Even without several cocktails, Zirk Ubu zaps the logical mind. Like many alternative circus troupes, Zirk is a lively mix of performance art, circus skills, puppets, storytelling, and "noise music," with a splash of darkness.

So it is kismet that Zirk's "Adrift," on view at Sushi through Sunday, is directed by Liam Clancy, a masterful choreographer/performer with a fiendish appreciation for circus arts and merging text with movement. The new show is certainly unpredictable and risky, but falls short of masterful, although the wow moments capture Clancy's philosophy of experimenting without fear and baring one's soul.

With each crack of his whip, Iain Gunn shocks us out of our seats and orders a perspiring Derrick Gilday to climb higher and balance in handstand atop a tower of stacked chairs. Gilday gradually becomes a defenseless circus animal striving to please, but breaks free with a juggling sequence that is both rhythmic and eye-catching. He is a pivotal and most loveable character and shouts, "Ladies and gentlemen, here we are under this concrete small top!"

Gunn's manipulation of a giant gold puppet is funny and surprisingly touching. With its rotating limbs and head attached to his, Gunn walks and grabs until the hollow-eyed creature comes alive. When its cardboard head bumps into a ring suspended from the rafters, the poor thing shudders, and we gasp because we see it as a living entity.

With its adult themed shows at Rich's nightclub in Hillcrest, Zirk Ubu has created a buzz and loyal following. It has an affinity for absurd characters such as half-woman/half man, birdcage head, and the sword-swallower-fire breather, and a few could suggest odd proclivities. "Adrift" is a departure from that randy canon. Gone are the wild costumes and most of the deranged personas.

Aerialists Megan Fontaine and Bridget Rountree appear as rather pedestrian women, albeit with tight striped pants, but emerge as a whirling human sculpture. With beautiful limbs entwined on a hoop, they speed up and slow down with a breezy simplicity. Fontaine is also memorable clomping around on stilts and slamming deliberately off them onto her knees.

The Dadaist approach in "Adrift" is intriguing, even liberating, if you just take it in and don't think too hard. But the real circus sequences, the most exciting and dangerous moments, are in short supply.

A clowning sequence with a tethered Richard Cohen in tight whites and Pinocchio nose hoisted up and down and dragged by a moveable crane is weird, but his character doesn't resonate with enough empathy to make us care. Thomas Wall confesses that his planned trick for the show was a failure, but his testament is a tad conceited and insincere. Mary Margaret Mitchell's unstable character seems to wander around, unsure what to do, and why does an absurd aesthetic mean you must scream off key?

The production's biggest failing however is its pacing, a surprising disappointment given Clancy's exceptional talents. A thread of text or images that circles back for a compelling resolution marks his work. Smooth transitions and that mysterious connection between movement and text are missing in "Adrift." There are many inventive layers, but there is dead air between them, and they don't become a stylistic whole. The ending is ambiguous, and the audience is unsure what to do.

But sublime mystery is one of Zirk Ubu's specialties, and more direction and detail from Clancy will surely rub off on this talented bunch. As life becomes more stressful, this nonsensical production is a comfort, unless you can't decide which freaky costume to wear to the show.

Dirk Ubu in "Adrift" continues tonight at 8 p.m. and tomorrow (Sunday) at 7 p.m. at Sushi.

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