The first week of August is National Clown Week. It was declared so by Richard Nixon, when Congress on October 8, 1970, passed the following law/resolution: S Since that time period, people have been taking some time during this month to celebrate, and often there are various organizations that meet or hold festivals. And in 1991, people started calling it […]
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It’s a great day in Mudville, people. My pal, Trav SD, (who probably hold the ignominious honor of being mentioned the most on this blog) has announced that he will be giving a regular series of talks on Zoom regarding his specialty (old time entertainment and performance.) If you haven’t read his books, hie thee to a bookstore at once. […]
Read moreI’ve written about Joe Dieffenbacher before, but as it turns out, I’ve written mostly about projects he’s been involved with, or classes he’s been creating. I’ve never written a post directly about him. So It’s time. It’s time. When I met Joe, he was the janitor at the Dell’arte School. He’d graduated a few years before, and was hanging around […]
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Great 30 minute interview (in English) with famous clown David Larible on the podcast/video show Lockdown’s Got Talent. If you don’t know Larible, you totally should. He’s a seventh-generation circus performer who has headlined most of the major circuses in the world, including Ringling, Circus Roncali, Circus Krone, Circus Knie, and many other shows. He’s performed on the stage […]
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Clowns Being Clowns: The PassAlong Video! Sometimes clowns being clowns is enough to make a video about. Inspired by the popular passing videos that are going around (especially the stuntman video) a group of Ringling trained clowns (myself included) got together and said: “Let’s do this!” Planned in a private Facebook group, and organized by New York clown Joel Jeske […]
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Vaudeville has made a number of attempts at revival over the years. Now it is virtual vaudeville’s turn! In 2002, I was part of the short-lived vaudeville revival that took over Times Square. [See this article from the NY Times that features my show extensively: Old Time Vaudeville Looks Young Again What with the social distancing, #coronamadness, and lots of […]
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I’ve been diving into a great new podcast (The Variety Artist Podcast) that features variety artists talking about their work, how they got involved, and tips and tricks for both beginners and working pros. It’s something that I think many readers of this blog would be interested in. (And it makes me a little envious that I didn’t start doing […]
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February isn’t actually Commedia Month (although it does contain international Commedia Day). But in Chicago, Laughing Stock Theatre is doing its darnedest to celebrate Commedia month anyway. They are bringing Antonio Fava, a world-renowned performer, teacher, director and maskmaker from Italy, to Chicago during the month of February. He’ll be conducting a 2 day master class 2/15-2/16 at Links Hall […]
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I got my copy of A Clown In Our Town a few weeks ago, and I have been meaning to write about it. It’s a wonderful tribute to Rob Torres, who passed away unexpectedly in 2018.  I wrote his obituary here: RIP- Rob Torres, International Man of Mirth. Photographer Jim Moore, who has taken more photos of clowns, circuses, […]
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Got sad news from my friend Stanley Allan Sherman, who reports in a heartfelt remembrance that groundbreaking mime Richmond Shepard has passed away. He was 90 years old at the time of his death and still working, operating a mime studio in his apartment. I never studied with Richmond, but I think I met him a couple of times, […]
Read moreI had reviewed Jeff Raz’s first book The Secret Life of Clowns last year and found it delightful. (In fact, I had originally published one of the chapters on this blog when I first read it on Jeff’s Facebook page) So I wasn’t surprised when I received his second book The Snow Clown in the mail. I was, however, surprised to […]
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As mentioned in a previous post, Circolombia’s show Acelere is in town, and we saw it last night. It’s the culminating event of Destinos, the Chicago International Latino Theatre Festival. I’m happy to say that I can highly recommend it. It’s a gritty show filled with music, dance, daring young performers, and some unusual circus acts performed well. Most importantly, […]
Read moreCircolombia, the Colombian based circus, is bringing their latest show Acéléré to the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre as the culminating event of Destinos—the 2nd annual Chicago International Latino Theater Festival. That festival has been going on since Sept 20 all over the city, with lots of exciting work! I reviewed Circolombia 6 years ago when they performed at the New Victory Theatre […]
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Angela Delfini Explains It All For You. Oct 4-7, 2018 in Chicago. Directly from the New York Clown Festival, Italian clown Angelina Delfini is taking her show (along with her director John Towsen) on the road to Chicago for a one week set of workshops and performances at the PROP Theatre. The show features Delfini as both a psychiatrist and […]
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MTM Lydia Biondi is sponsoring the second edition of Premio Internazionale Lydia Biondi in honor of the artist whose distinguished work as an actor, director, and teacher of Commedia dell’Arte won her recognition in Italy and around the world. Biondi was born in Livorno, Italy, in May of 1942. She studied scenic design at the Accademia di Belle Arti in […]
Read moreThe Hinterlands, a Detroit based performance troupe, has a great performance here in Chicago that ends this weekend. I highly recommend seeing it. (Currently, all seats are sold out, but there are floor cushion seats available for three shows, and the Saturday show has reached its capacity. You should get tickets now! BUY NOW) The show, titled The […]
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