Gregory Popovich, a former star with the Moscow Circus, brings his popular Popovich Comedy Pet Theater Holiday Circus to the University of Victoria on Saturday.
ON STAGE What: Popovich Comedy Pet Theater Holiday Circus When: Saturday, 1 p.m. Where: Farquhar Auditorium, 3800 Finnerty Rd., University of Victoria Tickets: $38 ($28 for students, $18 for children ages 3-12)
Never work with animals or children — that’s the rule of thumb in show business. There’s no such policy in the circus, however. Everything is fair game when the big top goes up. Gregory Popovich, a former star with the Moscow Circus, has made a career for himself by challenging the kids-and-pets adage. The Popovich Comedy Pet Theater uses animals from pet shelters as the star attractions, which in lesser hands would lead to all sorts of mishaps. But Popovich, a fourth-generation circus performer with more than 40 years experience as a pet trainer, has adopted an approach that will ensure his act never goes awry.
“Instead of pushing them to do a trick, I try to open up their personality,” Popovich said from his home in Las Vegas, where his act is located when it is not on the road. “For example, I have a dog that is so lazy, he doesn’t want to do anything. So I created for him a part where he always hides behind the desk. The audience loves him, but for him it’s natural. He doesn’t want do anything else.”
The majority of the 30 animals used in his show are more athletically inclined. Several dogs participate in Popovich Comedy Pet Theater — one serves as the show’s emcee, and another teaches a class of students — along with geese, parrots and goats. Popovich even trots out a special guest star that draws cheers from the families in attendance — a white miniature horse named Mr. Diamond.
Popovich is known primarily for his work with household cats, however. The felines he works with aren’t exactly feral, but the fussy ones require extensive training to perform in the show.
“I build situations, small sketches, where the pets look like they are actors so they have to be good,” he said.
Like many circus acts, Popovich has come under fire in recent years for alleged mistreatment of animals, but Popovich (a lifelong advocate of animal rights) maintains he is spreading a different message with his act. “Most of the pets we adopt from animal shelters,” he said.
“These are ordinary pets, but they are talented. If, after my show, someone from the audience visits an animal shelter, I feel like my message has reached its target.”
The Popovich Comedy Pet Theater is touring Canada at the moment, and stops Saturday at the Farquhar Auditorium. Popovich has a recurring gig at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, which runs daily when he is not on the road. He plays a character in the show that has been kicked out of the circus, becomes homeless, and turns to cats for salvation (in real life, Popovich left his post at Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus on his own accord). He incorporates aspects of his previous jobs into his current act, including acrobatics and juggling.
“My first job in the circus was as a juggler,” he said. “That’s how I came to the United States. At the time, I was the world’s greatest juggler.”
Cirque du Soleil wanted him when he left Ringling Brothers after his two-year stint, but his ideas “about show business, about the circus” differed from his suitors. He had spent the better part of his life in the circus (he joined the Moscow Circus Group at the age of 17, quickly becoming its star attraction) and wanted to see what it was like to be independent. “I decided to go to Las Vegas and have creative freedom there.”
The Popovich Comedy Pet Theater is now in its 25th year of operation. A steady run has given Popovich the opportunity to employ a cast of eight, with countless appearances on late-night television and a run to the semifinals of America’s Got Talent in 2007 helping spread the word afar. “I started with one kitty and one puppy,” he said, marvelling at the journey.
He trains all the animals himself, and is constantly tinkering with his act at his Vegas compound.
“I bought a rancher-style house, with a big backyard where I built a cathouse and doghouse. We have two houses next door to each other, so I live in one and my team with my pets in the other. They are all my family.”