COMPANY BIO
Circus Nonsense is a rag-tag group of Circus Professionals who have been performing since the beginning of time. Though they have been friends for a long time, not until Circus Nonsense have they graced the stage together. With a combined 157 years of professional performing, they have worked for such companies as Circus Bella, Zoppé Family Circus, Cirque du Soleil, Piccolo Zoppé, El Circo Cheapo, Krystallpalast Varieté, Circus Monti, Moisture Festival, SANCA Youth Company, Clowns Without Borders, Circus Couture, Pickle Circus School Tour, Circus Finelli, Lone Star Circus, Circus Chimera, SF Youth Circus, Troupe Vertigo, Teatro Zinzanni, Santa Rosa Symphony, Los Angeles Opera, NY Clown Festival, Make*A*Circus, New Pickle Family Circus, the Gong Show, America’s Got Talent, the Ellen DeGeneres Show... to name a few. They won two Theatre Bay Area awards in 2019 for their first show, and are excited to present their new show! Their mission is to create an ensemble show that celebrates traditional and contemporary circus arts. They always look for the delight in performing and are excited to finally combine forces and create this new show! Circus Nonsense is totally useless, yet somehow necessary.
CURRENT CAST
SIERRA CAMILLE
Sierra grew up talking too loud and taking up as much space as possible. After wading in the worlds of dance and theater, she's found circus to be a place that embraces her brashness as a physical theater artist, aerialist, and clown. Audiences have called her “an electrifying beam of positivity and happiness in this cynical world”. She has a one woman show, The Miss American Dream Show, a BFA in theater from Southern Oregon University, and once Bill Irwin cut her in half onstage.
DANA DAILEY
Dana Dailey loves to play with toys. She loves Circus Nonsense and besides BEACH-O-RAMA, their other ongoing project is the depressing clown show: Dead + Alive with Richard Saudek! The best show they were ever in was A Fool's Journey, written by Molly Plunk and Misfit Circus. They love circus that is heartfelt and absurd. As much as she loves playing with toys, she likes playing with friends even more <3
LUCY EDEN
Lucy Eden is a veteran performance artist, unicyclist, juggler and storyteller. With a background in street performance, her passion for bringing circus arts to pedestrian spaces has been life long. She has performed in both solo and ensemble productions in her home city of Atlanta, and across the US. Her shows combine storytelling, virtuosity, and a unique queer southern charm.
LUZ GAXIOLA
Luz Gaxiola is a clown and musician based in Olympia, WA, where she performs with String and Shadow Puppet Theater and the Cartoon Orchestra. She is a co-founder of the clown quartet Circus Finelli and comedy pair Duo Finelli, and has performed with Clowns Without Borders and The Medical Clown Project. Luz studied at the Dell'Arte School of Physical Theatre, the San Francisco Clown Conservatory, and the Flying Actors Studio. Her favorite thing is collaborating with other artists to create original comedic works in a bright cartoony style.
CUPOLA OSO
Cupola is first and foremost very hairy. A magus of movement and more often than not mustached, they've been under, in, and around canvas for over a decade, and wouldn't want it any other way. When not touring under the big top they can be found jello wrestling your morals, snatching cookies from your larder, or corrupting what if any faith the youths have in capitalist hierarchies... This is their first show with Circus Nonsense and they're thrilled to be quere.
SUZANNE SANTOS
Suzanne Santos started causing trouble in Seattle and now lives in Las Vegas. She has toured internationally with the award winning production of the Terrence McNally play, “Corpus Christi" (Zephyr Theatre, Edinburgh Fringe, International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival, and The Rattlestick Theatre Off-Broadway). As a clown and circus performer, her credits include Circus Nonsense, Piccolo Zoppé, Circus Bella, The Zoppé Family Circus, SASS, Circus Couture, The Pickle Circus School Tour, The New York Clown Festival, Clowns Without Borders, El Circo Cheapo Cabaret, FURY Factory Festival, Circus Finelli and Le Carnaval Carmagnole. Sometimes, Suz transforms into The Amazing Juan. She is a graduate of Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre ('05) and The Clown Conservatory ('07).
MOLLY SHANNON
Molly Shannon is a clown and dancer, based in her native city of San Francisco. She is a graduate of the Clown Conservatory, and was a founding member of the clown quartet Circus Finelli. With Circus Finelli, she performed throughout the US, presented in Europe, and toured Mexico. In more recent years, she has been one half of the vaudeville style clown duo, Duo Finelli. Molly works in the hospital with the Medical Clown Project, and has toured internationally for Clowns Without Borders. In addition to clowning, she is a principal dancer with Aquarela Samba, the San Francisco Bay Area’s original Brazilian dance group, where she specializes in the Rio de Janeiro style of samba.
OTHER MEMBERS
ORLENE CARLOS
Orlene is a force full of light and life and love and sparkly wonder as she steps onto the stage of Nonsense and of Life. She is so happy to join her fellow Nonseners creating more joy and merriment to share with audiences of all ages.
Along with her four sparkly children she is excited to share her love of life, laughing, crying and living fully. Orlene trained in China and at the Clown Conservatory at San Francisco’s Circus Center. Her main roles currently are foot juggler, clown, mother and multidimensional time traveler. She’s performed in tents, theatres, the streets and ashrams all around the world. She loves connecting with people from all different cultures and countries and ways of life. Orlene has been seen with the Zoppe Family Circus, Flynn Creek Circus, Circus Monti, Circus Bella, Piccolo Zoppe, Krystallpalast Variete, America’s Got Talent, the Ellen Degeneres Show and had fun times on the Gong Show.
KELSEY CUSTARD
After narrowly escaping birth in a toilet, Kelsey Custard has gone on to perform as a Clown all over the world. She is a graduate of UC Santa Cruz with a BA in Theatre Arts and a Rubber Chicken from The Clown Conservatory ('07, '09). She has performed with Cirque Du Soleil in Las Vegas, Teatro Zinzanni, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Pickle Family Circus, Velocity Circus, The San Francisco Youth Circus and Boxcar Theatre. She has recently returned to California after touring Europe, South America and North America with Cirque Du Soleil's Amaluna. She is continually excited to be a part of Circus Nonsense and get seriously silly!
GIANLUCA GENTILE
Gianluca (14 years old) has been performing since the age of 3. He spent this first year on tour with Circus Monti enjoying traveling all around the small villages of Switzerland. Gianluca loves juggling, bouncing on the trampoline and Dungeons and Dragons campaigns. He is a rubik’s cube master. Gianluca trained with his family, as well as the Circus Center in San Francisco, Seattle’s School of Acrobatics and New Circus Arts and Kinetic Arts Center in Oakland. He performed with youth troupe ensembles in both Seattle and Oakland. He shines onstage as he has an energetic ease that is felt by the audience.
GIOIA GENTILE
Gioia (9 years old) first appeared onstage in El Circo Cheapo in Chicago (the place of her birth) in her sparkly family costume (and poofy cloth diaper) at the age of 20 months. She brought down the house with her antics as a guest artist with The Amazing Juan. She has performed with Circus Bella, the Zoppé Family Circus and Piccolo Zoppé and loves being with her family. Gioia loves to bake and create her own recipes. You might often find her with her mixer whipping up a batch of chocolate chip cookies. Gioia hopes to one day have her own website and youtube channel.
GIULIA GENTILE
Giulia (12 years old) started in the circus ring at the age of two. She performed in her family’s foot juggling act. Since her first moments onstage she has found her way to discover what she loves to do in life and as a performer. She is an avid reader and loves creating stories and illustrating. As a performer she’s an experienced tumbler, partner acrobat, trapeze partner and all around wiz kid.
GIUSEPPINA GENTILE
Giuseppina “Giusi” (5 years old) started her circus career at the age of 3 months with Circus Bella. Just like magic she has popped out of hats, Chinese vases, Easter eggs and other various surprising places. She is a star and all eyes are on her as she wields her super powers on the audience. Giusi loves to climb trees and bake bread.
WENDY PARKMAN
Everything Wendy learned about circus came from being in San Francisco in the mid-70s when the Pickle Family Circus was born. She had her first taste of performing in a circus ensemble in 1975 with Make-A-Circus, presenting free shows and circus skills workshops in parks throughout the city. She went on to perform with the Pickle Family Circus as an aerialist, acrobat, and juggler. She performed with the Flying Karamozov Brothers in three iterations of The Comedy of Errors, culminating at Lincoln Center. She co-founded the Pickle Family Circus School, now Circus Center. She taught circus arts at The Urban High School in SF for three decades, focusing on trust, the joys of collaboration, and the excitement of learning things you thought were impossible. It is her love of life and circus and how the two fit together that keep her going. Drawn into the nonsense as pancake maker, costume maker, and reality checker, she is honored and happy to be on the Circus Nonsense bandwagon.
KATJA SANTOS
Katja Santos is a contortionist, acrobat, and aerialist. She has been performing and teaching circus since she was 14 years old, getting her start with SANCA’s youth troupe in her native Seattle. She has since worked to develop a strong sense of artistry and control in her work while remaining true to her dangly and floppy roots. She toured with Tosca Zoppé as part of her riding troupe, has performed all over Seattle and San Francisco, and trained under the world renowned contortionist Serchmaa Byamba. She is currently living in Las Vegas and working as a freelance artist.