A slap in the face collision of super-charged circus and heart-pumping music.

Australia's freshest leading acrobats join forces with a trio of beat-boxing, drum stick wielding and record scratching musical prodigies, in this force-fueled production.

Shaking the walls of the venues wherever they play Ben Walsh, DJ Dizz1 and world champion beat-boxer, Tom Thum, combine their breaks, beats and pulsating rhythms.

The lifeblood of the Tom Tom Club is the driving music emanating from Ben's self-made drumkits, mashed together from chemical drums, 80s Asian gadgets and over 2000 cable ties. Match this with vocal stunts from wizz-kid Tom Thum and master scratching from DJ Dizz1 and just start to understand the musical force behind this trio.

Tom Flanagan, Ben Lewis, Daniel Catlow and Shane Witt - graduates of the Flying Fruit Fly Circus - flip, fly and slam up the stage as hard and fast as the boys with beats. Hardcore tumbling, out-of-control acrobatics and severe aerial antics are all on the agenda in this club.

This is circus at its most extreme where the dynamic explosiveness of the human body is matched by the sheer power of hip-hop rhythms.

Tom Tom Club
The future of Australian circus and hip-hop music exploded into action at the 2006-2007 Woodford Folk Festival. This fusion of breaks, beats, flips and awe inspiring physical spectacle sold-out at the 2006 Adelaide Fringe and performed to room-bursting crowds at the FINA Cultural Festival and Castlemaine State Festival.

In 2007, they make their international debut at the world's largest arts festival, the Edinburgh Fringe, and finish off the year with a season at the prestigious Sydney Opera House.

A leading force amongst Australia's independent theatre producers, Strut & Fret have brought together some of Australia's most talented musical and circus artists to create the Tom Tom Club.

Ben Walsh (musical director) is a name synonymous with drumming. Described as a "one man orchestra", Ben is best known for his ability to fuse many different styles together creatively, re-inventing new approaches to ancient formulas of rhythm and sound. His unique style has been presented through The Bird, Circle of Rhythm, First Sound, Pablo Percusso and Circuit Breaker to name just a few. Ben is joined by DJ Dizz1 (Wicked Beat Sound System) and world beat-boxing champion Tom Thum.

The boys on beats are matched by Australia's next generation of circus artists. Graduates of Australia's famous Flying Fruit Fly Circus - Ben Lewis, Tom Flanagan, Daniel Catlow and Shane Witt - have worked nationally and internationally with some of Australia's great companies including Circus Oz, Circa, Spiegeltent International and Throw Down.

Contact:
Sarah Stewart & Scott Maidment
Strut & Fret
GPO Box 1548
Melbourne VIC 3001
Tel + 61 3 9650 5599
Fax +61 3 9650 4112
Mob +61 402 853 931 (Sarah) & +61 411 743 432 (Scott)
everything@strutnfret.com
www.strutnfret.com