One of Big Apple’s original clowns, Bello Nock, grabs the title role in its new show, “Bello is Back!”, which refines the concept of circus. It meets you where you are. Nock combines in his baggy trousers the skills of an acrobat, juggler, hip-hop dancer and smart-ass comedian, and he’s brilliant at all of it.
A seventh-generation circus performer whose daughter is also in the ring, he has great style and exquisite comic timing. He goes up. He gets down.
He plays well with others, especially Grandma, the cross-dressing senior sensation who packs high-tech equipment in “her” handbag and channels Britney Spears. This 32nd version of the show, featuring brand-new ringmaster Kevin Venardos, demonstrates that clowns are no slouches. Neither are the twin Chinese acrobats, Russian jitterbuggers with rescued dogs, trampoline masters, and Spanish juggler Picaso Jr., who manipulates lots of balls with his mouth and his knees.
The comedy is crisp, the costumes glittery, but mostly it’s the performers’ sheer skill, timing and bravado that win our hearts.
Big Apple Circus
Through Jan. 18
Damrosch Park
Lincoln Center
62nd Street between Columbus and
Amsterdam avenues
$28-$89, 888-541-3750
www.bigapplecircus.org
