Zaniac wows kids with magic

MOSES LAKE — It wasn’t the first time Alex Zerbe had been in Moses Lake.

But because he does shows for kids, it was likely the first time many sitting in the middle of Third Street had even seen him.

“A man so famous, he’s giving his own introduction while standing in the middle of an intersection,” said Zerbe, also known as The Zaniac.

He also described himself as “Seattle’s third-best air guitarist,” the current holder of a Guiness World Record (most consecutive “eclipses,” a certain kind of foot maneuver, with a Hacky Sack), and the man Sharon Osbourne, a judge on “America’s Got Talent,” described as “too weird.”

“The woman who married Ozzy Osbourne said ‘he’s too weird,’” Zerbe told his mixed audience of kids and adults.

He’d set up his show in the roundabout at Third and Ash, surrounded by chalk graffiti and kids fascinated by his very physical comedy. And Zerbe did not disappoint. He juggled a bowling ball, a sword, and a flaming club, all while standing precariously balanced on board atop a rolling tube. He flicked a playing card so fast it sliced a stalk of celery in half. And he even created a beat with the help of some audience members using a loop box.

And he did it all with a boundless frenetic energy that seems set to come unglued at any moment.

“I love performing for families, for kids and their parents,” Zerbe told the Columbia Basin Herald before his show. “They are my favorite kind of audience.”

While Zerbe said kids “are better than adults,” mixed audiences are the best, since he can aim his physical comedy at the kids while inserting some more grown-up language into his shows to entertain the adults as well.

“A lot of the humor is for adults, but it’s done in a very immature and childish way,” he said.

The 40-year-old Zerbe, who has been performing this kind of comedy since he was 21, said he does anywhere from 200 to 300 shows per year, which means he travels a lot, mostly to schools, libraries, and community festivals like Springfest.

“It’s a lot of work, but I do what I like,” he said. “I’m really thankful that I get to do something I enjoy, something that I love. Not everyone gets to do that.”

Zerbe also works on his show, adding new material as needed mainly to keep himself interested in what he does.

“It’s slow going because I’m so busy,” Zerbe said.

From Moses Lake, he’s back home to Olympia to catch his breath and then off, first to Oregon for a series of library shows, and then to Alaska.

But in this moment on a warm Friday evening, Zerbe is just happy to take a break before he’s back out into a chalk-graffiti encrusted roundabout to entertain.

“I’m soaking up some before going back into the heat,” he said.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached via email at countygvt@columbiabasinherald.com.