If juggling follows breaking to become an Olympic sport, Team USA would surely want Wes Peden on their squad. Peden, a world-record-holding associate artist with Gandini Juggling, combines mastery of hoops, pins and balls with his lifelong love for rollercoasters in this colourful set of funky escapades.
From bright orange hair to foot, Peden looks as if he’s been Tangoed. But his tricks fizz with their own zesty effects as he unveils a number of eye-catching apparatus. First off is a huge transparent tube that he wraps around his arms to resemble the zany twists and turns of the theme-park ride’s track. Balls are fired into the air, caught inside the tube, and sent spinning around this one-man rollercoaster, to a soundtrack that captures thrill-seekers’ screams and the chugging machinery.
Peden performs on a stage dominated by three huge blue inflatable structures designed by Félix Chameroy that collectively resemble the attraction’s loopy circuits. They make a striking backdrop but are less successfully incorporated into his routines.
“I like the shape of pretzels,” our host says in the first of several irreverent voiceovers that fill in his personal story. These snapshots from his American youth bring a sweetness to the stunts that follow. Circus tricks are sometimes executed with a kind of self-aggrandising showmanship. But with Peden you sense a more humble pleasure in performance and desire to delight, even without the juggling equipment: witness the torso-twisting sequence where he recreates a variety of rollercoaster designs.
Pulsing dance music heightens the focus for the tricks, with added ambient bleeps for an otherwordly sequence where his spinning plates resemble spaceships. Then there is light comic relief when Peden takes a break to recline on stage, this quick breather emphasising the difficulty of what he’s up to.
Although children of all ages will respond to this Gandini production, it is never kiddified, even when a balloon, parasol and dartboard are added to his arsenal. In his voiceover ride through rollercoaster history, the sensations experienced by his fellow passengers go largely unrecorded – vox pops might bring an extra dimension to this solo ode. But while he does not replicate the particular rhythms of the fairground attraction, he manages moments of wild entertainment and gentle whimsy.
At Assembly Roxy, Edinburgh, until 26 August
