		Chinese Clown Cabaret
		SAN FRANCISCO FRINGE FESTIVAL AUDIENCE REVIEWS
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CLICK HERE FOR RECENT REVIEWS IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER CLICK ON PLAY FOR AUDIENCE REVIEWS FOR THAT PLAY 21/One: Twenty-One Shows in One Hour 3 Plays About Your Mom Antarctica ARE YA WORKING? Being Something: Living "Young" and Growing "Old" in Oakland Bound and Gagged Brilliant Disguise Brother #1 Cervix With A Smile Chinese Clown Cabaret CornTato Divided We Fall Do The Clam El Camino Loco Fear of a Brown Planet Fresh Meat Go Kibbitz go! Got Lucky Green Bamboo Hermitage Here to There LOUNGE-ZILLA! Love Scenes Magnificence of the Disaster MEDIAVOID Name You Can Trust, A nEO-sURREALISTS Paper Dolls Playing in the Dark Politics on the Edge Revolving Madness SHIFTINGS Show me where it hurts Slow Moves, Rich Tales Sperm Warfare Thersites Waiting for the Relevance WALKING BACK TO BROOKLYN Werewolf, The When You Stand Alone Yellow Tunic, The You May Now Kiss.... My Sass		Play: The Chinese Clown Cabaret Reviewer: Joseph Estlack 4 Stars Though I almost had an asthma attack from laughing so hard, I don't blame The Chinese Clown Caberet. I blame my smoking cigarettes. The Chinese Clown Caberet is an artful and thrilling red nose experience. I felt like a baby in their arms. Once Jane Chen had me wide-eyed, drooling and giggling, her mother sang a song that made my heart feel like a blue-berry (the most beautiful blue-berry). It cured my asthma attack, and I haven't smoked cigarettes since that night. Thank you Chinese Clown Caberet! Play: Chinese Clown Cabaret Reviewer: Robert Avila, SF Bay Guardian, September 14, 2005 ON OPENING NIGHT of the San Francisco Fringe Festival last week, the back room of Original Joe's restaurant, on Taylor Street, was abuzz with anticipation and cocktails ahead of the eight o'clock show, Elisa DeCarlo's Cervix with a Smile. Those who had been there for the first show were still high on Chinese Clown Cabaret, which rated "best clown show" at last year's festival and served up another ferociously silly hour of sandbox punk-rock ukulele and deadpan, angst-laced, in-your-face cuteness from the fearlessly talented Jane Chen and her real-life mom, Tair. A show capable of wonderfully unnerving ridiculousness, often rooted in a sly send-up of the kind of familial and cultural dynamics inherent in its mother-daughter team, Chinese Clown Cabaret is also far more sophisticated than it would have you believe. Play: Chinese Clown Cabaret Reviewer: Shelley 5 Stars Really, really funny, a joy to watch. Catch it while you can and you won't be disappointed. Play: Chinese Clown Cabaret Reviewer: Cynthia 5 Stars Jane is a charmer - funny, poignant, clever, winsome, smart, a soulful talent and a beauty. She sings! Tair is the perfect foil. A joyful pairing of mother/daughter. This one is the Best of Fringe - IMHO! Play: Chinese Clown Cabaret Reviewer: Papi 3 Stars Disappointing! After all the rave reviews, it was a letdown. Has its moments, but few and far between. Play: Chinese Clown Caberet Reviewer: Carl 5 Stars If you saw the Caberet last year, it is even better this year, just as endearing, but even more hilarious and poignant. Jane Chen has a knack for finding both substance and hilarity in very simple, truthful interactions. Go see it and get there early so that you can see her heckle the audience before the show. Play: Chinese Clown Cabaret Reviewer: Lisa 5 Stars What a great show! Very entertaining, while also exploring mother/daughter issues. This show has something for everyone. I dare anyone to leave without a smile on your face. Play: Chinese Clown Cabaret Reviewer: Meredith Yayanos 5 Stars 1. Meredith Yayanos said, September 13, 2005 at 2:37 pm We need more living, breathing, joyful theater like this! I was utterly disarmed by the dynamic mother/daughter duo of Jane and Tair Chen. Their work has reminded me that theater can be playful, silly, spontaneous, vulnerable and deeply personal without feeling conflicted or precious. They are both skillful improvisers and born storytellers, and I was utterly disarmed by their gentle strength. Highly recommended. (Just get there early! The place was packed to the rafters on Saturday.) Play: Chinese Clown Caberet Reviewer: John 3 Stars Cute and often funny. I'd like to see the mother daughter relationship and the cultural background explored in an expanded version. The Mary had a little lamb part of the show was a little odd. Play: Chinese Clown Cabaret Reviewer: Dawn 3 Stars I was a little disappointed. It was pretty cute, but not as good as the reviews. It left me wondering if this years show differed from the last. Play: Chinese Clown Cabaret Reviewer: Olcay Cirit 5 Stars See this show. You will be smiling for days afterward. Play: Chinese Clown Cabaret Reviewer: Tori 5 Stars Add me to the list of fans...Generally, I am not a big clown person, nor a big cabaret person, but this piece manages to use both forms as an effective metaphor for the struggle of being different both within a culture and within different generations. A must see--really. Play: Chinese Clown Cabaret Reviewer: Anna 4 Stars Absolutely adorable. Plus entertaining, though not in a mind-blowingly bizarre-clown kind of way. Just very cute and very funny. I thought that Jane Chen's mother was incorporated with a lot of love into the show-- I thought it had a rare up-with-mother-daughter-relationships message (despite the putative conflicts) Play: Chinese Clown Cabaret Reviewer: JK 5 Stars Jane Chen and her mother are great. They work well together and the show is able to work on many, many levels. It's a clown show, in the classic Charlie Chaplain sense, but deals with modern and accessible issues like: mother/daughter relations, Chinese-born/American-born cultural differences and the always present piano/ukulele conflict (that affects us all!) In short a great and very entertaining show Play: Chinese Clown Cabaret Reviewer: HappyToBeHere 5 Stars OK , I finally saw this years show and loved it , again. Two heads up. First , Jane starts interacting with the audience as soon as people start coming in ,so you want to get in early as the "show" has already started.(This also happens with Lounge-zilla). Second , Origional Joe's is a small venue and tickets sell out quickly. Play: Chinese Clown Cabaret Reviewer: Liebe Wetzel 5 Stars Jane and her mom are back with yet another wonderfully funny show. Go see this show! Play: chinese clown cabaret Reviewer: LD 4 Stars jane chen is marvelous!! Play: Chinese Clown Cabaret Reviewer: Mia Paschal 5 Stars Enchanting, amusing, hilarious, heartbreakingly moving. Jane and Tair Chen are a perfect team, and have created, and perform a perfect show, where every word, every note is true. You will never see a show like this anywhere else, so see it. Play: Chinese Clown cabaret Reviewer: gwen 5 Stars It doesn't get any better than this. Jane and her mom, Tair, are back with a show that's even funnier than last year. The script is tighter and the duo are even more comfortable on stage. As usual, Jane's effervescence and Tair's radiance are infectious... See the show! They'll make you feel supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! Play: Chinese Clown Cabaret Reviewer: HappyTo BeHere 5 Stars In truth I haven't seen this years show yet , but this was a solid 5 stars last year and I can only imagine it getting better. Jane and her mother are absolutely delightful and heart warming. So , until this years reviews start pouring in you can check out the reviews from 2004 on this site. They're at Origional Joe's just around the corner from Fringe Central.