Wednesday, August 25, 2010

THE ICHOF IS COMING TO CLOWNFEST!!!


The International Clown Hall of Fame is proud to announce that they'll be at 

September 16 - 19, 2010 
in Seaside Heights, NJ 
(we have been assured that the entire Seaside Heights area will be a Snooki-free zone)

"We are proud to be part of one of the premier clown gatherings in the United States! Great classes, (among them an evening of Classic Clowns on DVD and a pie throwing demonstration), fantastic staff (including two ICHOF Inductees-Leon McBride & Jim Howle), and a chance to stock up on all your clown needs in the dealer area. We'll be there with ICHOF Induction posters, Red Skelton prints, clown books and rare clown & comedy DVD's.

So come on down, we'd love to meet you and show you what the International Clown Hall of Fame and Research Center is all about!"

-Greg DeSanto

Please click here for more information!

JEFF "SLIM" GARNER: Barbecue Gag; Pretty Prarie, KS (2009)


He didn't finish by forcing Benny Schultz's face down onto the grill?

JIGALOV & CSABA: Chair

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Monday, August 23, 2010

TODD GRIFFITH AND MARK LOHR: Update

I spoke with Mark Lohr the other day. He is in fine spirits and recovering well from his recent hip replacement surgery. A sobering reminder to all you young clowns out there, take it easy and be careful. 

I just received the following on Facebook from Brandon "Dooby" Foster...
"Back on the road after visiting Todd at the hospital. He and his mother have been overwhelmed with the cards, donations, and love that our circus family near and far has shown. Thank you all! Each and every email, card, or prayer has made an enormous impact."

You can still send him a get well message (or send another!) by going to: www.texashealth.com. Click on send patient an email. You must type in his name: Howard T Griffith, room: B422, and type a message. They will be printed and delivered to his room every day.

THE DI LELLOS: Circus Althof (2008)

DEAN KELLEY: A Clown's Art: Caught In the Act (2010)

Link courtesy of Steve Copeland...

Sunday, August 22, 2010

BERT LAHR: Nonsense Song

Link courtesy of Elliot Feldman and Michael Karp



A scene that helps to illustrate just how big an influence Bert Lahr was on many comics. Squint your eyes and tell me that that you are not watching Shemp Howard.

Sadly, Mr. Lahr's greatest moments were on the stage, not on the screen. If I remember correctly, the sequence above ended up on the cutting room floor.

From Michael Karp...


"A tutorial on delivering pretty sophisticated material in the broadest possible way, with the full comic arsenal of a great clown... A rip on the "hep cat jive" and scat numbers of the late 30s (Cab Calloway's call-and-response, "Shoeshine Boy," references to "Mississippi Mud" and other standards--all there) given the ...full "nut" comic treatment, and a hint of why Lahr was so perfect in "Waiting for Godot"... (Oh, what could he have done with rap and heavy metal!!!)..."