After seeing the circus a couple of weeks ago, I’m seeing another live show this weekend. Oliv A Drift, a one woman clown show written and performed by Cristi Garbo and directed by Jango Edwards. (Two shows in a month’s time! It almost seems normal!) I’ve featured Jango on the blog before (although looking back, not in some time.) He’s […]
Read more
In the midst of the pandemic, I got to experience a little bit of normalcy. I went to the circus! Circo Raluy Legacy is currently performing at Port Vell, which is Barcelona’s downtown port. In case you just don’t want to read my review, watch this 1 minute video: It will give you a good idea of the circus! I’m […]
Read moreThe Nutcracker in Wonderland is a crazy holiday show I’m participating in this year. It’s a virtual show with live elements that is being produced and brainchilded by Bay Area variety wunderkind Frank Olivier. It opens this Saturday evening, and has tickets available here: https://tinyurl.com/nutcrackerinwonderland The show is a mashup of The Nutcracker, Alice in Wonderland, circus, magic, and variety. […]
Read more
It’s Funny Friday this week! Two great performers (and alumni of Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Clown College) will be performing this Friday night via Zoom together. This is a don’t miss comedy show! Frank Olivier (http://www.funnyfrank.com) is a San Francisco based juggling phenom. He has been performing for over 30 years on the street and at corporate events doing […]
Read more
“WHY IS YOUR PRICE SO HIGH?” This is a question that performers get a lot. A friend of mine posted this recently on Facebook– I don’t know who originally wrote it- but it’s a great parable about the invisible costs of putting on shows, and why hiring a professional makes sense. This story is about being a DJ, but it […]
Read moreIt’s always sad when a fellow raccoon passes into the next world. I’m sad to report that former Ringling clown Kevin Ryan recently passed away from complications of COVID. A fellow alum of Ringling Clown College (although a different year than I) he was on the Blue Unit for two years, and after that he worked with other circuses […]
Read more
Barry Friedman was one of the most successful jugglers in the world. His group, the Raspyni Brothers, performed all over television (Tonight Show, Circus of the Stars, Regis & Kathy, etc), stages (opening for Robin Williams, Howie Mandel, Tom Jones, Steve Martin, Billy Crystal, Dean Martin, Bob Hope, and many others), and corporate gigs (over 100 of the Fortune 500 […]
Read more
Juggling is not necessarily easy to do, but it’s easier to do than to explain. Noted juggler and vaudevillian Thom Wall aims to fix that. His new book covers the hard part, explaining how to juggle in a way that just about anyone can understand. The book is called Juggling: What it is and How to do it. and it came […]
Read more
THROW BACK THURSDAY TO THE LAUNDRY GAG! 3 years ago today, my son and I ventured a couple of hours away to Baraboo Wisconsin to see friends Steven Copeland and Ryan Combs perform in our nearly annual visit to Circus World Museum. This version of the Laundry Gag came up in my timehop today, and I thought I’d share it […]
Read more
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 […]
Read more
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 […]
Read more
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 […]
Read more
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 […]
Read more
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 […]
Read more
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 […]
Read more