There’s something about Tomás Kubínek (toh-mawsh koo-bee-neck) and the virtuosity of his one-man show that makes people want to rave about the man.
He bills himself as Certified Lunatic and Master of the Impossible, but the fine print on his resume would include, among other things, clown, musician, acrobat, magician, comedian, storyteller, mythmaker, dreamer and man of the World.
His online biography begins: “Tomás Kubínek was born in Prague and at the age of three was smuggled out of the country by his parents to escape the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. After two months in a refugee camp in Austria, the Kubínek family was granted asylum in Canada and it was there, in St. Catharines, Ontario, that Tomas, age 5,witnessed his first circus.”
Young Tomas Kubinek knew how he was going to spend his life, but he didn’t just join the circus – he became the circus, a one-man circus who has been lauded around the world for his comic genius and brilliant performances.
“Tomas has a magical exuberance about him that makes the most simple things extraordinary,” said Amy Horst, head of the Education & Community Arts Department at John Michael Kohler Arts Center. “He also has a true passion for bringing together individuals from different walks of life and creating moments for them to come together and shine. He was perfect for the Connecting Communities program, perfect for the Arts Center's American Story programming and perfect for the community of Sheboygan.”
We wanted to know more about the man the U.S. Immigration and Naturalizaiton Service calls "An alien of extraordinary ability" (or so says his website). In order to get to know Dr. Professor Kubinek better before his July 23 performance and residency leading up to the Aug. 14 Big Sheboygan Shebang at John Michael Kohler Arts Center, we posed a few e-mail questions to the Maestro.
He quickly replied, promising “to answer everything brilliantly.” He also bestowed a rare honor on Scene: “You are hereby officially named the honorary 'monthly mainstream periodical of THE BIG SHEBOYGAN SHEBANG’.”
Dr. Professor Kubinek’s answers came back swiftly, and he answered with the charm and warmth that have made him an audience favorite at performance centers around the world. He did preface his answers by asking pardon for his “lack of respect for capitalization, i write in lower case due to an old ostrich-wrestling injury.” We have left the answers as he sent them.
SCENE: Your biography notes that you and your family left Prague in the wake of the 1968 Soviet invasion. Have you ever wondered what life would have been like for you if your family had not been forced to flee? Was there anything about growing up a refugee from your own country or being the victim of an absurd and doomed political system that propelled you to become Certified Lunatic and Master of the Impossible?
TOMAS KUBINEK: certainly I do wonder how life would have gone had we remained there and of course one can never tell what has really affected what... we can only speculate. it’s all just so wonderful how things do get set in motion and develop in this world. in the same way I think about how my silly and heartfelt work might possibly affect people in how their own lives move forward.
SCENE: When and where were you certified?
TK: many years ago it was by one of those companies off the back of a matchbook cover where you could check off what career choice you wanted and then mail away for the proper accreditation. I made up my own job description and somehow it got through the red tape and I got certification. the company has since gone under and the certificate been lost to the sands of time…
SCENE: Where is home now? Do you consider yourself Canadian or Czech?
TK: when I’m not on the road or traveling (which is about 2/3rds of the year) I live in a little village in the rural hills of connecticut. I hold 2 passports and a greencard and consider myself a resident of planet earth and though I have strong connections to canada, czech repulic, and the u.s.a., I don’t feel stuck in any of them but rather happy to be a part of each and do my part.
SCENE: In this land where sitcoms and standup comedy is king, your work comes from a more European vein, where absurdism and surrealism and slapstick and wit all have equal standing. Comedy itself may be universal, but are there historical and cultural differences that determine how we present and receive the comedy?
TK: yes. (short answer) – long answer is very long and has to do with many many aspects of a nation or culture’s consciousness and development. similar to how various cultures have different foods and spices in prominence and numerous influences on their culinary smorg and it’s all in a constant state of evolution.
there are definite differences in the landscapes of humor of various nations and each have their humor heroes of ancient lore, film, television, theater etc. the beautiful thing of my work is that it really seems to connect everywhere. I’ve played in over 30 countries. – this past year alone in denmark, russia, portugal, bermuda, italy, switzerland, canada and usa.
SCENE: Free associating after reading descriptions of your performances and seeing photos, a couple of names come to mind -- Buster Keaton, Terry Gilliam. Don't know why. Is there a film artist or film maker that you feel shares your spirit of entertainment?
TK: I admire many other artists and feel a kinship with them. In creating ‘the big sheboygan shebang’ I feel federico fellini may be our patron saint and bootleg rich-uncle.
SCENE: Your bio also mentions that you fell in love with the circus at age 5. Do you recall what it was that attracted you more than the average kid who enjoys going to the circus but doesn't necessarily want to join?
TK: I think that perhaps we already have dna of attraction in us at birth, like the seed of an oak already has all of the info of how it could best grow into a tree. all of these influences and people and worlds I’ve been drawn to and continue to connect with have, I feel, perhaps been somehow decreed in advance and constantly keep me on the path of becoming what I’m to keep becoming. as such I don’t think it’s possible to tell anyone how they must be or live their lives, if anything, help them further with what potent spark is already there.
SCENE: Any advice for the kid who wants to run away to join the circus?
TK: yeah, run. or walk or hitchhike or canoe to the lab or the art studio or the ancient ruins or the medical college or the arctic or wherever it’s to be. in my experence the path keeps opening before you once you set foot on it.
SCENE: It sounds as though your parents were supportive of your interest in several performing arts -- circus, theater, magic. Were they or any of your family ever connected with entertainment before you? Who were your entertainment heroes growing up?
TK: I’m not from a showbiz family. the closest was my grandfather who was a math and physics professor and also loved music and played on weekends in a string quartet that I would listen to until the age of 3 when we left czechoslovakia. early arts heroes were houdini, chaplin and laurel and hardy and then later I discovered keaton and then many many other obscure lovely living ones I made friends with and past ones that I’d look up in libraries and at the ‘museum of television and film’. bert lahr, johnny carson, groucho marx, carol burnett, edgar bergen, senor wences, bob dylan, josephine baker, jack benny, max wall, karl valentin, little tich, grock, giulietta masina, etc. etc. many many…
SCENE: Making your circus debut in your teens as the rear end of a horse is a long way from today's Tomas Kubinek show, which sounds very much like a one-man circus. Your appetite for learning circus skills must have been voracious. Was it part of a master plan to be a complete and individual entertainer, or just youthful enthusiasm to do as much as you could possibly do?
TK: yes, both master plan and thirst. like most young people who know what they want to do, I was a sponge-magnet for that energy and went after what inspired me and interested me.
SCENE: What do you want people to take away from a Tomas Kubinek performance?
TK: really, just to have a great beautiful night out with someone they love and to have a good laugh and the memory of that living onward into the stratosphere. damn good value for a low affordable ticket price.
