The Scotsman ****

Children's show review: Lighter Than Air
Published: 29/8/2009

I HAVE to confess, I am not the world’s biggest fan of clowns or clowning. Like many people, I find them a touch sinister, and usually not at all amusing. So all credit must go to self-styled balloon tamer Danny Schlesinger, who has produced an utterly charming and absorbing hour of children’s entertainment without a red nose or a big floppy shoe in sight.

The action is incredibly gentle as the besuited and heavily perspiring Schlesinger goes through his motions. He juggles and tussles with a series of balloons of all different sizes, all the while playfully interacting with his audience. He utters few words, preferring almost exclusively to use physical gestures and his ultra-expressive face.

The children in the crowd don’t seem to feel threatened, even the couple of youngsters he gets up on stage to help him with some of the routines, and the adults too all lean in for a closer view of the tomfoolery. Such an impressive level of audience absorption is a rare commodity indeed at any Fringe show, never mind one primarily aimed at children.

Schlesinger manages to achieve his strange harmony between circus clowning and Mr Bean-like capers without the resulting performance being anything less than captivating. The pace may be very sedate, but it takes real creativity to craft a whole hour’s routine out of such humble materials as those with which Schlesinger works.

Thanks to simple but effective stagecraft, a healthy dose of natural charisma and a real flair for comic timing, Schlesinger’s Lighter than Air is an undoubted joy for all the family, even those who are normally a little bit afraid of clowns.