Sunny The Clown

Sunny is a clown and performer based in Yonkers NY. She enjoys providing family entertainment for children of all ages in a safe and caring atmosphere. She performs at birthday parties, christenings, store openings, and lots of other events-- anywhere children can be entertained. She primarily performs in the Westchester County/TriState area.

Her skills include puppetry, clown magic, face painting, storytelling, and games and activities.

Sunny received her initial training at the Mooseburger Clown Camp in Minnesota and continues her professional development by attending workshops and conferences throughout the year. She is fully insured and is an active member of Clowns of America International and the World Clown Association.

To find out more about Sunny's work, please visit her website:
http://www.sunnytheclown.net

Barry Lubin

Barry Lubin is an inventive, creative physical comedian and clown most familiar to circus audiences as "Grandma", the eager and adored star of the Big Apple Circus.

Barry graduated from Ringling Clown College in 1974, and then spent 5 years touring with Ringling. Since 1982, Barry has been featured in 15 productions of the Big Apple Circus and has become that show's Director of Clowning - conceiving, co-writing and starring in the Big Apple Circus' production Grandma Goes to Hollywood. He performed at the 6th International Circus Festival of Budapest in January, 2006 where he was awarded the Special Prize from the Director of The Great Moscow Circus.

Outside the ring he has appeared in several Off–Broadway productions, in the films My Life, Big Top Pee-Wee, and Alice, and in numerous national broadcasts, including the Late Show with David Letterman.

As a director, Barry has worked on and for comedy segments for music videos on MTV, Snappy Dance Company in Boston and CBS's Circus of the Stars. He was a creative consultant for NBC's Cheers, and served as Executive Producer, Creator, and Writer of two pilots for Nickelodeon Networks along with partner Yvette Kaplan, for which he also starred. He directed Cousin Grumpy's comedy pig act, Carlos Swenson's comedy horse act, and his cat, Romeo, making him America's Foremost Animal Comedy Director.

Barry was recently inducted into the International Clown Hall of Fame.

For more information about Barry's work, please visit his performer bio at the Big Apple Circus website listed below:
WEBSITE: http://www.bigapplecircus.org/About/Performers/?performer=BarryLubin

Mike Daisey Walkout & Attack

This video is just too much to be believed. Mike Daisey, not a clown, more of a comic monologist/sitdown comedian/storyteller, is performing his show in a very posh experimental theatre in Cambridge MA. (The ART, American Repertory Theatre) In the middle of his sold out show, 87 protesters get up and walk out, and one of them pours water on his notes (he works from notes in front of him, that are often handwritten that day) How he recovers, what he does and the way he takes off on it is really great. This is the actor's nightmare, and well worth watching.

This is from Mike Daisey's website/blog

Avner & Mark Jaster in MD tonight! 4/21

Thanks to the alert from Pat Cashin about this show. They are doing 2 shows at 2 pm and 7 pm.

To find out more, just get on 95 and start driving!

Or you can check the Weinberg Center website

The Golden Nose Award:

Here's the press release from NY Downtown Clown Revue, which includes the nominees for the first ever Golden Nose Award:

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April 18th, 2007- New York Downtown Clown is proud to present the ONLY Clown Awards Show in North America- The New York Downtown Clown Golden Nose Awards.

This first-annual event will honor Clown Excellence from performances of the New York Downtown Clown Monthly Revue's inaugural year. In addition to the awards presented, the evening will include performances by nominees, dance numbers, door prizes, red carpet, and audience participation games with prizes. The show will also feature Clown Superstar Presenters, including Barry Lubin (Grandma- Big Apple Circus) and Hovey Burgess (The Father of the New Circus Movement). The Golden Nose Award Statues will be designed and created by Clown Nose/Mask Maker, Stanley Allan Sherman (creator of the WWF Mankind Mask).
Dress: Formal Attire- Noses Optional.

The Categories and Nominees for the 2007 New York Downtown Clown Golden Nose Awards are:

Audience Choice Best Clown:
Brent McCoy, Hilary Chaplain, Mark Gindick, and Poofy Du Vey
Audience Choice Best Clown Piece:
Classically Trained by Hilary Chaplain, Glamourpuss by Kendall Cornell,
Super Nova by Mark Gindick Jeff Seal and His Big Red Ball by Jeff Seal
Clown of The Year:
Eric Davis, Hilary Chaplain, Joel Jeske, and Kendall Cornell

The Producers of Slava's Snowshow (David Foster and Ross Mollison) will receive the Clown Achievement of The Year Award for running the show for two record breaking years off-Broadway.

This is the First Clown Awards Show in NYC and the only one in North America.

About NYDC: The New York Downtown Clown Revue performs every third Monday of every month. Each performance is a new set of clown acts ranging from cute to creepy and includes audience participation games with prizes.

The New York Downtown Clown Revue is the only monthly clown variety show in the world.

New York Downtown Clown is dedicated to cultivating clown theatre in NYC by creating a central hub for clowns and clown fans to share, learn, promote, and teach through performances and online resources. The Clown Revue is the center of the clown theatre community in NYC and has performed to sold-out audiences since May of 2006.

SHOW DETAILS:
WHAT: The New York Downtown Clown Golden Nose Awards
WHERE: The Kraine Theatre 85 E 4th St (btwn 2nd & 3rd Ave)
WHEN: Monday, May 21st Red Carpet 7:30 pm Show 8:00pm
COST: For tickets ($15) call SmartTix (212) 868-4444
Or visit http://www.NewYorkDowntownClown.com

Lyons University to offer a degree in clowning!

In the states, this isn't so new at all. Florida State offers a degree in clowning, and you can get an MFA at Dell'arte. And of course there are plenty of schools that offer only certificates (Clown Conservatory, Ecole Dmitri, Ecole Lecoq, Circomedia in Bristol, UK, and a few other places. I think the weird news is that there is a HUGE demand for clowns in France. That seems to me to be weird and not very market-based.

I can assume there are a large amountof people who WANT to be clowns. But that there's a use for all those clowns... not so sure!

CLICK THE ARTICLE TO READ IT IN FULL (please note that the URL may go away at anytime)

Dzieci

Dzieci (djyeh-chee) is an international experimental theatre ensemble dedicated to a search for the "sacred" through the medium of theatre. The word "Dzieci" is the Polish word for children.

Using techniques garnered from such theatre masters as Jerzy Grotowski, Eugenio Barba and Peter Brook, ritual forms derived from Native American and Eastern spiritual disciplines, and an ethic based securely in Humanistic Psychology, Dzieci aims to create a theatre that is as equally engaged with personal transformation as it is with public presentation.

Towards this aim, the ensemble balances its work on performance with work of service, through creative and therapeutic interaction in hospitals and a variety of institutional settings. Dzieci believes helping others generates a profound healing effect that not only serves the patient but also strengthens the ensemble's work.

Dzieci is firmly dedicated to process. Their theatrical creations come organically over a long period of time, and they often offer public demonstrations of their work in progress as well as para-theatrical workshops, which invite participants to experience the work underlying their most current investigations.

At least some of their work deals with the role of the sacred clown and fool, which is why they are on clownlink.com.

Dzieci is an ensemble under the direction of Matt Mitler, a NY actor and director who has staged dozens of solo pieces and many productions in the NY area. Other performers and company members include Yvonne Brecht, Jordan Flato, Carolina Franco, Karen Hatt, Marthan Hoffman, John Norman, Rebecca Sokol, and Bob Strock.

For much more information about Dzieci, please visit their website listed below:
WEBSITE: http://dziecitheatre.org/

Dan Berkley

Dan Berkley, is a physicist turned clown. A math and science student at Bates College, until an unfulfilling internship at MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center made him rethink his choices. He decided in his senior year how to turn his hobby of juggling into a career.

Dan traveled to San Francisco to train at the Circus Center's Clown Conservatory program. Under the direction of Jeff Raz, as well as other teachers and performers, Dan learned all he could about clowning and circus. Dan has since gone on to coach at Circus Smirkus Summer camp, clown with Ringling Bros. & Barnum and Bailey's Circus, and clown around at a variety of teaching and performing gigs.

Finishing a 2+ year stint touring with Ringling, Dan has now created Atomic Clown, LLC, a company meant to produce new work and organize his professional life.

His first production, Out of Orbit is scheduled to debut May 10th, 2007.

To find out more about Dan's work and to see his show, visit his website listed below:
WEBSITE: http://www.atomicclown.com

Étienne McGinley

Steven Anthony Étienne McGinley was born in a small house in a small town in the small state of Maryland to a big family. His mother wanted him to be a priest and his father wanted to join the army, but he discovered juggling instead. Steven began appearing in school plays at the age of ten learned to love the sound of laughter and applause.
Steven moved back and forth between the USA and France to earn an associates degree from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York city, a diplôme de sociologie from the Sorbonne in Paris and a masters degree in theater from the École Inter-nationale du Théâtre Jacques Lecoq in Paris. He also trained at the Ringling Bros. Clown College and toured with Cirque Fratellini - Europe's oldest circus.

Steven has since been performing comedy all over the world and believes that laughter can cross all borders. The most symbolic moment of his career was playing French love songs on a tuba for a Chinese audience in Italy. Steven enjoys discovering beauty in unexpected places and plans to never retire.

Étienne's show is interactive and spontaneous -- mixing circus tricks and sleight-of-hand with a dash of slapstick. With a bunch of interesting props, a little improvisation and a full cast of audience volunteers, Étienne delivers fresh and imaginative comedy that can be performed in English or French.

To find out more about Etienne's work, please visit his website, listed below:

WEBSITE: http://www.veryfunny.com

Ariane Anthony

Ariane Anthony is a dancer and clown based in Brooklyn, NY. She has choreographed and directed over thirty original works of dance-theater, both independently and under the auspices of Ariane Anthony & Company, a performing group she co-founded with her collaborators in 1999.

Ms. Anthony studied ballet as a professional trainee at the Joffrey Ballet School from 1983 to 1989, and began her choreographic training with Claire Mallardi at Harvard University where she earned a B.A. in Anthropology with a focus on human and animal communication. Anthony continued her dance training as a scholarship student at The Merce Cunningham and Mary Anthony Studios, and performed and toured internationally with Cornfield Dance, Mary Anthony Dance Theatre, Tina Croll, Maureen Fleming, Bryan Hayes, Christopher Caines, and Carolyn Lord.

Ms. Anthony studies and teaches commedia dell'arte mask and clown performing techniques. She is on the faculty of the New York Mask and Clown Workshop, is an adjunct dance professor at Ramapo College in New Jersey, and has taught theater, dance, choreography, and repertory at Harvard University, Bowdoin College in Maine, and Delta State University in Mississippi.

Since 1996 she has been an affiliate of The Construction Company which brought her work to Belgium in 1998 and has facilitated many rewarding collaborations with composers including Carolyn Lord, Patrick Grant, and John Stone.

to find out more about Ariane's work, please visit her website:
WEBSITE: http://www.arianeanthony.org

Kathie Horejsi

Kathie Horejsi became a clown at the Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Clown College under the direction of Steve Smith.

She was a member of Seattle's Annex Theatre for five years appearing in Wild Goose Circus; The Yellow Kid; Cat-like Tread; and Little Rootie Tootie. She wrote and performed the solo shows, Let Go, Go On and Valuable Job Skills.


She has studied and performed in Europe, Japan, Mexico and the United States. Teachers include Ctibor Turba; Boleck Polivka; Sigfrido Aguilar; Avner Eisenberg, Shakespearean actor Floyd King and choreographer Joe Goode.

Kathie has taught physical comedy at the Seattle Children's Theatre. As a child, Kathie appeared in over 30 Missoula Children�s Theatre productions including the role of The Kid in The Roar of the Greasepaint and the Smell of the Crowd.

Kathie currently lives in Brooklyn with her husband Ken, and performs as one of Kendall Cornell's Soon-To-Be-World-Famous Women Clowns.

To find out more about her work, please visit her website listed below:

WEBSITE: http://www.judykat.com/clown/

Michael Lane Trautman

Michael Lane Trautman is an accomplished mime, an inventive juggler, and physical comedian/clown that has been performing since 1976. He has appeared at such venues as The New York International Festival of Clown Theatre, the Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal, and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, to name a few.

Michael trained under the tutelage of French mime Jacques Lecoq, and American mime Tony Montanaro. He has been an artist in residence at Mabou Mines Theater Company in NY, a director and teacher at Catholic University in Washington, DC, and a staple of the International Children's Theatre Festival circuit. In 1999-2000, Michael headlined the Big Apple Circus Stage Show that toured throughout the country.

Michael currently has four shows that tour, each one designed for different markets, audiences, and venues:

THE STOOGE - A Troubled Clown For Troubled Times is a fully staged clown-theater play. Appropriate for theaters and theater festivals.

MY MISSPENT YOUTH is his solo variety show for theaters and schools.

VISUAL COMEDY is his solo "stand-up-clown" show, which is appropriate for fairs, festivals, corporate and trade shows.

WHAT'S THAT NOISE? is a sound effects show, intended for theaters and schools.

Michael lives in Portland Maine with his wife Judy,an accomplished set designer.

He has recently started a School of Physical Theatre in Portland.

To find out more about Michael's work, please visit his website:
WEBSITE: http://www.solotheater.com

Christy McDonald

Christy McDonald (aka Christy the Clown) has been clowning since 1986. In January of 2006 she celebrated her 20th birthday as a clown.

She has done a myriad of clown activities over the last 20 years. She graduated from Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College in 1989, under the direction of Steve Smith. From 1989-1996 she owned her own clowning business in Dallas, and then spent the next 4 and a half years touring fulltime with Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey's Blue Unit.

Other things she's done in the past:

• Performed at Disney's Epcot Center (Wonders of Life Show)
• Worked for Cirque Du Soleil's La Nuba in Orlando in the wardrobe department, 2001.
• Was the event coordinator/producer for the Dinner Surf Show at Shclitterbahn Beach Waterpark, South Padre Island, TX.
• Performed for 10 weeks in England for British Holidays resorts.
• Was the Clown Goodwill Ambassador for the RBBB Hometown Edition on it's inaugural tour in 2004 and 2005.

Christy now lives in Texas on South Padre Island, where she continues to work as a clown, performing shows in schools and libraries, doing some advance work for Ringling, and teaching at various clown camps.

Christy also works a semi-professional sand-castler, and has entered multiple competitions and teaches lessons in sand-castling. An expert sewer, she also makes clothes and costumes for people.

To find out more about Christy's work, visit her website listed below:

WEBSITE: http://www.christyclown.com/

Brent McCoy

Brent McCoy was born and raised on a dairy farm in Hardwick, Vermont. His father milked cows, his mother taught music, and they both encouraged him to follow his dreams. He imagined flying planes, driving trains, or going into space, but he never really knew what he wanted to be when he grew up. In fact, he didn't really want to grow up at all. So it should come as no surprise that he joined a circus.

Brent began performing in a staff talent show at Circus Smirkus Summer Camp in 1999. He soon started coaching there and eventually became a year-round Smirkus residency artist. From 2003 to 2006, Brent traveled around New England, teaching and entertaining thousands of students. Meanwhile, he practiced for hours every day and developed a solo show. Since 2004, he's performed his show at theaters, schools, fundraisers, festivals, parties, street corners, international airport terminals and one civil union.

Brent has also studied with Avner Eisenberg & Julie Goell at the Celebration Barn, Fritz Grobe & Mike Miclon of The Odd Company, Peter Gould & Stephen Stearns of Gould & Stearns, and Christopher Beaulieu of Creatively Independent. He has also studied painting with Robert Feintuch and holds a BA in Studio Art from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. Brent currently resides in Brooklyn, NY, where he practices, paints, and prolongs his childhood.

To find out more about Brent's work, please visit his website (listed below)
WEBSITE: http://www.brentmccoy.com/

Julie Goell

Julie Goell earned a degree in theater from Emerson College (1974) and completed the School of Music of the University of Southern Maine, in String Bass in 2004, minoring in voice with Margaret Yauger.

Residing in Rome for a decade in the ’80s, she performed in music and theatre, film, and television. She toured as a clown with “I Gesti” company and taught physical comedy skills with Roy Bosier at Teatro Studio. She toured her live jazz show, “Impromptu,” in Switzerland, worked in the circus for a year in “Schaubude,” and toured Italy singing jazz with the Big Band of Testaccio.

In the United States Ms. Goell acted in “Ghetto” on Broadway, directed several productions in New York, and Commedia Dell’Arte for Spoleto Festival and Epcott Center in Orlando. She has taught Physical Comedy and Commedia Dell’Arte semesters at Boston University, Colby College, the U.Conn Puppet Arts Program and Dell’Arte International, as well as directed and staged plays at those institutions (and others).

Ms. Goell currently teaches Clown and Eccentric Performance in collaboration with her husband, Avner Eisenberg, at the Celebration Barn Theatre. She also tours original performances to festivals around the country.

To find out more about her work, visit her website, listed below:
WEBSITE: http://www.juliegoell.com

Bello Nock

Bello Nock is one of America's top clowns. A member of the famous circus dynasty "The Nerveless Nocks" (his family founded Circus Nock in the 18nth Century in Switzerland!), Bello has been entertaining people in the circus since he was in utero.

At age 6, Bello played Michael Darling in the touring version of Peter Pan with Cathy Rigby. He later became a featured performer as a member of the Nerveless Nocks, and has starred as the feature clown for Circo Atayde, Big Apple Circus, and since 2001, Ringling.

Bello has won a number of awards for his work, including a 1998 Monte Carlo Silver Clown Award; two best comedy acts at the Sarasota Circus Festival; and the title "Best American Clown" from Time Magazine.

Bello is quite a skilled performer- he is a great musician, juggler, acrobat, and improviser. Not only is he well known not only for his patented big hair, but also for his energy and enthusiasm for his work. He is reported to rehearse and practice 8 hours a day, in addition to performing and doing publicity.

To find out more about Bello, visit his website:
http://www.bellonock.com

Hilary Chaplain

Hilary Chaplain has been recognized as one of America’s foremost professional physical comediennes, performing her original solo and ensemble work for over a decade throughout the United States, Canada, South America and Europe. Uncovering the humor in everyday life, Hilary’s extraordinary work has won accolades worldwide. She is also a founding member of the New York Goofs (est.1998) appearing with them in prestigious New York venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Avery Fisher Hall, the American Museum of Natural History, Symphony Space, and on tour at Wolf Trap with Bob McGrath from Sesame Street.

As an actress, Hilary was an original cast member in Bill Irwin's Largely/New York and appeared on Broadway and at the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park as the Goddess Ceres in the New York Shakespeare Festival production of The Tempest directed by George C. Wolfe. Regionally, Hilary has worked with the American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and with Israel Horowitz’s Gloucester Stage Company. She also played a featured role in the 1994 Oscar winning movie Forrest Gump, a lawyer on Law and Order Criminal Intent and made a special appearance on Late Night with David Letterman.

Hilary is an adjunct professor of clowning at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts (since 1994). She has also been entertaining children in NYC hospitals as "Nurse Nice" of the renowned Big Apple Circus Hospital Clown Program® (since 1987) and has been invited to teach Hospital Clowning internationally, most recently at the FILO Festival in Londrina, Brazil (spring 2004).

A graduate of Hampshire College with a BA in Theatre Arts, Hilary spent time studying mime in Paris, France and in South Paris, Maine where she became involved in physical theatre and clown. She has worked with such teaching greats as Tony Montanaro, Avner Eisenberg, Julie Goell, Philippe Gaulier, David Shiner, Dick Monday, Ami Hattab, Bob Berky and Bill Irwin, to develop her unique style of performance.

Hilary has toured her solo shows to a number of major festivals, including the Prague, Melbourne, & New York Fringe Festivals, Piccolo Spoleto in Charleston, Carcajada in Buenos Aires, FILO Festival in Londrina, Brazil, the Atlanta Fool’s Festival, the Funny Women Festival in Chicago, the Crazy Women Festival in St. Petersburg, Russia, PSNBC in New York City, Caroline’s Comedy Club, Surf Reality among others.

For more information about Hilary, visit her website listed below:
http://www.hilarychaplain.com

News: Local clown buoyed by Ringling visit

Often you hear about clowns cheering up people doing hospital visits, this is about clowns cheering up... other clowns!

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FULL ARTICLE: CLICK HERE



Cheers from a clown: Local jester buoyed by Ringling Bros. visit
Thursday, April 05, 2007

By Jim Six
jimsix@sjnewsco.com

WOODBURY, NJ After years of clowning around to raise the spirits of boys and girls of all ages, Al Cunard had the tables turned on him Wednesday.

Cunard, 70, recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, was visited in the hospital by two clowns from the Ringling Bros. circus.

Cunard, who lives on a street in Deptford Township named for his family, is the patriarch of the Cunard Family of Clowns. His kids grew up in clown makeup. Now his kids and their kids about 14 strong, according to Cunard's wife, Linda wear the greasepaint for special appearances during the year, often joined by cousins and friends.

You've probably seen the ragtag band of clowns in a parade or at a celebration in the area over the years a fire truck, a train, motorcycles, scooters, bicycles and even baby carriages spread out over a sizable portion of a parade route. The rear was always brought up by Cunard himself, recognizable by his distinctive hairdo a small thatch of gray pompadour that curls backward from a head covered with otherwise close-cropped hair.

In recent years, two man-made knees have kept him from walking parade routes, but an electric "handicapped scooter," as he calls it, has kept him close to the people he has spent his adult life entertaining.

"The interesting thing is that in recent years, people just want to touch you," said Cunard during his meeting with clowns Gautham and Andrew in a fifth-floor solarium at Underwood-Memorial Hospital here Wednesday afternoon.

"They just all stretch out their hands to me," he said.

Cunard is proud of the family's reputation. He has never advertised and there is no official phone number to contact him for clown business, but there have been times when the family has done 200 bookings a year. In fact, one year, they did 30 appearances between Thanksgiving and Christmas. He bragged about the time they had more than five appearances booked in one day, traveling 250 miles total to get to them and weren't late for any of the performances.

REST OF THE ARTICLE: CLICK HERE

Geoff Hoyle

Geoff Hoyle created the role of Zazu, the hornbill in the original Broadway cast of The Lion King. He has clowned with Cirque du Soleil, Circus Flora and with Bill Irwin and Larry Pisoni in San Francisco’s Pickle Family Circus. He created Spare, the three-legged man as part of a benefit performance for the Pickle Family Circus in 1982. He trained with Marcel Marceau’s teacher, Etienne Decroux and at the Gymnase du Cirque in Paris under Tudor Bono. His original solo shows, including Feast of Fools, The Convict’s Return and The First Hundred Years have been seen in NewYork, San Francisco, Paris, London, the former Soviet Union, and at various regional theatres in the US and England.

He has created comic roles at the Berkeley Rep, (notably Mosca in Volpone and Face in The Alchemist by Ben Jonson as well as Clov in Samuel Beckett’s Endgame, Dogberry In Much Ado About Nothing and Berenger in Rhinoceros) American Conservatory Theatre (including Stephano in The Tempest, and Joxer in Juno and the Paycock), Eureka Theatre, American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, (with Dario Fo and Franca Rame), Seattle Rep, Arena Stage and La Jolla Playhouse and has received several NEA mime grants as well as an ArtsLink grant to visit circuses in Latvia and Russia.

For Stanford Summer Theatre in California he played Vladimir in Waiting for Godot and the Old Lady in Eugene Ionesco's The Chairs. He was recently awarded a TCG/Pew National Theatre Artist Residency Grant to work with the Arizona Theatre Company, to give workshops in mask, clown and mime and translate and perform in the late plays of Georges Feydeau. He is most proud of his three children, Jonah, Daniel and Kailey all of whom have appeared with him, onstage or in the ring.

Geoff is based in the Bay Area of San Francisco and often performs as an actor in theatres in San Franciso and Oakland.

He is represented by Arthur Shafman.

To find out more about his work, visit his page on Arthur Shafman's website

Bill Irwin

Bill Irwin is one of the best known American actors and clowns. He has performed as a circus clown, a stage clown, a television clown, and now has become very well known on the Broadway stage as an actor.

Bill Irwin graduated from Oberlin College in 1973 with a degree in theater arts, and from the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Clown College the following year.

In 1975, he helped found the Pickle Family Circus in San Francisco, California. He left the company in 1979, and decided to pursue stage work. He created a number of highly regarded stage shows, including The Regard of Flight (1982), Largely New York (1989), Fool Moon (with David Shiner)(1993), The Harlequin Studies (2003), and Mr. Fox: A Rumination (2004). Mr. Fox is a production that Irwin had worked on for years, a biography of 19th century clown George Washington Lafayette Fox that also has autobiographical elements.

Bill is perhaps best known for creating the character of Mr. Noodle on Sesame Street. (He has been joined since then by Mr. Noodle's brother, Mr. Noodle (actor Michael Jeter) and the Noodle brother's sister Ms. Noodle, played by Kristen Chenoweth.

Bill has won a number of awards, including a 1984 MacArthur Fellowship, a Guggenheim fellowship, and a Tony Award in 2005 for Best Actor in a Play for his appearance as George in the revival of Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?.

To find out more about Bill Irwin, visit these unofficial sites for Bill:
(to the best of my knowledge, he does not have his own website.)

http://www.bill-irwin.com
http://www.keyboardjazz.com/sites/willie/

You can also visit his Wikipedia page
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Irwin

The Celebration Barn

The Celebration Barn is a center for variety arts performance, mime, clowning, and commedia. Founded by world-famous mime Tony Montanaro in 1972, The Barn has been the artistic home to many of the top clowns, jugglers, mimes, and variety artists in North America. Nestled in the sleepy town of South Paris, Maine, the Barn offers a full season of intense, creative, and focused performance-study programs with world-class teachers, all in the stunning foothills of the western Maine mountains.

Alumni of the Barn have gone on to careers in television, film and theater. Puppeteers with Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, writers for Between the Lions, the host of Hollywood Squares, and performers in Cirque du Soleil and other circuses.

Each summer the workshops range from three day intensives to two week advanced sessions. All workshops have a limited enrollment to ensure individual attention from instructors.



The facilities at the Barn include two large rehearsal studios, a 125-seat theater, housing, and a large kitchen.


The new executive director of the Barn is Amanda Huotari, a former student of the Barn who has been a fixture there for the last 15 years, and a fabulous clown in her own right.


To find out more about the Barn, visit their website:
http://www.celebrationbarn.com/

Dell'Arte

Dell'Arte International is the United States center for the development, exploration, training, creation, and performance of the physical theatre traditions and their contemporary applications. We are a true "regional" arts center for our geographically diverse community.

The four primary programs of Dell'Arte are:

The Dell'Arte Company
-- a professional touring company. This on-going ensemble of artists has created over 35 award-winning, original works of theatre since 1977. The company has toured extensively to international festivals.

Dell'Arte International School of Physical Theatre
-- a professional actor-training program is the only one of its kind in the U.S., attracting students from all over the world to study with outstanding artists, in a fulltime 1 year program, summer workshops, and a new, 2 and a half year MFA program in Ensemble-Based Physical Theatre. The program is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Theatre.

Dell'Arte Youth Academy
-- "Education Through Art" --Originally funded in 1991 by the National Endowment for the Arts as one of six nationwide pilot programs, the Academy not only makes it possible for every child in Blue Lake to work with a Dell'Arte artist each year, but has also evolved to reach over 4000 elementary school students throughout Humboldt County with curriculum-based, and standards based physical theatre work. In addition, the Academy offers innovative afterschool and summer programs for both elementary and high school students.

The Dell'Arte Mad River Festival
-- this month-long summer event is the largest performance event in our community, drawing over 5,000 people locally and from San Francisco to Seattle to indoor and outdoor events. Theatre and music offerings include the EdgeFest, a week of the newest physical theatre, including artists from around the world and down the block. Dell'Arte is based in the small town of Blue Lake, a former logging town with a population of about 1,200 in Humboldt County, on California's rural north coast.

Dell'Arte co-founder, Carlo Mazzone-Clementi, was a native of Italy and chose the name 'dell'arte' (dell are tay) because it means "of the art." His work was inspired by the lively commedia dell'arte, a character -based style of theatre that has fueled popular theatre for generations, and was known as 'the art of the professionals.' Dell'Arte's audiences tell us, "There is no other theatre like Dell'Arte!" The combination of training programs , research, original touring productions, education program in the public schools, summer festival and community-building activities make us a destination unlike any other on the American theatre map.

To find out more about Dell'Arte, visit their website:
http://www.dellarte.com

Avner the Eccentric

Avner Eisenberg (Avner the Eccentric) is a world-famous clown who has performed all over the world.

Avner is probably best known for his endearing portrayal of The Jewel, the scene-stealing holy man, in The Jewel of the Nile, co-starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner. He was also featured in the film Brenda Starr and the television series’ Webster and Mathnet.

Avner’s one-man show, Avner the Eccentric, was a hit of the 1984-1985 Broadway season. He co-starred in Lincoln Center’s production of Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors, and returned to Broadway in 1989 in a principal role in Ghetto. In regional theatre Avner has played both Estragon and Vladimir in Waiting For Godot, played the title role in R. Crumb Comix, and co-starred with his wife, Julie Goell, in the world premier of Zoo of Tranquility.

Avner has performed his clown show all over the world. He has been a featured performer at comedy, magic and theatre festivals, which in past years have included The Edinburgh Festival, where he won the New Faces of 1991 Award, and was a finalist for the Perrier Award, the Israel Festival, the Montreal International Comedy Festival. He has also appeared at the London International Mime Festival, the Festival of American Mime, the New York Clown Theatre Festival, the Fool’s Festival, the New York Magic Symposium, the Hudson Clearwater Revival, and the International Movement Theatre Festival. Avner was recently inducted into the International Clown Hall of Fame.

In addition to a busy performance schedule, Avner has taught master classes in clowning and Eccentric Performing in the United States, France, Germany, Finland, Belgium, Japan and Spain. He has developed silent theatre skills as a therapeutic tool and also teaches workshops for students and professionals in health care, education and counseling, as well as theatre. He lives on an island off the coast of Maine and would really rather be sailing.

Avner is the artistic director of Phyzgig, an annual festival of physical comedy, Avner also serves as the president of the board of directors of the Celebration Barn Theater, and is on the board of directors of Acorn Productions.

For more information about Avner's work, please visit his website:
http://www.avnertheeccentric.com

Drew the Dramatic Fool

Drew Richardson (Drew the Dramatic Fool) reinvents the ancient art of brilliant bumbling. As a youngster, Drew began performing magic and juggling to compensate for his shyness. Now he plays the fool to take advantage of his increasing baldness.

Drew‘s life-long personal tension between drama and foolishness gelled while studying Theatrical Clowning under the tutelage of John Towsen at Ohio University. Left speechless after his academic achievement, Drew continued his studies with Jacques Lecoq in Paris. After recovering from those experiences, Drew moved to Chicago, and finally Pittsburgh, where he currently lives.

Drew has performed in theaters and festivals all over the U.S.. Highlights include The Arden Theatre at the Philadelphia Fringe Festival, The Palace of Variety in Times Square, and The NY International Festival Of Clown-Theatre at Westbeth Theatre Center. Drew has created five one-man shows including The Psychology of Clumsiness (twice picked as Critic‘s Choice by The Chicago Reader), and the current Help! Help! I Know This Title is Long, But Somebody's Trying to Kill Me! (“Ingenious”—Chicago Tribune).

Drew wrote, directed, and starred in the short silent moving picture, The Guy Who Lived on a Chair, which was shown at The Chicago Short Comedy Video and Film Festival, Pittsburgh Film Kitchen, and Try It Quiet: New Silent Films presented by The Silent Film Society of Chicago. His one-minute silent movies (The Guy Who series) are currently showing in major motion picture theatres around the United States.


Drew has taught classes and workshops in Dramatic Foolery for colleges, universities, conferences, and theater companies. Drew has taught Dramatic Foolery workshops at such formerly venerable institutions as the University of Michigan, Roosevelt University, Columbia College, and The Art Institute of Chicago.

For more information about Drew's work, visit his website:
http://www.dramaticfool.com

Patrick Cashin

Pat Cashin is a New Jersey based writer, performer, and clown who has worked with several leading international circus companies. He has been described as "an inspired architect of slapstick circus silliness" whose performances are "a cartoon cavalcade of idiosyncratic oddities and imaginative absurdities" and that he is a "passionate practitioner of his ageless, eccentric art", which is really just a long-winded way of saying that he's a circus clown that thoroughly loves his job.

A 1997 graduate of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College, he began his career with Hansen's Spectacular Circus Thrill Show and has become a seasoned veteran with Circus Spectacular, Circus Royale, the Hamid Circus, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, the Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros Circus and Caesar's Royal Roman Circus at Caesar's Atlantic City Hotel and Casino. He was chief "Producing Clown" with the Dingbats, a team of traveling baseball stadium clowns and holds the distinguished position of 'Stupidvisor of Pedia-tricks and Clownocology' of the Jersey Shore Clown Doctors program at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, NJ. He has toured as both a clown and a comedy ringmaster throughout the United States.

Pat is perhaps most known for an award-winning Visa Check Card commercial in which he appeared with multiplying bunny rabbits which premiered during the 2001 Super Bowl.

Pat is also the founder and chief operator of http://www.clownalley.net, one of the internet's best resources for information, photos, and videos on classic circus clowns.

Mr. Cashin, his wife, young son and dog all reside together on the Jersey Shore.

For more information about Pat's work, visit his website listed below:
http:/www.cashincomedy.com.

To visit his resource of classic circus clowns, visit http://www.clownalley.net

MOVE IT- April 24

Adam Gertsacov will be one of a number of artists performing excerpts from his show Buffoon Anonymous on April 24 at MOVE IT, a performance series, featuring physical and visual theatre artists.

Performances will take place at HERE arts center as part of an evening of physical theatre.
HERE is located at 145 6th Avenue (between Spring and Broome) in New York City. The show starts at 7 pm)

Details (price, whereto buy, who else is on the bill, is yet to be determined)

Check back here to find out more when it becomes available.

The Clown In Jazz by Henri Matisse

One of Matisse's best known works, Jazz was a book created by Henri Matisse when he was recovering from a serious operation. The theme of the book is circus, and many of the images (Cut outs that are brightly colored and then re-printed) are from the circus.

A beautiful print of The Clown in Jazz is available through ArtInAClick. See the image blelow.

The Clown from Jazz by Henri Matisse "Framed Size: 31in. x 39in. Frame Description: 1.5in. Matte black finish - Keywords: Color, curvilinear, figures, clowns, Figure, Geometric, art, prints, posters"