`Pauly the Clown Show' empowering to children

By Chris Jones

Tribune theater critic

Published September 11, 2006

When a clown calls himself Pauly -- and his ragtag set mostly features items you'd find in a typical Home Depot -- you're not exactly in the world of the Cirque du Soleil. But kids know immediately whether or not a clown is to be trusted.

And although Paul Miller is about as smooth as week-old stubble, and his stuttering new "The Pauly the Clown Show" inhabits a world just this side of complete disaster, his target demographic couldn't have been happier.

Miller's great strength -- and reason alone for parents with young kids to pass a warm and inclusive hour in the Cultural Center this month -- is his uncommon ability to empower his audience.

Most clowns seek to wow kids; Miller puts them in control of pretty much his entire narrative. Bobbing and weaving around the yelled desires of 5-year-olds, Miller makes kids feel as if their particular interaction has fulfilled the clown's wildest desires. And as any circus performer will tell you, that's a lot harder than it looks. Miller -- who worked for years as a Ringling clown and more recently founded the remarkable CircEsteem youth program -- has numerous useless but impressive special talents. These range from juggling to diving on wood to balancing an entire supermarket cart on the edge of his chin. But when Miller spins plates, he shows a little kid how to spin them too (it's not as hard as you've been led to believe all these years.) And at the end of the bit, he deflects his applause entirely her way.

That's the kind of show you're getting here -- an intimate, interactive bit of low-budget family fun that could be a performance at someone's birthday party, except the clown is better. Friday night's opening, sadly, was beset by "technical difficulties" that threw off Pauly the Clown's rhythms a little. You couldn't help wondering exactly what technology there was to go wrong (nose not red enough? Silly hat fitting too well?). But Pauly said he'd had a few troubles, and that was good enough for the kids, who appreciated him going on with the show anyway and making everybody laugh.

"The Pauly the Clown Show"

When: through Sept. 17; Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 2, 4, and 7 p.m., Sunday at 1 and 3 p.m.

Where: Chicago Cultural Center, 77 E. Randolph St. Running time: 1 hour

Tickets: $10-15 at 312-742-8497

----------

cjones5@tribune.com