Ringmaster Jim Ragona about to get hit with the blow-off to Greg DeSanto's Spike Jones tribute in the 114th Blue Unit of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in 1994.
Many people often mention this routine to me as being their very favorite Ringling gag of the modern era.
Many people often mention this routine to me as being their very favorite Ringling gag of the modern era.
7 comments:
YES! vote me in.
LAURA!
Video, please?
Definitely a modern day classic! And what a great photo, too! (Taken at the old Bayfront Center in St. Petersburg which has now gone the way of the wrecking ball.)
I defer to the clown geeks out there(Steve Copeland), but I want to say this is not the 114th edition, but something like the 124 or 125th. Too many hits on the head with kitchen sinks.
Greg
In the "Give credit, where credit is due" department, this gag was originally staged at Clown College by myself and Red unit producing clown Karen Bell. It really was about the easiest gag to write, since all we had to do was watch every possible Spike Jones video and pick our favorite bits. The hard part was staging it to the music, which unlike the original Spike Jones gang, we did not play the instruments. It was like working to a click track. The Ringling band was great behind us and getting the chance to offer homage to a Jones called Spike was a highlite of my time on Ringling.
-Greg
I LOVED this gag!
I wish there was a clip of it on YouTube (I'm asssuming there isn't since if there was, Patrick's crack research team would have posted it here already).
Now when you talk about exceptional clowning you've got to talk about Greg & Karen. As with countless others I l o v e d this routine and got some nice shots. Back whn it was being performed the head of RBBB's NY office saw one of my shots, liked it alot and asked for an enlargement. I sent him an 11x14 which he had framed and hung on the wall. Funny thing about getting old...a couple of months later we were getting a tour of the offices and I saw this photo of "Laura" on the wall and with genuine innocence commented gee, this is a really nice shot. I was then told, "Don't you recognize it? It's the one you sent."
Anyway, God Bless all you guys and gals who still do honor to the title of REAL CLOWN and sincere thanks for all the rib ticklers,thigh slapping, gut busting and sometimes just a real good smile and a warm glow that you give us.
You've brightened my spirits and even eased some physical pains more than you'll ever know.
Paul G.
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