Master of magic and illusion

So far slapping a label on Tomás KubĂ­nek’s one-man show, Certified Lunatic and Master of the Impossible, is virtually impossible.

He’s an acrobat, a clown, an improviser, a vaudevillian and a charming peddler who creates absurd stories, death defying experiments and general all-around hilarity.

“Among the many bits I do there’s a clever bit of contortion where I balance a glass of wine on my forehead and manage to drink it without using my hands while doing a backward somersault and whistling and playing a ukulele behind my back. Then later I hypnotize myself and turn into a chicken,” KubĂ­nek chuckled.

Clocking in at less than 130 lbs. with a supple body that looks as if it’s made from rubber, KubĂ­nek performs to sold-out houses across the world including Italy, Britain, Denmark, Japan and the Americas.

The clown-acrobat-illusionist appears at the Morinville Community Cultural Centre on Friday, March 20, performing a bag of tricks he’s polished for nearly 40 years.

Born in Czechoslovakia, he was smuggled out of the country when he was three.

“We got out of Czechoslovakia soon after the Soviet occupation of 1968 on a fake travel visa. My parents informed my little sister and me that we were going on a short vacation and if anyone on the train asked, that’s what we were to tell them. It was a 20-year vacation before I made it back,” KubĂ­nek said.

After spending two months in an Austrian refugee camp, the Kubínek family was granted asylum in Canada. It was actually in St. Catharines, Ont., that the five-year old Tomás saw his first circus.

Fascinated with clowns, circus, theatre, magic and illusion, he coaxed his supportive parents into taking him to every show that rolled through town.

He also borrowed library books on clowning and magic and by the time he was nine, little Tomás was performing for a circle of elderly hobby magicians making the rounds of hospitals and birthday parties.

“They would meet in a banquet room once a month and I would be the youngest one there … I learned magic tricks between mouthfuls of buffet.”

By the time he was 13, KubĂ­nek was performing in coffee houses in between folk acts. But his big break arrived six years later when he auditioned for Circus Flora and was hired to be the butt-end of a two-person horse. There was no turning back.

Saving his pennies from working at any odd showbiz job he could fine, KubĂ­nek travelled to Europe to study with some of this era’s greatest theatrical teachers – Monika Pagneaux, Pierre Byland, Jacques Lecoq and Boleslav PolĂ­vka.

“I learned all sorts of practical performing techniques from all of them. Perhaps most importantly, I learned about having integrity, passion and a spiritual connection to the art forms I work in.”

His early bag of tricks was filled with eggs, handkerchiefs and doves. Now as he’s pushing 50, his well-honed repertoire is pure fun-filled escapism ranging from wine glasses and ukuleles to a gizmo that allows him to walk on six feet.

A 10-year resident of a sleepy Connecticut village, a two-hour drive from New York City, KubĂ­nek has discovered his own special retreat to re-energize and recreate new forms of escapist fun.

“It has been a long, wonderful journey and a lot of it is about practicing a positive attitude and keeping a good sense of humour. As I gain time and experience, my artistic voice keeps finding itself and I have more and more fun improvising and creating new things.”