French comic trio uses hijinks in going for laughs

French comic trio uses hijinks in going for laughs

By Emilie Sueur

JAKARTA (JP): A jacket with a carnation in the buttonhole, a
pair of pants, complete with scruffy kneepads, held up by
suspenders and a common truck driver's vest: where could this
motley fashion arrangement come from but France?

The trio from Les Cousins comic troupe presented a dose of
Gallic humor last week during the Jakarta Performing Arts Theater
International Festival at Gedung Kesenian.

Their performances of C'est pas dommage (It's Not a Pity), and
Et c'est tant mieux (So Much the Better) were thanks to
collaboration of Gedung Kesenian and the French Cultural Center.

The three buffoons coming together must have been fated.

Laurent, 34, and Jules, 38, met as they had the same
acrobatics teacher, who would drive home his directives by
kicking them in the butt. The painful learning process created a
tight bond between them.

The pair later got to know Rene, 36, in the French national
circus school led by Annie Fratellini, one of the most famous
names in the circus world.

In 1990, they left for Japan to perform in a cabaret. At the
time they were still working as individuals. But, after getting
to know each other and becoming friends, they decided to work
together upon returning to France.

At the beginning, the trio tried to join circuses. But they
came up short in finding a company that would hire a juggler
(Laurent), clown (Rene) and acrobat (Jules) at the same time.

True to their motto "One for all, all cousins", they refused
to be separated. This led to them creating Les Cousins.

The name is a reference to a characteristic of the circus
world. Before there were circus schools, most traveling shows
were family affairs and few outsiders ventured into the ring.

To finance their first show, the three motivated zanies
performed in the streets, mainly in Montpellier in the south of
France. They played their first routine 500 times all over the
world, including stops in Japan and Brazil via Tanzania.

The first show at Gedung Kesenian was held indoors and started
with the appearance of a bizarre freak. With its four legs and
three heads, it could probably best be described as a sumo
wrestler who had been fiddled with by a Frankenstein. The thing
was in a huge suit.

The monster mutated and gave birth to three beings slightly
closer to human ones as they were limited to two legs and one
head. Genetic disturbances were still visible, though, as there
was an unusual bulge in their stomachs.

It turned out that this protuberance was a big inflated ball,
which became the pretext to hilarious throwing and bouncing
games.

Eventually, the antics took their final human shape. But after
viewing just some of their performance, we could only wait to see
more "alien" aspects of their skills.

Laurent challenged the laws of gravity by juggling on a table
while bending dangerously. Jules held him back by his shoulders
pads.

But when Jules released his hold, Laurent's feat was even more
impressive.

Jules, king of balance, seemed to be happy only if standing
upside down. As balancing on his hands on the floor seemed too
easy, he did it instead on top of a tower of chairs.

Rene was meanwhile buzzing around, very convincing with his
blackened front tooth and arched hairstyle as the simpleton.

Lurking about, getting slapped, falling off chairs,
frightening children or tremendously excited like the nastiest
child ready to do the stupidest things imaginable, Rene
entertained young and old.

Gauged by the audience laughter and reactions of children, the
French comics managed to establish a connection.

Time was suspended for a moment when Laurent entered wearing a
ballet skirt and shoes. There was no need to fear the show would
turn into a lyrical, sugary dance.

The entrance of Rene in a large yellow ballroom gown atop a
unicycle quickly refocused the show on its proper frivolous tone.

The second performance, which took place outdoors on Saturday,
had a slightly different spirit than the first. It was quite
clear the trio found performing on the street to be a more
complete experience.

They felt completely at ease in front of an audience seated on
simple benches or on mats, as this created a more interactive
relationship.

The Cousins are funny, have mastered their discipline and are
professionals, just as they claim. But what is perhaps more
important is that they do not assume they are superstars.

They manage to avoid the failing of many in show business who
grandly consider themselves to be better than their audience.

"The Cousins remember where we came from," Rene said simply.

Their humility is worthy of praise, especially as it gives a
special quality to their craft.