Juggling his way to the top: Israeli performer revels in the spotlight at S.F.’s Teatro ZinZanni

Thursday, December 17, 2009 | by amanda pazornik

Bernard Hazens subtly plants a kiss on one of five juggling pins lodged between his fingers before passing them to his assistant.

Perhaps the peck is for good luck. After all, he’s about to leap (and hopefully land) atop a precarious tower of six small drums, two small cylinders and one small plank (an act known as rola bola), then catch the pins from his assistant and hurl them into the air without dropping a single one.

Oh, and that’s all in front of a wide-eyed audience packed inside Teatro ZinZanni, a blend of European cabaret, comedy and circus, live music and a five-course dinner staged inside an ornate tent on the Embarcadero in San Francisco.

Hazens dabs his forehead with a crisp, white napkin swiped from a young girl in the audience. “A souvenir,” he proclaims, as he tosses the sweaty cloth in her direction.

With his eyes transfixed on the teetering platform, Hazens jumps.

“Hearing applause is like food for my soul,” says the 28-year-old native of Ashdod, Israel and ZinZanni’s only Jewish troupe member.

“To stand onstage and know this is my job is fantastic.”

Hazens, who lives in San Francisco, will perform with Teatro ZinZanni through January. He depicts a zany waiter aptly named Bernard in the current show, “Under the Gypsy Moon.”

As part of his gig, Hazens zigzags from table to table to entertain throughout the performance. He spins a champagne bucket on his finger, clumsily carries and nearly spills a tray of glasses on unsuspecting patrons (they’re attached to the tray, in case you were wondering), and offers to coif anyone’s hair with a large butter knife.

“It’s like a silent movie,” Hazens says. “There’s a lot of comedy and interaction with the public, even if there are no words.”

Though it might seem like fun and games (OK, it really is), Hazens takes his job seriously. “I’m not a McDonald’s or happy birthday clown,” he says.

While his actual workday is relatively short — “Under the Gypsy Moon” runs approximately three hours — Hazens keeps busy by tumbling and stretching to stay in shape, and building his own props to use in his act.

And after Friday night shows, Hazens requires only one prop: his Kiddush cup. He also keeps kosher, which he says is “no big deal.”

“I do work on Shabbat because I don’t have any other choice,” he adds. “I want to be better about getting out into the Jewish community.” But working nights and prepping during the day doesn’t leave much time for anything else.

Years before he would perform under the Teatro ZinZanni spotlight, Hazens, then just a kid, was constantly testing to see how high he could jump. He later realized his dream of becoming a circus performer after watching a friend keep a stick in the air using two others.

“It seemed so logical in my head,” says Hazens of the trick. “I asked to borrow the sticks, saw how they were built and made my own. From then on, I was constantly juggling.”

In addition to the sticks, Hazens used balls made from socks stuffed with rice. He took his act to youth centers throughout Israel, and was eventually picked by one of the instructors for a regular gig.

“I was just 16 and earning 50 shekels to juggle,” Hazens says. “I knew I wanted to make performing my profession, and there’s nothing better than following your childhood dream.”

After serving in the Israel Defense Forces, Hazens moved to France, where he connected with circus performer Italo Medini, best known as the first juggler to keep nine rings in the air, with a ball and stick balanced on his forehead.

“When I came to Italo, I could unicycle, juggle anything and do acrobatics,” Hazens says. “We decided to mix two acts together — balancing on a roller ball and juggling. No one had done that before.”

Hazens’ next feat would be performing at the Festival Mondial du Le Cirque de Demain (“The World Festival of the Circus of Tomorrow”) in 2004, an annual six-day international circus competition for performers under 25.

Known as the Olympics of the circus world, Cirque de Demain shines a spotlight on 3,000 acts, but selects a mere 26 to compete in the finals. Hazens’ routine wowed judges in the finals, as well as a scout from Teatro ZinZanni. A week after the competition, Hazens signed a contract.

When longtime Teatro ZinZanni casting director Reeni Duff first saw a video clip of Hazens’ act, she knew he had “it.”

“If I find someone who, out of the hundreds of auditions I see, makes me gasp, I’m sure he will make the audience gasp,” says Duff. “Bernard’s clearly got the tricks and showmanship, and I knew he would make a great addition to our show.”

In 2005, Hazens made his first Teatro ZinZanni appearance in Seattle. While performing, he met his wife, Alison, a server with Teatro ZinZanni. The pair has a 6-month-old daughter, Naomi.

The Hazens’ permanent address is in Seattle, with a mezuzah affixed to the home’s front door, Hazens noted. There’s also a workshop on the premises where he creates his props and works on new acts.

Since his debut with Cirque de Demain, Hazens has lived in a different part of the world every six months. His career has taken him to South Korea, Germany and Belgium, and back to his native Israel for the national tour of Dorolla Circus.

He also has made appearances in NBA halftime shows and on television, most notably on “Rising Star,” Israel’s version of America’s “The Next Big Thing.”

“I guarantee my act is like nothing you’ve ever seen before,” Hazens boasts. “You create a really great act and perform it your entire life.”

Back inside the Teatro ZinZanni tent, Hazens’ assistant launches pins in his direction with great speed. Hazens grasps each one and juggles for about 30 seconds before going airborne again. Only this time he splits his legs mid-air and finishes on solid ground.

The audience erupts with applause. Hazens pumps his fist and flashes a huge smile before running offstage.

For more information about Teatro ZinZanni, visit love.zinzanni.org.