INNISFAIL - The children giggled and squealed. The grown-ups laughed and Flyin' Bob did what he did best -- entertained.
It was circus time for the Innisfail Public Library on Aug. 28, an evening to showcase its art, and the acrobatic and comedic talents of Flyin' Bob. The audience of kids and adults had high expectations it would produce plenty of oohhs and aahhs, gasps, breathless anticipation, and best of all - laughs.
For almost an hour Flyin' Bob entertained with the best of his art, which included acrobatics, juggling and unicycling. There was plenty of audience participation and clowning around, with many jokes silly to the extreme, but loved by the audience anyway because the multi-decade veteran has the unique talent of connecting with his audience and seizing their attention every second of the show.
"I love it when people get up on stage and they start messing with me. Then I know they are truly relaxed," he said after the show, knowing the moment in every one of his tens of thousands of past shows when that connection comes. "They are not clapping politely. They are clapping or laughing honestly. If I can look at an audience member and see them wiping tears of laughter I know that I've got them. They are completely relaxed and completely involved with what I am doing."
Flyin' Bob, who is now 63 and based in Sylvan Lake, has been flying high in different types of shows across the country and the world for more than three decades. In more recent years the entertainer, whose real name is or Bob Palmer, does fewer shows and more teaching and running circus camps across the country.
Over the years he has performed many corporate and industrial shows for mostly adult crowds. But as was the case in Innisfail with most of the audience being kids, it's there and then he especially shines.
"My preference is working with kids. You get honest reactions. It is a great way to develop your show," said Flyin' Bob. "If your joke isn't funny the kids are not going to pretend to laugh or the kids are not going to clap politely. You get honest feedback and your show gets better."
And the results proved he made that connection, so much so the parents fed on the sheer exuberance coming from their kids.
"I could see my children laughing and they were enjoying every minute of it. It was a really entertaining show," said mom Valerie Fitzgerald, who brought her two young sons to the show. "He brought a lot of humanity in the room. It was really fun to laugh with other families in our community."
Tracey Kinsella, chair of the board for the Innisfail library, said the key to the evening's success was that Flyin' Bob engaged every age group, from kids to adults, and everyone was willing to go along with his every move and joke, silly or otherwise.
"The kids were eating it up. The adults were laughing," said Kinsella, adding it all aligned with what the library is trying to be for the community. "We are more than just books. Truly, we want to be the community living room, to be here for every demographic."
