Danny Chapman (the man responsible for the creation of Clown College), Mark Anthony and Swede Johnson along with a crew of then recent Clown College graduates present the first Boxing Gag done on the Ringling circus after the retirement of Otto Griebling's longtime sparring partner Freddie Freeman.
Great stuff! The other boxer is Levio Hipps, and his corner men are Lester & Stanley Janus.
ReplyDelete-Greg
Greg,
ReplyDeleteMr. Hipps is someone whose name I've seen under photos of more than one clown, thanks for clearing that up.
I thought that the two little people might be the Januses but there seems to have been a few little people who passed quickly through the Ringling Alley during the mid-to-late 60s and wasn't 100% sure.
~P
The other clowns in the gags are....Dagnabit!
ReplyDeleteGreg, beat me to it!
I don't know if he still around or not but,
Levoy( sp?) had a great sandwich shop in Sarasota right on a rail line.
When I lived in Sarasota (mainly during winter breaks) I would go one or twice a week, after the lunch crowd had left, and get a sandwich and he would tell me road stories.
He bought the sandwich shop because every year the Ringling train would pull up to that section of track and they would wait awhile (days?), Every time he would say to himself "I'm hungry" and "If I was a smart man I would build a deli right hear and every year be open just for the show"
So he did!
AND Yes, Clown College was created by Danny Chapman!
I remember the man's name as "Levoi" Hipps, but I may be wrong!
ReplyDeleteAlso, kudos for remembering Danny Chapman, without whom that first CC class would have never achieved the level of work they did!
(Anybody remember Mel Miller? We'll talk!)
Thanks, Pat.
Levio is still around and the sandwich shop still serves up good food and great circus stories.
ReplyDelete-Greg