Step right up to the Soho Playhouse and see, "alive on stage" such wonders as a man walking barefoot on broken glass, chewing up a lightbulb, and hammering a nail in his nasal cavity. It's all the same man -- Todd Robbins -- in Carnival Knowledge, helped by his lady assistant, Twistina, and joined by the dwarf Little Jimmy (one of the Oompah-Loompahs in the original "Willy Wonka"). It's a diverting mix of standard magic act, dangerous stunts (the most interesting part of the evening, since they're "real"), and flim-flam (one bit really IS done with mirrors).
Casual and homey, with Robbins acting as "Outside Talker" (the correct term for what rubes incorrectly call a barker), Carnival Knowledge also offers a Ricky Jay-like history of the sideshow and, rather superfluously, a toy-balloon war for the finale.
