Not all laughs are created equal. Just ask the new clowns in Cirque du Soleil’s “La Nouba.” “When the people smile, I feel safe. I feel comfortable,” says Pablo Gomis López in Spanish. “When I see all the world laughing, I feel at home.”
Gomis López is half of a clown double-act that joined “La Nouba,” Cirque’s show at Downtown Disney, this year. Besides their jobs, the two new performers have other things in common, such as their nationality — they’re Spanish — and their names.
“I’m Pablo G,” says Gomis López. “And I … am Pablo B,” says Pablo Bermejo Medina.
They’re both dressed as regular guys, without the outfits and makeup that transform them into circus clowns, as they converse in the big, white tent-shaped building that has housed the show since 1998.
On the subject of laughter, both artists say they want to generate “laughs that come from deep inside, ones that are really felt. Chuckles don’t do much for us,” said Gomis López, 37. He has learned that mouth movements and wrinkles around the eyes are the giveaways for real laughter.
“As you can see … I have laughed a lot,” jokes Bermejo Medina, pointing out his wrinkles.
In “La Nouba,” the two are the first and last characters the audience sees. They are responsible for two skits and five acts during the show.
The pair’s clowning links the acrobatic feats of “La Nouba” and “humanizes much of the show,” says Bermejo Medina, 38, who is tall and thin and wears a lilac overcoat. In contrast, his shorter and stockier companion dresses in orange overalls.
In the show, their relationship is like that of mischievous brothers as they joke in their own invented language.In fact, Gomis López and Bermejo Medina have been friends since they met at the High School of Dramatic Arts of Murcia in their native Spain more than 15 years ago.
For five years, Gomis Lopez worked on the Cirque du Soleil touring show “Alegría,” which closed in December. Bermejo Medina joined the tour in its last six months. Two of the five clown acts in “La Nouba” come from “Alegría.” The other three are new and were created by the pair.
Gomis López, who was born in Alicante, says his family members are happy that he has work, despite the thousands of miles that separate them.
“They told me, ‘Don’t come back here,’ because Spain is in crisis. ‘Stay there so you can be well,’ but in truth, I miss being in Spain,” he says.
He smiles as he explains that he pursued a career in theater to court a young woman. “In the end,” he says, “the theater made me happier than the woman, and I stayed with the theater.”
{ SOURCE: Orlando Sentinel | http://goo.gl/RW4xkR }
