STAGE REVIEW : Circus Brings Sleepy Fun to San Diego

If insomnia were as much fun as it looks in the Pickle Family Circus’ new show, “Tossing and Turning,” no one would ever get any sleep.

The show, which plays San Diego tonight and Malibu on Thursday after a weekend at Citrus College in Glendora, is structured around a clown (Jeff Raz) who has trouble sleeping due to a parade of interruptions, some of which are probably dreams. The title refers to tossing and turning bodies on trapezes as well as beds.

The dream theme is similar to that of “Saltimbanco,” Cirque du Soleil’s latest show, although the Pickle Family hews to that theme more rigorously throughout the show than does the Cirque.

With “Saltimbanco” currently ensconced at Santa Monica Pier and headed for Costa Mesa, it’s difficult to avoid comparisons between the two. Bear in mind, however, that the Pickle Family pioneered this idea of a one-ring (or in this case, one-stage) no-animal circus, long before the Cirque.

The Pickle Family works on a much smaller scale--one that may strike some as more human and accessible. Because the on-stage company numbers only 11 (plus a five-person band), everyone wears many more hats.

Clowns Raz and Diane Wasnak (a.k.a. “Razz” and “Pino,” respectively) get an especially vigorous workout, not only tying the other acts together but also joining in much of the acrobatics. They’re an appealing Mutt-and-Jeff duo, with Pino serving as the sandwoman and sprite who occasionally tries to assist Razz’s sleep but ends up interrupting it more often than not.

“Tossing and Turning” offers a few types of acts that aren’t highlighted in this year’s edition of the Cirque: hoop diving, plate spinning and bicycle stunts. Zhao Mei and Zhuo Yue, the stars of the latter two endeavors, make especially striking patterns with the plates.

Jeffrey Gaeto’s band is an integral component, never more so than in a juggling turn by Raz that intentionally charms instead of amazes. Tandy Beal directed and choreographed, with Lu Yi receiving credit as the “master trainer”--and his training appears to have been masterful indeed.

* “Tossing and Turning,” the Pickle Family Circus. Today, 7 p.m.: UC San Diego, Mandeville Auditorium, (619) 534-6467; $10-$16. Thursday, 7 p.m.: Smothers Theatre, Pepperdine University, Malibu, (310) 456-4522. Running time: 2 hours, 5 minutes.