine Theatre presents the 7th Annual WEST-FEST: New Vaudeville Festival26-30 December For the seventh year, Pontine Theatre presents a host of New Vaudeville performers at its annual WEST-FEST: New Vaudeville Festival. Performances are scheduled for 2pm, 26-30 December at Pontine's West End Studio Theatre located at 959 Islington Street in Portsmouth.

WEST-FEST is modeled on the Phyzgig Festival which was founded in Portland Maine in 1997. It's a family-oriented festival that chases away the blues with performances featuring magic, mirth, and mayhem. Each of the featured performers are skilled in multiple forms: physical comedy, clowning, juggling, magic, and more. Schedule (subject to change): Dec 26 - Sam & Lenny: The Wright Brothers, Dec 27 - World of Wonders with Leland Faulkner, Dec 28 - John Higby, The YoYo Guy, Dec 29 - King Pong with Michael Trautman, Dec 30 - Randy Judkins, The Yankee Juggler.

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 (cash & checks only), based on availability. Contact: info@pontine.org / 603-436-6660.

Friday 26 December The Wright Brothers perform. Sam Kilbourn and Lenny Zarcone sweep up the house in a whirlwind of comedy in mime, acrobatics, juggling, music and song. Their preposterous posturing and spontaneity have delighted audiences across the country for decades.

Saturday 27 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.
Sunday 28 December at 2pm, John Higby's The 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 Yo-Yo Show a favorite for every age. As seen on David Letterman, he holds a Guinness World Record, a Yo-Yo World Champion title, and has performed in over 20 countries.
Sunday 29 December at 2pm, Michael Trautman performs his original production, King Pong. 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.
Tuesday 30 December at 2pm Randy Judkins, Downeast Juggler, performs. Randy has presented his original programs in over 25 States, Canada and Europe. He has also appeared in commercials and independent films in his home state of Maine. Randy has instructed at the Ringling