Whoever said that Circus was on its way out hasn’t been to Chicago. Right now– there are a plethora of circus shows coming up in the next few weeks (and some are ending in the next few weeks, or even next few days. Â So don’t miss them!) Â And I’m sure I’ve missed a few as well. CIRCUS SHOWS IN CHICAGO […]
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Not my typical post for this blog, but these German Carneval float constructions are so good that I felt I had to share. Carneval is a time when things go upside down, and in Germany, that often means that the Carneval floats are merciless in their lampooning of current events. Â This year is no different, with a number of floats […]
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Brian Dewhurst is the elder statesmen of Cirque du Soleil’s Las Vegas performers. Â Currently 85, he’s been performing all kinds of circus acts for the past 70+ years, and since 1993, he’s been working as a clown, performer, and director for Cirque du Soleil. Â He’s currently starring as the usher in the Cirque performance of Mystere. Dewhurst is featured in […]
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I’m happy to say that ClownAlley, the late Pat Cashin’s excellent blog about the history of clowns and circuses, is back.  (It’s not currently at clownalley.net, but at it’s original place clownalley.blogspot.com) I have always been a big supporter of that blog, which has had some amazing photos and articles about circus clowns past and present. Friend of Pat’s  Beth Grimes […]
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I had heard of Robert Anton, but didn’t know much about him. He died of AIDS while I was in college (in 1984.)  I had read a couple of articles in TDR (the Drama Review), which I used to pore over.  Knowledgable artists and critics loved his work, and extolled him to the high heavens– and though he had not much […]
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Just discovered (thanks to Jim Moore’s Vaudevisual site) this documentary about American theatre clowning from the American Theatre Wing. It Features Slava Polunin, David Shiner, Joel Jeske, and Brent McBeth talking about the clown, what works, what doesn’t and the work of being a theatrical clown. So what’s great about this video? Well, clearly, one of the things I love […]
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THE DEMISE OF RINGLING I have been gobsmacked like many by the news that Ringling Brothers Circus will close down after 146 years of solid operation. Â Mr. Feld, owner of the circus, is losing too much money, and has to call it quits. Friends are losing jobs, houses, lives, and for some, they may well feel that the meaning of […]
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Stanley Allan Sherman will teach another one of his Roving Classical Commedia University workshops Dec 26-30, 2016. Stanley is a well-known commedia mask maker and expert on commedia.  We’ve featured Stanley a number of times here on clownlink, and he wrote a great guest post about what makes a great commedia mask. He’s been teaching workshops like this one since 2001, […]
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Sad news: Â Julie Goell, the renowned musician, clown, and theatre teacher, passed away on Sunday. She was a teacher of mine (along with her husband Avner Eisenberg.) Â She and Avner taught worldwide for a number of years, and I took at least two workshops with them at the Celebration Barn in Maine and at MotionFest.(If you read the obit below, […]
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I had the chance to see a great production recently at the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre. The show is called The Complete Deaths by Spymonkey, a British troupe of clowns/physical comedians. Â If you’ve been to Las Vegas, you may have seen their work, as they created all of the comedy numbers in the Cirque du Soleil show Zumanity. Â They are known […]
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Hilary Chaplain is teaching another physical comedy class in NY. Â If you haven’t studied with her, you should! This class will explore physical comedy from a clown point of view. Expand your physical vocabulary, develop tools for playing comedy using the techniques of slapstick, improvisation, partnership, comic timing, and accidents in solo, duo, and group exercises. Through active games and […]
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We saw the opening night of Cirque du Soleil last night.  As I wrote in my preview article, the show is not a tent show, it’s an arena show, full of puppets, projections, and acrobatics, based on the movie Avatar by James Cameron.  Here’s the plot summary I wrote in my previous article: When a natural catastrophe threatens to destroy […]
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I’m feeling very down. My friend Pat Cashin unexpectedly died yesterday. He hadn’t been feeling well for about 10 days, doctors thought it was a viral infection of some sort but couldn’t find anything definitely wrong, his wife and kids went out to get groceries and when they came back he had passed away. He was a very funny clown, an […]
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The new Cirque du Soleil touring show TORUK – The First Flight will be at the United Center in Chicago August 3-7, 2016. And you can win a 4 pack of tickets to Opening night on August 3! Scroll down to see how! Inspired by James Cameron’s record-breaking movie AVATAR, TORUK – The First Flight transports the audience to a far away […]
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PLEASE LIST, POST, AND DISSEMINATE KILL DATE AUGUST 12, 2016 Tiny Performers To Entertain in Chicago Parks The Acme Miniature Flea Circus featuring Midge and Madge, Trained Fleas, will perform in four Chicago Parks this summer. All performances are free in association with the Night Out in the Parks Program. Chicago IL July 12, 2016 This summer, […]
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I have studied with Christopher Bayes in NY about 15 years ago– he’s a great teacher, and you are sure to learn a lot from him! Â (I studied with him and Bill Irwin AT THE SAME TIME! Well, different hours, but the same week) Take Clown in Chicago with Christopher Bayes Christopher Bayes, current head physical acting teacher at the […]
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