Creation: A Clown Show, which has just begun a six-week run at Midtown's Theater Five, aims for nothing less than having a man with a red nose re-enact "The Book of Genesis." Not surprisingly, the show is a difficult piece of work to nail down. It is equal parts smart and stupid, sometimes brilliantly on point and then self-indulgently repetitive. And for all its silliness, it is indeed reaching for something profound -- and lands its meaningful jokes often enough to deserve to be taken seriously.

This 75-minute show begins with the announcement by "The Voice" that the star is late because he forgot his costume. Then, a clown -- played by Lucas Caleb Rooney, who co-created the show with d[...]