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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It is with very sad heart that I relay the fact that Rob Torres, International Man of Mirth has passed away. UPDATE 12/10/2019:Â Jim Moore’s book/tribute to Rob Torres is now available. Read the review for more information. I saw him perform at the New York Clown Festival, with Big Apple a couple of times, and a few times as […]
Read moreI was at a conference the other day and somebody did an exercise that reminded me of this clown game, which is one of my favorite ones to teach. It teaches rhythm, and focus, and split focus, and being a giver and a taker all at once– in short, everything a clown needs to do his job. I think I […]
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A friend sent me an article from the Daily Beast about a German ringmaster who, dearly World War II, secretly saved Jewish acrobats and other circus performers from the Nazis. I hadn’t known about the story, although it’s apparently been widely reported upon, and I thought that it’s worth spreading wide here. I’ve collected a number of sources about Adolf […]
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Ron “Toto” Johnson has been a clown his entire life. He started in 1977 at age 10 in his hometown of Naugatuck CT. He graduated Ringling Clown College in 1985. He has since worked in circuses, theme parks, casinos, riverboats, parades, carnivals, and just about every other venue you can think of. He has performed all over the world, including […]
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I am thinking about starting collecting circus stamps. I got an article about circus stamp collecting from my father in law, who is an avid stamp collector. (When you are a clown, people send you all kinds of clown stuff that they find in their everyday life. I like it, although it also means I get a fair amount of […]
Read more“Clowning Around: InterPlay and Sacred Clown,†a workshop facilitated by Jean Carlos Claudio and Agnotti on Wednesday, will take place on March 28th from 6:30pm-9pm at Cup & Spoon 2415 W North Ave. This is a community event that happens monthly. Admission is priced on a sliding scale. This month, the event is a lighthearted evening of spontaneous connection and […]
Read moreI don’t normally give this blog over to political actions, but I want to point out that there’s a company that recently made a negative connotation for going into a life in the circus. And that really shouldn’t stand unanswered. In the commercial in question, two mean girls tell a nicer girl “We’re going to run away and join the circus. […]
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