I’ve been coming to Barcelona for the past four years, and I’ve known Harris about that long. He’s a business guy turned magician, who has been slowly and patiently creating a niche for himself here in Barcelona as a comedy magician. He has (or had) an online store, a magic podcast, he plays standup comedy audiences as well as corporate […]
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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 […]
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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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My good friend (and noted beloved curmudgeon) Trav S.D. has gotten up in arms about the short shrift that Harold Lloyd has received among silent film comedians. Â He waxed(Â hmmm… what’s the opposite of rhapsodic? Â ( I think it might be philippic) ) on Facebook about the lack of love for Harold Lloyd. Apparently Keaton and Chaplin outnumber his google search […]
Read moreHere’s a video that I hadn’t seen before of a younger George Carl doing all of his stuff , but with a little more energy and a little more acrobatics. Â He’s such an amazing and precise performer, and he works so fast. Â A true joy to watch. [youtube_advanced url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCGzy-K5rX8″]
Read moreI have sad news to relate… Vincenzo Tortorici, known to many in the clown world as Enzo, has suddenly passed away. The early info I have from his facebook page is that he had a sudden heart attack, and he died suddenly. He was 44 years old. I featured Enzo in a review in 2010 –a review of his kids’ […]
Read moreI’m hanging around with 50 Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Clown College (RBBBC) Alumni this weekend on Cape Cod. It’s a little overwhelming. Clowns of all shapes, ages, and classes are here. Clown college started in 1968, and went up until 1997, there are over 1500 alumni of the school. Of course, some have passed on, some have stopped clowning […]
Read moreIt’s Been Real: The Life and Legacy of Ernie Kovacs Paley Center for Media 25 West 52 Street New York, NY 10019 Tuesday, April 12, 2011 6:30 pm ET Members: $20 General Public: $25 Buy Tickets [amazon_enhanced asin=”B004IB04NU” price=”All” background_color=”FFFFFF” link_color=”000000″ text_color=”0000FF” align=”Right”/] The Paley Center for Media will hold an event celebrating and honoring television pioneer Ernie Kovacs. […]
Read moreThis article is from the Seattle Times. Hokum Jeebs was a very well known and well respected street performer and variety entertainer. This is sad and stunning news. Suspect, 19, arrested in fatal stabbing in West Seattle Professor Hokum W. Jeebs was fatally stabbed in his West Seattle home early Wednesday. Jeebs was a gifted piano-player and vaudeville performer. A […]
Read moreWhen I studied at the Dell’arte school of Physical theatre, our Commedia teacher (Michael Fields) would be coaching a scene or an improvisation and then suddenly say “Ah– the Ghost of Chekhov has entered the room.” This was a short hand way of saying he meant that your performance had descended from a heightened state into naturalism or traditional acting, […]
Read moreCarlo Mazzone-Clementi was the founder of the Dell’arte school of Physical Theatre in Blue Lake California. He was a childhood friend of Amletto Sartori, Marcel Marceau’s first touring partner, worked with Jacques LeCoq, and performed with Dario Fo, Franca Rama, and Giorgio Strehler at the Piccolo Teatro in Milan. In 1959 he came to the United States to teach commedia, […]
Read moreEric Davis (he who inhabits the flesh of the Red Bastard during non-business hours) posted some wonderful news on his facebook feed: This is very exciting news. Eric and John are both excellent clowns. The rumor is that this show will be a permanent 10 month a year thing, with time out for the Oscars and various other special events.  […]
Read moreJust heard the news that master clown Frosty Little, who was one of the main teachers at Ringling’s Clown College when I was there, passed away yesterday. He had been ill, so it is not exactly a shock, but it’s sad. He was a funny guy who basically dedicated his life to making other people laugh.  The last 15 years […]
Read moreThanks to Trav S.D. and his blog for the heads up on this fantastic exhibit now through August 21 at the NY Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. The exhibit, titled “The Peregrinations & Pettifoggery of W. C. Fields”, features ephemera, clippings, playbills, photos, and a fantastic film exhibition about William Claude Dukenfield. The films are curated […]
Read moreHeidi Stubblefield, actor/creator, is the creator and director of The Coppelia Project: a clown ballet in three acts, which was a commission by Accessible Arts. It was produced at the Kansas City Fringe Festival and had extended runs at the Off Center Theatre and Lawrence Arts Center. She is a Kansas City, Kansas native. She received undergraduate training in Theatre […]
Read moreCouldn’t happen to a nicer (or more deserving) guy. Greg was one of my instructors at Clown College, and I’ve seen him a few times, including the couple of days that I was researching in Baraboo. He’s a very funny clown, and a historian and collector– with one of the largest collections of clown video in the world (perhaps with […]
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