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Shows
Circus Incognitus – Jamie Adkins | Circus, juggling and balancing show in Grenoble
From 23 to 26 march 2027
Jamie Adkins
MC2: Maison de la Culture de Grenoble – Salle Georges Lavaudant
4 rue Paul Claudel
38000 Grenoble
4 rue Paul Claudel
38000 Grenoble
France
Price
From 5 to : 30€
Circus Incognitus is a contemporary circus show that is funny, poetic, and virtuosic, created and performed by Jamie Adkins. Presented at MC2 Grenoble from March 23 to 26, 2027, this 1 hour and 5 minute solo performance, suitable for ages 6 and up, immerses audiences of all ages in the world of a whimsical, clumsy, and incredibly endearing character. Blending clowning, juggling, balancing, acrobatics, object manipulation, and slapstick, Jamie Adkins crafts a show where technical feats seem to arise almost accidentally from the difficulties his character encounters.
On stage, it all begins with a man who simply wants to present his show, but is terrified of speaking in public. Words fail him, and so his body, his gestures, and the objects around him take over. Each attempt triggers a new catastrophe: a chair refuses to cooperate, a ladder becomes unstable, objects slip from his grasp, and the most ordinary situations are transformed into veritable circus challenges.
It is precisely in these accidents that Jamie Adkins's talent is revealed. The artist transforms clumsiness into virtuosity and failure into a source of comedy. His character never seeks to directly impress the audience; he simply tries to solve the problems that arise before him. He falls, hesitates, starts again, looks for another solution, and sometimes ends up succeeding almost in spite of himself. Behind this apparent fragility, however, lies a particularly skilled juggler, clown, acrobat, and tightrope walker.
A show where juggling arises from the unexpected.
Juggling naturally plays a significant role in Circus Incognitus. However, Jamie Adkins subverts the traditional conventions of technical demonstration. Here, objects are not merely manipulated to perform tricks: they become true partners in the performance.
Among the show's iconic sequences, the artist notably plays with small ping-pong balls, which he makes appear unexpectedly, often from his mouth. Their lightness and unpredictable trajectories fuel an extremely precise juggling act that nevertheless maintains the appearance of constant improvisation.
Everyday objects, circus props, and set pieces pass through his hands, becoming pretexts for inventing new situations. The technique is certainly present, but Jamie Adkins carefully conceals it behind the character and the narrative. It is precisely this contrast between his masterful circus skills and a clown who seems constantly overwhelmed by events that gives the show much of its humor.
Balance, acrobatics and improbable ladders
Circus Incognitus also extensively explores the interplay of balance and imbalance. The large wooden ladders visible in the show's visual world become veritable circus apparatus. Jamie Adkins climbs, hangs, braces himself, and creates improbable positions while the whole thing always seems on the verge of collapsing.
Here again, the feat is never presented as an isolated act. It stems from a situation: the character wants to achieve something, fix a problem, or simply continue what they had started. The audience then gradually discovers the extent of the artist's physical abilities.
The performance also incorporates slack wire work, a particularly demanding discipline where the wire follows the artist's movements rather than remaining perfectly rigid. Jamie Adkins exploits this instability to create situations where the line between control and loss of control becomes deliberately blurred.
This constant search for balance is, in fact, one of the central themes of Circus Incognitus. Physical balance, of course, but also balance between success and failure, precision and accident, control and fragility.
The clown at the heart of Circus Incognitus
Behind the juggling and acrobatics, Circus Incognitus is above all driven by a truly contemporary clown character. Jamie Adkins belongs to a tradition where laughter doesn't come from a series of independent gags, but from the protagonist's very personality and his way of reacting to the world.
His clown is shy, stubborn, curious, and deeply human. When a problem arises, he doesn't give up. He tries a solution, fails, reflects, and starts again differently. Disasters pile up, but the character tirelessly continues on his path.
The relationship with objects plays a crucial role here. A chair, a hat, a ball, or a ladder can suddenly seem to possess a will of its own. The object that should facilitate an action becomes an obstacle, forcing the clown to invent a new way of doing things.
This mechanism gives rise to a highly visual object circus, understandable regardless of language. The show relies very little on dialogue, which reinforces its universal appeal and allows both children and adults to immediately engage with the story.
A deliberately hidden virtuosity
One of Jamie Adkins's great strengths is that he never prioritizes technical skill over character. Juggling, balancing, or performing an acrobatic feat is not presented as an end in itself: each technique serves a situation, an emotion, or a gag.
The audience can thus laugh at a sequence before realizing the technical difficulty required to create it. This way of making us forget the virtuosity is at the heart of Jamie Adkins' artistic language.
The world of the performance remains deliberately minimalist. A few objects and props are enough to create a multitude of situations. This economy of means recalls Jamie Adkins' origins in street performance, where the artist must be able to immediately create a connection with the audience and transform their surroundings into a performance.
Jamie Adkins, from street performance to major international stages
The apparent simplicity of Circus Incognitus is based on several decades of experience. Jamie Adkins began performing on the streets as a teenager in San Diego, before continuing his training and career in the world of the circus.
He worked notably with the Pickle Family Circus of San Francisco, an important company in the history of the new American circus. He then joined Cirque Éloize, an internationally renowned Quebec company, and participated in several hundred performances of the show Excentricus.
Jamie Adkins then developed his own creations, notably Typo, before creating Circus Incognitus. His background in street performance, clowning, and contemporary circus largely explains the uniqueness of his work: a very high level of technique combined with a constant search for simplicity and closeness with the audience.
Circus Incognitus has since toured numerous international stages and continues, more than fifteen years after its creation, to connect with audiences. This longevity testifies to the universal nature of the show and its visual language, which easily transcends borders and generations.
A show about failure… and above all, about perseverance.
Beneath its apparent lightness, Circus Incognitus also tells a profoundly human story. Jamie Adkins constructs a truly burlesque meditation on failure, perseverance, and our capacity to start again.
The character constantly encounters obstacles. Nothing works exactly as planned, but each problem opens a new possibility. Failure is never final: it becomes a stepping stone to inventing something new.
This dimension gives the show a particularly interesting dimension for children. Without ever becoming didactic or moralizing, Circus Incognitus shows that it is possible to fail, to fall, to start again, and even to laugh at one's own difficulties.
Adults will also find in it a broader reflection on our lives, constantly divided between small successes, clumsiness, accidents and the need to continue despite everything.
A family circus show for ages 6 and up
Thanks to its primarily visual humor, Circus Incognitus appeals to a very wide audience. Children can immediately follow the character's misadventures, while adults appreciate the precision of the writing, the virtuosity hidden behind each mishap, and the poetic dimension of the show.
This is therefore not simply a show "for children", but a genuine intergenerational contemporary circus offering, designed to be shared as a family.
In Grenoble, four performances are scheduled at the MC2 – Maison de la Culture de Grenoble, in the Salle Georges Lavaudant, on March 23, 24, 25 and 26, 2027.
The performance on Wednesday, March 24th at 7 pm is offered as a Cocoon session, a system designed to make the show more accessible to people requiring adapted seating arrangements. A quiet space is available before, during, and after the performance, and accommodations can be provided for those sensitive to noise.
Between juggling, clowning, balancing, slack wire, acrobatics, and object manipulation, Circus Incognitus ultimately offers a circus without artifice, where every gesture contributes to telling a story. Jamie Adkins transforms the small disasters of everyday life into poetry and demonstrates that a recalcitrant object, a ping-pong ball, a chair, or a few ladders can be enough to build an entire world.
A tender, spectacular show without seeking to show off and above all extremely funny, in which failure becomes a feat and clumsiness a true art of the circus.
On stage, it all begins with a man who simply wants to present his show, but is terrified of speaking in public. Words fail him, and so his body, his gestures, and the objects around him take over. Each attempt triggers a new catastrophe: a chair refuses to cooperate, a ladder becomes unstable, objects slip from his grasp, and the most ordinary situations are transformed into veritable circus challenges.
It is precisely in these accidents that Jamie Adkins's talent is revealed. The artist transforms clumsiness into virtuosity and failure into a source of comedy. His character never seeks to directly impress the audience; he simply tries to solve the problems that arise before him. He falls, hesitates, starts again, looks for another solution, and sometimes ends up succeeding almost in spite of himself. Behind this apparent fragility, however, lies a particularly skilled juggler, clown, acrobat, and tightrope walker.
A show where juggling arises from the unexpected.
Juggling naturally plays a significant role in Circus Incognitus. However, Jamie Adkins subverts the traditional conventions of technical demonstration. Here, objects are not merely manipulated to perform tricks: they become true partners in the performance.
Among the show's iconic sequences, the artist notably plays with small ping-pong balls, which he makes appear unexpectedly, often from his mouth. Their lightness and unpredictable trajectories fuel an extremely precise juggling act that nevertheless maintains the appearance of constant improvisation.
Everyday objects, circus props, and set pieces pass through his hands, becoming pretexts for inventing new situations. The technique is certainly present, but Jamie Adkins carefully conceals it behind the character and the narrative. It is precisely this contrast between his masterful circus skills and a clown who seems constantly overwhelmed by events that gives the show much of its humor.
Balance, acrobatics and improbable ladders
Circus Incognitus also extensively explores the interplay of balance and imbalance. The large wooden ladders visible in the show's visual world become veritable circus apparatus. Jamie Adkins climbs, hangs, braces himself, and creates improbable positions while the whole thing always seems on the verge of collapsing.
Here again, the feat is never presented as an isolated act. It stems from a situation: the character wants to achieve something, fix a problem, or simply continue what they had started. The audience then gradually discovers the extent of the artist's physical abilities.
The performance also incorporates slack wire work, a particularly demanding discipline where the wire follows the artist's movements rather than remaining perfectly rigid. Jamie Adkins exploits this instability to create situations where the line between control and loss of control becomes deliberately blurred.
This constant search for balance is, in fact, one of the central themes of Circus Incognitus. Physical balance, of course, but also balance between success and failure, precision and accident, control and fragility.
The clown at the heart of Circus Incognitus
Behind the juggling and acrobatics, Circus Incognitus is above all driven by a truly contemporary clown character. Jamie Adkins belongs to a tradition where laughter doesn't come from a series of independent gags, but from the protagonist's very personality and his way of reacting to the world.
His clown is shy, stubborn, curious, and deeply human. When a problem arises, he doesn't give up. He tries a solution, fails, reflects, and starts again differently. Disasters pile up, but the character tirelessly continues on his path.
The relationship with objects plays a crucial role here. A chair, a hat, a ball, or a ladder can suddenly seem to possess a will of its own. The object that should facilitate an action becomes an obstacle, forcing the clown to invent a new way of doing things.
This mechanism gives rise to a highly visual object circus, understandable regardless of language. The show relies very little on dialogue, which reinforces its universal appeal and allows both children and adults to immediately engage with the story.
A deliberately hidden virtuosity
One of Jamie Adkins's great strengths is that he never prioritizes technical skill over character. Juggling, balancing, or performing an acrobatic feat is not presented as an end in itself: each technique serves a situation, an emotion, or a gag.
The audience can thus laugh at a sequence before realizing the technical difficulty required to create it. This way of making us forget the virtuosity is at the heart of Jamie Adkins' artistic language.
The world of the performance remains deliberately minimalist. A few objects and props are enough to create a multitude of situations. This economy of means recalls Jamie Adkins' origins in street performance, where the artist must be able to immediately create a connection with the audience and transform their surroundings into a performance.
Jamie Adkins, from street performance to major international stages
The apparent simplicity of Circus Incognitus is based on several decades of experience. Jamie Adkins began performing on the streets as a teenager in San Diego, before continuing his training and career in the world of the circus.
He worked notably with the Pickle Family Circus of San Francisco, an important company in the history of the new American circus. He then joined Cirque Éloize, an internationally renowned Quebec company, and participated in several hundred performances of the show Excentricus.
Jamie Adkins then developed his own creations, notably Typo, before creating Circus Incognitus. His background in street performance, clowning, and contemporary circus largely explains the uniqueness of his work: a very high level of technique combined with a constant search for simplicity and closeness with the audience.
Circus Incognitus has since toured numerous international stages and continues, more than fifteen years after its creation, to connect with audiences. This longevity testifies to the universal nature of the show and its visual language, which easily transcends borders and generations.
A show about failure… and above all, about perseverance.
Beneath its apparent lightness, Circus Incognitus also tells a profoundly human story. Jamie Adkins constructs a truly burlesque meditation on failure, perseverance, and our capacity to start again.
The character constantly encounters obstacles. Nothing works exactly as planned, but each problem opens a new possibility. Failure is never final: it becomes a stepping stone to inventing something new.
This dimension gives the show a particularly interesting dimension for children. Without ever becoming didactic or moralizing, Circus Incognitus shows that it is possible to fail, to fall, to start again, and even to laugh at one's own difficulties.
Adults will also find in it a broader reflection on our lives, constantly divided between small successes, clumsiness, accidents and the need to continue despite everything.
A family circus show for ages 6 and up
Thanks to its primarily visual humor, Circus Incognitus appeals to a very wide audience. Children can immediately follow the character's misadventures, while adults appreciate the precision of the writing, the virtuosity hidden behind each mishap, and the poetic dimension of the show.
This is therefore not simply a show "for children", but a genuine intergenerational contemporary circus offering, designed to be shared as a family.
In Grenoble, four performances are scheduled at the MC2 – Maison de la Culture de Grenoble, in the Salle Georges Lavaudant, on March 23, 24, 25 and 26, 2027.
The performance on Wednesday, March 24th at 7 pm is offered as a Cocoon session, a system designed to make the show more accessible to people requiring adapted seating arrangements. A quiet space is available before, during, and after the performance, and accommodations can be provided for those sensitive to noise.
Between juggling, clowning, balancing, slack wire, acrobatics, and object manipulation, Circus Incognitus ultimately offers a circus without artifice, where every gesture contributes to telling a story. Jamie Adkins transforms the small disasters of everyday life into poetry and demonstrates that a recalcitrant object, a ping-pong ball, a chair, or a few ladders can be enough to build an entire world.
A tender, spectacular show without seeking to show off and above all extremely funny, in which failure becomes a feat and clumsiness a true art of the circus.
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