"We seek universal humor" - Interview with Sebastián Guz aka Costrini, circus artist

"Les Frikis" brings to the stage an extravagant couple: a she who shines with her eccentricity, a meticulous optimist he who manages to cope with every mishap. A show in which humor, acrobatics, frenzy and technique are combined while reserving a moment of reflection in the form of a joke. On stage, Costrini and Mina Clown.
Costrini is Sebastián Guz, a circus artist born in Argentina and trained in circus arts in Argentina and Spain. In 1996 he co-founded Circo Xiclo, Argentina's first street circus group that was widely recognized on European tours in the following years. In 2003, he created the Mundo Costrini Company and created his own character Costrini, with whom he has participated in numerous street theater festivals gaining worldwide recognition.

Almost two decades ago you created Mundo Costrini, a poetic universe of sarcasm and nonverbal language. How was it born? How has it evolved over time?
Mundo Costrini was born with the idea of bringing theater and circus to the streets of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and then with the intention of taking our shows around the world. It was immediately an adventure, which year by year has become more and more beautiful: our shows without words, without text, have taken us to more than 45 countries around the world.

Are the shows adapted according to the culture of the country in which you perform?
I think that all over the world we laugh at 98 percent of the same things: what makes us laugh are the funny, awkward things. What we look for with our shows is a universal language that provokes similar feelings in all human beings - something that applies in Japan, South Africa, Argentina, Mexico, Italy; in short, wherever we perform. In addition, we are also looking for a universal humor in the sense of inter-generational, something that communicates to young and old. Finding such language is difficult, and creating a show takes a lot of time. We often take inspiration from the silent films of the 1920s, a period of cinema when there were no words and communication was completely visual.

This year he will bring to Buskers "Les Frikis," a duo show with Mina Clown. How did your collaboration come about?
Romina (Mina Clown) and I are married, and we have known each other for 20 years. Romina comes from the world of theater, while I come from street art and circus: on the one hand, since we met Romina has created the character Mina Clown, belonging to the circus sphere; on the other hand, Romina has made my shows more theatrical. Finally, in recent years we have decided to create a show where we are together on stage. Third element of the company is Santiago Blomberg, a musician and actor who in the show "Les Frikis" will not be on stage but will take care of the technical part behind the scenes.

What is "Les Frikis" about?
"Les Frikis" brings to the stage our relationship: how one supports the other, and at the same time accepts the differences in personality, temperament, of the way of dealing with different situations compared to the other.

This is his fifth appearance at the LongLake Buskers Festival. What do you remember from previous experiences? What do you bring to the Lugano audience this year?
We are always very happy to come back to Lugano, as the Buskers is a special festival with a lot of quality. The audience is mixed: there are families but also many young people, and this creates a stimulating mix, both family and festive. It is undoubtedly one of our favorite festivals because of the good food, the hospitality, and the atmosphere: before or after our performances we can hear beautiful music concerts. This year we bring you something new than in past years: we hope people will be surprised by the proposal, different, but always with our seal of universal humor.

Costrini and Mina will perform at the LongLake Buskers Festival from 13 to 17.07 at the lakefront.

More information: longlake.ch and luganobuskers.ch