Clowns serious about fun

No, the back flips, tumbling runs, somersaults and human pyramid-building don’t bear much resemblance to Cirque du Soleil’s theatrical, gravity-defying, jaw-dropping wonders.

And that’s just fine.

Troubadour Theatre Company’s small-scale new family clown show, “Funky Punks’ Circus Spectacular,” at the Falcon Theatre in Burbank, may not be pretty, but it’s bursting with the company’s trademark exuberance and rib-tickling fun.

This irrepressible mix of clowning and physical comedy -- aided and abetted by sly ringmaster and director Matt Walker -- includes zany, deliberate bumbles and fumbles: Whenever the haughty jugglers drop a pin, they not only refuse to admit the error, they cover by hurling the rest on the floor with dramatic flair and striking a cool pose; a lion (Walker) with a less than mighty roar loses his head, literally; one very large and one small member of the Rolly Polskies acrobat clan are unfortunately teamed, with flattening results.

Meanwhile, throughout the show, a shy clown (Stephanie Bettman) is so frozen with stage fright that she can’t perform her hula-hoop number.

One hilarious bumble occurred last weekend when the large ruffled undies worn over one clown’s enormously padded hips fell down around his knees during a vigorous tumbling routine. If it wasn’t deliberate, it should be written into the show.

And Cirque has nothing on this show’s contortionist (Beth Kennedy), whose legs, albeit rather lumpy, are of a length and flexibility never before seen in nature.

The show does have one bona-fide glam moment. A sprinkling of magical confetti dust causes Bettman to shed her clown persona to become a svelte, graceful aerialist in a solo spot that she performs on a suspended hoop.

A blacklight number on stilts could be better defined and a few breaks could be tightened, but there’s little slow time in this good-natured, slapstick romp -- from the beginning, when the actors bat big balloons into the audience, to the wild and wooly tumbling encore.

*

Funky Punks’ Circus Spectacular

Where: Falcon Theatre, 4252 Riverside Drive, Burbank

When: Saturdays, 1 and 3 p.m.; Sundays, 1 p.m.; production ends Nov. 23

Cost: Ages 12 and younger, $10; adults and teens, $12

Running time: 1 hour

Info: (818) 955-8101