I had the discussion the other night with someone and, while we agreed that it was amazing that people like Penn Gillette and Bill Irwin were graduates of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College it was suprising that, considering their early comedic styles, the program didn't attract the likes of Robin Williams, Andy Kaufman, Martin Short or Steve Martin.
As these videos will attest, Steve's early comedy was very silly and clownish.
Since Steve has a great reverence for the comedians who came before him, perhaps he'll take a cue from Buster Keaton or the Three Stooges and make some circus appearances late in his career. His "Flydini" routine would rock Lincoln Center with laughter and be the hit of Big Apple's 2017 40th Anniversary season.
2 comments:
As a teenager Steve cut his teeth at the Birdcage Theater at Knotts Berry Farm, located just up the road from Disneyland. As a theme park veteran he would have done hundreds of shows, 6 or 7 a day during the summer. They still have a picture of him, a sappy looking teen with dark hair, on the front of there theater.
I spent a couple of years working a show on the Universal Studios Tour. I will send a picture. Other clowns who worked the tour were Bob Zraick, Keith Crarey, Steve Laport, and Blue Show lothario Tommy Baker.
There was an article about Steve Martin in the NYTimes, a couple of years ago, that said that among his current projects, was being a consultant for a circus show in Las Vegas. The article didn't mention what circus, but I assumed it was Cirque since I don't know of any other circuses there.
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