The Most Spectacular Cake | You Me Three Clown Co
How to make The Most Spectacular Cake!
First, combine one part childish innocence, and one part friendship. Next, mix in a whole splash of slapstick and a pinch of hopeful optimism. Next, and most importantly, cover it in a whole lot of messy stupid. Now to bake, place the mixture in front of the audience, break through the fourth wall and let the chemistry cook up some laughs. And finally, at just the right moment, add a dash of pathos to give it that extra flavour to ensure it leaves a lasting impression.
Voila, you have yourself the most delicious piece of theatre for the whole family!
'The Most Spectacular Cake!' by You Me Three Clown Co is a charming and laugh-out-loud funny showcase of clowning that's perfect for the young and young at heart. In it, we follow Chef Wren Auclair (Wren Condren) as they attempt to make the greatest cake of all time to impress their famous and disapproving father. Aided by their well-meaning, yet totally inept BFF, Ash (Ashlynn Parigi), what could possibly go wrong?
Image: Supplied by Wynnum Fringe
Obvious spoiler warning, the cake ends up all over the stage. We know it's going to happen. There's clowns, there's cake, there's plastic wrap on the floor, we know where it's going to end up. In less skilled hands, this could detract from performance. However, Wren and Ash build everything up to the greatest crescendo possible, before each accident happens with an unexpected twist that's more ridiculous than the last. This is good old fashioned slapstick at its finest that left all in the audience bellowing with laughter.
Now, confession time, while I love circus, my least favourite part of the artform is generally the clown act (unless, it's dark clowning, but that's another story). For me, professional clowns can often lean too heavily into the silly, the playful, the teasing and the slapstick, that they can either come off as predictable, or just plain bratty. At worst, I can find them forced and fake.
What set this performance apart for me is that both characters were imbued with a whole lot of heart and humanity that endeared them to me and the audience and that also added both extra stakes and laughs to the show.
On top of the typical clow tropes, Wren brought a touch of melancholy to their head chef, along with an overly trusting nature and a desire to please their father. Pariji imbued her assistant chef with a strong sense of loyalty, unearned confidence and an ever increasing desperation to fix her mistakes. I found this twist on the typical clown character, combined with destroying the fourth wall to engage us as their co-conspirators, incredibly charming and I couldn't help but root for them and hope they succeeded. It seemed to work for the whole audience too, as both kids and the rest of us where kept laughing throughout the whole piece.
The Most Spectacular Cake is a good old messy time for all ages from two of the most charming clowns in the biz. Make sure you take a bite if you see it served around town some time in the future.
