GIOVANNI ZOPPE

My friend Giovanni "Nino" Zoppe, "The Clown Prince of Italy" and the youngest inductee ever to the International Clown Hall of Fame performing his comedy trapeze act at the Melha Shrine Circus in West Springfield, MA.

"Nino" can currently be seen with Circus Flora but clicking the title of this post will take you to the Zoppe Family Circus website where you can view his full schedule. Catch him if you can, he's well worth it.

And tell him I said "Hi"!

RINGLING GOLD UNIT: Mitch Freddes

I owe Mitch Freddes a very sincere apology for omitting his name from my discussions of the Slivers Oakley Project. I always credit Tom Dougherty, but that is because I had the original conversation with Tom backstage when I saw them on the Gold show a few months back.

Mitch deserves to be mentioned as well and will be from now on. He has done quite a bit to continue to preserve Slivers' memory and maintains a correspondence with Slivers' grandson.

In an effort to make it up to him, here are a series of photos of Mitch (and one with Tom) making up in the Gold Unit Alley and getting ready to show the audience exactly what classic Ringling circus clowning is all about: strong, appealing character, exemplary comedic skills and timeless material performed with unique style and flare.

And Mitch does that better than just about anyone working anywhere today.

BOZO HARRELL: Mystery Solved!

Photo courtesy of Marcelo Melison

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"Hello there Pat:
I'm almost one hundred percent sure that the Clown in the above photo, who looks like Emmett, is this guy, Bozo Harrell. He was a burlesque comic and he was doing some circus clowning in the '40s and '50s..."
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I would have to agree. The resemblance is uncanny.

Bozo Harrell looks like he might be the tramp clown that I've seen working with Olsen & Johnson on a lot of their early television dates. Among other bits, he performed a very quick midget car gag that combined elements of Lou Jacobs, Kinko Sunberry and Bobo Barnett's routines on an episode of the Steve Allen show that I saw at the Museum of Television and Radio (now called "The Paley Center for Media") in New York.

If he had a background as a burlesque comic, I'd bet dollars to donuts that it's got to be the same guy.

Thanks again Marcelo!!!

Anyone else out there have any info on Mr. Harrell?

CLOWNALLEY.NET SHOP: Slivers Mug & T-Shirt

We've added an official Frank "Slivers" Oakley CLOWNALLEY.NET mug and t-shirt to the CLOWNALLEY.NET shop to help raise funds for The Slivers Oakley Project which will attempt to provide Mr. Oakley a grave marker.

The shop is open 24/7 and can be accessed by clicking the title of this post or the CLOWNALLEY.NET SHOP link under "Links" on the right hand side of this page.

EMMETT KELLY: Not!

Photo courtesy of circusbutterflygirl


Though identified here as Emmett Kelly, I don't have any photos of Emmett wearing a wig (after his Weary Willie character was fully developed) and I've never heard of him doing a drag routine. While it does look like Emmett's face from this angle, I'm pretty certain that it's not him.

Anyone out there recognize him? I think that it may be famous Middle Eastern Emmett impersonator Ahmet Kahli.

CLYDE BEATTY CIRCUS: Charlie Hilderra

Photo courtesy of Bill Strong



From Bill Strong comes this undated photo of Charlie Hilderra, a member of the Alley on the Clyde Beatty Circus.

Please click the title of this post to visit Bill's blog YESTERDAY'S TOWNS.

ROGER "RUMPY" PRYSTANSKI: Happy Birthday!

From Marcelo PEPPO Melison...
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"About "Rumpy"... The correct spelling of his name is PRYSTANSKI. There is a nice article about him in the first issue of the Canadian magazine "The Funny Paper", page 20, Summer edition, July 2000... Wait a minute: according to the article, tomorrow, June 5, it would be his sixtieth birthday !!!. Is that a coincidence or what?. (The article says that he passed away in November 1993, and that he was born in what is now Thunder Bay, northwestern Ontario)."
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Thank you very much for the info! What a strange coincidence. He must be looking down and reading the blog ; )

It gives me great pleasure to wish Mr. Roger "Rumpy" Prystanski a very, very Happy 60th Birthday by posting this Bill Ballantine pen & ink of him (cropped from a drawing of the entire Clown College class of 1969) from Bill's book CLOWN ALLEY.

Happy Birthday Rumpy! The Garden show just hasn't been the same without you.

If you get the chance, please say hello to the rest of the Alley up there for us and tell them to stop by too!

CLOWNALLEY.NET: Store Now Open!

I've opened a CafePress store in an effort to start the fundraising ball rolling so that we can begin work on getting Frank "Slivers" Oakley a headstone by the end of 2007.

Our 2008 project will be to get Otto Griebling a star at the Madison Square Garden Walk of Fame, with another for Lou Jacobs as our goal for 2009.

Please click the title of this post to be taken to our new online store.

And if anyone knows how to center the logo on the header of this page, PLEASE let me know :)

HARRY DANN 1940s

The very influential and much imitated neat whiteface Harry Dann in fedora and sportcoat, yet strangely sans pants.

You'd think such a well known "picture clown" would have put on a pair of pants for this photo.

At the very least the lady in the Mother Goose hat should have reminded him that there was a photographer behind him and a strong wind might expose his "tuffet".

MOSLEM SHRINE CIRCUS: 1960s

Some members of the alley of the Detroit Shrine Circus from what looks to be the 1960s...


Larry Cross and Billie Burke



John Toy



Kenny "Tweety" Dodd

SLIVERS OAKLEY PROJECT: From Gene Wolande

Concerning the posting from April 25th about Tom Dougherty's suggestion that we make an effort to gather funds for a proper memorial marker at the burial site of Frank "Slivers" Oakley comes this message from Gene Wolande, Los Angeles screenwriter and relative of Mr. Oakley...

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Pat,


Saw your April Blog and wanted to forward what information I have regarding the research I have done on Sliver's cemetary/gravesite.

Attached are files of what I have pasted below.

Please keep me posted on progress....would appreciate it... Any help I can be, I will do my best.

And how are things going for you?


Take care hope to hear from you soon.

Gene Wolande

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GARDEN BROS. : Rumpy

Photo courtesy of Bill Strong



Other than the fact that he was a very early Clown College graduate, and that he was keenly interested in combining Felix Adler's (more accurately Paul Jerome's) "teeth" makeup and padded rear end with an auguste makeup, I know very little about Garden Bros. longtime clown "Rumpy".

I can't imagine walking into Bill Ballantine's office and telling him that you'd like to be referred to as "Rumpy"...

"Rumpy"?

That's right. "Rumpy".

"Rumpy"?!? Are you ABSOLUTELY sure that you wanna go with "Rumpy"?

Oh, dude, it's the 70s and I'm totally feeling the "Rumpy" thing.

"Rumpy", huh? OK then, if you're ABSOLUTELY sure... I guess "Rumpy" it is. If you're SURE that you're sure...

I do have a tape of the 'ol Rumpster performing an absolutely KILLER pie gag that I have to post one of these days...

CLOWNALLEY.NET: Our One Year Anniversary!

This week CLOWNALLEY.NET celebrated our one year anniversary!

To date we've had 824 individual posts, I've posted 70 of my clown videos (since January!) with dozens more found on YouTube, and as much information as I could find on each photo and video.

I'd like to thank all of those who have sent (and continue to send) in photos and info and hope that you've all enjoyed the last year as much as I have.

We've got some big announcements next week, some great video clips in the hopper and an update on the Slivers Oakley project tomorrow but first, Steve Copeland reminds us of what American circus clowning used to look like before it became all whistles, bicycle horns and volunteers sitting in chairs...

RINGLING: The Sink Gag

Video courtesy of Steve Copeland



The sink gag with Ryan Combs and Steve Copeland from the 134th edition in Memphis, TN 2005.

"Super Steve" Copeland says...

"This version was filmed in Memphis, TN (Larry, if you are reading this you can see you and your family watching on the ring curb....don't look so bored!) in 2005.

The sink gag was not in the Adventure at the start of the tour, but Ryan had been talking with Greg DeSanto about the gag and we started writing it in Trenton, NJ, mapping it out with some very crude props. We even had a scout family that had arrived for a PR early to give us our first audience feedback (not sure what their initial reaction was to see two twenty year olds out of make-up and in clown boxers hitting each other and throwing mop heads around).

In Fresno, CA Ryan built the sink and in each town after that we got the props needed.

Our big debut came in San Jose, CA. We showed the gag and got the best reaction the gag had ever gotten. People were screaming with laughter all the way through, and they were about to piss themselves during the blow off.

Needless to say, we were on Cloud 9 that show and couldn't wait to put it in the regular rotation the next week in San Francisco, CA.

Little did we know it was a bad thing to open with the gag so strong....San Francisco is not known for having the best audiences, and we got next to nothing from them when we started doing the sink gag regularly there.

We couldn't figure it out. In other cities as well we didn't reach the same level of hysteria in our audiences that we had reached that first night.

Some shows we would get decent laughs, some shows we would get nothing. It was very frustrating!

Finally in Memphis, over a year later, Ryan and I decided to come in early on Sunday morning and rework the gag. We cut some bits, moved others around, worked on the flow, etc.

We struck GOLD! We got a very good reaction (especially for a Sunday afternoon show), and after that the gag got stronger and stronger and we knocked 'em dead every time we performed the gag! (Except for one time we foolishly did the gag for a morning show....NEVER AGAIN! Nothing is funny before noon....right Mr. DeSanto?)

Despite all the headaches of the gag (setting all the props, getting the water ready, cleaning the water up off the floor, dealing with management about water that shot up on the rigging, etc.), the response we got from the audience made it all worthwhile.

I wish I had a more complete version of the gag. This version is missing some great bits from the beginning where I get rolled up in the tarp, and the start of the gag where I pull the counter top off with a plunger, but it is the newest version of the gag I have.

So just imagine it as it was at the end of the tour with all the timing down perfect and every bit milked to its fullest potential.....

and that will have to tide you over until I can work with Ryan again and revive the gag! Until then, enjoy!"

Please click the title of this post to be taken to Steve Copeland's MySpace page.

RINGLING: The Construction Gag

Video courtesy of Steve Copeland



Shades of Willie, West & McGinty: The Construction Gag in Salt Lake City, UT

"Super Steve" Copeland says...

"It would be safe to say that this gag was the highlight of my Ringling career. I always had fun doing it and it got some great reactions from the audience. By the end of the tour you knew when the big laughs were coming, and that was cool!

It's too bad the clowns aren't allowed to write the gags for the show anymore. This video should be proof that an Alley of clowns under the superb guidance of good clown directors (such as Greg and Karen DeSanto) can come up with something wonderful."

Please click the title of this post to be taken to Steve Copeland's MySpace page.

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE: The Comedy of Errors

Almost 20:00 of PBS's very rarely seen Live from Lincoln Center 1987 broadcast of William Shakespeare's THE COMEDY OF ERRORS from the Vivian Beaumont Theater featuring the circus skills and "New Vaudeville" talents of The Flying Karamazov Brothers, Avner the Eccentric and Jeff Raz...

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Directed by Robert Woodruff
Sets by David Gropman
Costumes by Susan Hilferty
Lighting by Paul Gallo
Music composed by Douglas Wieselman with Thaddeus Spae
Sound by John Kolgore
Musical direction and arrangements by Mr. Wieselman
Production manager, Jeff Hamlin
General manager, Steven C. Callahan
Production stage manager, George Darveris
Stage manager, Chet Leaming.

Presented by Lincoln Center Theater, Gregory Mosher, director;
Bernard Gersten, executive producer.

At the Vivian Beaumont Theater, 150 West 65th Street.

The Janitor and Doctor Pinch ............... Avner Eisenberg
Duke of Ephesus and Luce ................... Karla Burns
Egeon ...................................... Daniel Mankin
Antipholus of Ephesus ...................... Howard Jay Patterson
Antipholus of Syracuse ..................... Paul Magid
Dromio of Ephesus .......................... Randy Nelson
Dromio of Syracuse ......................... Sam Williams
Balthasar .................................. Mark Sackett
Angelo and Second Merchant ................. Alec Willows
First Merchant ............................. Raz
Emilia and Courtesan ....................... Ethyl Eichelberger
Adriana .................................... Sophie Hayden
Luciana .................................... Gina Leishman
William Shakespeare ........................ Timothy Daniel Furst

Citizens of Ephesus: Steven Bernstein, Karla Burns, Bud Chase,
Ethyl Eichelberger, Danny Frankel, Timothy Daniel Furst,
Sophie Hayden, Gina Leishman, Paul Magid, Daniel Mankin,
Derique McGee, Randy Nelson, Wendy Parkman, Howard Jay Patterson,
Raz, Rosalinda Rojas, Mark Sackett, Douglas Wieselman, Sam
Williams and Alec Willows.

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MARK ANTHONY: At the International Clown Hall of Fame in Delavan, Wisconsin

Some highlights from Mark's visit to the ICHOF back when it was in Delavan. He talks about some of his props, Professor Paul Wenzel and how he came to add the dog collar to his costume and the wagging tongue to his makeup.

I wish I'd had the chance to meet him.

MARK ANTHONY: Making Up

International Clown Hall of Fame inductee Mark Anthony making up.

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey lost quite a bit the day Mark Anthony packed up his trunk and walked out the back door. Had people like he and Mike Coco stayed I think things would have been very different in the 80s and 90s.

HUNT BROS: Gil, Lil and Hal

I'm not sure about the fellow out of makeup but it looks like we have (from the left) Hal "Tearini" Haviland (sometimes spelled "Havilan"), Lil and Gil Wilson together on the Hunt Bros. Circus, year unknown.

Click the title of this post to be taken to the eBay auction where this and other vintage Hunt Bros. photos can be found.

THE BIG APPLE CIRCUS: Francesco

Photo courtesy of Bill Strong



From Bill Strong:

"Here is a picture of Francesco from 1994 when we did a Winter date with him in Holland. A very humble, and friendly gentleman, & a pleasure to be around. I do hope he has recovered from his health problems and has returned to the Big Apple"

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I have never had the pleasure of meeting him. It seems like it certainly has been a long time since I've heard anything about Francesco's recuperation. I hope he's doing well and is back to work by this point. His son does a marvelous job but we'd all like to see the real deal again.

Don Covington, is there any news?

And to visit Bill Strong's excellent circus blog, YESTERDAY'S TOWNS, please click the title of this post.