CONGRATULATIONS, BILLY VAUGHN!

 

Congratulations go out to Billy Vaughn who will be inducted into the International Clown Hall of Fame today in recognition of a circus career that has spanned decades and is distinguished for his exceptional qualities both inside and outside of the ring.

Truly a clown's clown, the honor is extremely well deserved and very happily bestowed.

Namaste!

HAPPY 100TH BIRTHDAY, LUCY!

CAPTAIN KANGAROO LINKS

For those of you wondering why the posting here have slowed, I am busy re-launching ICHOF inductee Bob Keeshan's classic television creation, Captain Kangaroo.

Click the title of this post to be taken to our Facebook page, click the link here to be taken to our website and blog.

INTERNATIONAL CLOWN WEEK 2011: August 1st - 7th

 From the desk of Greg DeSanto, Executive Director of the International Clown Hall of Fame...

August 1st thru the 7th is designated "National Clown Week" by Joint Congressional Resolution, approved October 8, 1970 and signed into law by President Richard Nixon on August 2, 1971.

In part the proclamation reads,

"Whoever has heard the laughter of a child or seen the sudden delight on the face of a lonely old man has understood in those brief moments mysteries deeper than love.

All men are indebted to those who bring such moments of quiet splendor-who redeem sickness and pain with joy. All across America good men in putty noses and baggy trousers following a tradition as old as man's need to gently touch the lives of his fellowman. Today, as always, clowns and the spirit they represent are as vital to the maintenance of our humanity as the builders and the growers and governors... "

The International Clown Hall of Fame and Research Center is proud to help celebrate the laughter this week with special events to include a display of the original proclamation signed by President Richard Nixon, guided tours of the largest collection of clown artifacts in the world and on Saturday, August 6th, a celebration of Lucille Ball's 100th Birthday with a trivia contest at 1:00pm, daylong video highlights of some of Lucy's funniest moments, and face painting.

The Clown Hall of Fame and Research Center is a 501 (c) 3 organization, and is located at 102 4th Avenue, Baraboo, WI 53913, right on the historic downtown square. Hours are Monday to Saturday, 10:00am to 5:00pm, admission is $5.00. For more info call 608-355-0321.

INTERNATIONAL CLOWN HALL OF FAME INDUCTION ANNOUNCEMENT!

The International Clown Hall of Fame and Research Center and its Board of Directors are proud to announce the their selection for the 2011 Induction into the Clown Hall of fame- Mr. Billy Vaughn!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ELMO!

Clownalley.net will return soon but I had to come back from vacation to wish a very happy 60th birthday today to my good friend Dean "Elmo Gibb" Chambers. Today marks another milestone as he celebrates 35 years as a professional clown.

As a "baby clown" graduating the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College at the Venice Arena

At the center of the Blue Show Clown Alley of the Greatest Show on Earth in 1977.

On a Shrine Date in New York State in 1981

The longtime Advance Clown for the Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. Circus

On Hoxie's Great American Circus

As Producing Clown for Beatty-Cole

 

At the Clown College Reunion in 1987

At the Showfolks Circus with Sandy Kaye

With Shane and I at Michael Rosman's Circus Camp

In the Showfolks Alley

 

Happy Birthday, Elmo!

WHEN YOU HAVE A MOMENT...

I have some news that I'd like to share with you...

Please click here.

PUT YOUR MONEY WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS...

THE NEW ERNIE KOVACS DVD BOX SET FROM SHOUT FACTORY IS OUT NOW!

Artwork by Drew Friedman

 

The Ernie Kovacs Collection

by Noel Murray April 20, 2011 

From The Onion...

Whenever a clip of Ernie Kovacs pops up in a TV special about show-business history, the focus tends to be on one of his whimsical visual gags or kooky characters. The biggest revelation of the long-overdue six-DVD box set The Ernie Kovacs Collection is how funny Kovacs could be when he was just standing in front of a camera and talking, as “himself.” Kovacs started his showbiz career as a stage actor in the ’30s, while still in his teens, then moved on to radio before becoming a staple of local Philadelphia television in the early ’50s, as a host of just about every imaginable kind of TV format—some of which, like the morning show, he helped invent. In those early days, Kovacs worked loose, tossing out asides, puns, and winks. He looked like a Latin lover, but sounded like a traveling salesman.

The first disc of The Ernie Kovacs Collection assembles surviving examples of Kovacs plunging headlong into a new medium, in shows like 1951’s Ernie In Kovacsland and 1952’s Kovacs On The Corner. He wanders through sets full of props—sometimes wandering off the set, making sure to point out the cameras and microphones to home viewers—and picks up objects seemingly at random, to make absurdist jokes. Sometimes the routines are spontaneous, as in one bit where Kovacs gets annoyed and smacks a head of lettuce around while making a salad. Sometimes they’re carefully planned, as in another bit where he hears a gong every time he lifts a hat. The production back then wasn’t slick; the sound dips in and out, and sometimes there’s an unplanned lag before a gag. But it’s impressive even now to see someone try to turn live television into his own Looney Tune, full of surreal surprises and quick blackout sketches. (And this was more than a decade before Laugh-In.)

In the liner notes to The Ernie Kovacs Collection, author/fan Jonathan Lethem sums up the comedian’s weaknesses, writing, “It should be said that much of his work is too conceptual and deliberate and even awkward to be smoothly seductive to the viewer’s hilarity; it often presents itself as humorous while actually being only interesting and uncomfortably odd.” That’s most evident in Kovacs’ 1959-61 panel show Take A Good Look, in which he challenged celebrities to guess why a guest had recently been in the news, with the “help” of short skits that were barely related to the topic. It was a straight-faced parody of game shows, in keeping with Kovacs’ habit of mocking genre conventions and the mechanics of television. (As in this Kovacs fake-commercial: “Eat food. Food fills you up. It gives you all the vitamins you can’t get in vitamins.”) Like Bob & Ray, Nichols & May, and Mad magazine, Kovacs used mainstream media to transmit messages about the inherent silliness of culture both high and low, from the Superman comics Kovacs spoofed as “Superclod” to his version of Romeo And Juliet, where no one can remember who’s a Capulet and who’s a Montague.

But beyond mere wiseacre-y, Kovacs had a sense of how artificiality could be beautiful as well as deceptive. The highlights of The Ernie Kovacs Collection appear on discs four and five, in the form of the specials he shot for NBC and ABC between 1957 and his death in 1962. There, with more resources at his disposal—and with a general understanding by all concerned that it was okay if he failed to reach more than a niche audience—Kovacs tried to distill his act to a pure form of delight, mixing dry-witted jokes with ingeniously strange flights of fancy. He’d have his wife Edie Adams sing while he created psychedelic in-camera effects (in 1959!), or he’d stage Swan Lake with ballerinas wearing gorilla suits, or explore an elaborate scale model of a city with his camera, to the sounds of a Béla Bartók concerto. Kovacs achieved effects on television usually only seen in avant-garde film, and he did it with a welcoming smile.

ICHOF: Important Announcement!!!

"We have an opportunity to aquire a VERY rare collection belonging to a clown who's career was primarly on TV. They are willing to donate it to us, but we need to pay shipping. EVERYONE who donates $100.00 or more will get as a thank you an original Leon McBride doll. Donate via Paypal at www.theclownmuseum.com and and click on the PayPal button.A huge thanks to everyone who supports and respects the art of clowning!"

RINGLING BROS. AND BARNUM & BAILEY CLOWN COLLEGE TO BE RECIPIENT OF 2011 KENNEDY CENTER MARK TWAIN PRIZE FOR AMERICAN HUMOR

RINGLING BROS. AND BARNUM & BAILEY CLOWN COLLEGE TO BE RECIPIENT OF 2011 KENNEDY CENTER MARK TWAIN PRIZE FOR AMERICAN HUMOR.

For Immediate Release: March 31, 2011

Washington, D.C. — "The Fourteenth Annual Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize" celebrates The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College, an entity which has spawned some of the most versatile and prolific careers in the entertainment industry, finding success in the circus ring,  on stage, in front of the camera, as a performers in film and television, and behind the scenes as a writers directors and producers. The program airs Monday, November 12, 2011, at 9 p.m. ET on PBS stations nationwide. A ceremony is scheduled to be taped at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on October 11 and the 90-minute special will feature tributes and comic testimonials from a star-studded cast of graduates and colleagues including Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Steve Carrell, Robin Williams, Steve Martin, David Letterman, Jim Carrey, Will Ferrell, Jimmy Fallon, Whoopi Goldberg, Bill Irwin, Jon Lovitz, John Leguizamo, Rob Reiner and Martin Short. The program will also include an assortment of classic clips from the school’s 30 year career.

“For clowns to receive the same award as Richard Pryor, Steve Martin, and Neil Simon is a great honor,” said former dean Steve Smith. “As my grandfather said, if you hang around the store long enough, once in a while they’ll give you something!” He shared, “ I’m looking forward to a wonderful evening.”

The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College is the Fourteenth recipient of The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Past recipients of the prize have been Richard Pryor (1998), Jonathan Winters (1999), Carl Reiner (2000), Whoopi Goldberg (2001), Bob Newhart (2002), Lily Tomlin (2003), Lorne Michaels (2004), Steve Martin (2005) Neil Simon (2006), Billy Crystal (2007), George Carlin (2008), Bill Cosby (2009), and Tina Fey (2010).

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College: The Fourteenth Annual Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize is a co-production of WETA Washington, D.C.; The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; Mark Krantz Productions; and Comedia. Executive producers are Robert Kaminsky, Peter Kaminsky, Mark Krantz and Cappy McGarr. WETA executive producers are Dalton Delan and David S. Thompson.

Funding for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College: The Fourteenth Annual Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize, is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Public Broadcasting Service. Media partner is USA TODAY.

The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor was created in 1998 by The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Mark Krantz, Peter Kaminsky and Bob Kaminsky and John Schreiber to recognize the art of humorists who have had an impact on American society in ways similar to the distinguished 19th century novelist and essayist best known as Mark Twain*. As a social commentator, satirist and creator of characters, Samuel Clemens was a fearless observer of society, who startled many while delighting and informing many more with his uncompromising perspective of social injustice and personal folly. He revealed the great truth of humor when he said “against the assault of laughter nothing can stand.” Feld Entertainment CEO Kenneth Feld will be presented a copy of an 1884 bronze portrait bust of Mark Twain, sculpted by Karl Gerhardt (1853-1940). The bust and its images are courtesy of the Mark Twain House, Hartford, Connecticut.

The Kennedy Center, as the nation’s center for the performing arts, recognizes and presents all of the performing arts including opera, jazz, musical theater, drama, ballet and dance, as well as symphony and all kinds of smaller musical ensembles performing every imaginable kind of music.

WETA Washington, D.C., is the third-largest producing station for public television. WETA’s other productions and co-productions include The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Washington Week with Gwen Ifill and National Journal, In Performance at the White House, The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, and documentaries by filmmaker Ken Burns, including The Civil War and THE WAR. Sharon Percy Rockefeller is president and CEO. More information on WETA and its programs and services is available on the website at www.weta.org.

*"Mark Twain Prize" TM/© Chase Manhattan Bank and Richard A. Watson as trustees of The Mark Twain Foundation Trust under license authorized by CMG Worldwide Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana, 46256 USA.

# # #

For more information from the Kennedy Center website please click here. 

 

ROBB ZEISER ON LENO TONIGHT!

Set your TiVOs, my pal Robb Zeiser is on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno tonight!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GREG DESANTO!

Happy Birthday today to International Clown Hall of Fame and Research Center Executive Director Greg DeSanto, someone who has done more to preserve the legacy of American circus clowning than just about anyone in history.

ICHOF: RE: American Pickers

To help alleviate some of the phone calls to the International Clown Hall of Fame inquiring as to the price of various displays seen on American Pickers the other night: NOTHING IS FOR SALE!!!

I think that we've said it in every conceivable way but still there seems to be a misunderstanding that everything seen in the episode has a sale price. It does NOT. 

The items that were sold were part of the International Clown Hall of Fame's collection that has NOTHING to do with the Hall's stated mission of preserving and honoring the great clowns of the past. Often when someone donates a pair of shoes, a trunk or any other item of historical importance it comes to us along with several other pieces that have nothing to do with clowns or clowning. The Hall has acquired a sizable collection of things that have little or nothing to do with the ICHOF's mission. These things have not been discarded, ever, and take up a great amount of space and cost money to insure and store.

It is these items were made available to American Pickers as a way to raise awareness of the ICHOF's move to Baraboo, WI as well as to raise sorely needed funds for the Hall's continued operation.

The items that were sold were:

A carnival game
Some widely available reproduction circus posters (none with a clown image)
A toy elephant

The Dom DeLuise painting, the clown bike, the shoes and everything else featured in the segment are STILL on display at the Hall of Fame in Baraboo, WI. No clown items were ever for sale to the show and they are not for sale to anyone else. They are NOT for sale.

The ICHOF website will have a gift shop open soon with books, videos, t shirts and posters. These will be the only items that the International Clown Hall of Fame offers for sale to anyone. At any price.

If you are calling the Hall to purchase ANYTHING that you saw on TV the other night you can stop calling now.

Thank you ; )

FROM THE ICHOF: Re: American Pickers

From the desk of International Clown Hall of Fame and Research Center Director, Mr. Greg DeSanto...

We were VERY happy with American Pickers! Frank & Mike were great to work with and the segment gives a peek into the museum and all the treasures it holds. For more info check out our website at www.theclownmuseum.com and if you'd like to help continue our mission to preserve this great history of clowns. We accept PayPal and all gifts are very welcomed and greatly needed as we enter 2011.

INTERNATIONAL CLOWN HALL OF FAME ON "AMERICAN PICKERS" TONIGHT ON THE HISTORY CHANNEL!!!

Big show under the Big Top: 'American Pickers' to highlight Baraboo on History Channel Monday

 

Brian D. Bridgeford, News Republic | Posted: Wednesday, December 22, 2010 10:30 pm |

Baraboo's clown museum, and unique objects from its storerooms, will be featured on national television at 8 p.m. Monday.

The local flavor will be part of the newest episode of the popular antiques and artifacts show "American Pickers," televised on the History Channel - Channel 44 for those receiving Charter cable television.

Monday's "American Pickers" episode will feature an "amazing miniature automated carnival" from the International Clown Hall of Fame and Research Center, according to a press release from the History Channel's Heather DiRubba.

"American Pickers" follows hosts Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz as they travel the country rummaging through attics, basements and junk piles looking for unique and unusual objects.

The episode stems from a June visit by Wolfe, Fritz and their television crew to Baraboo.

Greg DeSanto, a Baraboo clown and executive director of the museum, said the Hall of Fame was one of the highlights of the hosts' visit.

The TV hosts interviewed DeSanto, his wife and fellow clown Karen DeSanto, while looking over the exhibits and rummaging through the museum's storerooms of artifacts.

"They were looking for unique and interesting places and they found one here in Baraboo," DeSanto said. "They really thought a clown museum would be an interesting dig for them."

Exploring the Hall of Fame and searching for an artifact in Baraboo was fairly easy and comfortable for the show hosts, he added.

"They're used to climbing under theater stages and dusty, musty barns," DeSanto said. "They're archeologists of interesting objects."

In each episode, the pickers also explore small towns and introduce viewers to "quirky characters" they find during their search for interesting objects.

DeSanto said he and Karen dressed in clown make-up and costume while leading Wolfe and Fritz around the museum and conducting their interviews.

He expects that after being featured on a popular national show, the Hall of Fame and Baraboo will gain some attention, resulting in an increase in appeal for tourists.

"That's what's so great about having a national program that's so highly rated and seen by so many people," DeSanto said. "Not only will (the audience) get to see some fun stuff they got to pick, you'll get a sense of the International Clown Hall of Fame and Research Center (and) you'll get a sense of the town of Baraboo. Really, they fell in love with this little town and this circus lineage that goes with it."

The Clown Hall of Fame is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization, and as such DeSanto said they were not free to sell off objects directly connected to their mission of preserving the history of clowning. However, he said, the museum has collected interesting and historic objects over the years that are not directly connected to clowning.

"People, when they donate a collection, they give us everything," he said. "Some things in the collection are not clown-related; they might be circus-related or carnival-related."

It was from among those items that Wolfe and Fritz picked a variety of things to buy, including the miniature carnival that will be featured Monday evening.

"We took them through our basement, our storage, our museum, our backrooms," DeSanto said. "They were fascinated by this stuff that is really different from anything they've encountered on a farm or in some storage locker."

Information about Baraboo's International Clown Hall of Fame can be found online at www.theclownmuseum.com, while the "American Pickers" website, including video of episodes, can be found at www.history.com/shows/american-pickers.

THE INTERNATIONAL CLOWN HALL OF FAME ON AMERICAN PICKERS: December 27th on The History Channel!!!

CONGRATULATIONS TO TATIANA AND RYAN COMBS!!!

Welcome to the Alley, Nicolas Christopher 6lbs 11oz 18 inches!

SHOWFOLKS CIRCUS 2010: December 11th, 2010 2:00 & 7:00 PM

Toby Ballantine, Jackie LeClaire, Barry Phillips and Elmo Gibb will all be on hand!

The popcorn is popping, the cotton candy is being spun and right about now the clowns are arriving at the Robarts Arena in beautiful Sarasota and spotting their trunks as America's Largest Professional  (Spot Date) Clown Alley prepares to return for the all-new 2010 edition of the Showfolks Circus!

Showtimes are at 2:00 PM and 7:00 PM. 

Freerolls always gratefully accepted ; )

TED FERLO: Get Well Soon!!!

Please keep Mr. Ted Ferlo in your thoughts and prayers as he recovers from his recent surgery.

Get Well Soon!