The terrible car crash in slow motion.  It's almost a cliché.  I had my terrible car crash on my bicycle.  Pedaling along at a good pace, breathing in the fresh summer air, and then the handbrake coming loose from the handlebar, its rusty anchor finally giving way to age.  Oh, so this is why I shouldn't buy a bike from the thrift.  Slowly, peacefully, winding through the air, the handbrake and its long cable just taking their time, looking for the right target, and then they strike.  Back to real speed, jamming into the spokes of my front wheel, stopping th bike, and sending me flying, in a classic jackknife.

The slow motion crash Saturday night was in the Upstairs Theatre at Steppenwolf, where 500 Clown is presenting 500 Clown Macbeth in repertory with 500 Clown Frankenstein in a limited run.  At the start of their take on Macbeth, performer Paul Kalina walked down the aisle between rows of seats,  making animal noises and looking for his target.  Just like the handbrake, Kalina took his time, as I watched in horror knowing I was the target.  Then he struck, grabbing ahold of my big bald head, rubbing it, and kissing it.  The audience loved it, and I had to smile.

500 Clown Macbeth is filled with such moments, where the audience expects one thing, often horrible, and get quite another.  The three performers (Kalina is joined by Adrian Danzig and Molly Brennan) set themselves and the audience up for broken bones, concussions, and a whole bunch of bruises, but remain unscathed.  Okay, they're probably heavily bruised despite all the padding, but they still are lucky to be alive following all of the physical contortions at dangerous heights that constitute much of a 500 Clown performance.

In their Macbeth, the performers begin the story with the familiar witches and cauldron, before jumping off (literally) into a quest for the crown.  So, is this really a performance of Macbeth?  Yes and no.  No, the script is not reproduced and all the characters don't make an appearance.  But, eventually, this leads to a funny and sad look at the iconic "Out out, damn spot", some gun play, and finally a distillation of so many of the familiar Macbeth moments and poetry.  The trio perform as a team, alternately breaking into two against one scenarios, perfectly fitting Shakespeare's text. 

The three performers, under the sadistic direction of Leslie Buxbaum Danzig, never get to rest.  The fact that they are all older than 17 makes their daring and physical agility all that much more astonishing.  Having to perform these same comic stunts over and over (and have performed these feats all over the country) is daunting, and they deserve much admiration from my Lazy Boy perspective.

500 Clown Macbeth and 500 Clown Frankenstein each run about 80 minutes.  Tickets are $30.00, or $50.00 for both shows.  Post-show discussions follow the Thursday and Sunday performances.