STEVE & RYAN: Nothing But Nonsense Fundraiser

Steve Copeland and Ryan Combs are in the final weekend of their Indiegogo fundraiser to produce their show "Nothing But Nonsense".

They are two of the best working clowns anywhere right now and are supremely worthy, and would be extremely grateful, for your very generous support...

Nothing But Nonsense

"Hold the phone and hide the good China!

Steve and Ryan, the Sultans of Slapstick, present their new show, Nothing But Nonsense, a hilarious cavalcade of singing, dancing and visual gags that has people everywhere asking, “Who hired these two?!”

Mirroring the lives of Steve & Ryan, Nothing But Nonsense is a raucous romp filled with music, magic, and other underwhelming achievements that will have you laughing so hard rubber chickens will shoot out your nose!

Come and get in on the act with Nothing But Nonsense, an exciting extravaganza of pure entertainment that you’ll never forget….no matter how hard you try. "

We are Steve Copeland and Ryan Combs, and our passion is making people laugh. We have spent the past thirteen years touring the United States and abroad doing exactly that.

It has been our dream for many years to bring our unique brand of entertainment to people all over the world with our own show.

Nothing But Nonsense is that show. Your contribution will make our dream come true, and we can continue doing what we do best: making people of all ages roar with laughter.

P.S- We did not win the $1.6 billion Powerball drawing, so this campaign is our Plan B! 

What We Need 

Since we have spent the majority of our careers as circus clowns, we are not exactly rolling in dough! 

We are raising funds to purchase the following:

• Original music: $2,000
• Microphones and other sound equipment: $4,000
• Costumes: $1,000
• Steel, wood, foam, coating, and paint for set and prop construction: $3,000
  
  
  

  Support "Nothing But Nonsense" by clicking HERE
  
  

THE RASTELLIS: La Piste aux Etoiles

Video courtesy of Lionel Lutringer

70th ANNUAL JOSEPH GRIMALDI SERVICE: Holy Trinity Church, Dalston (February 7, 2016)

I see friends Bobbo Roberts and Tweedy Digweed in attendance.

CLOWN ENTREES: Circus Roncalli

TAMMY PARISH: Visiting the International Clown Hall of Fame!

THE MAD COMEDIANS: Nikulin Circus Festival

JACK COOK: Gibtown Showmen's Club Circus

THE BOY WITH TAPE ON HIS FACE

HAIR GROWER: Kelly-Miller Circus, Pittsfield Mass (May 27, 1954)

Photo courtesy of by John F Pendergast

IN MEMORIAM: Larry Rothbard

Extremely sad news comes to us from Chicagoland this morning, Larry Rothbard, longtime musical director of the Hamid Circus has passed away.

Larry was a wonderful guy, a wonderful musician, and will be sorely missed by everyone.

THE THREE BONOS: Ups and Downs (1932)

ARNAUT BROTHERS (1928)

IN REMEMBRANCE: Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966)

Buster Keaton passed away 50 years ago today.

CHARLIE RIVEL: Vienna Children's Hospital (1937)

COCO: Bertram Mills Circus at Olympia (1950s)

PERCY HUXTER: Meeting the Queen (British Pathe, 1955)

HAPPY 136TH BIRTHDAY, W.C. FIELDS!

BIZARRO

BILL IRWIN: Cheers of a Clown (Vanity Fair)

CHEERS OF A CLOWN 

Bill Irwin, photographed in New York City. Photograph by Annie Leibovitz. Kennedy Center Honors founder George Stevens Jr. writes an appreciation of our great clown for his brilliance as a performer and audience member. 

BY GEORGE STEVENS JR.

 We go to the theater to be surprised, and for 40 years Bill Irwin has been on a steady quest to surprise us. Strangers rarely stop this chameleon-like artist on the street, because his own persona is so well disguised within his extraordinary gallery of characters. Irwin studied at the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College before turning to the stage. We often discover him wearing extremely baggy pants, black horn-rimmed glasses, and an item from his storehouse of bizarre hats on his head. His training and versatility gave him tools to enchant us in offerings ranging from Fool Moon and Old Hats, with his fellow clown David Shiner, to Waiting for Godot, with Steve Martin and Robin Williams, and King Lear, playing the Fool, a performance New York Times critic Ben Brantley described as “insolent, fearful, desolate and touched with the antic brilliance of madness.” Then he surprises us by turning up in The Good Wife, Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar, Rachel Getting Married, with Anne Hathaway, or as a serial killer on CSI. Or at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics as a drum major marching with a band that would not follow his directions.

Most recently I encountered Mr. Irwin at the Kennedy Center. On this night our surprise was to see him enter in one of his baggy-pants ensembles with a bow tie and derby hat, only to be joined by acclaimed ballerina Tiler Peck in a pas de deux that juxtaposed Ms. Peck’s balletic gifts with Irwin’s charm, humor, and considerable dancing skill. His bulky shoes seemed crafted to inhibit graceful movement, but he took on the qualities of the ballerina with his shape-changing eccentricity. It was a beguiling partnership.

Irwin has been a regular at the annual Kennedy Center Honors, performing onstage from time to time, but I rank him as our all-time most valuable audience member. We edited the Honors for television, and whenever we cut to Bill he was responding in perfect pitch, enhancing the viewer’s appreciation with the sensibility that works for him onstage, all natural, everything coming from inside.

In 2007, he gave me my favorite surprise. I went with a touch of skepticism to see him as George in Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Irwin’s clown took the night off. His seemingly mild, slightly stooped academic in a sweater-vest was so true to a college professor that his emerging rage and scarring wit were chilling and powerful when he tangled with Kathleen Turner’s boozy Martha. It is the best rendering of George I’ve ever seen, and it earned him a Tony Award for best actor.

Bill once said, “When you’re onstage, part of you wants to be off as fast as possible. And once you’re offstage, everything is in anticipation of the next time you’re on.” We’re waiting, Bill.

DREAMSCOPE ART: Whiteface, Auguste and Character

Harry Dann

Lou Jacobs

Otto Griebling