NEWS
By Cynthia Robertson SDUN Reporter
The first time people encounter Steam Powered Giraffe performing in Balboa Park, they’re not quite sure what to think. Is the group mime, comedy or music?
The answer is that they’re all three—and then some.
Gathering their inspiration from a brand of science fiction and fan- tasy called steampunk, the group of four “mechanical robots,” as they define themselves, sing, tell jokes and banter with each other.
“Hydraulics blast and motors hum as the robotic quadruplet be- gin to snap into automated move- ment,” the groups’ website says. Steam Powered Giraffe proves that mimes no longer are trapped behind an artificial glass wall of silence. They are nothing less than
San Diego Uptown News | October 15-28, 2010
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Balboa Park Sunday afternoon buskers borrow from ‘steampunk’ influence Steam Powered Giraffe bends the mind ... with mime
four of the most up-and-coming pantomime artists: Erin Burke, Christopher and David Bennett, and Jon Sprague. They received their training from the famed mime of Seaport Village, Jerry Hager, otherwise known as Kazoo. “But there is no one person behind what we are,” Burke said. Spectators and friends of the
troupe draw a blank when trying to figure out how they came up with their name. “It started out as a joke between David and me long before the group was put together,” Bennett explained. “Somehow the imagery
that went along with that name complemented the robot charac- ters we created later on.”
The four of them all initially met in 2006 while taking acting classes at Grossmont Community College. That’s where they first met Hager, who taught a class in mime. When the four friends were invited to attend Hager’s last show at Seaport Village, a spark of inspiration struck up. They jumped right in and took Hager’s mime class. Turns out that the four of them had a knack for mime. They
see Mime, page 27
(l to r) Jonathan Sprague, David and Christopher Bennett, and Erin Burke are mime-tastic as Steam Powered Giraffe, performing most Sunday afternoons near the reflective pond in Balboa Park.
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