The district in Barcelona called Les Corts will once again be home to the Circorts Festival, a free annual celebration of contemporary circus arts. Now […]
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The Hand & The Eye: Chicago’s $50 Million Magic Theater Set to Dazzle the Magnificent Mile
Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, the city’s glittering stretch of Michigan Avenue, is about to get a touch of enchantment. In a bold $50 million venture, healthcare […]
Clown & Vocal Retreat in Italy May 18-25
Patrick Van den Boom and ClownSchool International are presenting a retreat/workshop in Italy starting next week. The Retreat goes from May 18-25, 2025 and will […]
Zagreb Clown Festival 2025
The Zagreb Clown Festival is happening this week May 8-11, and it looks like I will be in attendance! (Not performing, just watching, networking, and […]
Circorts Festival 2025: Contemporary Circus in Barcelona
The district in Barcelona called Les Corts will once again be home to the Circorts Festival, a free annual celebration of contemporary circus arts. Now in its 26th edition, the festival is dedicated to showcasing emerging talent in acrobatics, clowning, physical theatre, music, and aerial arts. With performances across multiple outdoor stages, workshops for all ages, and accessible programming, Circorts […]
Read moreThe Hand & The Eye: Chicago’s $50 Million Magic Theater Set to Dazzle the Magnificent Mile
Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, the city’s glittering stretch of Michigan Avenue, is about to get a touch of enchantment. In a bold $50 million venture, healthcare entrepreneur Glen Tullman is transforming the historic McCormick Mansion at 100 E. Ontario St. – formerly the home of Lawry’s Prime Rib – into The Hand & The Eye, a sprawling, 36,000-square-foot magic theater that […]
Read moreClown & Vocal Retreat in Italy May 18-25
Patrick Van den Boom and ClownSchool International are presenting a retreat/workshop in Italy starting next week. The Retreat goes from May 18-25, 2025 and will feature Patrick more as a facilitator than as a teacher as he helps people find their clown and their voice in beautiful southern Italy. Patrick is a Dutch clown who moved to Norway in […]
Read moreZagreb Clown Festival 2025
The Zagreb Clown Festival is happening this week May 8-11, and it looks like I will be in attendance! (Not performing, just watching, networking, and drinking with the clowns) The festival is now in its 6th year, and had over 77 shows apply to perform on the stage. This year the theme is clowning across cultures, and they strove to […]
Read moreClownvergence- Online Clown Conference- Starts Today! April 10-13, 2025
The Clownvergence is almost here! I am a little late in letting you all know, (just realized last week that it was happening) and wanted to give it a shout out here, in case you can come. It’s Clownvergence! It’s hosted and invented by Barnaby King, the Clown-Spirit community owner and mentor. He’s gathered a lot of interesting folk together, […]
Read moreAcme Flea Circus at Barcelona Fringe Festival
I will be performing my show The Acme Miniature Flea Circus as part of the Barcelona Fringe Festival. I will be performing on Saturday November 9 and Sunday November 10 at 12 noon at the Comedy ClubHouse, 10 Canvis de Nous in the Born section of Barcelona. The show will be performed in English. The show is a Victorian style […]
Read moreThe Moment The Flea Escapes
Since I was a young man, I have always been obsessed with a photograph by Alfred Eisenstadt. Taken in 1963, it depicts a number of children watching an outdoor puppet show at the moment that the Dragon is slain. It’s a wonderful photograph, full of joy and wonderful and that moment of belief that children have. I love that photograph, […]
Read morePT Barnum… The Podcast!
I recently performed as PT Barnum in a 2 part podcast, the first part of which dropped today! The podcast is called Calling History, and it’s a very entertaining idea. The host, Tony Dean, somehow magically manages to slip a smartphone into the folds of time, and gets to have an unscripted conversation with a number of entertaining characters. He’s […]
Read moreCircorts Festival in Barcelona June 14-16
I have lived in Barcelona now for 3 years, and it never ceases to amaze me how festivals get by my radar. I have my antennas tuned for circus and theatre festivals, but somehow I just discovered this circus festival happening this weekend. It is about 15 blocks from my house, and in it’s 25th year, which means that for […]
Read moreThe Genius of Fawlty Towers
I have recently become infatuated with Fawlty Towers the British sitcom made in the 70’s, written by John Cleese and his then wife Connie Booth and performed by them as well. The show was ranked number one on a list of the Greatest British Television Programs ever in 2000 and, in 2019, it was named the greatest ever British TV sitcom […]
Read moreGood Night PeeWee!
Sad news, friends. It has just been announced that PeeWee Herman (actor Paul Reubens) has been struggling with cancer for the last 6 years and has just lost that battle, passing away on Sunday evening.. I read it on Rolling Stone, but wanted to write about it here. He was a big influence on me as a young performer, and […]
Read moreClown Skills 101 at the Comedy Clubhouse
TAKE A WALK ON THE FUNNY SIDE: CLOWN SKILLS 101 I’m teaching Clown Skills 101 an intro to clowning class at the Comedy Clubhouse twice in the next couple of months. The classes are on Sunday May 14 and Sunday June 14 from 12pm-4pm at the Comedy Clubhouse in Barcelona. (Each class is a separate class) It’s a beginner’s level […]
Read moreFinding Comedy with Tom Greder March 16-19 BCN
UPDATE: due to a suitcase malfunction (didn’t arrive on time) the show will be on Friday at 8:30 pm, and the class will be SATURDAY only. Prices for the class are less, and if you already purchased tickets, you will get a refund. Links should still be valid At Espai Piluso, a small space in Barcelona’s Poble Sec neighborhood, Swiss […]
Read moreAdvice for the Newbie Commedia Director
I was going through some old stuff I’d written, and came across this “Advice For the Director” that I’d written in 2002 on a discussion list for theatre about somebody tackling a commedia project for the first time with newbie actors as well. I think it sums up my take on acting in physical comedy and commedia dell’arte plays very […]
Read moreFrom The Neck Down: Physical Comedy Workshop for Standup Comedians
I’m teaching my first physical comedy workshop in Spain! I’m teaching at the Comedy Clubhouse, a venue that has in a very short time become the premier center for English language comedy and improv in Barcelona. Located in the historic Born district, they have open mics and shows every day of the week. I’ve performed there a couple of times […]
Read moreFree video through February 5: Marcello Magni & Jos Houben
Two of the original members of Theatre de Complicite , Jos Houben and Marcello Magni, opened the 2016 London International Mime festival with their show Marcel, It’s a clown double act in which Houben, the tall, skinny figure of authority puts the shorter clown Magni through a series of demanding physical and mental tests. What these tests are for, it’s […]
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