A jumble of ideas, a bit of circus, and olives on top

Take all of your scrapped ideas, introduce some surreal humour and circus acts and what do you get?

That question is best answered by the performers of Laser Kiwi, who made their latest show on that very premise.

Laser Kiwi: Rise of the Olive is part of the Dunedin Arts Festival, performed by Imogen Stone and brothers Degge and Zane Jarvie, who have worked together for about eight years.

Zane said originally they were just a circus troop, but their shows slowly got more surreal and comedic as they went on.

Their first Laser Kiwi show was about five years ago, a production they came up with when they were on a plane to Canada to perform.

They had no routine laid out and had to figure it out before their gig.

The premise was simple. What if they took all of their scrapped ideas and made them into a show?

It sounded like a terrible idea on paper, but it worked out really well, he said.

It had been really well received and now they were ready to perform their second Laser Kiwi show.

Their new show had more of a central theme, but was still an unrestrained and joyful performance which gave them freedom to do whatever they liked.

That theme was the olive, which would be a recurring element throughout the
show.

Ms Stone said they chose to focus on olives because they were delicious.

Laser Kiwi performers (from left) Degge Jarvie, Imogen Stone and Zane Jarvie share a moment from...
Laser Kiwi performers (from left) Degge Jarvie, Imogen Stone and Zane Jarvie share a moment from their production at the Mayfair Theatre in Dunedin yesterday. PHOTO: PETER MCINTOSH

The show featured a range of acts, some of which had taken years to perfect.

Performing a handstand on two Jenga towers had "only" taken about eight months, whereas another performance in the show took four years to master.

As experienced circus performers they had done all kinds of tricks, so they knew what their bodies were capable of.

The key was introducing those skills into new settings, such as performing a handstand on two tumbling towers.

They had to get custom Jenga blocks made which were big enough for her to grip easily and smooth enough to be structurally sound during performances.

Misshapen blocks could disrupt the whole tower, she said.

The show is on at the Mayfair Theatre tonight and tomorrow night.

wyatt.ryder@odt.co.nz