Family-friendly holiday circus show by Austin troupe Circus Chickendog, with juggling, unicycling and dog training.
Circus Chickendog brings The Mutt-Cracker (SWEET!) back to The Vortex on Friday, December 18, for what the company calls its 13th year. It's a family-friendly holiday circus extravaganza that runs through December 30, so you've got a few weeks to find a night that works for you. The show combines juggling, unicycling, and dog training, and it's put on by Circus Chickendog, an Austin-based troupe that's been entertaining audiences here for decades.
If you're not familiar with the name, the troupe has a history that reaches well beyond Central Texas. They've been featured nationally on The Late Show with David Letterman, Pet Star, and Donny and Marie. The man behind it all is Darren Peterson, and his path to this stage is a bit of a story. He's a six-time Ironman who earned a BS in Mathematics from the University of Texas at Austin, though he had to put his studies on hold for a while to join the Royal Lichtenstein Circus as its main juggler and unicyclist. After that, he spent time teaching high school math and editing math textbooks before he combined his circus skills with disc-dog competitions to form Circus Chickendog. That mix of circus and dog training is exactly what you'll see on stage.
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The Mutt-Cracker is the troupe's holiday tradition, and it's hosted at The Vortex, located at 2307 Manor Road in Austin. The venue is also home to CTX Live Theatre, a project run by Michael Meigs that focuses on supporting live narrative theatre in Central Texas. The show runs from December 18 through December 30, so if you're looking for something to do with the kids over the holiday break, there are plenty of dates to choose from. The Vortex is on Manor Road, just east of downtown.
