Since the late 1920s, the Harlem Globetrotters have entertained audiences worldwide with their unique combination of basketball, theatre, comedy, and audience participation.
The world’s most recognizable basketball team recently gave Victoria an energetic show at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre, full of all the elements that make them entertaining. This included an almost tied, but eventually winning, game, despite comedic interference from a fake referee, an ex-player of opponents the Washington Generals. With players twerking atop basketball nets, pulling down the shorts of the other team, and causing many a pause in the game with a multitude of trickster antics, the Globetrotters play basketball unlike any other team around.
My last time attending a Harlem Globetrotters performance, as it is much more a show than a true game, I was 12 years old back in Ontario, and despite feeling a little out of place last night amongst young families and middle-aged bros, it was certainly entertainment suitable for folks of all ages; a little cheesy and over the top, but good old-fashioned fun.
A notable and refreshing change to team dynamics was the addition of a female player who specifically chose girls from the crowd to play on the court and learn some basketball tricks, which were plentiful with a number of players holding world records.
The portion of the night I most enjoyed was the team’s performance of a slow-motion instant replay, involving a blowup basketball and extreme coordination and teamwork. After half time, much of the younger crowd could be found dribbling their new Globies basketballs around the merchandise table, no longer paying much attention to the continuing show, but dressed in their favourite player’s jerseys and having a seriously good time.
After the game, as the crowd made its way out of the stadium, the famous Globetrotter-whistled theme song, “Sweet Georgia Brown,” echoed through the night.