Dan Kamin, a clown, mime, and expert performer (who taught Robert Downey Jr how to be Charlie Chaplin for the movie Chaplin, and taught Johnny Dep how to be Buster Keaton for the movie Bennie and Joon) is an expert on Chaplin. His previous book on Chaplin is now out of print, very hard to find, and quite good. So I'm happy to announce that Dan has a forthcoming book on Chaplin.
Here are the details!
FORTHCOMING
The Comedy of Charlie Chaplin Artistry in Motion Dan Kamin
DESCRIPTION From his early shorts in the 1910s thru his final film in 1967, Charlie Chaplin delighted audiences in the millions. Chaplin's genius embraced many arts-mime, dance, acting, music, writing, and directing. In The Comedy of Charlie Chaplin: Artistry in Motion, Dan Kamin examines Chaplin's fusion of these arts in his films, providing new understanding of how movement communicates, how comedy routines are structured, and how stage skills can be translated to the screen.
An acclaimed comic performing artist himself, Kamin brings a unique insider's perspective to the subject. In the book's first section, he recounts Chaplin's theatrical background, examines how and why he moves the way he does on the screen, and considers how Chaplin adapted his stage technique to the film medium. The book also explains how Chaplin's physical virtuosity led him to create the timeless visual comedy that brought silent films to their peak. Analyzing the principles behind his gags, Kamin also discusses the evolution of Chaplin's character and his unparalleled achievement in conjuring comedy from the fundamental physical laws of movement.
Chaplin's dilemma as a silent comedian in the sound era is also explored. Never repeating himself, each of his sound films represents a different experiment in which he integrated antithetical elements-sound and movement, and verbal and visual comedy. Considering these films individually reveals the sometimes surprising ways that Chaplin remained true to his silent roots, at the same time that he kept reinventing himself to keep his art viable.
Delving into the intricacies of Chaplin's incredibly sophisticated visual comedy, Kamin offers new insights into how Chaplin achieved his legendary rapport with audiences, and demonstrates why comedy created nearly a century ago is still fresh today. Lavishly illustrated with fascinating historical artifacts and many never-before-published images of the comedian, The Comedy of Charlie Chaplin provides the only in-depth analysis of Chaplin as a movement artist and physical comedian. Revealing the inner workings of Chaplin's mesmerizing art, this book will appeal not just to Chaplin fans, but to anyone who loves comedy.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Dan Kamin performs comedy shows worldwide and is a frequent guest artist with symphony orchestras. He created the physical comedy sequences for the films Chaplin and Benny and Joon, and trained Robert Downey, Jr. and Johnny Depp for their acclaimed performances.
My good friend and collaborator Tom Sgouros has a fantastic show that he'll be performing in the Bay Area on Saturday May 3 at the Maker's Faire. A fun and engaging show that asks the question: What is it like to be a robot? It's not quite clowning, but Tom is a very good clown, and the show is all about obstacle (and philosophy)
Judy the Robot will return once more to sunny California this coming weekend, at the Make Magazine "Maker Faire" at the San Mateo Event Center (I think it used to be called the Fairgrounds). This is a very strange, but altogether delightful event that calls together people from all over the place who like to make stuff, ranging from robot giraffes to bicycle-driven generators to catapults and sweaters that blink. So Judy will fit right in. Judy will provide the Saturday night entertainment for the festival, 6:30 in the Fiesta Hall, May 3. There's more about the festival at http://makerfaire.com .
Since the dawn of the computer age, oceans of ink have been spilt writing about the intelligence of computers. Some researchers say that computers will eventually attain super-human intelligence. Others call these claims... um, poppycock. Oddly, in the search for the truth of the matter, both camps have overlooked an obvious strategy: interviewing a computer and asking its opinion. Intrepid researcher Sgouros has leapt into this lacuna, and presents some preliminary findings in a new not-quite-solo show. (You could call it "My Dinner with Android.")
The central question is: if you build a robot smart enough to do the dishes, will it also be smart enough to find them boring?
Judy herself was built in Tom's basement, over the course of several months, from pieces of some old computers, a couple of bicycles, a copy machine, marine stove, and yes, someone's kitchen sink. After literally weeks of intensive tutoring in phonics, elocution, and the elements of logic, Judy made her public debut in January, 2000, at Providence's Perishable Theatre.
The seventh in a series of possibly comic monologues and solo dialogues, Judy is a story of a man and his, um, companion, discussing such topics as imagination, consciousness, stage magic, the uses of eyes, and what it's really like to wake up in the morning and confront your aluminum-and-steel face in the mirror each day.
International clown teacher Giovanni Fusetti will lead a class in Theatre Clowning in Kristiansand, Norway this summer from June 24-July 20. The class is limited to 14 students, and there are still a couple of places available. The class promises to be highly international-- thus far they have received applications from Austria, Finland, Germany, Greece, Norway, South Africa, UK, and USA.
The four week program will consist of the following:
First Week: THE CLOWN “STATE”-- Play, action/reaction and fun. From the Neutral Mask to the Red Nose. Second Week: THE PLAY (le jeu)-- Playing with space, objects, hierarchy. Clown numbers and le bide (fiasco). Third Week: THE SKILLS -- The actor’s skills in the service of the clown, The writing of a Clown Number.
Fourth Week: THE SHOW-- Devising a clown variety show, & public presentation of the show.
(a much more comprehensive listing is available on the website listed below)
Tuition is 950 euros, but reduction of tuition is offered to students traveling from North America (-150 €), South America, Asia and Africa: (-200 €), and Oceania (-250€)
The tuition does not include accomodation. However, the organization will provide different options of affordable acccomodation. Rosegarden Theaterhouse also will provide the use of a communal kitchen space.
The official language of the workshop is English. A basic understanding is required.
For practical and administrative information please contact
Subject: Teachers Training/NICA/ The Deadly Serious Training Project
Greetings all,
We would like to get the word out to as many people as Greetings all,
We would like to get the word out to as many peoplepossible, so apologies if you have already received this email. If there is a group, community or person you think might be interested in our upcoming project, please forward this email on.
NICA is currently Seeking Expressions of Interest from potential participants for: The Deadly Serious Training Project: Advance - Enhance.
After many wonderful discussions (and feedback) with the indigenous youth participants at the recent ACAPTA conference (and a number of years being partners in projects in various places around Australia), NICA is responding with a 2008 training project, 'Deadly Serious'. This one week project will train young leaders within the indigenous youth circus community, (16 yrs +) and will take place over a week in the National Institute of Circus Arts training space (in Melbourne), towards the latter part of the year. Participants will need to fund their accommodation, airfares and meals.
Objectives: To provide an opportunity for leaders within the indigenous youth circus community to advance their circus and teaching skills To raise the profile of Indigenous Youth Circus companies and projects To enable indigenous youth leaders to make connections with an educational institute and in particular with professional circus trainers and tertiary circus students To provide participants with the opportunity to create networks, collaborations and lasting partnerships Deadly Serious: Advance- Enhance, will offer young, aspiring, indigenous circus performers the opportunity to: Follow their passion Dive headlong into a week of 'deadly serious' training Enhance and advance current skills Confirm previous achievements and extend them through new challenges Create productive networks Work with the dedicated and experienced multinational community of trainers at NICA
New York Downtown Clown would like to thank all the performers of our second year. Without each of their talents, innovations, and hard work, there would be no show on the third Monday of every month. The amazing clowns of New York City are brave, poetic, unique, and funny. New York Clowns are a strong community and the following Nominees represent some of the leaders of clown education, performance, and production from this past year.
AWARD CATAGORY EXPLANATIONS The Audience Choice Awards go to the clown or clown group who received the most audience votes over the past year at The New York Downtown Clown Revue performances in a specific category. The four Nominees are the top four most voted for in each category. The clown or clown group with the most votes in a category is the winner of that category and will be announced at the Golden Nose Awards Ceremony on May 19th.
Clown Achievement of The Year goes to the company or group that has accomplished an outstanding clown achievement. This award goes to large scale achievements that serve the clown community as a whole or to achievements of clown work for commercial/mass appeal. Nomination and Award are at the discretion of New York Downtown Clown producers. To be eligible for the Clown of The Year category, the clown must have appeared on stage or in a film of the current year's Clown Revue. This award is for individual clowns who work professionally and artistically and have also made contributions to the larger clown community through education, mentorship, directing, producing, and/or other forms. Nomination and Award are at the discretion of New York Downtown Clown producers. - GOLDEN NOSES Created and Provided by ProKNOWS, www.proknows.com THE 2008 NYDC GOLDEN NOSE AWARD NOMINEES (nominees appear in alphabetical order)
Audience Choice Best Clown Film: Gravitational Fool, by Jeff Seal Retard Midget Get Out of My Life, by Happy Hour
Audience Choice Best Clown Act: A Clown Noir, by Butt Kapinski At The Opera, by Those In The Nose Coney Island Chris, by Chris Allison Tea for One, by Nina Levine
Audience Choice Best Clown/Clown Group: Chris Allison Jef Johnson Nina Levine Those In The Nose
Clown of The Year: Moshe Cohen performed in the September Clown Revue and is nominated as 2008 Clown of The Year for his work as Mr. Yoowho, his teachings of Zen and Clown, and his involvement with Clowns Without Borders USA.
Mark Gindick, whose Happy Hour films were featured in the October Clown Revue is nominated for 2008 Clown of The Year for his work on Big Apple Circus where he shared the role of Grandma, his teaching work at SUNY Purchase, and his coaching with Assortment of Fools.
Jef Johnson performed in the August Clown Revue and is nominated for 2008 Clown of The Year for his work on the international touring production of Slava's Snowshow, and his development of clown and clown training through Jef Johnson's Clown Lab.
Keith Nelson performed in the February Clown Revue and is nominated for 2008 Clown of The Year for his work as Kinko the Clown, the performance initiatives he has co-created through his company Bindlestiff Family Circus, and his teaching work at New York Circus Arts Academy, Wagner College, and several youth programs.
Clown Achievement of The Year: The Brick Theater, producers of the New York Clown Theatre Festival will receive this year's Clown Achievement of The Year Award.
TICKETS NOW ON SALE Get Your tickets now to the only Clown Awards Show in the Country! THE NEW YORK DOWNTOWN CLOWN GOLDEN NOSE AWARDS Monday, May 19th, 2008 Red Carpet 7:30pm, Show 8pm All tickets $20 For tickets call or visit Smarttix at www.smarttix.com or call (212) 868-4444 At The Kraine Theater, 85 EAST 4TH STREET (BETWEEN 2nd & Bowery, 1st FL) NO WHEELCHAIR ACCESS
Celebrate Earth Day with the Combustibles and their new show Detritus. Here's an email I got from them:
"Where does our trash go?"
Research for DETRITUS began with the question, "where does our trash go?" But as we dug deeper, other questions bubbled to the surface, like "why do we have so much trash?" One thing we have learned is that nothing is simple when it comes to trash.
Have a look at the Story of Stuff, a short video by Annie Leonard. It gets at the complexity of the big picture in a clear and fun way. The Story of Stuff
Celebrate with us!
How? Come see our work-in-progress performance this week then stick around afterwards, share your thoughts, and be a part of a conversation about sustainability.
After the show we'll be at a nearby pub: The Parlour at 250 W 86th St. $4 well & drafts with your program
Work-In-Progress Performances
Artists of Tomorrow Festival
Produced by Six Figures Theatre Company
Saturday, April 26 @ 2:00 pm Sunday, April 27 @ 6:00 pm
West End Theatre 263 W. 86th Street (Btwn Broadway & West End)
Reminder: The Sustainable Circus is coming! May 29th, 7-9:30pm
DETRITUS / THE PLAY
Conceived & Developed by the ensemble Performers: Lynn Berg, Audrey Crabtree, Jeff Seal, Anne Sorce & Liza Zapol Directed by: Larissa Lury Assistant Director: Jill Beckman Producer: Teresa Ryno Bouffon Consultant: Eric Davis Music: Dave Edson
In association with Ten Directions
DETRITUS is made possible in part with the public funds from the Manhattan Community Arts Fund, supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and administered by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.
Clown Therapy Workshop - Weekend Intensive with Paoli Lacy May 24, 25, & 26 Saturday 2-6, Sunday 10-6, and Monday 10-1
Taught by Paoli Lacy, Godmother of Clown Therapy, this workshop will be an experiential, hands-on 2 1/2 day intensive. It will include practical kinesthetic learning of clown therapy techniques along with discussion of the theory and rationales for their use. A holistic approach to meeting psychological and physical challenges, Clown Therapy has been successful with health issues where mind, body, and a sense of humor need to converge. Clown Therapy is noted for serving special needs children at the crossroads of physical therapy, occupational therapy, psychotherapy, and creative arts, with Lucille Ball directing traffic.
All participants will receive a copy of the Clown Therapy Handbook for future reference.
Cost: $170.00 Discounts for AYCO members, Clown Conservatory and Dell ‘Arte graduates
Classes held at the Circus Center San Francisco 755 Frederick Street, San Francisco, CA 94117
The Nomadic Theatre Co, based in Portland, Oregon, has been creating and performing original physical theatre shows since 2002. To develop a new show, Nomadic performers and directors take ideas which interest and excite them and delve into them in the studio. For example, they created How to Fly by physically exploring numerous aspects and avenues of the topic of flight. The three core company members – Michael O’Neill, Sarah Liane Foster and Heather Pearl – have performed and taught in communities across the United States as well as internationally. They are graduates of the Dell’Arte International School of Blue Lake, CA.
Over the next two weeks, they will be performing and teaching in Portland, OR. WORKSHOPS
THEATRICAL CLOWN Tuesday April 15th and 22nd, 7-10pm Find what is funny about you - how to create an eccentric, humorous character by using and exaggerating your own attributes. Through individual physical analysis and group improvisational exercises, we will explore the process of finding profound funniness and learn how to create original material through honest, dynamic play. $25 for one class or $45 for both PHYSICAL COMEDY WORKSHOP Saturday, April 19th, 10am-2pm This workshop will focus on character and individual analysis through physicality and movement, with a combination of group exercises and individual exploration. Comedy is many things -- you will find that it is more then just being silly. $75/$50 students
All classes will be held at Theatre! Theater! (3430 SE Belmont, Portland). For more information or to register, call 971.219.5781, or visit brownpapertickets.org.
And RUNNING INTO WALLS, their new, hilarious clown show is running for 2 more weekends at Theatre! Theater! Fri & Sat @ 8pm, Sat & Sun @ 3pm. Info/tickets at brownpapertickets.com & www.nomadictheatre.org.
Training New York Downtown Clown PlaygroundConditioning for the Physical Performer with Keith Nelson of Bindlestiff Family Circus May 5th 9-10 pm. Come learn excercises that will keep you in top shape. More info: http://www.newyorkdowntownclown.com/workshops.htm
Helen Donnelly is an actor, instructor and theatrical, therapeutic and circus clown. In the past, she was a professional performance storyteller and appeared in over 300 schools and libraries, and as an actor toured various children’s shows in Ontario. She has been teaching clown and movement workshops in the US and Canada for over 6 years at high schools, colleges and art institutions.
Helen is a graduate from the University of Toronto with an Honours B.A., Specialist in Drama. Helen has studied clown with David Shiner (Cirque du Soleil, Fool Moon), Roch Jutras (Cirque du Soleil, Cirque Eloize), John Turner and Mike Kennard (of Mump and Smoot fame), Grindl Kuchirka and Theatre Smith-Gilmour. She continues her study of the art form.
She has worked with circus groups such as Cirque du Soleil, Cirque Sublime, Cirque Eos, Zero Gravity Circus and continues her work with Circus Orange. Aside from her work in the theatrical clown realm, she is a professional therapeutic clown offering friendship and therapeutic play at Bloorview Kids Rehab and worked at The Hospital for Sick Children for 2 years. She is a member of The Canadian Association of Therapeutic Clowns.
In 2005, Helen formed her own theatrical clown company, Foo Productions. This company seeks to produce quality theatrical clown shows which entertain through parodying existing art forms. Its other mandate is to expose clown to a more multicultural audience as the language used presents no barrier. Posey’s Wig is a theatrical clown musical, performed entirely in gibberish (an invented language) with original music. The Foo Talk Show,created primarily for the corporate world, parodies the talk show formula as Foo the host interviews in gibberish with the guests responding in English. The format showcases Foo’s unique interview style and a musical sidekick (James Fisher), with original music.
Helen also teaches a number of workshops, including "Discover Your Clown" for beginners and "Flexing Your Clown Muscle" for intermediate students. These are offered a few times a year. Her website has a downloadable list of upcoming workshops.
To find out more about Helen's work, visit her website listed below: www.helendonnelly.com
Bambouk brings their Vaudeville-inspired silent comedy to NY for a limited run from April 16-27.
Bambouk is the creation of two American theatre clowns, Matthew Duncan and Brian Foley. Matthew and Brian juggle plates, flip hats, ride a sixfoot unicycle, play the accordion, ukulele and musical saw, even make an audience member float in mid-air! They wear no makeup, just red noses and tuxedos.
BAMBOUK has opened for the Drifters, the Platters and Charo, and shared the stage with award-winning circus artists from the Moscow Circus, Nanjing Acrobatic Troupe, Big Apple Circus and Cirque du Soleil. Together and individually they have been the featured physical comedians in stage productions, ice shows, cruise ships and theme parks since 1990. BAMBOUK has been seen multiple times in China, Japan, Alaska, Mexico, the Caribbean islands, and throughout the contintental U.S.
BAMBOUK Bald Comedy. In Tails. WHEN: Opens April 16 - April 27, 2008 WHERE: American Theatre of Actors located at 314 West 54th Street, 2nd Floor SCHEDULE: Tuesday-Friday at 8pm; Saturday 2pm and 8pm; Sunday 2pm and 7pm PRICE: Tickets are $30 for Adults, $20 for Children aged 8 to 13
OTHER NOTES: Not suitable for children under 8. Recommended for Adults. Call SmartTix at 212-868-4444 or visit www.smarttix.com Running time is 1 hour, 45 minutes with one intermission
Rough & Tumble is a ten year-old theatre company that has made a name for itself in Boston for its inventive physical comedy and bold theatricality. The company develops original works, produces new plays by Boston playwrights, and stages guerilla theater events around Boston (such as an elaborate chase scene through the Boston Public Library and a playfully bizarre tour along the Freedom Trail).
While not quite clowns, they use clowning, circus skills, melodrama, masks, and just about anything else they can get their hands on to make theatre that, in their own words, "doesn't suck." (Yes, that's part of their mission statement/manifesto)
They've got a great manifesto up on their website (listed below)
Here's part of it:
Our stuff looks different, is outside the norm, linear narrative, realistic, method/classical stuff because we are looking for new, more alive ways to engage and exhilarate our audience. If that means setting up a bedroom on the Boston Common: OK. If that means creating a show with no spoken dialogue: right-on. If that means adapting a movie script for the stage: brilliant. We love a creative challenge because it's fun, and it presents opportunities to give our audiences glittering moments of awareness. We experiment with the form for the sake of what we create, not for the sake of experimenting.
Our motto is "Theater That Doesn't Suck" because we think most theater does suck. If we could call what we do something other than "plays" and "theater" without confusing people, we'd do it. Most theater is talky, bland, self-important and preaching to the choir. Most theater ignores completely what is unique and exciting about the form. We want to make theater that is more like seeing a great rock concert: dizzying and exhilarating and euphoric and communal and there's a chance you might get laid. And we don't think that's experimental, as much as we think that's what theater should be like, and everyone who isn't trying for that is doing it wrong.
Their next show is a mostly true story of famous airship captain Hugo Eckener's effort to fly the Graf Zeppelin around the world in 1929, carrying dozens of journalists, photographers, paying passengers, and the physician to the King of Spain. They are combing through the many histories and newspaper reports that chronicled the event to recreate the atmosphere of media frenzy, populist pride, and futurism that swirled about the voyage. In addition to all of the historical research, they will be making a bunch of stuff up wholecloth.
The show will be at the Factory Theater, 791 Tremont Street in Boston from April 11-27.
I won't be at the opening however, as I have a wedding to attend that night-- My Own!
The Claude Gallery in Eastchester, New York is proud to present their first theme art show: Clowns, Jokers and Pranks Art Show, with a line up of over a dozen talented artists from across the United States. The curators of this show are RT Vegas and Jerry Todd. The opening festivities will commence on Saturday April 5th 2008 from 7 p.m until 1 a.m. Refreshments will include complimentary food and drink including wine, beer and tequila. A live musician jam session will coincide with art opening starting at 9 p.m. It will be held in the basement sound studio of the Claude Gallery and be hosted by gallery owner Artie Walker.
Featured Artists: LEX Irmal Cannavo Mark Fox Keemo Stucky Andrew Sloan Biagio "Gino" Civale Jesse Sanchez JOS-L Jerry Todd Nicolas Caesar Katie Simpson Mike A. RT Vegas Nick Sheridan Dutch Von Spooge
Clowns, Jokers and Pranks Art Show at the Claude Gallery Runs from April 5th 2008 through May 2nd 2008.
The Claude Gallery 282 Main Street Eastchester, New York 10707
Artie Walker, owner
For more information call (914) 779-8822 or email Artie at artjam73@gmail.com
a semi-sophisticated clown cabaret withKendall Cornelland her Soon-To-Be-World-Famous Women's Clown Troupe
APRIL 11-13th 2008 (three nights only!!!)
An old-fashioned music hall is overrun by clowns who, along with their slightly more serious guest artists, present music and song of all genres, madcap dance numbers and devilish surprises.
Special guest artists include: The hip songstress Fiona Landers The tap dancing élan of Rod Ferrone The flamenco vocals of Alfonso Cid The rock and roll musings of The Bitter Poet
WHERE: The Club at La MaMa E.T.C. 74 A EAST 4th Street - between 2nd Avenue and The Bowery (F/V to 2nd Avenue, 6 to Astor Place, N/R to 8th St.)
Running Time: Approximately 65 min ~ no intermission
TICKETS:$15(Student and senior tickets are $10 with valid ID) Online:www.lamama.org Phone:(212) 475-7710 In person:LaMaMa box office (Mon - Fri 10am – 10pm, Sat - Sun Noon - 10pm)
HawHawJames isn't a professional clown-- he's a painter, artist, and (according to his bio) a drag queen and born again Christian. All that's unimportant, though, because I think his latest project is delightful.
He's been doing some amazing trompe l'oeil's, using his face as a canvas, and then photographing the results. These self-portraits are witty, clever, and very well done.
I've posted a few of them below-- but you should check out his whole collection on Flickr. These are portraits of his own face, and he's got a whole bunch of other interesting ones.
In clown work, we talk a lot about visual inventiveness- here it is in spades!
I used to belong to fotolog which was one of the original "Download your own photo" sites. Then Flickrcame along, and fotolog was having so many technical problems, and I jumped ship. I forgot all about fotolog, until I got an email telling me I had a comment on one of my old pages there. I checked out my old site at fotolog (which is still up) and noticed that there were a lot of comments on the site, and I started surfing, and ended up finding a very interesting photo site
It's a guy from Chile who works a lot of technical stuff for Cirque du Soleil when they are in Chile. He's got lots of great photos of clowns and Cirque du Soleil artists and him. The text is all in Spanish, so I can only guess what it says, but basically it's photos of Cirque artists. It's a great behind the scenes look at some of the performers/makeup/etc. (I've cobbled together four of the photos below)
To see more of these photos, visit the website listed below: You can also catch my OLD fotolog site (which is mostly NOT clown related) at the link listed below:
Drew Richardson (aka The Dramatic Fool) has been busy blogging. His blog- Think Foolishly, features exercises, comments, interviews, and examples of his work in the really hard work of the clown- creative problem-solving. Or, how to do stuff logically that's just wrong, but doesn't seem wrong to your character.
Sometimes when I'm teaching clowning and improvisation, I call this "predicamenting"-- finding or manufacturing the predicament that your character (or characters) get into. It takes skill and talent to set up the proper scenario.
Over at Drew's blog-- he's got several assignments to learn how to be a better predicamenter-- the last one as of today was to build a "Foolish Tool Kit"-- a kit that fits in your suitcase that can be used to solve (and create) a number of problems. His before and after photos are funny!
Also on the blog are film clips of masters (and of Drew's latest work) , an interview with creativity coach Eric Maisel, and other exercises to help you Think Foolishly. Definitely worth checking out!
The Brick Theater is now accepting application for the Third New York Clown Theatre Festival! Applications will be due by mid-April. The festival will take place this September. If you're interested, please follow the link below:
You can now click on the link above to make sure you keep up with the great work they are doing of bringing the gift of laughter to the impoverished in South Africa and surrounding areas.
Not only are they bringing kids laughter, they are leaving behind the seeds-- one of their important works is teaching workshops so that after they leave, kids have the tools to start making their own shows. If there is a surge of South African circus in 10 years, you will know why.
Jim Moore, the variety arts photographer who has probably photographed more clowns than anybody in the history of photography, has been doing something new-- he's been videotaping clowns.
If you check out his YouTube videos (URL below), he's putting up interviews with performers as they talk about their work, how they create their work, and even why they create their work.
Jim's got tons of archival stuff, so who knows what else he's got in his archives.
Recently he posted an interview with Keith Nelson of the Bindlestiff's, and he's also got David Engel and Hilary Chaplain talking about creating a new act for David's character El Magnifico.
HILARY CHAPLAIN & DAVID ENGEL VIDEO I suggest subscribing to his YouTube feed on the page, or checking in there pretty often to see what rare and interesting material he surfaces. He'll also be interviewing somebody from the NY Downtown Clown Revue every month, where he remains the official staff photographer)
(And speaking of subscribing, thanks to the ever more efficient Pat Cashin of Clownalley.net for the link to Keith's interview. I knew Jim was putting these videos together, but didn't think to mention them until I saw Pat's post. He beats me to the punch a lot in posting stuff.) If you are not RSS'ing Clownalley.net, you should be!
In 2001, I became the Clown Laureate of Greenbelt Maryland. As part of my work there, I curated a clown art exhibit, that featured over 50 pieces of artwork. I' ve assembled some samples on a web page, and recently moved it to my own site:
On Sunday March 2, Master Clown Teacher at the Dell'arte School RonLin Foreman and Joe Krienke will teach a class entitled: The Powerful Presence: Effort, Risk Momentum, Joy. The 3 hour workshop, at the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago, will include work on the actor's presence, physical efforts, movement and improvisation.
Ronlin was one of my teachers at Dell'arte. And while I certainly didn't agree with everything that he said (in fact, at one point he told me that "I misunderstood the nature of education."), I have to say that he is an amazing clown, and for certain people, can be an excellent teacher. Years later, I feel like I am incorporating some of the things in my work that I didn't understand at the time (and that RonLin didn't help me understand at the time, either-- which made it a frustrating experience then) I highly recommend studying with him.
One of the pieces that I continue to use when thinking or teaching now: The clown must truly fail in order to succeed. Not pretend to fail. Not fail at something with low stakes. The clown must be at the point of failing, and at that moment, the audience will ALLOW the clown to succeed. This point of view is obviously more useful in the theatre than in the circus, where you need to get on, do your funny, and leave. But it still applies.
This is the bio from Ronlin's classes at the Clown Festival two years ago:
A provocative teacher and director, Ronlin Foreman is Director of Pedagogical Research and Master Clown Teacher at the Dell'Arte International School of Physical Theatre in California. Zany and poignant, Foreman's uniquely confrontational and poetic brand of physical theatre has been featured at major international Movement, Theatre and Clown festivals in Mexico, Spain, Canada and the U.S.
Foreman's hallmarks are his character (drawn from the fool, the clown, and the grotesque) and his ability to play profoundly with comedy, and irreverently with the profound, and outrageously with an audience.
The workshop at Steppenwolf will go from 10am-1pm. From 2pm-6pm, auditions will be offered for admission to the Dell'arte School of Physical Theatre.
Space is limited to 35 people.
Participation fee of $100 required at time of reservation. Space preference and fee waivers are available to serious program applicants.
WHEN & WHERE Steppenwolf Theatre's Garage Space 1650 N. Halsted St., Chicago, IL. (south side of the parking lot) Workshop: 10am to 1pm Auditions: 2pm to 6pm
To find out more about Dell'arte, visit their website listed below: www.dellarte.com
Circus Juventas is a performing arts youth circus school located in St. Paul, Minnesota and serving the Twin Cities metro area. They offer youth circus arts training and performance opportunities for children and youth ages 3 to 21 in a safe and noncompetitive environment.
Circus Juventas was founded in 1994 by former circus performers Dan and Betty Butler. Originally known as Circus of the Star, it began as an after-school program in a neighborhood recreation center. The initial offerings were limited and could accommodate only 30 students. From the start, classes were filled to capacity. Realizing that the need for this kind of education was great, Dan and Betty founded a non-profit, got a board of directors, and started raising money. By the time they opened their doors in 2001 in a long term lease from the city of St. Paul, they had raised over 2.1 million dollars and created a 21,000 square foot Big Top to work in Since that time, their enrollment has doubled, then doubled again.
Juventas was the Roman goddess of youth who had the mythical power of rejuvenation, and because of Circus Jeventas, hundreds of thousands of delighted spectators have experienced the mystique and rejuvenating powers of the circus arts.
Acclaimed mime Daniel Stein and Dell'arte graduates Kali Quinn and Bill Celentano are featured in a new show about Polish artist and novelist Bruno Schultz (author of the classic Street of Crocodiles) Schulz was killed in the Holocaust in 1944 by a German officer. The show will be performed at Atlanta's PushPush Theatre. The play,written by author Murray Mednick, is produced in association with Padua Playwrights.
In 1978, Murray Mednick and five other playwrights, including Sam Shepard and Maria Irene Fornes, converged on the old Padua Hills estate in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, just east of Los Angeles. The playwrights, as well as playwriting students and actors, were given free reign to re-investigate their creativity, developing writing exercises for the morning, rehearsing in the afternoon, and presenting the results in the evening.
Since 2000, Padua has become a production company that produces works as well as inspires them.
The Bruno Project is expected to tour throughout the world, Poland, Germany, the Ukraine and Israel. Guy Zimmerman’s direction uses elements of mask, clowning and other theatrical disciplines to underscore the lyrical poeticism of Mednick’s text. This timeless production will speak to audiences at all levels – young and old, Jewish and non-Jewish - but will have a particular impact on younger audiences looking for new ways to understand the Nazi genocide.
Key collaborators in the Bruno project include, playing the lead, celebrated Commedia performer and teacher Daniel Stein. After attending the professional actor training program at Carnegie-Mellon University, Stein studied in Paris with French master Etienne Decroux, and made his home in Paris for 20 years.
Daniel started his professional career as an actor with the French National Theatre, and his solo performances have toured in more than 30 countries, as well as in theatres such as the Kennedy Center and Lincoln Center here in the United States. Formerly head of the Dell'Arte International School of Physical Theatre, in Blue Lake CA (among many other prestigious teaching credits), Stein is joined for this production by two of his star students, Kali Quinn and Bill Celentano, who have made names for themselves in the Los Angeles and New York theater community. Also on board for Padua’s production of Clown Show for Bruno are award-winning designers John Zelewski (music and sound design), Ann Closs-Farley (costume design), Jeffrey Atherton (set and mask design.), and current Padua director Guy Zimmerman
SHOW DATES Monday, February 25: Danville, Kentucky - Centre College, Norton Center for the Arts (Studio 502) Wednesday, February 27: Decatur, Georgia - Push Push Theater Thursday, February 28: Atlanta, Georgia - Goethe Institute Library
To find out more about the show and the theatre, visit the websites listed below:
On the Padua site, there is a video (apparently not linkable) that you can view which is an interview with author Murray Mednick about the project. The video also features scenes from the production.
One of the top working clown and dog acts is Johnny Peers' Muttville Comix. Johnny has been performing his act for over 25 years, and has performed it on four continents and with some of the best circuses in the business, including Ringling, Big Apple Circus, and Carson & Barnes, among many others.
Johnny's dad was a concessionaire on the Ringling circus. While helping his dad, Johnny ended up sneaking away to watch the clowns, and eventually decided to become one. He graduated from Ringling's Clown College in 1970 and a few years later, began creating the character and act that he's been doing ever since.
Johnny currently uses about 15 dogs in his show, but owns and cares for 25 dogs. The dogs do everything, including jumping rope, climbing ladders, walking a tightrope, and most importantly, knocking Johnny down several times a minute and then walking all over him.
It takes from 6 months to a year for each dog to learn its act, and the act is a collaboration between the dogs natural talents and Johnny's masterful ability to place the dogs in a circus context.
In 2003, Johnny and his group won the Animal Planet Pet Star award.
To find out more about Johnny and his Muttville Comix, please visit his website listed below:
The Clown School of San Francisco is a character based school that combines small classes with intensive personal work to create clown characters and routines. The focus is on creating work that is personal to the actor. The work is primarily theatrical and exploratory in nature-- not particularly of the circus.
The instructor, Christina Lewis Clinton, has been teaching workshops in clown character development and improvisation for fifteen years. Christina started clowning in Nicaragua when she traveled there with a Women's Circus. She has studied and performed clowning in Europe, Mexico and the United States. She received her Master's in Drama Therapy in San Francisco.
Christina and I studied together with Czech master clown Ctibor Turba.
They are currently in the midst of a 20 week session that started January 20 and will finish in May with a public show. They will also have an intensive two day workshop in June.
In conjunction with the LA tour of The Golden State, the Dell'Arte Company is offering a one-day workshop at 24th Street Theatre in Los Angeles on Feb. 9.
This four-hour workshop will be an exploration of the physical comedy techniques and ensemble-based exercises at the core of Dell'Arte's work. Physical theatre explores how proven notions of craft interact with an individual's physical expressive possibilities. From commedia and vaudeville to contemporary theatrical circus, Dell'Arte training is the source of the work necessary to become an actor/creator.
Capacity: 25 students Come dressed to move and ready to play.
Taught by Joan Schirle, School Director of the Dell'Arte International School of Physical Theatre
You can purchase your "ticket" to the workshop at the website listed below (more info about Dell'arte and their show (which the SF Bay Guardian called "...a glittering gem of a farce") is also listed below.
The Tall Toys Troupe is a group of stilt-walking performers based in Connecticut who perform a number of stilt-based shows. They provide a number of entertainers and shows for corporate gigs, parades, birthday parties, and other events.
Their costumes are great, and they have a number of different looks, including a 9 foot tall Uncle Sam, trees (like Ents from the Lord of the Rings), wizards, and lots of other characters.
Although their name implies stilt-walking, they also provide jugglers, balloonologists, face painters, and of course clowns. Many of the performers they bring in are graduates of Ringling Clown College (one of the founders, Katie Wilson Peterson, was in my year)
UPDATE: Both their email and their phone isn't working, although their website works like a charm. Not sure if everything is okay with them. If anyone reading this has more of an update on Tall Toys, please let me know. Or you can post in the comments....
Yes, it's Harold Lloyd in his iconic climb up the side of the 12-story Bolton Building, accompanied live by Ben Model, a silent film historian and accompanist for the Museum of Modern Art in New York. In 1997 he founded "The Silent Clowns Film Series" with film historian Bruce Lawton. Ben composes all his own scores, and performs in a style that is both evocative of the silent era and also aware of a contemporary (and younger) audience's awareness of music and film scoring. Ben composes and improvises all his own scores, and performs in a style that is both evocative of the silent era and also aware of a contemporary (and younger) audience's awareness of music and film scoring. After each movie - come upstairs to our candle-lit cafe and enjoy complementary coffee, wine, and sweets before you go home for the evening. Saturday, January 26, 2008 at 8:00 PM Neuwirth Theatre 5625 Arlington Avenue Bronx, NY 10471 Map & Directions TICKETS ARE $12 and available online: http://www.tix.com/Event.asp?Event=121438
Carlyn Beccia is an illustrator and artist who is inspired by the world of the circus and clowns. She has been painting and performing various acts of circus baboonery since she was a wee young girl. She first tested her own creativity in the human cannonball act by projecting her sister across the room. Her sister had to have stitches, but Carlyn knew she was destined for circus stardom.
Carlyn attended the University of Massachusetts on a 4-year art scholarship and graduated in 1995. She has been awarded a number of awards from the Society of Children's Writers & Illustrators. She lives in Lynnfield, MA with two ferocious cats and her famous Strongman husband.
Last year she wrote a fantastically illustrated book called "Who Put the B in Ballyhoo", which is an ABC book that features the circus and the sideshow. Each of the illustrations is beautifully well done, and is clever and witty. They run the gamut from tigers to acrobats to , yes, a flea circus!
This is definitely a book worth having.
Carlyn has a website for the book http://www.whoballyhoo.com which features interactive games, a make your own circus poster game, and info about author visits.
She has a couple of other sites that are also circus oriented (listed below) In addition to being an illustrator, she is a crack web designer.
If you'd like to purchase the book, get it at Amazon.com
To find out about more about Carlyn's work, visit the websites listed below:
Peter Pitofsky is a Clown College graduate who is currently plying his brand of amazing physical and facial comedy to the college and comedy circuits. He lives in the Los Angeles area, and he's been in a few movies and television shows, as well as a number of live shows, including Teatro Zinzanni, Penn & Teller's Sin City Spectacular, and the movie The Aristocrats.
After seeing the video below, you'll be wondering why he's not in just about everything you see.
Among Ringling graduates and road clowns, Peter is legendary for his 108's, for his always being on, and for being one of the funniest guys on or off the show.
Here's a YouTube video that shows him at some of his funniest: (a special tip of the hat to Pat Cashin's ClownAlley.net for alerting me to this video)
To find out more about Peter's work, visit his myspace page listed below:
Inspired by the success of Cirque du Soleil’s “Cirque du Monde”, Ethiopia’s “Circus of Hope” and Cambodia’s Phare Ponleu Selpak, Canadian director Jerry Snell has founded another institution for Youth at Risk using Circus and Performing Arts as a tool for helping migrant and street children, working children, freed bonded labor children, trafficked and victims of slave labor in Asia and Africa. In collaboration with co founder James Tanabe, they have begun to set up CIRCUS ACTION INTERNATIONAL which is currently a network of teachers, programs, companies using performing arts and circus as an educational tool or simply a way to build confidence and resolve feelings of isolation and abandon in youth cornered by complex problems such as human trafficking, war, AIDS/HIV, poverty and political corruption.
The first conference of Circus Action International will be hosted by Cambodian Arts & Circus Company Phare Ponleu Selpak in Cambodia at their Circus Festival 3 to 6 of April, 2008 in Battambang.
If you are interested in helping to organize communications (they currently need an english to french translator) or interested in becoming a teacher in the projects in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and India, please contact Jerry Snell. The teaching projects are set to begin in July 2008. Send him your background and availability for the future, especially if you already have plans to come to Asia.
Sorry guys that I have been off-line for nearly a month. During the month of December, I get pretty crazy because of the New Year's Eve Festival that I direct Bright Night Providence, and that would normally be enough to put me off of posting for a while (although perhaps not quite so long as this)
I had a personal tragedy befall me, which I'm sad to report will happen to nearly everyone, if it hasn't happened to you already. My mom passed away on December 29.
(The next part is more about her and her story, so if you are expecting anything but the tears of a clown at this point, best not read the rest of the post-- I'll start posting more clown related stuff in the next few days.)
Although I should have been expecting it (she had been sick for a number of years-- five years ago they gave her 6 months to live) but she kept on beating the odds-- she'd go in for a procedure, and it would be a success, or she'd have radiation, and not have really awful side effects (at least none that she'd tell me about)
So when she went in for a surprise late procedure on December 17 (the day I taught my final clown exam at URI) and the doctor's reported total success, I was relieved and kind of expected it. She came out of the hospital the next day (I was staying with her to do Bright Night stuff, and I picked her up, and her spirits were great, and she looked great) I didn't expect anything would go wrong.
The next morning, I woke up and realized that she wasn't awake. I checked in on her, and she seemed slumped over, and sleeping wrong. I went in and tried to wake her up, and wasn't able to get her up coherently. I realized something bad was happening, and after a brief call to her hospital nurse to ensure this wasn't normal, I called 911.
It turned out she had a pneumonia that may have been masked by a steroid she had been taking to help her breathe better. They certainly hadn't seen it in the hospital the day before.
She had to be put on a respirator to help her breathe, and they gave her antibiotics for the pneumonia. Over the next 10 days, the pneumonia was beaten down by the antibiotics, but that affected her kidney's operations. They tried to dialysize her, but when they did her blood pressure dropped precipitously low, and they had to stop. After several attempts, the doctor's decided that they would not be able to dialysize her kidneys.
My mom had left very strict instructions that she did not want to be kept artificially alive, so knowing that, and having exhausted our medical options, we took her off the respirator, and she died about 8 hours later, on 12/29 at around 2:15 am, in her sleep and without pain. She was buried one day later on December 30.
It was pretty difficult, but I continued to work on New Year's Eve, because a) I don't know how to do anything else. My training is, like most performers, to go on at any circumstance. b) I am very clear that if somehow I didn't go on and make sure that Bright Night happened, that my mom would rise from her newly formed grave and smite me down.
Thankfully, my family and friends and Bright Night staff all kicked in, and helped make it possible, as I was fairly numb during the night. I'm not sure how I got through the radio and television interviews (one radio interview was at 7:10 am the morning she passed away.) but I managed to get to the other side of it.
And here I am now. My mom was very proud of bright night and my work as a performer and director (she often liked to shock people with the line "My son the clown") Other than occasionally complaining that I should either become a fulltime teacher, or at the very least, make more money, my mom was one of my biggest fans.
Hey, thank you for reading this if you have. And I promise, 2008 will have more clown stuff on these pages.
Dan Kamin, a clown, mime, and expert performer (who taught Robert Downey Jr how to be Charlie Chaplin for the movie Chaplin, and taught Johnny Dep how to be Buster Keaton for the movie Bennie and Joon) is an expert on Chaplin. His previous book on Chaplin is now out of print, very hard to find, and quite good. So I'm happy to announce that Dan has a forthcoming book on Chaplin.
The 2008 NYDC Golden Nose Award Nominees
The Brick Theater is now accepting application for the Third New York Clown Theatre Festival! Applications will be due by mid-April. The festival will take place this September. If you're interested, please follow the link below:
