IN MEMORIAM: FRANCIS (FRANK) "SLIVERS OAKLEY" ANDERSON

Courtesy of Bill Strong

THE AUSTINS

Photo courtesy of Sue Lenz

Alby (top), Spider and Billy Merchant

ACHILLE ZAVATTA

Link courtesy of Lionel Lutringer

Post by Lionel Lutringer.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GREG DESANTO!

Birthday greetings go out today to International Clown Hall of Fame Director Greg DeSanto, pictured here in the final circus related photo taken at the historic Venice Arena before its demolition.

FELIX ADLER & FRANKIE SALUTO: Dagmar's Canteen (April 12, 1952)

Link courtesy of Beth Grimes

 Jump forward to the 24:30 mark to watch Felix Adler and Frankie Saluto in a PR hit for the annual appearance of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus at Madison Square Garden.

FRITZ & JEAN HUBERT (1934)

Post by Geo. Willeman.

TOM "TEPPY" PICCARD: Circus Hall of Fame, Sarasota, FL (Circa 1970s)

RECO: Bertram Mills Circus (Circa 1956)

His name was Reco. I do not know whether or not he wore a diamond.

BOCKY & RANDEL: MIlitary Entree

Link courtesy of Lionel Lutringer

CHARLIE CAIROLI AND CO. : La Piste aux Etoiles

Post by Lionel Lutringer.

BARBER SHOP ENTREE: Alex & Francini with Bernard Haller

Link courtesy of Lionel Lutringer

HAIR GROWER GAG: Unknown (Circa early 1950s)

RBB&B CLOWN ALLEY: "The Funny 40" (Billboard April 20, 1957)

Felix Adler

CONGRATULATIONS!

Congratulations go out today to Ryan and Tatiana Combs on the birth of their daughter!

Welcome to the club, kiddo!

BANANA/BANDANA: Carl-Einar Hackner (Melbourne Comedy Festival 2011)

He won the festival and then came back and did the Fun Magic Coloring Book for an encore.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TOM PARISH!

POODLES HANNEFORD AND PERCY CLARKE (Undated, Circa 1930s)

Poodles Hanneford and Percy Clarke

ROSE HANLON (Undated, Circa late 40s)

Felix Adler in walkaround costume and Rose Hanlon of the famous Hanlon-Lees family.

JE SUIS CHARLIE

Courtesy of Beth Grimes

LOU JACOBS AND BLUCH LANDOLF (Undated, Circa 1930s)

Lou Jacobs and Bluch Landolf

JE SUIS CHARLIE

Courtesy of Greg Parks

FRANKIE SALUTO, JIMMY ARMSTRONG & SHORTY HINKLE (Undated, late 50s/early 60s)

Frankie Saluto, Jimmy Armstrong and Shorty Hinkle.
This may have been taken in the very early days of the Beatty-Cole show.

BERNARDO CRESPO: Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. Circus (Circa 1970)

SHRINE CIRCUS PARADE: Austin, TX (1960s)

At the :18 mark look for International Clown Hall of Fame inductee Ernie "Blinko" Burch riding atop a truck, shooting balloons out into the crowd and wearing the same outfit he wore at the 1964 World's Fair putting this roughly in that timeframe.

If someone out there knows who the producers were for the Austin, TX Shrine dates in the 60s we could probably figure this out. Gil Gray did the Texas dates for many years. Blinko did a lot of work for Al Dobritch.

RBB&B: Under Canvas (Home Movie Footage 1950s)

Look for glimpses of Paul Jung's "Adam Smasher", Emmett Kelly, Charlie Bell, Paul Jerome, Joe Ward, Felix Adler and Paul Wenzel's silk and wire elephant/butterfly costumes all in three rings and two stages and all under canvas...

HAPPY LOU YEAR!

A very happy 2015 to one and all and a Happy Birthday to legendary American circus clown Lou Jacobs, who performed with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus for 60 years, and was born January 1st 1903 in Bremerhaven, Germany.

MERRY CHRISTMAS: Peace On Earth, Goodwill to All (2014)

WALTER DARE WAHL AND EMMETT OLDFIELD: The Patty Page Show (1956)

CLOWN WORKSHOP WITH STEVE & RYAN IN FAIRFIELD, NJ: December 11, 2014

If you are a clown in the NY/NJ/CT/Eastern PA area, DO NOT MISS THIS WORKSHOP NEXT WEEK!!!

HOUSCH-MA-HOUSCH

SPIONE: Clown Scene (Fritz Lang, 1928)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JACKO FOSSETT (11/11/22)

Photo courtesy of Sue Lenz

6 Comedy Lessons that Chuck Jones Learned From Tex Avery

Courtesy of Cartoon Brew

Click to read the entire piece written by Chuck Jones for the Sunday, August 31, 1980 edition of the Los Angeles Tribune.

In this 1980 tribute to legendary animation director Tex Avery, fellow legendary director Chuck Jones shared six lessons that he learned about comedy from working with Avery in the 1930s. The advice remains essential to any animation director working today:

1. You must love what you caricature. You must not mock it—unless it is ridiculously self-important, like the solemn live-action travelogues of that day.
2. You must learn to respect that golden atom, that single-frame of action, that 1/24th of a second, because the difference between lightning and the lightning bug may hinge on that single frame.
3. You must respect the impulsive thought and try to implement it. You cannot perform as a director by what you already know, you must depend on the flash of inspiration that you do not expect and do not know.
4. You must remember always that only man, of all creatures, can blush, or needs to; that only a man can laugh, or needs to, and that if you are in that trade of helping others to laugh and to survive by laughter, then you are privileged indeed.
5. Remember always that character is all that matters in the making of great comedians in animation and in live-action.
6. Keep always in your mind, your heart and your hand that timing is the essence, the spine, and the electrical magic of humor—and of animation.

PUDDLES PITY PARTY: Hallelujah (2014)

VALERY GLOZMAN & YURY KARASHKEVICH

LATTI

CHARLIE BELL: Clown at Madison Square Garden

ALONSO & HERMANOS RAMPIN

JULES GUERIN: Circus Clowns, Backstage Dressing Room (1904)

THE NEW RIVELINOS: Festival Internacional de Payasos (Nov. 2013)

KARATE MASTER

THE SADDRI DANCERS: Hollywood Palace (March 8, 1969)

THE THREE STOOGES

MARCELINE ORBES: The Mishaps of Marceline, Reconstructed (1915)

THE PICKLE FAMILY CIRCUS CLOWNS

LARRY CROSS & DAVID STRONG: Gil Gray Circus (1963)

Photo courtesy of Bill Strong

Lawrence Cross and David Strong, less than a year old.

THE INTERNATIONAL CLOWN HALL OF FAME: Pie Class at Clownfest (9/11/14)

CHAZ CHASE

Link courtesy of Lionel Lutringer

THE FRANCESCOS

Link courtesy of Lionel Lutringer

STEVE COPELAND & RYAN COMBS: CNN

THE FRANCESCOS: Military Parody

Link courtesy of Lionel Lutringer

RUDY LLATA CLOWNS: Luxembourg (1957)

Link courtesy of Lionel Lutringer

Post by Lionel Lutringer.

THE FRATELLINIS: Horse Parody

Link courtesy of Lionel Lutringer

LARRY CLARK & PAT CASHIN: Political Ad (2014)

A recent commercial that Larry Clark and I shot in Washington DC that is currently airing throughout California.

GIL DOVA

Link courtesy of Lionel Lutringer

Post by Lionel Lutringer.

PIPO, DARIO, MIMILE & LORIOT

Link courtesy of Lionel Lutringer

Post by Lionel Lutringer.

ACHILLE ZAVATTA

Link courtesy of Lionel Lutringer

JEAN MADD

Link courtesy of Lionel Lutringer

Post by Lionel Lutringer.

ACHILLE ZAVATTA

Link courtesy of Lionel Lutringer

Post by Lionel Lutringer.

ACHILLE ZAVATTA: Bareback Parody

Link courtesy of Lionel Lutringer

Post by Lionel Lutringer.

THE RASTELLIS

Link courtesy of Lionel Lutringer and Beth Grimes

SERGIO & DOMINIQUE

THE FRANCESOS: Balloons & Musical Entree (1968)

Link courtesy of Lionel Lutringer

Post by Lionel Lutringer.

MATTHEW SILVER: The Great Performer

CHARLIE CAIROLI & CO.

Link courtesy of Lionel Lutringer

Post by Lionel Lutringer.

ALEX & COMPANY

Link courtesy of Lionel Lutringer

Post by Lionel Lutringer.

GILLES MARGARITIS & ROGER CACCIA

Link courtesy of Lionel Lutringer

LARRY GRISWOLD: The Frank Sinatra Show (November 13, 1951)

Post by Craig Knudsen.

THE BARIOS

Link courtesy of Lionel Lutringer

THE FRANCESCOS: The Haunted House (Cirque Medrano, 1968)

Link courtesy of Lionel Lutringer

ACHILLE ZAVATTA: Cirque Medrano (December 2, 1959)

Link courtesy of Lionel Lutringer

IN MEMORIAM: Robin Williams (July 21, 1951 - August 11, 2014)

Add caption

THE BARGUIS

Link courtesy of Lionel Lutringer

Post by Lionel Lutringer.

THE FRANCESCOS

Link courtesy of Lionel Lutringer

Post by Lionel Lutringer.

LES PAUWELS

Link courtesy of Karen Bell

Post by Lionel Lutringer.

ØRKENES SØNNER: Gas

Post by Ørkenens Sønner.

JACKO FOSSETT & LITTLE BILLY MERCHANT: Soap Entree (Billy Smart's Circus)

YANN FRISCH

Post by Alessio Orotsam.

STEVE & RYAN: 2014 Promo

THE INTERNATIONAL CLOWN HALL OF FAME 2014 INDUCTION

Tonight, July 23, the ICHoF honors and inducts these 4 clowns: Dougie Ashton, Paul Wenzel, Chuck Burnes & Swede Johnson. Ceremony begins at 7:30pm at the ICHoF in Baraboo, WI. It is open to the public and limited seating is available. Admission is $10.00. Join us as we begin Baraboo's Circus Celebration and we salute these funnymen and their careers with kind words, rare video clips of their work and family members. It's guaranteed to be a once in a lifetime event!

 

Chuck Burnes

Dougie Ashton

Prof. Paul Wenzel

Carl "Swede" Johnson (photo by Robert Altman)

THE BIG APPLE CIRCUS CLOWN CARE UNIT: Johns Hopkins Children's Center

My friend Matthew Pauli beautifully articulating what is so wonderful about hospital clowning done well...

Big Apple Circus Clown Care at Johns Hopkins from Peter Philip Von Kahle on Vimeo.

IKEDA YOSUKE: Hello, Goodbye

Link courtesy of Jeff Gordon


Ikeda Yosuke "HelloGoodbye" by ikeikey

SUNDAY MORNING ART GALLERY: "Pierrot's Serenade" by Maxfield Parrish (1908)

CLOWN ALLEY: Vanity Fair Photo by Lusha Nelson (May 1, 1934)

Felix Adler, Jack LeClair, Charlie Bell and two unidentified "funny folk".

From the International Clown Hall of Fame...

The International Clown Hall of Fame is dedicated to preserving the art and craft of the clown worldwide.

We hope everyone who visits this page, the ICHoF Facebook page and our website enjoys the images and the history that we have worked to compile and share.

We are confronted with a financial situation that needs our immediate attention. We respectfully ask for your support to help solve this problem and allow us to continue to preserve and present the artifacts and images that represent this worldwide art form. We need to raise a minimum of $600.00 by this Friday, July 27, 2014. If you can help, please visit our website at www.theclownmuseum.com and donate via our Paypal link button. No amount is too small to help.

We appreciate the generosity shown to this organization in the past and hope we can count on the over 6,453 individuals who follow us on Facebook to help us overcome this challenge.

The Board of Directors of the ICHOF thanks you in advance for your generosity.

THE GOOD FRIEND: The Story of Jim Howle and Teddy Goodman (A Nic Beery Film)

The Good Friend - The Story of Jim Howle and Teddy Goodman from BeeryMedia.com on Vimeo.

ERNIE "BLINKO" BURCH: Captain Blinko, Space Clown (Early 1960s)

IN MEMORIAM: Richard Fick

Photo courtesy of the International Clown Hall of Fame

THE WHY FACTOR: The Fool (BBC World Service)

Link courtesy of David Burd

A 17:30 minute piece on the history of fools, jesters and clowning from the BBC World Service.

ARGO: From the London Coliseum

CLOWN ALLEY: Mills Bros. Circus (Circa 1960s)

Herman Joseph, Buck Leahy and Bumpsy Anthony in an
undated photograph that I would estimate comes from the early 1960s

MICHAEL "COCO" POLAKOVS: Mills Bros. Circus (5/29/1954)

Clown
Photo by Sverre O. Braathen courtesy of the Milner Library Special Collections