Tomas Kubinek, a performer based out of New York City, calls himself a “certified lunatic and master of the impossible.” While what he performed on the stage of Titmus Theater may not have been impossible, per se, Kubinek and Arts N.C. State provided a more personal show than what many students are used to seeing from computer and television screens.
Featuring magic tricks, vaudeville acts, storytelling, foolery, dramatic physical comedy, singing and funny interactions with audience members, many students found Kubinek’s performance hard to describe.
Tracy Anderson, a graduate student in communication, attended Kubinek’s performance Saturday and invited her friend Michael Jones, a senior in physics.
“[The performance] was very interactive for the audience,” Anderson said. “It’s kind of like improv [comedy] in a way. It’s very wacky. There’s physical comedy because what he does with his body is very comical. And it was goofy, innocent and natural.”
Jones said he enjoyed the show because while it reminded him of many comedy shows, Kubinek’s show was less “raunchy and political.” Instead, Jones said Kubinek provided a form of humor that was more direct and honest.
“We’re all more used to digital media, so when he was out there and grabbing peoples’ hands and invading peoples’ space with his person, it was all really entertaining because we didn’t know what to expect,” Jones said.
During one part of his performance, Kubinek invited a member of the audience to give him a piggyback ride. Afterwards, the audience member helped Kubinek strap himself into a harness hung from the theater ceiling which Kubinek used to swing around on while flapping yellow “wings” strapped to his back.
While the cord that allowed Kubinek to offer the audiences an illusion of flight was visible to every member of the audience, Kubinek said it represented a type of purity he hopes his show exemplifies and is something that separates his show from many others.
“I’ve seen a lot of really amazingly produced shows on Broadway or in Las Vegas or on the West End, and a lot of it is icing on the cake,” Kubinek said. “But I want to get to the core of what is happening which is heart-based and happening in the air between the artist and the audience. You don’t need a fog machine or projections. It’s easy to get lost behind the gadgetry and production values. I like to strip it right down.”
During many parts of his performance, Kubinek stood in the middle of the audience, on top of seats. Anderson said during those times it was hard to deny that the experience was more intimate than what she had seen of performances on YouTube.
“The basis of any type of performance or theater is the magic environment that is created, which we go through together as audience members and artist,” Kubinek said. “A lot of web-based stuff can keep you engaged and you can look anything up and you feel like you’re experiencing things, and it’s great, but on another level, it’s just as flat as a screen and as deep as it is in terms of actual human experience.”
Kubinek said he hopes his show gets across the importance of direct human interaction.
“You can meet a partner on the internet and you can see a photo and a write-up of them but it’s not the same as walking with them or sharing silence or feeling chemistry with them or smelling what they smell like,” Kubinek said.
