What Happens In Vegas… Sucks, by Michael Davis
What many of my readers don’t know is – I’m an artist, trained at some of the finest art schools in the country. I’m also an educator, having written curricula for an art school and created reading programs for high interest low-level students grades four to six. I have quite a few proclamations from various cities for my educational work and my mentor program. I even have part of a school campus named after me.
I’m not telling you this to impress you, but to impress upon you that I know a wee bit about the arts.
Education and training aside, I belong to the “I know what I like club.” I truly believe that art is in the eye of the beholder. I don’t care how big the artist is, I’m not jumping on the bandwagon because his or her last painting sold for a zillion dollars. As an example, take the artist David Hockney. I don’t like his work but I respect the career he has built for himself.
I also think that Thomas Kinkade is the luckiest man on earth. I much prefer and miss Bob Ross and his “happy little trees.” For my money, his “happy little trees” pimp slap anything done by either Hockney or Kinkade. That may be because I just liked him as a man and that translated into why I like his work so much. Truth be told, his work was more of a gimmick – but I don’t care: I like what I like. Hockney or Kinkade are huge successes and deserve to be. They create the art and let it speak for itself. Critics love it or hate it, people buy it or they don’t.
The art world is as varied as anything out there. The world of fine art is as complex as anything you can imagine. It’s not just become an artist and go try sell your work. The people and institutions involved in that world are mind shattering. Don’t even get me started about the politics. Politics endow some gallery owners with the ability to make or break a career simply by showing an artist’s work in their joint, patrons who support artists so they will have something to talk about at cocktail parties, world class museums who just so happen to have artwork “show up” on their walls from anonymous donors who attained the art by suspicious means. I could go on and on and one day I will write about this in more detail.
However, before I move on I will leave you with this. Yes, I am aware there are some in the fine art world who simply care about the art.
Me? I’m a simple guy I loathe anything that is subjective becoming something where you must have a certain amount of knowledge or understand its history for you to enjoy it. Artists and writers who reach a certain artistic level where their art stands for far more than just the image you are viewing is welcome and needed in this crazy world and I respect that. That said, I also think that if you are a person without any understanding of the process you have the right to say “I don’t like it.”
Just don’t tell me to like something because someone has decided that I should. My training has made me aware of the process, I know what I am looking at and hell no, if I had 80 million dollars to throw around I would not spend it on one Monet painting, regardless of how important that painting was in the history of art. As I said, don’t tell me to like something because someone has decided that I should. Feel free to jump on that bandwagon I’d rather walk.
And that brings me to Cirque du Soleil.
First I need to disclose something… I hate the French.
I hate them for a few reasons – but I’ll give you just one. Ten years ago I was at the San Diego Comic Con waiting in the lobby of my hotel for some friends to go out to dinner. Sitting at the lobby bar were a bunch of French guys talking about American comics. One guy, who I assume was embolden by his alcohol consumption, was loudly telling his associates that Americans comics were shit compared to French comics. This guy could have spoken in French and kept his views to his little group. No, he was speaking in English because he wanted us ugly Americans to hear.
Look, as you well know I have some issues with America, but I’m proud to be an American and I love my country. So being the guy I am, I went over to the group and proceeded to give this Frenchman a piece of my mind. I calmly told him that American comics were as varied as French comics and perhaps he should look beyond what he thought and give a few more books a try. I then told him that the French were a bunch of pussies and if not for America he would be speaking German. I also reminded him the French people smell like wet dogs and French women have hairy armpits, legs and chins.
Ah, good times…
The French think they are better than the rest of the world. Most of my other reasons have to do with my politics and France’s self-serving attitude towards the U.S. Not getting their support on the world stage is a much more mature reason, but it’s also a lot less fun. Yeah, I know I just grouped an entire people together because of the behavior of a few and I’m aware that all French people do not deserve to be called smelly wet dogs etc., but man, their attitude really burns me!
Cirque du Soleil has productions all around the world. They are a big draw and are considered one of the finest performance shows anywhere on earth.
To quote Pubic Enemy, the greatest rap band ever, don’t believe the hype.
I was in Las Vegas last weekend and went to see Mystere. I DID NOT WANT TO GO. I went because I wanted to be seen as a “team player.” The group I was with wanted to see it. I wanted to see Penn and Teller but was out-voted. I’ve only written one other review in my life. Some years ago I reviewed Oliver Stone’s Alexander. What did I say? Let’s just say that if I ever meet Mr. Stone I’m not using my real name. What follows is my review of Mystere.
Mystere has some of the most amazing feats of acrobatic excellence I have ever seen. The music in the production was fantastic.
The show itself was bullshit.
In fact, it’s not a show. There’s no damn story there. In the promotion for Mystere they give every impression that it has a story. No, no it doesn’t, It’s a bunch of acrobats in costumes that look like they were designed by Salvador Dali AFTER he was dead and sewn by adrunk Stevie Wonder while he was having a seizure, jumping around the stage.
If I wanted to see crazy looking people with fish heads and feathers coming out their asses fly around in the air I would smoke crack.
The “show” opens with a old fat man dressed like a baby in diapers and goes down hill from there. The performers (some who look like the flying monkeys from the Wizard Of Oz) are all over the place. Some of the acts take place on the ground, some high in the air. At the beginning of the show I found myself silently wishing that they would just fall. By the end of the show I was seriously considering climbing to the top of the stage and jumping myself.
The same acts are repeated over and over and over again. Then for a change of pace they bring out these two studs. These guys had on body suits so tight I could count the hair on their nipples. They go through a series of moves that involve lifting each other in seemingly impossible positions. At one point one of the guys is balancing himself BY ONE HAND on the top of the other guys head. This was I admit very impressive but somehow really creepy. Creepy because to make sure they don’t fall while holding these positions they must move really slowly. So slowly in fact that at one point one guy has his face firmly snuggled in the other guys ass cheeks. To achieve the next position one guy S L O W L Y has to pull the other guys ass pass his face S L O W L Y pass his face. What got me about this move is the thousands of people sitting in the arena ignored this as if everyday they have someone’s ass cheeks S L O W L Y caressing their face.
I mentioned that everyone ignored this – everyone but me. When the booty reached maximum snuggle on the face, I let out a loud fart noise. Childish? Maybe. But don’t judge me until you have spent a few hundred bucks on something this stupid.
In my opinion, this production is another example of what I call The Emperor’s New Clothes syndrome.
I think that so many people have been swayed by the hype of Cirque du Soleil that they go see this show and like it no matter what. Granted, if you are a child then this sort of thing is cool. However unlike Ringling Brothers who market to kids, Cirque du Soleil markets to adults. Call this what it is, an exhibition with some truly gifted acrobats. There’s no story. There is no narrative. Only flying monkeys and ass snuggling.
Is it art? Maybe, if so it sucks, if it isn’t it STILL sucks.
Then again I could be wrong. I have been before and I will be again. As I said, I reserve the right not to like something regardless of what everyone else has said. There are a lot of other Cirque du Soleil shows in Vegas and I was actually interested in seeing one. Love is a Cirque du Soleil show featuring the music of the Beatles. After seeing Mystere I dare not see Love. If they mess with my beloved Beatles I would somehow find a way to get the nuclear codes from the Pentagon and nuke France faster than you can say BOOM!
The only way in Hell I would ever pay to see another one of these shows is if they pried the money from my cold dead hands and theywere dressed like flying Monkeys.
Like the Big Bopper, Hollywood media mogul and frequent comics creator Dr. Michael Davis knows what he likes.
Might i inquire what the French have to do with a Canadian show?
I would have voted for LOVE before Mystere. I would have voted for Penn and Teller before either of those.
Russ,I DID!!!!!
Hey Mike, They were speaking French. You speak French I blame France.
Last time i went to Cirque, they weren't speaking any real language.
Well French is not a real language it sounds a lot like Klingon.
Damn,Now I have to Nuke Canada too. To bad one of my best friends live there. Oh well, goodbye Lovern…
Penn and Teller's show rocks. But the best show I ever saw in Vegas was Sammy Davis Jr. Also, the Smothers Brothers were great, and Frank Gorshin was their opening act.I think Cirque is over-hyped. I like my circuses corny (and carny).
"But the best show I ever saw in Vegas was Sammy Davis Jr. Also, the Smothers Brothers were great, and Frank Gorshin was their opening act.""They built the casinos smaller then""They seemed plenty big…"If my father-in-law were still with us, he'd have a tear in his eye."I like my circuses corny "We go to the Ringling Brothers show every year, but we also try and hit the local Shrine Circus. THAT's some fun – there's never any fear at Ringling Bros. that someone might rack it on the flimsy trapese…Plus, the PETA crowd comes out to protest to the Shrine Circus, so that's always good for some pre-show entertainment.
You should see Love. I thought Mystere was way overhyped, and I love Love. The sound system alone is worth it.
Haven't been to a Cirque show in years but loved the earlier ones. Kim and I went to see them as often as we could. She got pulled onstage to be a volunteer and, of course, could have taken over the whole act. Another time I got picked out to go onstage and did very well and had a lot of fun.I respect you're right not to like it but my experience was different.
John,I've heard that the earlier shows were really great. Maybe what happened is a case of some cast member saying; "Wow, we are so cool and people love us so much that that we can do anything! How's this, put your face in my ass S L O W L Y…!"I'm glad you enjoyed what you saw my friend but I have been scared for life.
Cranky old man.
Cranky, Right. Old, not. Man, Right again.
I'm with you Michael except there is no way I'm enough of a team player to let myself get dragged to one of these overwrought pretentious pieces of foo-foo. Wish you were here in Chicago with us. We all miss you and there's no Frenchified phoniness to put up with here. Next time we see you have Adriane tell you about her delight in seeing a pub full of Londoners stop everything to watch Portugal beat France in soccer and her encounter on the plane home with a gaggle of extremely rude French women.
I would've gone back to my hotel room than attend some show I had no interest in. Screw that team player stuff.
Oh Michael, next time we both find ourselves in Vegas I would go to LOVE with you any time. (My mom lives in Vegas in the winters so it's not out of the realm of possibility…) I generally share your feelings for These Wacky Acrobatic Canadians, but I sooooo want to see LOVE. And if they mess with our beloved Beatles I will join with you in wreaking havoc upon them with as many left-handed bass guitars as we can possibly round up.
I agree whole-fartedly with the pronouncement that this show sucks balls. I went to see this show in Dec 2003. Needless to say, the show was ultralame and afterwards a big tiff was had with my girlfriend at the time about how she should have listened to me and saw David Copperfield instead of insisting on spending hundreds to see this crapstravaganza. The big mystery about mystere is why it is still running when it should have obviously been shut down years ago. Definitely a case of emperor wears no clothes.
Wow man, you are a perfect imbecile. Cirque Du Soleil is a French-Canadian enterprise, what do the French have to do with anything? If you're going to make vitriolic generalizations about any given culture (always a sign of a fragile intellect) at least make sure you've done some research.I agree, Vegas is a toilet. It sucks. But not as much as you, dude.