Send in the Clowns Camden Opera House sets a perfect stage for vaudeville-style comedy of the Shneedles

Send in the clowns – there ought to be clowns.

Don’t bother, they’re here.

The Shneedles, a duo whose vaudevillian mix of physical comedy, acrobatics, film and old-fashioned storytelling has left international audiences in stitches, will stop in Maine this weekend before setting off on a winter tour of Europe. At 7 p.m. Sunday, Wolfe Bowart and Bill Robison will unpack their latest show, “Luggage,” on the Camden Opera House stage.

“This theater is the sort of theater our characters would’ve lived in,” Bowart said as he looked around the restored opera house with its gilded stenciling, intricate woodwork, heavy curtains of goldenrod velvet and cozy loges.

In “Luggage,” Bowart, a West Coast native whose family has summered in the Maine town of Washington for generations, plays the funny guy. Robison, who has called Seattle home for the last two decades, is the maestro, the straight man. When the two bring these archetypes together, mayhem, music and a little bit of magic ensue.

“The Shneedles have this intense, kind of exciting Dr. Seuss, Brothers Grimm element that gets a bit crazy and frenetic, but at the same time, it’s funny,” Bowart said. “It’s not a kids show per se, but kids love it as much as their parents.”

And what’s not to love when two guys are up on stage, juggling knives, pulling rubber chickens out of the air, dancing with plates while being stalked by an unclaimed suitcase? There’s a lot of clowning around with the Shneedles, but make no mistake, they’re no Bozos.

“We’re more modern,” Bowart said. “We’ve taken the traditional clown, vaudevillian physical comedy, and modernized it a bit. It’s such a magical experience, especially in today’s world, where you need to get out and have a good laugh.”

Though audiences around the world are more accustomed to stand-up acts, the Shneedles have found a following in Asia, the United States and especially Europe, which has a strong tradition of physical comedy. They recently wrapped up a 40-gig tour of Australia, where they were very well-received.

“We find we get a lot of attention, heat and energy because we aren’t your standard ‘stand there and talk into a microphone’ kind of comedians,” Bowart said. “We are a miniature, two-man Cirque du Soleil.”

Though Bowart and Robison have known each other since 1986, when both were working in the Seattle theater world, each pursued his own projects – Robison ran a black-box theater in Seattle and toured with the IMAGO mask theater ensemble, while Bowart wrote screenplays, produced theatrical pieces and did graphic design work. Five years ago, the comedians decided to get serious about the Shneedles.

“We both realized that two is better than one,” Robison said by phone. “We realized the power of what it’s like to have a two-person duo like all of the old comedy teams throughout the ages – like Laurel and Hardy. It’s a lot more fun with another person.”

And if the press is any indication, the fun shows: A Seattle Post Intelligencer reviewer wrote that the Shneedles are “brilliant when it comes to being ridiculous,” while the Sydney (Australia) Morning Herald hailed their act as “the best physical work seen in years.”

In “Luggage,” the duo play off each other in hilarious fashion – Robison is the maestro, whom Bowart’s wife, Kerryn Negus, describes as “a wizened, scary-haired crank,” while Bowart is his goofy, puppy-dog-like protege. Bowart falls in love with a woman in the audience and gets sucked into a trash can and Robison gets stuck in the magical suitcase.

“There’s an element of theater in this; there’s a bit of Brecht,” Bowart said. “It’s a show, but the audience is getting sucked up in the show, but it’s constantly reminding us this is theater. That’s what’s great about this. It’s inspired by totally different things, from Chekhov to Buster Keaton.”

In other words, it’s serious fun, and that’s their goal, according to Robison.

“Our long-range outlook is to consistently make people laugh around the world for a long period of time, to be creative, and to be able to have fun.”

“Luggage,” 7 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 10, at the Camden Opera House. Tickets, $12 for adults, $8 for children, available at the box office or in advance at The Owl and Turtle Bookshop and Harbor Audio/Video in Camden, The Grasshopper Shop in Rockland, and The Fertile Mind Bookstore in Belfast. See www.shneedles.com for more information.

Kristen Andresen can be reached at 990-8287 and kandresen@bangordailynews.net.