Clown College Japan Article

Happy (Belated) Birthday, Mark Renfro

Sorry I am a day late on this, but my day was taken up with a jump to Red Bluff, CA, waiting for hours to have my trailer parked, and trying not to melt in the August heat. Ya know, circus stuff!

Today I am in a better humor to write about Mark Renfro, who would have celebrated his birthday yesterday. I first met Mark my final year on Ringling. He was assisting Ruthie Chaddock in making plaster casts of the new clowns' faces in Fort Worth, TX, so of course I picked his brain about whatever I could think of.

In the following years he would always come to visit whatever show that Ryan and I were on, and he would have such wonderful compliments about our performances afterwards.

Many times he was accompanied by his best friend, Brenda Marshall, who reached out to me shortly after Mark's passing. She felt Mark would want me to have his extensive collection of circus clown memorabilia, which absolutely floored me. What an honor.

Last year our tour took us close enough to Fort Worth that I was able to meet with Brenda at Mark's house and move everything to a storage unit.

Since then I have been digitizing the thousands of photos, slides, and documents that Mark had been collecting from when he attended Clown College, up through his time with Clown College Japan and the original Clown College, and his years of work with the Feld organization as an amazing artist and prop builder.

I have loved sharing bits of his collection on this blog. However, so many times I am sadly reminded that I cannot ask him questions about whatever I am looking at. What a history was lost.

Thank you, Brenda, for thinking Mark would want me to have his collection, and thank you Mark for being a friend, archivist, and such a talented, dryly hilarious, and kind person.

Here are some photos from Mark's collection from his time in Clown College in 1980 and his year on the road with the Blue Unit in 1981.

With Lou Jacobs...

and Bobby Kay at Clown College

Mark's Clown College makeup (note the glitter in the makeup)....

and his makeup on the road (Mark told me that Irvin Feld said to him in his Clown College contract session, "Who are you kidding, son? You're a whiteface!")

Mark and Heidi Macklin about to perform the stork chase (which was once again done on the Blue Unit in 1992) 

We miss you, Mark. 

Peggy Williams 1980

 

Peggy Williams teaching at the Ringling Clown College in 1980. From the photo collection of Mark Renfro.

New Clowning Trio

Pepe Silva, M. Adrian, and Tom Dougherty, who will be debuting their new trio at the Dresdner Weihnachts-Circus in Dresden, Germany this December.

Tom and Pepe have been working together since they both left the Ringling Blue Unit at the end of 2009, and they met Adrian while working with Arlette Gruss in France.

They are currently in Paris rehearsing their new material. Make 'em laugh, gents!

 

Duo Rossi

Two wonderful people, Alexandra and Yann Rossi, photographed for the English circus magazine, King Pole. 

 

Remembering Pat Cashin

Nine years ago Pat Cashin left us way too soon. Not a week goes by that I don't think about him or some ridiculous hilarious thing he said, and I am constantly wishing I could get his take on something, or ask for clarification on some clown story or fact. I miss you, "kunklehead".

His contribution to clown history with this blog is immeasurable, and I have no idea how he kept it so active. I will do my best to be more frequent with my contributions to his legacy. 

Here are some rare 1997 Clown College photos of Pat from the collection of Elliot Witherspoon.

Gary Cooper

Gary Cooper, aka "Oscar", who graduated from the Ringling Clown College in 1978 and then performed in the Clyde Beatty Clown Alley for a couple of seasons.

Not to be confused with the Hollywood actor. He wasn't a clown. Loser....