The best shows to take your children to are the ones that make you all laugh and have fun. The New Victory Theater has been specializing in shows like this for some time now, but they’ve really outdone themselves by bringing in the Reduced Shakespeare Company to perform William Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play (Abridged).

First things first: No, you don’t have to know a lot about Shakespeare to enjoy this show. But here’s the kicker, you probably already know more about Shakespeare than you think you do, anyway. As actor Austin Tichenor pointed out, “People are always surprised to learn how much of their everyday language comes from Shakespeare, so we play that up.”

Within the first few minutes the performers hilariously point out, with plenty of examples, that all of Shakespeare’s plays have been remade as Disney movies. That quickly sets a kid-friendly tone, and the players proceed with a high energy and very silly show with plenty of madcap antics, costume changes and gut-bustingly funny scenes. And be aware that if you’re sitting in the front row, your children’s skills with a water gun may be called upon to provide “special effects” by spraying the cast during a storm.

Ah, the storm. The storm, or “Tempest” is the crux of this show, as a storm is integral to the plot of many of Shakespeare’s plays. That’s the idea behind William Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play (Abridged), that the Bard repeatedly used the same story elements again and again. Big storms. Identical twins. Misunderstandings. Men dressed as women and women dressed as men.

The Reduced Shakespeare Company also runs with the idea that the Bard’s plays all shared the same universe with each other, like Marvel Comics’ movies do. The plot revolves around a quarrel between the magical Puck from A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Ariel from The Tempest. (Performer Teddy Spencer’s first appearance as Ariel is a play on Disney’s The Little Mermaid, and that leads into the aforementioned bit about Disney ripping off Shakespeare.)

The show is broken up into two acts, about 40 minutes each, with the intermission allowing kids to check out The New Victory Theater’s vast lobby. We’ve been there before, but this was the first time we hit the concession stands and we were knocked over to find … wait for it … healthy and affordable snacks for the whole family! In New York! In a Broadway Theater! Can you believe that?

The upside is that you can get snacks for just a few bucks. The downside is the line for the concession stand is pretty long, although very well managed. We’d recommend ordering your concessions before the show so you can just pick them up after the first act.

Full disclosure: This writer has been a fan of The Reduced Shakespeare Company for 25 years, and as I’ve studied The Bard’s plays extensively, I knew going in that this was going to be a favorable review. But I really was pleasantly surprised at how accessible the show was, and how much even experienced Shakespeare scholars still managed to learn while laughing really hard.

Because that’s the thing about Shakespeare. His works are surprisingly familiar to the unfamiliar, and the Reduced Shakespeare Company takes his works, and makes them not only accessible, but wildly enjoyable and fun.

And when your kids are having fun, they won’t notice how much they’re learning. Win-win!

Buy tickets through the New Victory website to see the Reduced Shakespeare Company’s “William Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play (Abridged)” at 209 W. 42nd St. in Manhattan, playing through Sunday, March 11.

I come from a background of theater, busking and children’s entertainment. As such, I know a little bit about magic, a little bit about balloon sculpting and a little bit about juggling. After watching Water on Mars, though, it became clear to me that I actually know a very little bit about juggling.

“For audience members who expect to see a typical juggling show, we’re glad to disappoint you.”
– Wes, Tony, and Patrik of Plastic Boom

The above quote is the first thing you read about the show in the New Victory Theater‘s Playbill. While I was impressed at the blunt confidence of the statement, I’m a New Yorker. I don’t impress easily. Plus, I knew a little bit about juggling, so I figured I’d be a tough audience.

But I’m nothing compared to my kid. Liam’s energy reserves are roughly equivalent to those of the sun. He must be doing something, or on the way to be doing something, at all times, always. So the 60-minute run time of the show made me nervous. Could he get through it?

The good news was that the New Victory Theater has activities for children before the show. There are tables with puzzles and a room where kids can give juggling a try for themselves. That was good news for parents and kids because giving the children a chance to burn off some energy before they need to sit still for a while is always a good thing, and actually trying juggling increases their interest in what they’re about to see.

So anyway, now we’re in our seats and Liam gets bored in all of 1.5 seconds and begins asking over and over again when the show is starting and complaining that he wants to go back downstairs. He’s 3, he doesn’t do the whole “patience” thing. He’s made me leave events and shows before, and his tone was ominous. Hoo boy.

Mercifully, the lights went down quickly, and away we went.

Plastic Boom, the performers responsible for what we would see unfold, are, quite simply, world renowned. Wes Peden is from right here in New York State, Tony Pezzo is from St. Louis, and Patrik Elmnert is from Uppsala, Sweden. All of them have won the top awards one can receive in this art form, have set Guinness World Records for juggling, and/or both. This show that they’ve designed has been performed all over the world, in Finland, Ireland, the Czech Republic, France, Italy, and many more.

They captured Liam’s attention right away.

It’s hard to describe what we saw at Water on Mars, other than to say, nobody ever stops moving. The performers interact, intertwine and interpret the art of juggling into something you’ve never seen before. They combine magic, sleight of hand, acrobatics, comedy and vivid color to create a neon painting, using the air in front of you, as their canvas.

None of them stop moving. Even when only one or both performers are engaged, the third will do jumping jacks in the background. None of them stop surprising you. Performers effortlessly create rainbow showers, or balance on a partner who then begins to dance around the stage, or pop out of the box they’d been patiently waiting in to make their entrance.

Ah, yes — the box. While this particular routine happens halfway through the show, this was what taught me that I only know a bit about juggling. One performer juggles three balls, and the other manipulates a plastic see-through box. The first guy juggles while the second holds the box over the balls he’s juggling; then switches it so the box is over his head; then holds it so the balls can be reverse juggled, bouncing off of the top of the inside of the box; to bouncing them off the box as it circles around him, constantly changing its elevation from higher to lower.

Basically, this was a masterful display of the absolute fundamentals of the art form. It may not be as spectacular as some of their other routines with multiple neon clubs and/or rings and/or whatever else comes to their minds; or taping themselves or each other, or taping themselves to each other while juggling; but it absolutely puts on display how much of their lives these guys have dedicated to the art.

I may only know a bit about juggling, but that routine in particular illustrated how much they knew about it.

Liam was transfixed. He sat forward in his seat, exclaimed in joy and surprise, and even forgot to ask incessant questions throughout the show, like he did the next day when we saw The Lego Batman Movie. That’s a big thing, folks.

At any rate, the show continued to amaze and astound, looking less like a juggling display than frenetic athletes setting off fireworks. “Ooohs” and “aaahs” were the most common reactions from the audience besides the clapping.

They gathered speed slowly but surely and the amazing finale involved not only, clubs, rings, incredible balancing acts, but rolls of toilet paper, open water bottles, and massive candy bars that get tossed to the kids watching the show.

We loved it. Go see it. They were right. We were expecting just a juggling show, and we were disappointed.

They call the show Water On Mars because that title “represents discovery and the joy of finding something new and surprising.” They ain’t lying. That’s all you need to know.

Especially if you already know a bit about juggling.

— “Water on Mars” runs at the New Victory Theater, 229 W. 42nd St., Manhattan, through Feb. 26.

Father and celebrated clown Bello Nock joins us on this new episode of The Modern Dads Podcast to talk fatherhood, circus life and how he balances the two like he balances on the highwire.

The acclaimed daredevil known for his bright upswept hair joins Matt and Lance to discuss his boyhood growing up as a touring circus/theatre daredevil, finding work/life balance when your whole family is part of your business, and strategies for watching your children do dangerous (and not so dangerous) stunts. He also discusses his daredevil circus/clown show Bello Mania that will be playing at the New Victory Theatre in April. 

Bello Nock, often known simply as Bello, is an American daredevil clown and circus performer. He is a master of the highwire, swaypole, wheel and trampoline who thrills audiences while adding a health dose of humor to his amazing feats.

Nock has been listed in the Guinness Book of World Records his highwire walk over a cruise ship. He has rappelled off Madison Square Garden and hung from a helicopter over the Statue of Liberty among his many stunts. 

Born in Sarasota, Florida, Nock is a seventh-generation circus performer, a descendant of the family that founded Switzerland’s famous Circus Nock in the 18th century.

In 2001, Time magazine included him on a list of “America’s Best Artists and Entertainers”, as “America’s Best Clown.” In 2004, the N.Y. Daily News said that he “might be the greatest athlete ever to set foot” in Madison Square Garden. He spent eight years with the famed Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

City Dads Group columnist and L.A. Dads Group member Whit Honea joins us again to talk about the importance of encouraging kids to take risks, even if they may fail.

Listen to The Modern Dads Podcast here or:

• Listen and subscribe on iTunes (a nice rating and review would helpful as well)