EMMETT KELLY: Press Photo

A classic Kelly moment as he works the seats during the Ringling show in the 1940s.

MITCH FREDDES: One More That I Found

Another great picture of Mitch that I found online.

MITCH FREDDES: Mitch and Friend

I came back to my hotel room last night after a grueling three show Friday (a one o'clock show? On FRIDAY?!?) to find a very nice message from Mitch Freddes thanking me for posting those photos of him yesterday.

You're welcome, Mitch. Anytime!

Here's another that really spotlights the very special magic that Mitch possesses. It's great to be able to "play big" but it's just as important in today's circus to be able to "play small" for the meet & greet. Mitch is a master at both. He is, every inch, a "real" clown.

RINGLING: Adler and Jerome

A 1935 Ringling press photo, which looks to have been taken outside the old Madison Square Garden, featuring Felix Adler (l) and Paul Jerome (r). The woman is unidentified, but I my guess is that it is Lola Dobritch.

Does this photo scream "CIRCUS" or what? Just throw an elephant in there and it would be an all-time classic!

GIOVANNI ZOPPE

My friend Giovanni "Nino" Zoppe, "The Clown Prince of Italy" and the youngest inductee ever to the International Clown Hall of Fame performing his comedy trapeze act at the Melha Shrine Circus in West Springfield, MA.

"Nino" can currently be seen with Circus Flora but clicking the title of this post will take you to the Zoppe Family Circus website where you can view his full schedule. Catch him if you can, he's well worth it.

And tell him I said "Hi"!

RINGLING GOLD UNIT: Mitch Freddes

I owe Mitch Freddes a very sincere apology for omitting his name from my discussions of the Slivers Oakley Project. I always credit Tom Dougherty, but that is because I had the original conversation with Tom backstage when I saw them on the Gold show a few months back.

Mitch deserves to be mentioned as well and will be from now on. He has done quite a bit to continue to preserve Slivers' memory and maintains a correspondence with Slivers' grandson.

In an effort to make it up to him, here are a series of photos of Mitch (and one with Tom) making up in the Gold Unit Alley and getting ready to show the audience exactly what classic Ringling circus clowning is all about: strong, appealing character, exemplary comedic skills and timeless material performed with unique style and flare.

And Mitch does that better than just about anyone working anywhere today.

BOZO HARRELL: Mystery Solved!

Photo courtesy of Marcelo Melison

___________________________________________________
"Hello there Pat:
I'm almost one hundred percent sure that the Clown in the above photo, who looks like Emmett, is this guy, Bozo Harrell. He was a burlesque comic and he was doing some circus clowning in the '40s and '50s..."
__________________________________________________


I would have to agree. The resemblance is uncanny.

Bozo Harrell looks like he might be the tramp clown that I've seen working with Olsen & Johnson on a lot of their early television dates. Among other bits, he performed a very quick midget car gag that combined elements of Lou Jacobs, Kinko Sunberry and Bobo Barnett's routines on an episode of the Steve Allen show that I saw at the Museum of Television and Radio (now called "The Paley Center for Media") in New York.

If he had a background as a burlesque comic, I'd bet dollars to donuts that it's got to be the same guy.

Thanks again Marcelo!!!

Anyone else out there have any info on Mr. Harrell?

CLOWNALLEY.NET SHOP: Slivers Mug & T-Shirt

We've added an official Frank "Slivers" Oakley CLOWNALLEY.NET mug and t-shirt to the CLOWNALLEY.NET shop to help raise funds for The Slivers Oakley Project which will attempt to provide Mr. Oakley a grave marker.

The shop is open 24/7 and can be accessed by clicking the title of this post or the CLOWNALLEY.NET SHOP link under "Links" on the right hand side of this page.

EMMETT KELLY: Not!

Photo courtesy of circusbutterflygirl


Though identified here as Emmett Kelly, I don't have any photos of Emmett wearing a wig (after his Weary Willie character was fully developed) and I've never heard of him doing a drag routine. While it does look like Emmett's face from this angle, I'm pretty certain that it's not him.

Anyone out there recognize him? I think that it may be famous Middle Eastern Emmett impersonator Ahmet Kahli.

CLYDE BEATTY CIRCUS: Charlie Hilderra

Photo courtesy of Bill Strong



From Bill Strong comes this undated photo of Charlie Hilderra, a member of the Alley on the Clyde Beatty Circus.

Please click the title of this post to visit Bill's blog YESTERDAY'S TOWNS.

ROGER "RUMPY" PRYSTANSKI: Happy Birthday!

From Marcelo PEPPO Melison...
__________________________________________________________________

"About "Rumpy"... The correct spelling of his name is PRYSTANSKI. There is a nice article about him in the first issue of the Canadian magazine "The Funny Paper", page 20, Summer edition, July 2000... Wait a minute: according to the article, tomorrow, June 5, it would be his sixtieth birthday !!!. Is that a coincidence or what?. (The article says that he passed away in November 1993, and that he was born in what is now Thunder Bay, northwestern Ontario)."
__________________________________________________________________

Thank you very much for the info! What a strange coincidence. He must be looking down and reading the blog ; )

It gives me great pleasure to wish Mr. Roger "Rumpy" Prystanski a very, very Happy 60th Birthday by posting this Bill Ballantine pen & ink of him (cropped from a drawing of the entire Clown College class of 1969) from Bill's book CLOWN ALLEY.

Happy Birthday Rumpy! The Garden show just hasn't been the same without you.

If you get the chance, please say hello to the rest of the Alley up there for us and tell them to stop by too!

CLOWNALLEY.NET: Store Now Open!

I've opened a CafePress store in an effort to start the fundraising ball rolling so that we can begin work on getting Frank "Slivers" Oakley a headstone by the end of 2007.

Our 2008 project will be to get Otto Griebling a star at the Madison Square Garden Walk of Fame, with another for Lou Jacobs as our goal for 2009.

Please click the title of this post to be taken to our new online store.

And if anyone knows how to center the logo on the header of this page, PLEASE let me know :)

HARRY DANN 1940s

The very influential and much imitated neat whiteface Harry Dann in fedora and sportcoat, yet strangely sans pants.

You'd think such a well known "picture clown" would have put on a pair of pants for this photo.

At the very least the lady in the Mother Goose hat should have reminded him that there was a photographer behind him and a strong wind might expose his "tuffet".

MOSLEM SHRINE CIRCUS: 1960s

Some members of the alley of the Detroit Shrine Circus from what looks to be the 1960s...


Larry Cross and Billie Burke



John Toy



Kenny "Tweety" Dodd

SLIVERS OAKLEY PROJECT: From Gene Wolande

Concerning the posting from April 25th about Tom Dougherty's suggestion that we make an effort to gather funds for a proper memorial marker at the burial site of Frank "Slivers" Oakley comes this message from Gene Wolande, Los Angeles screenwriter and relative of Mr. Oakley...

_______________________________________________________

Pat,


Saw your April Blog and wanted to forward what information I have regarding the research I have done on Sliver's cemetary/gravesite.

Attached are files of what I have pasted below.

Please keep me posted on progress....would appreciate it... Any help I can be, I will do my best.

And how are things going for you?


Take care hope to hear from you soon.

Gene Wolande

--------------------------------------------------------

GARDEN BROS. : Rumpy

Photo courtesy of Bill Strong



Other than the fact that he was a very early Clown College graduate, and that he was keenly interested in combining Felix Adler's (more accurately Paul Jerome's) "teeth" makeup and padded rear end with an auguste makeup, I know very little about Garden Bros. longtime clown "Rumpy".

I can't imagine walking into Bill Ballantine's office and telling him that you'd like to be referred to as "Rumpy"...

"Rumpy"?

That's right. "Rumpy".

"Rumpy"?!? Are you ABSOLUTELY sure that you wanna go with "Rumpy"?

Oh, dude, it's the 70s and I'm totally feeling the "Rumpy" thing.

"Rumpy", huh? OK then, if you're ABSOLUTELY sure... I guess "Rumpy" it is. If you're SURE that you're sure...

I do have a tape of the 'ol Rumpster performing an absolutely KILLER pie gag that I have to post one of these days...

CLOWNALLEY.NET: Our One Year Anniversary!

This week CLOWNALLEY.NET celebrated our one year anniversary!

To date we've had 824 individual posts, I've posted 70 of my clown videos (since January!) with dozens more found on YouTube, and as much information as I could find on each photo and video.

I'd like to thank all of those who have sent (and continue to send) in photos and info and hope that you've all enjoyed the last year as much as I have.

We've got some big announcements next week, some great video clips in the hopper and an update on the Slivers Oakley project tomorrow but first, Steve Copeland reminds us of what American circus clowning used to look like before it became all whistles, bicycle horns and volunteers sitting in chairs...

RINGLING: The Sink Gag

Video courtesy of Steve Copeland



The sink gag with Ryan Combs and Steve Copeland from the 134th edition in Memphis, TN 2005.

"Super Steve" Copeland says...

"This version was filmed in Memphis, TN (Larry, if you are reading this you can see you and your family watching on the ring curb....don't look so bored!) in 2005.

The sink gag was not in the Adventure at the start of the tour, but Ryan had been talking with Greg DeSanto about the gag and we started writing it in Trenton, NJ, mapping it out with some very crude props. We even had a scout family that had arrived for a PR early to give us our first audience feedback (not sure what their initial reaction was to see two twenty year olds out of make-up and in clown boxers hitting each other and throwing mop heads around).

In Fresno, CA Ryan built the sink and in each town after that we got the props needed.

Our big debut came in San Jose, CA. We showed the gag and got the best reaction the gag had ever gotten. People were screaming with laughter all the way through, and they were about to piss themselves during the blow off.

Needless to say, we were on Cloud 9 that show and couldn't wait to put it in the regular rotation the next week in San Francisco, CA.

Little did we know it was a bad thing to open with the gag so strong....San Francisco is not known for having the best audiences, and we got next to nothing from them when we started doing the sink gag regularly there.

We couldn't figure it out. In other cities as well we didn't reach the same level of hysteria in our audiences that we had reached that first night.

Some shows we would get decent laughs, some shows we would get nothing. It was very frustrating!

Finally in Memphis, over a year later, Ryan and I decided to come in early on Sunday morning and rework the gag. We cut some bits, moved others around, worked on the flow, etc.

We struck GOLD! We got a very good reaction (especially for a Sunday afternoon show), and after that the gag got stronger and stronger and we knocked 'em dead every time we performed the gag! (Except for one time we foolishly did the gag for a morning show....NEVER AGAIN! Nothing is funny before noon....right Mr. DeSanto?)

Despite all the headaches of the gag (setting all the props, getting the water ready, cleaning the water up off the floor, dealing with management about water that shot up on the rigging, etc.), the response we got from the audience made it all worthwhile.

I wish I had a more complete version of the gag. This version is missing some great bits from the beginning where I get rolled up in the tarp, and the start of the gag where I pull the counter top off with a plunger, but it is the newest version of the gag I have.

So just imagine it as it was at the end of the tour with all the timing down perfect and every bit milked to its fullest potential.....

and that will have to tide you over until I can work with Ryan again and revive the gag! Until then, enjoy!"

Please click the title of this post to be taken to Steve Copeland's MySpace page.

RINGLING: The Construction Gag

Video courtesy of Steve Copeland



Shades of Willie, West & McGinty: The Construction Gag in Salt Lake City, UT

"Super Steve" Copeland says...

"It would be safe to say that this gag was the highlight of my Ringling career. I always had fun doing it and it got some great reactions from the audience. By the end of the tour you knew when the big laughs were coming, and that was cool!

It's too bad the clowns aren't allowed to write the gags for the show anymore. This video should be proof that an Alley of clowns under the superb guidance of good clown directors (such as Greg and Karen DeSanto) can come up with something wonderful."

Please click the title of this post to be taken to Steve Copeland's MySpace page.

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE: The Comedy of Errors

Almost 20:00 of PBS's very rarely seen Live from Lincoln Center 1987 broadcast of William Shakespeare's THE COMEDY OF ERRORS from the Vivian Beaumont Theater featuring the circus skills and "New Vaudeville" talents of The Flying Karamazov Brothers, Avner the Eccentric and Jeff Raz...

========================================

Directed by Robert Woodruff
Sets by David Gropman
Costumes by Susan Hilferty
Lighting by Paul Gallo
Music composed by Douglas Wieselman with Thaddeus Spae
Sound by John Kolgore
Musical direction and arrangements by Mr. Wieselman
Production manager, Jeff Hamlin
General manager, Steven C. Callahan
Production stage manager, George Darveris
Stage manager, Chet Leaming.

Presented by Lincoln Center Theater, Gregory Mosher, director;
Bernard Gersten, executive producer.

At the Vivian Beaumont Theater, 150 West 65th Street.

The Janitor and Doctor Pinch ............... Avner Eisenberg
Duke of Ephesus and Luce ................... Karla Burns
Egeon ...................................... Daniel Mankin
Antipholus of Ephesus ...................... Howard Jay Patterson
Antipholus of Syracuse ..................... Paul Magid
Dromio of Ephesus .......................... Randy Nelson
Dromio of Syracuse ......................... Sam Williams
Balthasar .................................. Mark Sackett
Angelo and Second Merchant ................. Alec Willows
First Merchant ............................. Raz
Emilia and Courtesan ....................... Ethyl Eichelberger
Adriana .................................... Sophie Hayden
Luciana .................................... Gina Leishman
William Shakespeare ........................ Timothy Daniel Furst

Citizens of Ephesus: Steven Bernstein, Karla Burns, Bud Chase,
Ethyl Eichelberger, Danny Frankel, Timothy Daniel Furst,
Sophie Hayden, Gina Leishman, Paul Magid, Daniel Mankin,
Derique McGee, Randy Nelson, Wendy Parkman, Howard Jay Patterson,
Raz, Rosalinda Rojas, Mark Sackett, Douglas Wieselman, Sam
Williams and Alec Willows.

========================================

MARK ANTHONY: At the International Clown Hall of Fame in Delavan, Wisconsin

Some highlights from Mark's visit to the ICHOF back when it was in Delavan. He talks about some of his props, Professor Paul Wenzel and how he came to add the dog collar to his costume and the wagging tongue to his makeup.

I wish I'd had the chance to meet him.

MARK ANTHONY: Making Up

International Clown Hall of Fame inductee Mark Anthony making up.

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey lost quite a bit the day Mark Anthony packed up his trunk and walked out the back door. Had people like he and Mike Coco stayed I think things would have been very different in the 80s and 90s.

HUNT BROS: Gil, Lil and Hal

I'm not sure about the fellow out of makeup but it looks like we have (from the left) Hal "Tearini" Haviland (sometimes spelled "Havilan"), Lil and Gil Wilson together on the Hunt Bros. Circus, year unknown.

Click the title of this post to be taken to the eBay auction where this and other vintage Hunt Bros. photos can be found.

THE BIG APPLE CIRCUS: Francesco

Photo courtesy of Bill Strong



From Bill Strong:

"Here is a picture of Francesco from 1994 when we did a Winter date with him in Holland. A very humble, and friendly gentleman, & a pleasure to be around. I do hope he has recovered from his health problems and has returned to the Big Apple"

____________

I have never had the pleasure of meeting him. It seems like it certainly has been a long time since I've heard anything about Francesco's recuperation. I hope he's doing well and is back to work by this point. His son does a marvelous job but we'd all like to see the real deal again.

Don Covington, is there any news?

And to visit Bill Strong's excellent circus blog, YESTERDAY'S TOWNS, please click the title of this post.

COLE BROS. CIRCUS: Otto, a Lady and a Horse

The year? Somewhere between the early thirties and the early fifties.

Otto Griebling on the Cole Bros. Circus.

RINGLING TRAIN: Owen, Chuck, Freddie & Co.

Looks like we have Owen McQuade up top, my pal Chuck Burnes just below and I'm not sure of the next five below him but that's Freddie Freeman standing on terra firma and sporting his top hat at a rather jaunty angle.

I'm guessing the "59" at the bottom sounds reasonable enough as a year for this, I believe that's the year that Ringling returned to the rails after two full seasons as a "truck show".

CIRCUS DAY (1966)

An educational short produced in 1966 featuring an actor dressed sort of like Felix Adler narrates some footage of the Cole Bros. circus setting up the tents. The film then abruptly changes to the midway of the Clyde Beatty Circus (this is not the "Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. Circus, which toured from the late 50s through 2001 or so) and sometimes back again as the performance starts.

It's an interesting look at the old tent show days, with three rings presented under the big top, rain or shine.

It's made more interesting for us by the fact that at about 14:00 you'll see a group of clowns outside the tent. Look carefully and you'll find Bobby Kay amongst them.

At about 16:15 or so you'll see Bobby riding on an elephant in opening.

At one point you'll see a tramp clown driving a float. This is not Otto Griebling and it is not Joe Jackson but he looks quite a bit like both.

And at the end you'll see just how much Emmett Kelly had effected the popular conception of what a clown does.

BIG APPLE CIRCUS: Grandma and Joel

Big Apple Circus gives Valley Cottage Elementary a sneak peek
By CHRISTINA JENG
THE JOURNAL NEWS

(Original publication: May 22, 2007)

VALLEY COTTAGE -Peals of children's laughter echoed through the elementary school auditorium yesterday morning after a little old woman with a whoopee cushion let out a very rude noise.

To the utter delight of students at Valley Cottage Elementary, members of the Big Apple Circus stopped by to give the children a taste of what's to come.

"Alright, ladies and gentleman," circus host Joel Jeske announced in a booming voice, "Grandma and the cushion of doom!"

With that, the old lady laid down what looked like a very dusty handbag, rubbed her hands together, walked to one end of the stage and rushed back across only to very gingerly dive headfirst into the whoopee cushion.

And although Grandma was old, the joke wasn't. The children burst into cheers and shrieks of excited laughter.

"Give Grandma a round of applause!" Jeske shouted over them.

The youngsters also had an opportunity to ask the performers questions about the circus. They peppered them with questions like, "How do you talk without words in the circus?" "Is it hard to put your makeup on?" and "How do you balance things on your face?"

To the last, Jeske used a juggling club to show how he learned to first balance it on his hand, then at the end of his index finger, his thumb and finally on his nose. And to really wow his young audience, he demonstrated the skill using a piano bench.

Jeske and Grandma, also known as Director of Clowning Barry Lubin, introduced themselves to the students yesterday and made a plug for the circus' show, "Step Right Up!" The performers, along with their acrobats and animals, will be at the Palisades Center in West Nyack from June 15 to 24.

"We just want to let everybody know that our show is there and we'd love to see all these children show up and enjoy the show," Jeske said afterward.

Principal Brenda Grier, who delighted in the performers as much as the children did, said the school's family resource center would provide tickets to students who cannot afford them. Tickets prices range from $15 to $38.

"This year they provided us with a nice promo," she said of the circus. "They are wonderful. Grandma always steals the show."

Six-year-old Zaim Ragoncic agreed.

"If the Great Apple Circus was like a story, Grandma would be like the main character," he said. "She's really silly. Sometimes she's like my grandma."

Find a video report on yesterday's circus visit at LoHud.com.

Reach Christina Jeng at cjeng@lohud.com or 845-578-2497.

_____________________________________________________________________________


Grandma was portrayed by Matthew Pauli at this special school show performance, not by Barry Lubin. Please click the title of this post to be taken to a video from the show.

KIRK MARSH: Fool House

I'm in Orlando, Florida with the family this week and had the chance last night to take them to see Kirk Marsh's "FOOL HOUSE" at the Orlando Fringe Festival.

I first met Kirk in the summer of 1997 when we attended Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College together. Now, 10 short years later, he just may be on the fast track to becoming this generation's answer to George Carl.

And he's only about 28. I can't imagine what he'll be doing when he REALLY hits his stride!



Below is a review of the show from the Orlando Sentinel...

_______________________________________________________________________

Fringe review: 'Fool House'

posted by emaupin on May 21, 2007 3:11:18 PM


OK, here's a new use for the Orlando Sentinel. When an audience member lends you a credit card to break into your imaginary onstage house, you make the Sentinel into a paper airplane to sail the card back to its owner.

Can you do that with a laptop?

I think not, and there's lots of stuff onstage in Fool House that you can't do online. Catch a banana in your mouth, for instance, or put your little red hat on your head without using your hands.

That's because Kirk Marsh is an old-fashioned kind of clown, and what he does, he does very well. He can juggle, of course, and he can turn a doleful face to an audience that's unexpectedly watching him dress. He can even lure my husband onto the stage. (What is it with that this year?)

Best of all, he can charm an audience into watching something very low-tech, something very mild-mannered, for three quarters of an hour. Sometimes comic madness can be sweet.

-- Elizabeth Maupin

Remaining performances: 7:10 p.m. Tuesday 5/22, 11:15 p.m. Wednesday 5/23, 5:30 p.m. Friday 5/25, 8:25 p.m. Saturday 5/26, 1:10 p.m. Sunday 5/27. Brown venue.
________________________________________________________________________

Please click the title of this post to be taken to Kirk's website.

LIUZHOU, CHINA: Alive from Stage Five

Which brings us to the last of the stage lineups from Liuzhou, China's Happy Liuzhou International Clown Festival: Stage 5


Stage 5

El Magnifico
David Engel and Hilary Chaplain

The Hello Show
Peter Straus and Brian McNelis

Bizzurkus
Seth Bloom and Christina Gelsone

FELIX ADLER: The White House Clown

Emboldened after a day in Orlando at Disney with the family and a two hour phone call with Rik Gern about clowning I'm going to take yet another break from posting Liuzhou photos and instead post this historical photo of Ringling clown Felix Adler, often called "The White House Clown" for the number of times he was photographed with American Presidents and/or their families.

Here is "Funny Felix" with "Sistie" and "Buzzie" Dall (don't you just love the "pet names" that the rich and powerful give to their offspring?), the grandchildren of President and Mrs. Franklin Delano Roosevelt. They "enjoyed at day at the show" and are seen here with George Harmon (little person), Felix Adler and Peter Marold.

I know. There are three children and a grown-up in this photo "with the clowns". "Is the woman in the photo a Roosevelt or a baby-sitter"? I don't know. "Which of these three children hasn't yet received an affluent nickname"? I'd suppose the youngest but I really don't know.

I'm just suprised to be able to provide proof positive that supports Felix's claim to being "The White House Clown"...

LOU JACOBS: Lou & Pee Wee

A photo that I found in an auction currently on eBay of Lou & Pee Wee, the dog Lou had after his longtime friend and comedy partner, Knucklehead.

Click the title of this post to view the auction.

LIUZHOU, CHINA: The Roar from Stage Four

The powerful lineup of performers at Stage Four of the Happy Liuzhou International Clown Festival...


Peter Panic

Lauren Muney and Michael Menes

Greg Frisbee

Cheryl Schruefer & Michael Saab (Bubble Boy Danger Show)

Tak

LIUZHOU, CHINA: The Melee at Stage Three

The talented cast of performers from Stage Three of the Happy Liuzhou International Clown Festival at Long Tan Park in Liuzhou, China...

Stage Three

The Martian Brothers

Chris, Gina and Hunter Allison

Festival Organizer Extraordinarie: Brenn Swanson

Ron "Toto" Johnson

Kevin Brown

Eric "EZ" Zander

MYSTERY CLOWN: Substitute Ringmaster

I'm in Orlando with the family and staying at the beautiful Marriot Cypress Harbor resort right around the corner from Sea World. I'll get back to the Liuzhou festival photos tomorrow, I PROMISE and then it's right back to posting classic videos.

As for today's photo: Many Ringling clowns have acted as substitute Ringmasters on the show over the years. Duane "Uncle Soapy" Thorpe did it for many years during the North era. How many of you can identify the former Ringling clown in this photo? Hint: He was in Liuzhou AND works here in Orlando...

RINGLING RED ALLEY AND HAMID SHOW: Thank You!

Thanks go out to the Ringling Red Unit Alley, especially Leo, Kelly and Alan for showing my son Shane and I a really wonderful time with a nice long post-show conversation in the Alley. Thanks for the homecoming!

We left the Red Show in Trenton, NJ and headed over to Plymouth Meeting, PA to catch the Hamid show where Shane played with all the show kids while I visited with friends and shared stories about the trip to China. Everyone there raved about how Greg and Karen DeSanto KILLED in Springfield.

I leave for Orlando at 6:00 AM tomorrow morning and hope to get to see Todd Zimmerman, Thom Wheaton, Kirk Marsh and maybe Brian Weckerly while I'm there.

Oh, by the way, the above photo comes from Gary Peare and is of Mike Coco, his son, Coconut and Bobby Kay doing a LA area hospital visit to promote the Ringling show July 31, 1970. It has nothing really to do with what I've posted but it's a really great photo!