When I was a child Clyde Beatty always played my home town. It was the first circus I ever saw, and Jimmy was the first clown I ever "met". He being quite kind to the child who followed him for an autograph.
He set an idea with me (later refined by many who I came to be lucky enough to see/meet over the years) of what circus clowning was. Something that fueled my imagination and helped foster a life long love of comedy of all types.
Sad news comes from Michael Rosman... Jimmy James Plott, longtime Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. Circus clown and ringmaster passed away today.
Jimmy was a wonderful person, an excellent clown (and mentor to younger clowns) and one of the best ringmasters that I've ever had the pleasure of working with.
The single best book that I've ever found on stage performance technique, in any discipline, is Livingston Taylor's STAGE PERFORMANCE. The following videos will give you an idea of the type of valuable information, and the style in which it is presented, that you'll find if you take the time to track down and read (and re-read) a copy of this amazing book...
What does the "N" in "N Files" stand for? "Not funny"?
I'm a little confused here because little mister Ryan Seacrest School of Cool here is such taking such pains to come off as "with it" and "hip" but The X Files was a show that ended its run on the Fox network seven long years ago. What were the other "capturing the zeitgeist" choices he came up with for naming this segment? "Everybody Loves Clips?" "Mad About Clips"? "CLiPS"? "The Donna Reed Show"?
Do you know what "terrifies" me and "robs me of my innocence"?
Overly smarmy metrosexuals who try too hard to pass themselves off as hipper-than-thou, post-ironic news commentators taking lame, cliched potshots at easy targets in the wee hours of the early morning before the real Today Show actually starts.
It's the early morning local news, monkey-boy! Learn to play the game and make with nothing more than the weather, traffic and "happy chat" and save up all that genre-defying, envelope-pushing, razor sharp snark for your audition reel for one of the 10,000 versions of The Soup currently flailing around on basic cable.
I watch Joel McHale. I enjoy Joel McHale. Joel McHale makes me laugh. You sir, are no Joel McHale.
If this clip is any indicator of your wit, it serves as a crystal clear explanation as to why you are on in Chicago at four in the morning. I would strongly suggest that you spend a little less money on wardrobe and getting your eyebrows waxed at the salon and open yourself a savings account. I am sure that you could use the free toaster oven and the money will come handy in a few short years when you are teaching improv comedy at Waukegan Community College.
Here is another comedy version of the 12th Street Rag, this one performed by the legendary Mexican team of musical comedians, Manolin & Shilinsky (Manuel Palacios, the comic and Estanislao Shilinsky, from Lithuania, the straight man). They were very popular in Mexico from the mid '40s to the mid '70s... Very funny, very talented.
