Mark Jaster

Mark Jaster is a clown and mime based in the Washington, D.C. area. The Washington Post has called Mark Jaster a "clown extraordinaire and one of the most graceful performers you will ever see on a stage."

Mark's skills in mime were developed in training with 20th-century masters Marcel Marceau and his teacher, E. Decroux, along with careful observation of Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Harpo Marx. Mark served as teaching assistant to Mr. Marceau in a series of seminars in Michigan, and he teaches frequently in Artist residencies, theatres, and dance programs.

Mark has three solo performances that he tours: Piccolo's Trunk, A Fool Named 'O', and The Maestro. In all of them, Mark combines live music, unusual instruments, outrageous acrobatics, and hyper-advanced communication skills all together in a performance that erases the bad feelings that most people have when they conjure up the word "Mime." Mark recently created a new show with his wife and partner, Sabrina Mandell, The Seven Ages of Mime, which had a sold-out run at the Round House Theatre in Silver Spring, MD.

Mark is a regular as Herr Drosselmeyer in the Maryland Youth Ballet's Holiday Nutcracker, and has appeared frequently with the Washington Revels and on the stage of the Maryland Renaissance Festival.

Mark is a proud member of The Big Apple Circus' Clown Care Program, performing at the Children's National Medical Center and Johns Hopkins University Hospital.

To find out more about Mark's work, please visit his website listed below:
http://www.markjaster.com

John Hadfield- "Crash The Clown"

John Hadfield is an actor, clown, and musician based in Wilmington Delaware. John attended the University of Delaware, getting a degree in Russian language, and while there discovered the art of clowning and circus skills.

After college John enlisted in the army, and during basic training was procured by the White House Communications Agency, and worked with President Carter in the White House, and played an important role at the Bonn Summit, the Tokyo Summit and the Begin-Sadat peace talks at Camp David.

In 1982 John graduated Ringling Clown College, then toured for two years with the Royal Lichtenstein Circus. He partnered with clown Chris Shelton to form the Crash Brothers, with John playing the role of Crash the Clown, and Chris playing Officer Offbeat The Clown. John also toured solo shows as Crash. As Crash, John has performed at a number of places, including the White House (twice), Disneyland, and Magic Land in Bangkok Thailand.

John spends his free time competing in dog agility with his (Akita) dog Kenny, is a black belt in aikido, and ski races with the Wilmington Ski Club. Besides Crash the Clown and The Crash Brothers, John performs a science show, as a stiltwalker, his newest program is a set of kid's songs and comedy entitled John Hadfield in Concert. John's music CD's Monkeys In The House and Robot Monkey Head are available online. You can purchase them from Amazon.com by clicking on the album covers below.



To find out more about John's work, please visit his website listed below:
http://www.johnhadfield.net/

Lawrence Smythe

Lawrence Smythe is a Canadian clown that has performed and traveled all over the world. He is a rubber faced prankster with a number of different characters and entrees that he can perform. From mewling baby to over-strict Canadian Mounty to obtuse caveman, Lawrence approaches all of his characters with an earnestness that wins audiences over. Lawrence likes to think of his clown character as a mix between a poet and an orangutan.

Lawrence grew up in a large Irish/Catholic Canadian military family, and his love of comedy was evident from an early age. Lawrence began his career in the theatre in 1978, and has studied extensively with a wide range of eclectic artists. He has held a variety of jobs as well, including, bus driver, baker, door-maker, car washer, waiter, janitor, tree planter etc. Parallel with these jobs he began his world travels, from France to Greece, on through Afghanistan to India and back to Mexico and Hawaii, on and on from here to there. His comedy heroes are the silent film classics-- Keaton, Chaplin, and Laurel and Hardy.

From 1999-2006, Lawrence toured with Canadian circus artiste Jean Saucier in a show titled Circo Comedia. Saucier & Smythe were a great and classic circus team-- Saucier playing the elegant white faced clown and equilibrist and Smythe the Auguste orangutan. In 2006 Lawrence set off on his own to tour his solo show The Caretaker, which will feature an amalgamation of illusion, mask, puppetry, music, clowning, and audience participation.

To find out more about Lawrence's work, please visit his website listed below:
http://www.mrsmythecomedy.com/

Malcom Garey: The Frog Jumper

I read an article about Malcolm Garey, the Frog Jumper, and thought that I had to make a post about him (being a flea circus guy myself, I feel a strange kin to others who take on the strange and mysterious arts.

Malcolm Garey is a 63 year old showman who started his frog-jumping business in 1982. He is based in Florida, and tours primarily to state fairs and festivals across the United States. Garey travels with about two dozen male bullfrogs along with his mascot "Peewee" a five pound bufo marinas toad from Surinam. Each frog has a life expectancy of about 6 years. (in the wild they would last around 2)

At each festival, Garey chooses contestants from the crowd, ages 2 to 80 to be frog jockeys. The frog jockey places the frog on the launching pad, and then doesn’t touch him again until the frog has jumped three times. The frog that jumps the farthest wins. Sometimes the frogs need a little (or a lot) of convincing to jump. "We cheat a lot," says Garey.

The current world record for frog jumping is 21 feet, 5 and ¾ inches, set in 1986 by “Rosie the Ribbiter,” entered by Lee Guidici of Santa Clara, Calif. Garey doubts that any of his current frogs are capable of jumping that distance.

But hey, you never know.

Malcolm Garey doesn't seem to have a website. You can read the article I read at the Detroit Free Press.

Thanks also to Jackofalldays.com for their article about Garey that filled in some of the holes.

Clownzilla

Clownzilla is a clown troupe based at U.C. Irvine under the direction of acting teacher and director Eli Simon.

Clownzilla is dedicated to using improvisation and collaboration to create silent clown shows that are funny and provocative. All of the clowns are white-faced with red noses, black makeup lines, and simple black costumes.

Acts in each show are varied and include dance, magic, puppetry, and vibrant music. The shows are silent-- the troupe uses placards and projections to advance the plot. Many times the show will include guest clowns and performers whenever possible.

The goals and mission of Clownzilla are lofty. As per the website:

THE MISSION:


To create important, hilarious, entertaining clown shows through improvisation and collaboration within our troupe and other artists. To share these works and our process with the world and spread laughter whereever we go. To use clowning as a means of reflecting important issues of our times. Each work of clowning is dedicated to spreading laughter throughout the world. We fervently believe in the power of clowning as a means of delving into the heart of human emotion, interaction, desires, and dreams. We strive to open windows of understanding and compassion through sheer fun.

To find out more about Clownzilla and the work of the performers in it, please visit their website listed below:
http://www.clownzilla.net

Bozo on DVD

A 30 episode Bozo DVD is now out and available. It features the original syndicated Bozo, Frank Avruch, with shows from the 60's and early 70's. Each show also has a five minute Larry Harmon (the originator of Bozo) animated cartoon.

On the Amazon.com message boards, there's some grumblings from customers about the fact that the DVD does not feature Bob Bell(The Chicago-land Bozo) This is volume 1, and presumably the next volumes will feature Mr. Bell and other regional Bozos.

Also notable is that the originator of Oscar the Grouch and Big Bird, Carol Spinney, is featured on this DVD set.

Thanks to Pat Cashin over at ClownAlley.net for pointing this release out.

Rich Potter

Rich Potter is a Maryland native who has been performing for over 20 years, and has performed in over 20 countries.

In 1986 Rich graduated from Ringling Clown College and spent 3 years on the road with the Ringling circus, including a stint working in Japan with the Ringling Gold Unit. After that time, he spent time street performing all over Europe and Asia, performing a one man comedy juggling show in five languages.

His show consists of juggling,balancing, unicycling, comedy, improvisational audience participation, and "I've never seen anything like that before..." sorts of stunts. He appeared on the David Letterman show, and Dave said that his act "Was really something." And Paul Shaffer agreed!

Rich is still based in Maryland, and continues to perform throughout the United States.

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

http://www.flightsofwit.com/

Mad Science®

Mad Science® is the world’s leading science enrichment provider. They deliver entertaining educational hands-on science experiences for children in every North American market and in 19 countries worldwide.

Mad Science was founded in 1986 by two brothers from Montreal, Ariel and Ron Shlien. They started at a local YMCA with a 300 dollar laser, and built up a very successful birthday party business in the Montreal area. They soon expanded into educational programs, and even providing edu-tainment for cruise ships. In 1995, the brothers decided to franchise their work and spread it out across the United States. There are now over 90 franchisees of Mad Science shows, and they have created a global brand that includes books and other products.

Mad Science has over 6 shows that tour nationally, and dozens of other educational shows that their franchisees can choose to present, including birthday party shows, school assembly shows, and other types of interactive performance and educational experiences. In addition, Mad Science custom designs exhibits for museums, amusement parks, and other educational institutions.

Their franchisee model is (to my knowledge) unique in the clown educational market.

To find out more about Mad Science, please visit their website listed below:

http://www.madscience.com/

Housch-Ma-Housch (Semen Schuster)

Semen Schuster (whose clown character is Housch-Ma-Housch) is an eccentric clown who has been wowing audiences since graduating from the Circus School of Kiev. A winner of a number of prizes (including the Grockland "Golden Grock") at the 26th Festival Mondial de Cirque de Demain and the Silver Lion at the China Wuqiao International Circus Festival, Housch combines juggling, magic, dance, mime, and a whole lot of charm to create circus and cabaret acts that are inventive and memorable.

His character is slightly mischievous, but mostly innocent. With a wide-eyed stare and his wacky hair-style (bald on top, wings coming out the sides) and his mumbling grammelot, he's a cross between the inbred hemophiliac Russian prince who has been stranded on an island and Zippy the pinhead, with Edward Scissorhands' sense of social grace. He's charming, bizarre, and eccentric-- well worth seeing if you have the opportunity.

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

http://www.housch-ma-housch.de/
(The site is in both German and English)

He also has a number of videos posted on YouTube:
Search for them here

July 2- NY Downtown Clown Playground

New York Downtown Clown Playground is a monthly skill based workshops for clowns.
This Month's Workshop: Theatre Games.
New York Downtown Clown producer Christopher Lueck will lead the class through several top theatre games he uses in classrooms and rehearsals. Games for focus, ensemble building, Clown, exploring physical choices, and fun will be included. Come play and learn!


DATE: Monday, July 2nd
TIME: 8:15-9:30
ADDRESS: 440 Studios (440 Lafayette St., Across the street from The Public Theater), studio 4 E, 4th Floor
FEE: $10
Space is limited so Reserve your spot today by emailing play@newyorkdowntownclown.com


===============
Special Discount !
===============
Print out this post and bring it to the class to get in for only $5


Instructor Bio
Christopher Lueck is one semester away from a MA in Theatre Education from NYU. He is an actor, clown, and educator in NYC. He has taught clown, puppetry, and commedia to schools and theatre companies in NYC for the past five years. His lessons plans and classes have been taught at Puppetry in Practice, FringeNYC, NYC Board of Ed, Theatre for the New City, Brooklyn College Continuing Education, and Sports and Arts. Christopher was named one of nytheatre.com's people of 2006. To learn more, read his bio at http://www.newyorkdowntownclown.com/

Jim Jackson

Jim Jackson is an actor, clown, and puppeteer who lives in Manitou Springs, Colorado. Jim has over 25 years experience as a clown and circus performer.

His first experience as an actor and clown came in the second grade when he produced the play, "Noah's Ark" complete with a large refrigerator-box ark and spray-bottle rain. The production came to a hilarious and catastrophic end when a small riot broke out among the animals due to overcrowding in the ark. The result was a badly broken cardboard ark and considerable over-acting by the spray bottle crew.

In 1976 Jim joined the Royal Lichtenstein Circus and for five years he traveled throughout the U.S. and other countries performing as a juggler and acrobat in small tent circuses. In 1981 a bad fall from the high wire left Jim unable to perform for six months. After his recovery, he created original one-man productions for the theater using his experience as a mime and clown. These shows have won him international recognition.

He has a number of performances and shows available, including Art Guffaw, the story of an employment challenged housepainter who is afraid of color and cannot draw a straight line. Somehow, he finds himself in a mysterious artist's studio where the easel speaks, the portraits come alive, and the "still-lifes" dance. Other shows available include a clown mystery The Missing Nose, a one clown circus The Firehouse Circus, a two person Circus Waiter show called Cirkoo, performed with his wife (a director and performer in her own right) Birgitta De Pree.

In 2001 Jim and Birgitta founded a theatre, the Manitou Arts Theatre. There they present a number of shows, and tour shows to the local community. Some of those shows include: a puppet and real life production of Alice in Wonderland; a trio of original plays about Jim growing up in Colorado: Stick Guns, Royal Buckskin, and Hut!; and guest performer's shows.

These are just a few of the shows that they've put together. To find out more about Jim's work or the Manitou Arts Theatre, visit the M.A.T. website listed below:

M.A.T. website: http://www.themat.org

Shows: Shows Available for touring

Clown House of Portland, Oregon

The Clown House is a loose collection of clowns and counter-culture bike enthusiasts who have put together a clown collective/performance group. They all live together in a large house in a rapidly gentrifying section of Portland, Oregon, providing a free space to sleep for itinerant travelling circus performers and other like-minded folk who blow through town. Portland has a motto, "Keepin' It Weird" and the clownhouse guys do their part.

The show is a bike rodeo, featuring fantastically large bicycles, juggling and circus skills, wacky stunts, and other delights. They often perform on the street, as part of a roving crazy parade. They do all ages shows and burlesque shows for the over-21 crowd. They do events at the house, including a Bike Bikini Wash in which the clowns wash bikes while wearing bikinis. Oh yes, and for $15, they will pie just about anyone.

Performers and denizens of the house currently include: Pinga de Clown, Dingo Dismal (who is the chief of the house, and runs a blog about what's going on), Chlorine Enema Jones, and Will Workforf Ood. Not to mention children, dogs, cats, and any other people that want to hang.

The neighborhood of the clown house is getting pricey, and soon they may have to move from their digs to find a cheaper place to hang their hats and trampolines.
To find out more, visit the clown house website listed below:

WEBSITE:http://www.clownhouse.org
BLOG: http://shmanarchy.blogspot.com/

The Unknown Clown

I recently received via email this article-- an obit for Alfred Cunard III, a South Jersey clown. (via The Courier Post Online) I never met him. But his obit got me to thinking.

Alfred Cunard III was a guy who performed for 45 years. It really was a way of life for him, and his family followed him into the business. He never worked with a circus or did television or print. He mostly seems to have worked hospitals, birthday parties, and parades. He wasn't famous or well known (except of course in his area, and to his friends and family.)

Not to be sentimental about it, but he brought joy and laughter to a lot of people over 45 years.

I'm sure there are thousands of guys just like him, toiling in near anonymity, working hard at their craft, and having fun while doing it, and who won't be rewarded with fame and fortune, but rather rely on the shared laughter and good feeling of the work itself to be its own reward.
Some of them toil in obscurity for good reason (not funny, not ambitious enough, not working at it, etc) but some of them, like Alfred, just didn't get on the radar.

I raise a toast to you Alfred, and all those guys lost to history, who brought laughter to their audiences but weren't rewarded with fame or fortune or a place in the International Clown Hall of Fame.

To The Unknown Clown.


Here's the article:
============================================


Clown passed craft to family
By WILFORD S. SHAMLIN
Courier-Post Staff
DEPTFORD

Alfred M. Cunard III appeared in clown face for his obituary, and his family says he wouldn't have it any other way.

"That was so him," says his widow, Linda, of Deptford. "He loved clowning. He just loved it. He did it for 45 years and we saw that picture sitting there and we all agreed that's the picture we should use. There was no question."

Cunard, who spawned two generations of clowning enthusiasts, succumbed to pancreatic cancer last month at 70. His family will honor Cunard's last wish and perform at one of his favorite events, the Fourth of July parade in Pitman. For years, he entertained the parade crowd as a hobo clown on a scooter. Cunard also visited area nursing homes and hospitals.

"He loved being with people, especially if there were special needs," Linda Cunard says. "He loved to be able to brighten their day."

Alfred Cunard was a member of the Almonesson Lake Fire Company's comic unit when he made his debut as a clown in the Atlantic City Fireman's Parade in the early 1960s.

"From there, somebody asked him if he wanted some makeup," his widow says. "A friend asked him to come entertain the kids at his son's birthday party. He bought magic tricks."

Alfred Cunard was a natural. He would hone the art of comedy by traveling across the country to clowning conventions with his wife and children. And humor naturally worked its way into his acts, his family recalls.

Once, Alfred Cunard forgot to remove the loose change from his pockets before walking on his hands, then made it an interactive part of his show. Audiences of kids eagerly scrambled to pick up the coins.

Initially, he kept silent during his shows, his wife says. As he started appearing in more baby parades and birthday parties, he began conversing with his audience. And his makeup took on a more professional look.

Like every good clown, Alfred Cunard had a bag of tricks: several suitcases, actually. The words "pride and joy" were written on one case, and he would coyly ask his audience: "Do you want to see my pride and joy?" Out would come bottles of Pride furniture polish and Joy dish detergent.

"People always remember that one," Linda Cunard says.

Another suitcase was labeled "the funniest person in the world." Curious onlookers would peer inside and see their reflections in a mirror.

The Cunards often brought their three sons and daughter to the Pitman parades with them. And they always wore matching outfits Linda Cunard had designed and sewed. Alfred Cunard would walk the parade route and his wife and children -- first one, then two, then three -- would walk the sideline.

The family's first clown noses were actually pingpong balls spray-painted red, recalls Cunard's daughter, Susan Coppola. But sometimes, the adhesive wouldn't hold their noses in place.

"Down the road it would bounce and we would go chasing after our noses," says the Elk resident. "It was a whole clown disaster."

Alfred Cunard was the son of a New Jersey Turnpike maintenance superviser and homemaker mother who volunteered for the local school board and various PTAs.

"He grew up in a home where it was normal to volunteer," Linda Cunard says. "He was always willing to help anybody. If you needed a ride, anything -- he'd be there to help."

Alfred Cunard was a proud, lifelong resident of the Almonesson section of Deptford. He lived on Cunard Avenue, a residential street named after his family, whose roots go back more than 150 years. He was also a volunteer fireman for 54 years and a lifeguard in Stone Harbor for 12 years.

Linda Cunard says she will remember her husband as a "good father, good grandfather. He loved his family. He bragged about his family all the time to anybody who would listen."

Coppola credits her father for her own part-time clowning career. Three of her three children are all in the clowning business. Coppola's brother, Mark, has two sons interested in clowning, and her other brother Andy's two boys accompany the family when they perform.

For years, anyone who wanted to clown was welcome in the Cunard camp, Coppola recalls.

"I don't think we ever turned anybody down. We always had enough costumes for anybody who wanted to go into the parade."

Chuck Sidlow, a Deptford Township High School graduate who performed with the Cunards, eventually became a clown with Ringling Brothers & Barnum and Bailey Circus.

"He was always proud that he clowned with us first," Coppola adds.

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READ THE ARTICLE ONLINE

Cindy Sherman's Clown Portraits

At the end of the 1990's, a prominent art magazine chose photographer Cindy Sherman as one of the twenty-five most influential artists of the twentieth century.
Cindy has photographed a number of subjects, using a "Role portrait" approach to astonish and amaze her audiences.

Starting somewhere in 2002, she started photographing the subject of this blog: clowns. 'I came to clowns,' she says, 'to show the complex emotional abysses of a painted smile.'


Sherman seems to be going for extremes, either very sad, very happy, or a little scary. Nevertheless, these clown portraits (with digitally manipulated backgrounds) have become "fine art" and have been exhibited at galleries around the world.


I don't recognize any of the clowns, and am not sure if she used models or actual clowns to do her work. Probably Pat Cashin will come by (or somebody else) and identify anybody that they know.

Metro Pictures Gallery has an excellent online exhibition of the photos. To view more of the photos, visit their website listed below:

METRO PICTURES ONLINE EXHIBITION: Cindy Sherman's Clowns

AN ARTICLE ABOUT THE EXHIBIT: Courtesy of findarticles.com

5 day Neutral Mask Intensive in NY

5-DAY INTENSIVE • IN NYC
NEUTRAL MASK developed by JACQUES LECOQ
with MASTER TEACHER DODY DISANTO
A COMPREHENSIVE COURSE - 30 hours
JUNE 24 thru 28 2007
Sunday – Thursday 10am - 5pm


HELD IN NEW YORK CITY
at Trisha Brown Dance Studio
625 West 55th Street
Tuition - $600 ($550 if paid by May 31st )

Utilizing the innate wisdom of the body, the neutral mask enables us to find freedom, awareness and expression. It is a foundation and point of reference for building all character. It pushes us to our growing edge, guides us into a dialogue with our habits and arrives at the truth through essential gesture.

The neutral mask is a full-face mask that you wear through a series of exercises. The mask engages a large space and beckons you to expand your presence. The exercises allow you to experience how the great movements of nature correspond to the most intimate movements of human emotion.

The course will cover the entire thrust of the neutral mask work, including all supporting structures: dynamic studies, movement analysis, element identifications and ensemble creation.

This course is open to professional individuals of all levels.
Classes are very physical.
SPACE IS LIMITED - To register, give the organizaers a call at 202-462-5810 or visit this website: http://www.thisisthecenter.com/cmt.html#register

Mandy Dalton

Mandy Dalton is an actress and clown based in Glen Burnie, Maryland. She develops comical and whimsical characters for all sorts of special events. Her characters can fit into nearly any theme. She can even design a character especially for your occasion. Her circus skills--juggling, stilt-walking, unicycling, magic--mesmerize audiences.

In addition to strolling entertainment, Mandy has 30 and 45 minute presentations available. For family audiences, she presents Mandy the Clown For more sophisticated crowds, She does a standup routine as Madame Olga the psychic. And she has created a number of different characters for corporate events, including a bumbling waitress to sell cleaning supplies, a mermaid to sell hot tubs, and a stilt-walking Statue of Liberty to sell raffle tickets for a trip to New York.

Mandy also has a 30 minute educational show titled ‘Kid Fit! with Mandy.’ Her show helps kids 5-12 learn better health habits, like exercising and eating right.

To find out more about Mandy's work, please visit her website:
http://www.mandydalton.com

Clown Slang on Twitter

There's a new thing that I've been following called Twitter. It's like a blog, but it gets sent to your phone.
For example, there's a clown slang twitter that sends out a clown slang term once a day or so.

If you are interested, check out
http://www.twitter.com/clownslang

follow clownslang at http://twitter.com

Kali Lela Colton

Kali Lela Colton is a Philadelphia-based theatre artist who has worked extensively as a clown, actor, writer, wigmaker, stiltwalker, designer and teaching artist on original works for theatres, museums, art galleries, city streets, school auditoriums and community centers. Kali won an Emerging Artist Award from Franklin Furnace and Pseudo Online Network premiered Colton’s creation myth, Mama is blue. Pop is red. Girl is green? for their inaugural season. For her solo work in Philadelphia Kali earned a Performance In An Intimate Space Award from Community Education Center. Solo clown theatre projects include Crestfallen Angel Duck and My Job Is Hard or Lots of People Call Me (on the phone, to make dates) featured in Tapestry Theatre's Female Funny Fest. Kali is a PTP certified graduate of Dell’ Arte International School of Physical Theatre and a Lotta M. Crabtree Trusts scholarship winner.

Kali's current projects include FIASCROSCURO, a one-person clown love story to be directed by internationally known clown David Shiner, and EWE ARE HERE, a theatrical cultural exchange with native peoples on native land where cultural traditions include sheep. In August 2007 Kali will travel to New Mexico to witness and document the women’s tradition of sheep shearing, carding and spinning among the Navajo Nation as well as perform solo clown theatre.

Kali's website is under construction. If you'd like to get in touch with her to find out more about her work send her an email at imfunnyhi@yahoo.com

Matthew Pauli

Matthew Pauli is a 1991 graduate of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College and has been clowning ever since. He appears regularly at corporate events, street festivals, fairs and picnics and in his stage shows. His work as a clown has taken him around the U.S. and as far as Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Since 1999, he has been proud to be part of the Big Apple Circus Clown Care Program, performing at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. and at Johns Hopkins Children's Center in Baltimore, MD.

In addition to performing as a clown, Mathew is an accomplished puppeteer and actor. He performed with Beale Street Puppets for five years, built a life size rhino for Circus Millenia, and has built severaly Audrey puppets for the musical Little Shop of Horrors.

Matthew is currently with the Big Apple Circus, sharing the role of Grandma with her creator and International Clown Hall of Fame inductee Barry Lubin.

To find out more about Mathew's work, please visit his website listed below:
http://www.matthewpauli.net/

Gautham Prasad

Gautham Prasad was born in India and raised in America. He studied acting at Northwestern University and studied mime in Paris with Maximilien Decroux. He was a clown with Ringling Brothers circus for two years. He has studied clowning with Dick Monday, Tiffany Reilly, Sue Morrison, and David Shiner. He currently lives in New York city where he works as a yoga teacher and performer.

In addition to working as a clown in the area (offering various acts for parties and corporate events, as well as short clown pieces), Gautham also works as a standup comedian. He has performed at Caroline's on Broadway and the Gotham comedy club, as well as dozens of smaller venues in New York City.

To find out more about Gautham's work, visit his website listed below:
http://gauthamprasad.com/

The Maestrosities

The Maestrosities are a clown cover band based in New York. The Maestrosities feature (from left to right) Gina Samardge as Gina on the accordion, Jenny Lee Mitchell as Dierdre on Clarinet and Operatic vocals, David Gochfeld as "The Maestro" on ukelele, vocals, and attitude, Glen Heroy as Glen on vocals and spoons, Andy Sapora as Chauncey on Tuba and Tuba, and Rod Kimball as Rod on trumpet (not pictured).


The band grew together as the musical elements of the clown play My Funny Valentine. They added a few performers, replaced some others due to other commitments, and started to rehearse in earnest.

In April 2007, they performed at a local festival and have had great success since then. Constantly adding new songs, The Maestrosities are excited to also expand their character and clown work into a full stage play during the coming months. When not touring the world and playing to sold out concerts, The Maestrosities also do birthday parties. If the price is right.

To find out more about the Maestrosities, visit their website or myspace page (listed below)

http://www.maestrosities.com
http://myspace.com/maestrosities

Gale LaJoye

Gale LaJoye is a clown who grew up and is now based in Marquette, Michigan. He combines clowning, mime, circus tricks, and a poignant sense of self to create silent shows that are both funny and sad.

In the early 1970's Gale was a clown and performer with Ringling, and by 1977 he had become Boss Clown of his unit. In 1979 fate dealt Gale a crushing blow. He was involved in a very serious car accident, and was paralyzed. His doctors advised him he would never walk again. Unwilling to accept this, Gale began the slow process of rebuilding his body and keeping his spirits up using humor. Fortunately, he regained his balance and the ability to walk.

After his recovery, LaJoye produced a silent show called Too Foolish For Words, which toured internationally with great success. In 1990, he created another silent show Snowflake. This silent show features Gale as a childlike, innocent homeless guy who lives on a vacant lot strewn with rubbish. Snowflake entertains himself by recycling discarded objects into comic treasures, and turns sorrow into joy, He breathes life into toys, floats in mid-air, makes music out of a bedframe, and dances the Nutcracker on skis. Snowflake has toured throughout the world, and has been performed thousands of times. In Japan alone he toured Snowflake to 280 cities.

When not on tour with Snowflake, Gale is busy developing his next production, which will arrive in the next few years.

To find out more about Gale LaJoye's work, or to see videos, visit his website listed below:

http://www.lajoye.com

Jeff Gordon-- "Le Clown Gordoon"

Jeff Gordon (Le Clown Gordoon) has been performing as a clown for nearly 30 years. He has performed all over the world, including serious stints under the tent of the Big Apple Circus; on Broadway with Bill Irwin; as a member of the Big Apple Clown Care unit in hospitals all over New York City, on cruise ships, and in movies, theatres, and other venues.

Utilizing circus skills, audience participation, improvisation and puppetry, Gordoon brings joy and laughter to all of his audience members. His one man show is called Fools Foolin', and finishes with his signature act, where the clown blows billowing rolls of toilet paper high up into the air with the use of a powerful leafblower. This act has since been appropriated by many clowns all over the world.

In addition to his performances, Jeff also teaches residencies and workshops in schools, libraries, and universities. Jeff is based in Pittsburgh, PA

Although it looks like his website is http://www.gordoon.com, there is currently nothing there. To find out more about Jeff, visit his artist roster page at the
Pennsylvania Performing Artists On Tour website.

Michael Rosman

Michael Rosman is a comedy juggler and entertainer. He has been performing for over 20 years and is one of the most respected and sought after performers on the east coast. He has performed all over the world, including stints in Japan, Singapore, Atlantic City, Reno and Las Vegas. He has performed on more than 25 different major cruise ships and at over 100 colleges and universities. He has also performed on the David Letterman show, where both Dave and Paul decided that he was "something."

Michael is a graduate of the University of Delaware with a degree in finance, and is also a graduate of Ringling Clown College. He is a two-time winner of the prestigious Maryland State Individual Artist Grant Award for excellence in the arts.

In addition to his work as a performer, Michael has done a lot of organizational and consulting work. He is one of the organizers for the Harborplace street performances in Baltimore, Maryland. He is also the founder and director of the Laughter Arts Foundation, a non-profit organization that produces the national variety arts professional development conferences MotionFest and MiniFest.

To find out more about Michael's work visit his website listed below:

http://www.michaelrosman.com/

Doris The New Age Guru: The Clown Within.

Doris The New Age Guru is a character created by Rachel Caine, an English business woman turned self-described "Sacred Clown Healer."

Doris's story is the following:

After thirty five years married to Stanley in Pontefract, Doris was blessed when a blinding flash electrocuted the hoover and her spirit guide came shining through. Instructed to branch out into the New Age of Aquariums, she voyaged to the Oracle at Delphi, who told her to beware of therapies which would cost a lot and leave her none the wiser. Ignoring the guidance, she became addicted to New Age workshops, finally deciding to devise her own. From tea to tarot, karaoke to karma and toilets to tantra, Doris now leads journeys to the brighter side of life…

Rachel performs in theatres, prisons, hospitals and at street festivals. She lives in Ibiza, Spain and gives regular classes in "Sacred Clown" in Spain, Greece, and England. Her take on her work as a clown is that she bring spontaneity and joy to people in their darkest hours and through her work transforms sadness with a loving heart. I've never met her or taken her workshop, so can't comment on her efficacy as a teacher. She seems to get good marks from the people that have taken her class.

To find out more about Rachel's seminars and performances, visit her websites listed below.
http://www.clownwithin.com
http://www.dorisandfriends.com/

BROOKLYN Fun-Raiser Party- June 17

CLOWNS WITHOUT BORDERS FUN-RAISER PARTY
On Sunday, June 17, there will be a "Fun-Raiser" party to benefit and support this summer's expeditions, which will be bringing joy and laughter to kids affected by hurricane Katrina.

The party will go from 4-7 pm at the Brooklyn Lyceum ( 227 4th Ave, Brooklyn) It's a former swimming pool that has been turned into a theatre.
See a map.

There will be a $10 entrance fee.

SCHEDULE
4pm - 5pm - Clown Performances -
Selena McMahan, Alice Nelson, Kali Quinn, Deven Sisler, Mindy Ferraraccio, Wendy Kinal

5pm - 6pm - clown games for prizes/awards

• - 3 legged race, pin the nose on the clown, tripping competition, clown wrestling.
• - Q and A about the current situation on the Gulf Coast, and the work of Clowns Without Borders
• - short video of clowns working in the field.
• - photo and wine auction

6pm - 7pm - DANCE PARTY!!

• -Zydeco and live music by the Rude Mechanical Orchestra
• - cookies and lemonade
• - you are encouraged to wear a silly hat
• - and to bring fathers, as this is likely the funnest party father's day party around

Clowns Without Borders is an international non-profit (founded in Spain in 1993) offering relief through joy and laughter to children in areas of crisis around the world - we work in war zones, and places suffering from natural disasters, disease epidemics, and extreme poverty.
CWB-USA usually works abroad but in response to the immense crisis surrounding hurricane Katrina we have sent and continue to send a number of expeditions to perform and teach workshops to survivors of the hurricanes.
All of the funds from the benefit will go directly to the July CWB Katrina expedition.

Clowns Without Borders: www.clownswithoutborders.org
Kids in New Orleans: www.stillweatheringthestorm.org
Rude Mechanical Orchestra: www.rudemechanicalorchestra.org

Lisa Lou (Lisa Lewis)

Lisa Lou (aka Lisa Lewis) is a graduate of the Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Clown College, Brandeis University and has an MA in Clown/Circus history from NYU.

Lisa Lou is a versatile performer, incorporating clowning, magic, circus skills, and science into her shows. She has a number of different performances as either a solo performer or with her husband John Lepiarz (Mr. Fish), Her performances range from educational (Crazy Chemistry, the Magic of Chemistry, and the Anti-Gravity Show) to entertaining (Lisa Lou's One Woman Circus, Comic Daredevils, and the Circus Sisters with performer Liz Bolick.



Lisa has performed at a number of diverse venues, including King Richard's Faire, The Michigan State Fair, Rodeo Houston, Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors, the NY Buskers Fair and Nagasaki Holland Village. She also works part time for the Big Apple Circus Clown Care Unit and has performed at a long list of schools and corporate events.

To find out more about her work, visit Lisa's website at the site listed below:
http://www.lisa-lou.com