With captivating amounts of energy, Alex Zerbe moves like a rubber band from one end of the stage to the other in his show The Zaniac on Feb. 18.
Crazy tricks, beat-boxing, dancing, live music looping and audience participation, The Zaniac is a hysterical show that will leave you wondering just what will he do next.
Zerbe, the “Professional Zaniac,” has been cracking jokes onstage for almost fifteen years. His show zigzags between a comedic onslaught of absurd ideas and odd skills. From juggling bowling balls with ease to slicing vegetables in half with flying playing cards, everything he does is sure to entertain the whole family.
“I try to make my show like the movie Shrek, super entertaining for the kids but there’s a whole other level of comedy for teens and adults,” says Zerbe.
“Zaniac is a state of mind. A realization that life is too serious to take seriously. I’m pretty sure I’ve always been a Zaniac, but the word was created when I was trying to think of a tag line for my act,” says Zerbe, about what exactly a Zaniac is. “I had a long list of bad ideas, then my wife walked into the room and said, ‘How about the Zaniac?’ And I realized I was glad I married up.”
Formerly of the award-winning duo Brothers from Different Mothers, Zerbe is a Hacky Sack World Champion, was voted The Pacific Northwest’s Funniest Prop Comic, is a two-time Guinness World Record holder, and is currently ranked Seattle’s third Best Air Guitarist. He’s performed everywhere from cruise ships and comedy clubs, to prime-time television in three countries, including America’s Got Talent and Last Comic Standing.
“If you want to do cool tricks and make people laugh, you just have to do it. Trust the learning process, and don’t focus on the result. Enjoy the act of learning a new trick and accept that it’s going to be a slow process.”
Zerbe enthusiastically supports others learning the art of comedy.
“Write jokes and ideas. Most of your ideas and jokes will be terrible, but as long as you think of tons of ideas and jokes, you’re guaranteed to come up with some good ones. If you write 100 jokes and 95 of them aren’t funny, you just wrote 5 funny jokes. That’s pretty good!”
“Also, you absolutely have to bring your ideas into reality. If you have an idea that you think could be good, you have to make it happen or your brain will stop thinking of good ideas. Do something with your ideas! Get them out of your head and into the real world. Some of them will fail and some will work. My garage is filled with failed ideas and half-built props that didn’t work.”
The Zaniac is coming to the Chilliwack Cultural Centre on Feb. 18 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $12, and can be purchased at the Centre Box Office, online at www.chilliwackculturalcentre.ca, or by calling 604-391-SHOW(7469).