FOOL LA LA: HOME FOR THE HOLIDAZE Brings Laughs For Kids

The Bay Area's favorite Clown Prince of Fools, Unique Derique, makes his MarshStream debut with Fool La La: Home for the Holidaze, inviting audience members of all ages to get connected with some much-deserved holiday laughter.

Full of brand new, mindfully comedic mishaps for all ages, Fool La La is a family-friendly show featuring a kooky "clown-u-copia" of innovative, digital delight. After the show, Unique Derique invites audiences to join in a free 20-minute juggling and hambone workshop for the whole family. Fool La La: Home for the Holidaze will be presented 2:00pm, Sunday, December 27 on MarshStream. For more information, the public may visit www.themarsh.org/marshstream.

The San Francisco Examiner wrote that Derique "leaves them laughing coast to coast," adding "he plays himself and the result, percussive and dynamic, is exhilarating." Fool La La encourages kids from 1 to 92 to let their imaginations take flight. Hailed by The New York Times for "his rapid-fire hands as they passed over his body in a blur of motion," he was also lauded by the San Francisco Chronicle, which declared, "Derique will be back... remember the name."

Unique Derique is a longtime Bay Area favorite whose dual careers merge the performing arts and healing with the belief that the world can be a brighter place, one breath-and one laugh-at a time. With appearances that have spanned the globe from South Africa to Scotland, Taipei, London, Paris, and Tokyo, The Clown Prince's internationally acclaimed performances mix his artistic side with classic physical comedy. Unique Derique's television credits including It's Showtime at the Apollo, the Disney Channel, KQED's Spark, Univision's Sábado Gigante Internacional, and KQED's Emmy-winning show Short Stories and Tall Tales, Unique Derique has shared the stage with entertainers such as Bobby McFerrin, The Temptations, Laura Nyro, Tuck and Patti, Lou Rawls, and Sammy Davis, Jr. His clowny past includes stints with Berkeley's Circus A La Mode and the famed Pickle Family Circus. This multi-talented artist's experience also includes serving as Program Director for Circus Arts Camp at Children's Fairyland, artist-in-residence with Prescott Circus Theatre, and as a performer with Bread and Roses Presents. His show Fool La La has played regularly at The Marsh Theatre since 2015, usually with a different twist in each season's version.

Unique Derique's alter-ego Lance McGee is a Trauma-Informed Wellness Consultant, Drama Therapist, and Mindfulness Coach, providing support to Oakland middle-school educators, administrators, staff, and students. McGee's work also includes training SFJazz teaching artists and other educators who work with middle school youth, as well as leading workshops on recognizing trauma-informed care practices and mindfulness for non-profit organizations, health clinics, colleges, and educational systems throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. His past also includes school-based counseling for the East Bay Agency for Children, as well as work with the Mindful Life Project.

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