The Flying Karamazov Brothers

Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Thursday, January 13, 2000

MIT helps famed jugglers take their act to new heights

By WINDA BENEDETTI

The latest Flying Karamazov Brothers show is called "L'Universe." But "Physics 101" would work just as well for the title.

In this show, which premieres tonight at A Contemporary Theatre, the famed troupe of theatrical jugglers explores the laws of gravity, relativity and time while delving into the workings of chaos theory, quarks and the movement of planets.

Of course, when the Flying K Bros. unravel the mysteries of the universe, they do so while juggling, singing, playing musical instruments, and, as always, while making people laugh.

Banging on giant pendulums, the Karamazo Brothers mix low-tech fun and cyber antics to prove a point: The universe is one large juggling trick. Paul Joseph Brown/P-I

In short, if real physics professors were this entertaining, they'd never have a problem convincing students to show up for class.

For those unfamiliar with the Flying Karamazov Brothers, these guys have been entertaining crowds for 27 years by combining juggling dynamics and witty repartee. The current lineup features founding members Paul Magid (aka Dmitri) and Howard Jay Patterson (aka Ivan). Two newcomers have joined the ranks -- New York musician Mark Ettinger (Alexei) and Maine juggler Roderick Kimball (Pavel).

The Bros. based their latest venture upon a metaphor they've kicked around for years: "The universe, in fact, is a large juggling trick," Magid explains.

In order to help their audience understand that concept, the Karamazov Brothers have taken this show to an all-new technical level by collaborating with the brainiacs at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. With help from a dedicated team of inventors at the school's Media Lab, they've developed some whiz-bang gadgetry to enhance the show.

During "L'Universe" (aptly pronounced "Loony Verse"), you'll see the K Bros. juggle computer-generated planets, and use sonar to play a giant "floor board" instrument. You'll see pins change color based on which brother is juggling and where that brother stands in relation to the other members of the troupe.

"This show's theme was basically an illustration of the fact that juggling reminds them of the motion of the planets and celestial objects," says Matt Reynolds, a research assistant at the Media Lab and chief engineer for the floor board piece.

"What we wanted to come up with was some technology that would let them express that, that could help them but not hinder them."

For the floor board segment, the brothers don jackets and hats embedded with sensors. Using sonar technology, a computer tracks not only the brothers' positions on stage, but the gestures they make with their hands.

Those movements then trigger a computer to play different notes based upon where they're standing. How long that note sustains depends on how the brothers move their hands.

In the end, the brothers move with finesse around the stage, waving their arms at precise moments, each adding notes to create a complete song.

This new technology certainly hasn't diminished the amount of raw skill required from the performers.

"We wanted to have things that we play with that are high tech but that we can still fail at," Magid explains.

For instance, Magid juggles virtual globes that appear on a giant screen set up on stage. These computer-generated orbs are programmed to "feel" the effects of gravity and react to the juggler's shadow on the screen. His shadow must touch the globes to keep them from falling to the ground.

Professor Neil Gershenfeld headed the team at MIT's Media Lab. The lab specializes in finding real-world applications for new technologies. Its members have previously worked with Yo-Yo Ma and Penn & Teller.

This is not the first time the Karamazov Brothers have incorporated technology into a show. But this is the most involved the technology has gotten.

Known for their repartee, three of the Flying Karamazov Brothers -- Howard Jay Patterson, left, as Isaac Newton, Mark Ettinger as Galileo and Paul Magid as Einstein -- rehearse. Paul Joseph Brown/P-I

"These people worked unbelievably hard for us," says Ettinger, explaining how Reynolds once toiled 70 hours straight developing the equipment. "They had to invent the technology, create all the devices and debug them; they had to write all of the base-line code that makes the actual equipment talk to each other. Then they had to write other programs that take the basic streams of information and turn them into functionality that you can use."

Whew.

Consequently the MIT folks and the Bros. have been working lots of long hours trying to smooth out all the kinks. But Magid expects their work with the Media Lab to be a continuing collaboration and hopes some of the creations that were not fully developed may be used in future performances.

And while the show features lots of cyber theatrics, there's still plenty of low-tech and no-tech high jinks just as impressive for the skill involved. At a preview performance on Saturday, the brothers intertwined their limbs and each juggled while simultaneously playing a musical instrument. They also performed a nifty segment that involved hammers to bang out a song on a giant set of swinging pendulums.

In fact, when asked what part of "L'Universe" is hardest to successfully pull off, Ettinger quickly replies: "When all the technology goes away and we have clubs in our hands."