COMEDY

 Pontine Presents Michael Trautman's Physical Comedy Theater

Saturday 2 March, Pontine Theatre presents Michael Trautman in his solo extravaganza, Physical Comedy Theater. This family-friendly entertainment will take place at 2pm at Pontine's West End Studio Theatre, located at 959 Islington Street in Portsmouth NH. Tickets are $12 and may be purchased online at www.pontine.org. Tickets may also be purchased at the door (cash and checks only) a half-hour prior to the show, based on availability. Contact Pontine's office at info@pontine.org or 603-436-6660.

Cringe in horror as Michael Trautman runs with pointy objects. Gasp in disgust as he plays with his food. Just try to look away as this overgrown delinquent stuffs five ping-pong balls into his mouth, ALL AT THE SAME TIME!

The San Diego Union-Tribune says, "This is the kind of guy your parents warned you about. Heedless of repeated warnings not to try that at home, Michael has perfected the art of senseless and dangerous stunts, and now he's showing them to your family. This is a solo tour de force by “a lean, lanky physical comic, with sharp timing and a dancer’s clarity.”

Michael Lane Trautman started out in life as a fairly normal kind of person. After growing up in Springfield, Illinois, he attended William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri, where he studied Political Science with the intention of becoming a lawyer. After college, Michael decided that the legal profession was not going to be much fun, so he started looking for something to do that would be. In 1976 he took his first mime class, and in 1977 was invited to become a founding member of Mimewock, a Kansas City based school and performing company. Since then, he has been having fun performing throughout the world. Variously identified as a visual comic, performance artist, new vaudevillian, mime (gasp), physical comedian, storyteller, magician, and fool, he claims only to be a clown...and not a very traditional clown at that.

He has appeared at the New York International Festival of Clown Theater, Festival D’Ete in Quebec, the General Jackson Showboat at Opryland USA, the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal, and The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. He was featured on WOW! The Most Awesome Acts On Earth, an ABC Television Special, and The Statler Brothers Show on TNN. Michael was an Artist-in-Residence at Mabou Mines Theater Company in NYC and has also been an Artist-in-Residence for the Drama Department of The Catholic University of America where he adapted and directed Alfred Jarry's Ubu Roi. Michael has performed as the star clown in a national tour of The Big Apple Circus Stage Show, and in 2006 had the pleasure of working on a production of Busker Alley starring Jim Dale and Glenn Close.