Amuse Bouche 2011- NY Clown Theatre Festival 2011 Sept 7-25 (NY)

The Brick Theater, presenter of the New York Clown Theatre Festival , has decided to make that esteemed festival biennial  (for those of you who are not sure– that means every other year)  In between, it presents the Amuse Bouche– a lighter selection of events.   This year it’s not really so light–  9 mainstage shows, 3 cabarets, clown films and classes, with performers  streaming in from Australia, Canada, Mexico, and even from the far corners of our democratic states.

Many of the performers were in previous festivals (some with previous shows, even)  Last year’s shows  Neon Lights  and Channel One will be reprised (links to past reviews or information about shows)  As well, Morro and Jasp are back with a new show, Joel Jeske has a new show, Mark Gindick is reprising WingMan (which I reviewed at a different venue)  Audrey Crabtree, one of the main instigators of the festival, is premiering a new show with last year’s Gaby Munoz. (who performed brilliantly in last year’s show about a jilted bride.)

There’s also some new performers, and I’m looking forward to seeing them (especially Odessey Schodessey by Australian Clown Hew Parham.

Amuse Bouche will run September 7-25 at The Brick (575 Metropolitan Avenue between Union Avenue and Lorimer Street, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn). Tickets ($15) are available online at www.bricktheater.com or by calling Ovationtix at 1-866-811-4111.

Here’s the complete rundown of shows.

Hosted by The Leroy Sisters 

The LeRoy Sisters kick off the Festival with a sensational Vaudeville Noir Cabaret that’ll lay you under your seats ‘til next week. The scrappy sisters from the Canarsie sticks (who are currently world famous in Newark and Elk Horn, Indiana) present a cyclone of varieties previewing all the shows in the Festival. And, of course, the evening shall be dipped in the LeRoy special sauce of corsets, back flips, gorillas, and minor injuries. For more information on the LeRoy Sisters go to: www.canarsiesuite.com

Hosted by The Donovan Ensemble 

Wed 9/14 @ 8pm $15

Directly from their summer tour The Donovan Ensemble hosts this night of clown antics, featuring: Emmett and Merril and their popular comedy stylings. Former Ringling Clown Emily Carragher in How to Catch a Man. Festival veteran Vincenzo Tortorici, doing an adaptation of Brecht’s Baden Lehrst or Mr. Smith and Friends. Straight from her work in Austria, Hilary Chaplain does Fred goes fishing. Lynn Berg as Awful Knofel does some daredevil clowning. And members of The Laboratory (Audrey Crabtree, Aimee German, John Leo, Billy Schultz, Tanya Solomon, John Towsen, and Ophra Wolf) show up with their physical comedy antics. More surprise guests to come! For more information on the Donovan Ensemble visit www.donovanensemble.com

Hosted by Crabtree & Honeywell

The Festival Co-Directors, Crabtree & Honeywell, get down to some funny business while showcasing this variety clown cabaret, featuring: Mr. and Mrs. Clown, bringing their personalized blend of acrobatic aerodynamism and preposterously pinpoint balletic proficiency. Vocal acrobat and funny man Zero Boy. Joining us from his recent clown work in Le Reve in Las Vegas, Brett Alters will be performing Only You, directed by Clown Festival Alumnus Stefan Hayes. New York’s Billy Schultz with Matoida Sassrofkin at Work.Goofball Lisa Lou performs The Globe Challenge balancing a dangerous plethora of skills with funny. Captain Napkin makes an appearance. And more surprise guests to come!

ComedyShorts will feature a selection of hilarious clown films:

Bony Lil’s 2 shorts Creation + Distraction is a duet of silent short films on the more harrowing aspects of the creative process. Part I: a classic story of girl meets blank sheet of paper. Part II: inspiration run amok, literally, off the page, featuring unique handcrafted animation. They will screen with live original music by Clifton Hyde and live foley by the films’ creators Zea Barker and Michael Pope. bonylil.com

Jeff Seal’s A Day’s Messing is a silent comedy shot entirely on Super 8mm in the style of Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. A New York City bike messenger must deliver an important package to keep his job while trying to find the girl of his dreams. Combining modern-day clowning with classic silent film techniques, A Day’s Messing is an utterly unique cinematic and comedic experience.

Morro and Jasp: Behind the Nose is a film from Up Your Nose and In Your Toes productions. Morro and Jasp take to the streets of Toronto to talk about clown stereotypes starring Morro and Jasp with Foo, Sketchy and Fenelope. Directed by Elli Weisbaum and featuring the music of The Good Lovelies.

Written and Performed by Christopher Rozzi

Directed by Tasha Gordon-Solmon

From the creator of the hilarious hit Outre Island, this one-man comedy follows Professor Lawrence Fishburne, head of research at the Institute for Abnormal Awareness and Nonstandard Knowledgement, on his journey into another dimension in order to collect a rare and magical artifact called… the Bezinkule. We see him in a series of diary entries, which he is recording as a hologram image for the woman he loves, Miss Lillian Treemont, the most esteemed actress of the Old Lady Vic theater company. His mission is not only to acquire this treasure for her, but also to prove his inexplicable adventures and feats of wonder. Will he make it through the many way too complex missions he must accomplish in order to find the Bezinkule? Who will he meet along the way? Creatures? Is there singing and dancing and fun? No. YES!

Created and Performed by Audrey Crabtree and Gabriela Muñoz

Directed by Hilary Chaplain

Costumes by Valentina Muñoz with Adriana Sarda

Enter a world created by sound, emotion and physical comedy to meet Pepper y Chula, two birds who have always lived next to each other and – like their compatriots in Mexico and the United States – eyed each other with fear, competition and withering stereotypes. This dark comedy becomes hilarious when they are forced to sort out their pecking order, their boundaries and the truth. Can anything make these caged birds sing together? Esperemos que le guste!

Audrey Crabtree and Gabriela Muñoz met at the NY Clown Theatre festival in 2010 and bonded over a month of traveling and working with compromised communities in Mexico. It was there that they began developing and showcasing excerpts from Flocked. They are joined in this New York and World premiere by the international clown-star Hilary Chaplain as director. Audrey, Gabriela and an amazing team are also co-creating the Mexico City Festival de Clown Teatro in March 2012.  Find out more about their work at:www.connect2clown.blogspot.com

About Audrey:

“The hilarious Audrey Crabtree you won’t soon forget.” nytheatre.com

“Sensually ravenous” The Irish Theatre Magazine

“Hilarious!” Time Out NY

About Gaby:

 “A delight to watch” Clown Link

 ” Heart felt and moving” Marion Sosa

Created and Performed by Joel Jeske

You never know what is funny until you put it in front of an audience. In his first Amuse Bouche Festival offering, clown and physical comedian Joel Jeske presents himself raw and unpredictable. Jeske takes his career experience in circus, theater, and variety and throws it all aside to do what he has truly never done before. Instinctive notions, gut feelings, whimsical forays, and instantaneous inspiration combine into a dynamic display where you, the audience, have the ultimate power. By the way, he did rehearse.

Joel Jeske is a twice Drama Desk Award-nominated Clown and Physical Comedian. He has created, written, and toured with Cirque Du Soleil, Big Apple Circus, and Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey. He is a creator/performer for the award-winning physical theater company Parallel Exit and co-creator of New York slapstick duo The Hey-Ya Brothers. Recently, Joel starred with world-class clown Peter Shub at Roncalli’s Apollo Variete in Dusseldorf, Germany. www.parallelexit.net

“He can get laughs simply by breathing” New York Times

“Jeske easily enchants us…and we giggle uncontrollably.” The Village Voice

“A Blend of Buster Keaton, Sid Casear, Groucho Marx, and Christopher Lloyd.” nytheatre.com

Created and Performed by Heather Marie Annis and Amy Lee

Directed and Dramaturged by Byron Laviolette

Following up their successful run at the 2010 NY Clown Theatre Festival, Canadian Comedy Award nominees Morro and Jasp are back with an all-new show. Morro and Jasp GONE WILD takes place as the hilarious and high-energy clown sisters depart for spring break vacation.  Jasp is heading out in search of romance while Morro is planning to save the world by taking part in a “Save the Fish” volleyball tournament. The dream journey they had planned, however, falls off-course as things take a literal turn for the worse. Follow the “crowned queens of clown” on the hysterical and touching coming-of-age trip of a lifetime. Morro and Jasp GONE WILD is not recommended for kids. www.morroandjasp.com

PROMO VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLDEBoZ-f1o

“Morro and Jasp GONE WILD is clowning at its best. It’s theatre at its best for that matter. The story is solid, the performances are outstanding and the shenanigans are wildly hilarious. If you haven’t seen this show yet, make sure you correct that…this is a show that cannot be missed.” Mooney on Theatre

“Laugh-out-loud mayhem” NOW Magazine

“Lovingly truthful” Toronto EYE Weekly

“Hysterical…an hour of great clowning” CBC

Created and performed by Hew Parham

Schmoo is a naïve energetic clown, born from the immaculate sneeze of his mother and sent away for his own protection from the mysterious force Oog. He finds himself on an island with only a few objects such as a feather named Petal, a Nana Mouskouri record and his imagination to keep him company. But sometimes impersonating instruments or Italian waiters just isn’t enough…. Until a quest becomes clear to Schmoo and he is forced to confront the demons whether literal or metaphoric in his life and his odyssey begins.

A hit at the Adelaide Fringe this year, Parham uses his abundant vocal gymnastics and physical gyrations in what has been labeled “a Jungian clown journey exploring the incongruence between Gods, demons, life, death, fear and love.”

“Desperately sad …very very very silly” Adelaide Advertiser

“I cannot remember laughing so much in such a short space of time” RipItUp

Created by Logic LIMITED LTD

Performed by Chris Arruda, Sandi Carroll, and Brad Fraizer

Additional Direction by Matt Steiner and Jane Nichols

Newly back in the U.S. from their U.K. tour, the clowns that brought you Schaden, Freude and You have joined forces once again in a race against time! Don’t miss this covert, clandestine enhanced-security-clearance meeting of the resistance. Learn death defying acts of sabotage because…they’re coming. And you know who we mean. This is not a test. Come! Join the underground for top-secret tips on death-defying acts of sabotage…because there’s something out there….

PROMO VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byJccOnN5U8

“A riot of experience to excite all the senses” Dorset Echo, UK

“Tears of laughter!” Lyme Media, UK

“Surreal, quirky and utterly entertaining” Bridport News, UK

“A really (I mean REALLY) funny 60 minute ride!” TheaterVermont  

Created and performed by Mark Gindick

Direction by David Shiner and Barry Lubin

Springing from the sawdust of the recent Big Apple Circus Dance On! and the acclaimed PBS documentary CIRCUS, physical comedian and clown Mark Gindick takes the audience on a hot pursuit of ideal romantic love in his one-man solo piece Wing-Man. Without a single live spoken word, Mark Gindick flies in the tradition of silent comedians and clowns, bringing his audience as his date, showing and never telling us to say less and lust more. Wing-Man has direction from Broadway’s Fool Moon/Cirque du Soleil director David Shiner and Big Apple Circus’ Grandma aka Barry Lubin, with Michael Bongar producing. Wing-Man showcases on Theatre Row in mid-November as part of the United Solo Theatre Festival.  www.markgindick.com

“Mark is energetic, funny, and very engaging.” nytheatre.com

“Gindick really steals the show.” The Scotsman

“I know I can make money off this guy some day.” Michael Bongar

After re-working and touring with their shows, The Brick is bringing back two favorites from the 2010 New York Clown Theatre Festival!

Created and performed by 

Creative Advisor Richard Crawford

James & JF present Channel One straight from the 2011 Canadian Fringe Circuit. Travel to 2316 where the only thing that survives is the TV we create on Channel One. We went to the future to avoid the end of the world. Apparently no one else had that idea. Hey 2011: jump in that time machine! Come here! We do TV. But better! Watch the last two women on earth unleash a mind-melting cloudburst of characters! Take that, imminent doom!   www.jamesandjf.com

“I don’t think I can convey the magnitude of their success without putting it so plainly as: it’s f***ing hilarious.” The Blog of Jenna Rocca (Toronto Fringe, 2011)

“Winning comedic timing” The Happiest Medium (Clown Fest, 2010) 

“Delightful, hysterical, intelligent and original” Vaudevisuals (Clown Fest, 2010) 

Created and performed by Chris Manley and Jeff Seal

Directed by Danny Manley

Jeff and Buttons have TONS of new material and now they have their own show so this should be a cinch. Their comedy harkens back to the golden age of Vaudeville (1925-late 1925) with updated and reworked laughs. Their new PoMoVau show Neon Lights is all you need to know about Vaudeville and ol’ timey crack ’em ups. They’re also idiots.

Chris Manley (Buttons) is a member of “New Excitement” and has appeared on Comedy Central. Jeff Seal is a four-time Golden Clown Nose nominee and has appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman. Both of them co-wrote and acted in Kill Me Loudly: A Clown Noir.

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THE BRICK was founded in 2002 by Robert Honeywell and Michael Gardner.  Formerly an auto-body shop, a yoga center, and various storage spaces, this brick-walled garage in Williamsburg, Brooklyn was completely refurbished as a state-of-the-art performance space. Since then, The Brick has launched, produced and presented hundreds of world-premiere stage works from New York emerging artists and theater-makers from around the globe.  The theater company is a proud member of New York’s burgeoning Indie Theater community and informal home to an ever-expanding family of artists and avid theatergoers.  The Brick received a 2009 New York Innovative Theatre Foundation Caffe Cino Fellowship Award for “an Off-Off Broadway theatre company that consistently produces outstanding work.” www.bricktheater.com