SHOWFOLKS CIRCUS 2007

Found on Buckles Woodcock's Blog this morning, a review of the Showfolks Circus is Sarasota last night...

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eye spy on saraso/ta da said...

>"Robarts Arena was the scene of the annual Showfolks Circus on Saturday. A blogspot standing ovation to all the volunteers >who contributed their time and talent. Bravo showfolks!
>
>It was about half way through the show when I realized the show had adopted the trend of having a "theme"...it was "At The >Circus for Forty Days and Forty Nights".
>
>I saw a performer take a "bit" turn it into an "act" and last night presented it as a "marathon"; the longest act I've ever seen. >His family crossed the Atlantic in less time than his routine."

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And "eye spy" later posted...

eye spy on saraso ta da said...
PART TWO...

>Sunday, 2PM - I just stopped by Robarts and the very long act that I mentioned last night, you know the one in the air, well >the act is still working and they expect him to finish by 2:45 pm.

KOREAN FREESTYLE SLALOM ROLLER BLADING

glumbert - Korean Freestyle Slalom Rollerblading

Yeah, but can she do it in clown shoes six times a weekend?

ADDING INSULT TO INJURY...

First YouTube and now this...

I've just been told that during the last week my name has been removed from the list of "Notable Residents" on the Wikipedia entry for Tinton Falls, NJ. I wasn't sure why it was there in the first place, but it was nice to be considered "Notable".

I guess you need an active YouTube account to be considered "Notable" in this part of Central Jersey? Maybe the termination of my account has somehow disgraced Tinton Falls and affected my standing in the community?

Whatever.

THE DESANTOS: The Paul Jung Award

Photo taken, without any permission whatsoever, from the DeSanto Archives


Greg DeSanto shows off his "Felix" (as Karen presumably holds the camera). The DeSantos won 2007 Paul Jung Award for best "Duo, Trio or Alley" Clowning here on CLOWNALLEY.NET and the statuette was presented at an extremely austere and solemn ceremony (where Jason T. Stewart won adoration and accolades for his stirring "Mandate From the People" speech) in Tiandu City, China.

Aren't there two more awards still waiting to be given out before the voting starts for 2008?

CLOWN ALLEY: Beatty-Cole, 1960s

Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. Clown Alley circa the mid-60s.

Eddie Dullam is 2nd from right in the top row.

Shorty Hinkle is on the left, Jimmy Armstrong on the right in the center row.

Lou Nagy is front and center.

DENNIS STEVEN: Ringling/Barnum, 1957

Longtime Beatty-Cole clown Dennis Steven on the Ringling/Barnum Circus in 1957. This is from another misidentified eBay auction. The seller thought that it was Felix Adler.

BOZO HARRELL

Identified as Emmett "Weary Willie" Kelly in a recent eBay auction, this is actually a photo of circus and burlesque comic Bozo Harrell.

LOU JACOBS: Ringling/Barnum, 1960s

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The preceding video is posted here on CLOWNALLEY.NET for educational purposes only by the Cashin Comedy Co.and, as such, the Cashin Comedy Co. is presumed clear from any liability due to copyright violation under Fair Use.

OTTO GRIEBLING: Cole Bros. Circus, 1940s

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The preceding video is posted here on CLOWNALLEY.NET for educational purposes only by the Cashin Comedy Co.and, as such, the Cashin Comedy Co. is presumed clear from any liability due to copyright violation under Fair Use.

CHECKERS: Sells and Gray Circus, 1970s

KONRAD THURANO

Circus Scandinavia reports that Konrad Thurano has passed away. Thurano was quite likely the oldest active circus artist in the world, continuing to perform his comic low wire act at the age of 97. Konrad died quietly in his home without any warning. The funeral took place in Denmark in Birkende church November 28th. at 11:00.

FRANKIE SALUTO: Some Days You're the Windshield, Some Days You're the Bug

Photos courtesy of John Peters


Here's Frankie putting on make-up for some young fans on the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus 6/15/1963.

Note Bob Dover, Performance Director in the background in black tux. I can't make out the other 2 clowns but it looks like it might be Paul Jung and one of the Nelsons.




Frankie looking like I'm feeling right now.

It's not looking as though the letter writing campaign is going to have any effect on YouTube's decision to close down my account. I'd like to very sincerely thank the folks (over 100 of you) who wrote to YouTube customer service on CLOWNALLEY.NET'S behalf.

Now all we need is someone to complain about the photos here to have the site completely taken down.

DAN RICE: Last Photos from Girard

The plaque inside the Borough Hall building in Girard, on the grounds of Rice's former home.





Some of Rice's statuary, showing his deep artistic appreciation of both naked people and jungle cats.



The corner of Rice's fencepost, the only part of the original house still standing.

ABE GOLDSTEIN: Undated

Undated photo of renowned clown cop Abe Goldstein working under canvas.

MARK ANTHONY w/ Helena Rassy

Photo courtesy of John Peters


Mark Anthony in a RBBB photo from 1965 (95th. edition). The girl is Helena Rassy who performed with doves.

DAN RICE: Even More from Girard

The sign that got me to stop...

I was working at a fair just outside of Girard and had driven through there three or four times that week, usually at night, and knew that I recognized the name from somewhere but didn't make the connection until I was headed for an oil change and driving by at 40 MPH when I saw this sign, stopped dead and backed up...







More Girard pictures tomorrow...

DAN RICE: More from Girard

More photos of Dan Rice from the wall of the municipal building in Girard, PA.

DAN RICE: Girard, PA

I loaded all of my photos onto my laptop last night and was suprised to find several shots from my unexpected visit to Girard, PA this past summer.

Judging from this photograph, Dan Rice was pretty suprised too!

This portrait of "Yankee Dan" hangs in the municipal building in Girard, which is located in the center of downtown on the site of Mr. Rice's former home.

More photos tomorrow!

SANTA'S HERE!

Circus season is over and Santa season has now officially begun!

The Cashin Comedy Co.'s 7th annual Christmas season at the Galleria Shops in Red Bank, NJ starts tomorrow but things kicked off tonight with Santa's train ride from Little Silver, his arrival in Red Bank, a firetruck ride in the parade down Monmouth St. and the tree lighting on Broad St. with a concert by Holiday Express.

Please click the title of this post to view photos of today's festivities as well as updates throughout the season at our sister blogsite, centraljerseysanta.com

COCO & DAY

Photo courtesy of John Peters



Michael "Coco" Polakovs and Johnny Day are joined by a child who would probably be in his 50s by now in this classic Ringling publicity pose from the early-to-mid 1960s.

ABC/BOSCOV'S THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE: Philadelphia 2007

Jerry Hunsberger and I took the clown car out this morning and rode through downtown Philly in the ABC/Boscov's 2007 Thanksgiving Day Parade. The car act was a big hit
and I got to meet several of the Sesame Street Muppets as well as some Disney characters.

We didn't get any footage of the act, but we did get this video, my first posted directly to Blogger and not to YouTube...

Compressed for "Web"

Compressed for "Web Streaming"

Which do you prefer?

The preceding video is (c)2007 The Cashin Comedy Co.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Happy Thanksgiving from "The Alley"!

CLOWN ALLEY: The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)

If Betty Hutton would get her damn, dirty ape paws off of "Moses, the NRA Poster Boy" long enough for them to both get out of the way we could get a much better look at what's really important in this picture... the members of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Clown Alley of 1951.

From left to right we have Lou Jacobs, Charlie Bell, Prince Paul (obscured behind Hutton's big clunky elbow), Ernie "Blinko" Burch up high (and shirtless?!?) and Jimmy Armstrong. Who knows how many other clowns are also in the ring but our view of them is obstructed by the freakishly wide shoulders and Indiana Jones-style fedora of Chuckles Heston?

CLOWN ALLEY: Clown College Auditions 7/8/82

Master Clown Glen "Frosty" Little and Blue Unit Boss Clown Tom Parrish on July 8, 1982 holding Clown College auditions at the Tucson Community Center to find out if the wannabees have what it takes to wear the big shoes.

The would-be clowns were asked to transform themselves into lawn mowers, vacuum cleaners and hair dryers. They also had to imitate the road clowns' gag, which involved a giant sandwich and some pepper. Apparently there is no such thing as a slow-paced circus clown audition — the entire process took less than an hour.

YOUTUBE SITUATION

For those of you who are not aware, my YouTube account was terminated last week and almost 100 rare circus and clown clips that I'd posted were removed due to "copyright violation".

I'm not convinced that the agency registering the complaint holds the copyright on these videos and am almost positive that the clip in question is actually in the public domain!

And the fact that NONE of them are posted in their entirety and only posted there so that they could be imbedded here for educational purposes should more than satisfy the requirements for "fair use" for educational purposes.

I'm not SELLING them, I'm sharing them! Leave it to lawyers to figure out a way that a person can't GIVE something away!

From now on I'll be posting my videos directly to blogger but I'd like for You Tube to reinstate the account so that the previous videos will continue to be available.

I'm not going to re-edit and re-post 100 video clips.

I don't seem to be getting anywhere with their customer service folks. Perhaps a letter writing campaign will help.

If you'd like to see the videos that I've posted here be made available again PLEASE send an email to copyright@youtube.com and let them know that those clips DO serve an educational purpose here at CLOWNALLEY.NET and you like to see the account reinstated.

My YouTube ID was cashincomedy.

Maybe that will help. Who knows?

PETE MARDO: Sparks Circus 1924

Photo suggested by Gary Peare

CLOWN ALLEY: Moslah Shrine, Ft. Worth 1947

60 year ago these funny fellows promoted the fifth annual Moslah Shrine Circus when it came to Fort Worth's Will Rogers Coliseum on Nov. 21-30, 1947.

On the far left it looks like Billie Burke; next to him is Albert "Flo" White. I'm not certain about the other two. Could it be John Toy and Jerry Bangs?

POODLES HANNEFORD: Just Kickin' Back

Circus Legend, Equestrian Comedy Superstar, Teacher of Boxing Gags and Enjoyer of Chairs, Mr. Edwin "Poodles" Hanneford.

PRINCE PAUL: From John Peters

Photo courtesy of John Peters



An autographed photo of Prince Paul Alpert given to John Peters in 1963.

OTTO GRIEBLING & POODLES HANNEFORD: Boxing Gag

Correct me if I'm wrong here but, if I'm not mistaken, this is a photo of Poodles Hanneford (in his prime) and a young Otto Griebling performing the Boxing Gag!?!

Otto learned the Boxing Gag from Poodles?

Anyone have more information on this?

PAUL JUNG: Star-Crossed Eyes

Ringling Golden Age superstar Paul Jung works his special brand of magic and entertaining the offspring of a couple of Hollywood also-rans.

YOUTUBE

I am working to restore my YouTube account and hope to have all of the videos back up and available soon.

ELMO GIBB Clyde Beaty-Cole Bros. Circus 1985

Dean "Elmo Gibb" Chambers, a recent star of the Kimtom International Clown Festival in Shanghai, China, taken on the Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. Circus in 1985.

LOU JACOBS In Whiteface

Scan courtesy of Bill Strong



Lou Jacobs in an adaption of the mysterious whiteface that Felix Adler and Gijon Polidor also donned for Ringling PR during the same era, from the 1948 Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey press book.

For some reason I don't think "Clowns Are Still the Backbone of the Greatest Show on Earth" will be an article in the 2008 Ringling press book.

BILLY BAKER

My pal, ICHOF inductee Mr. Billy Baker.


From Billy:

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"Thanks for being kind enough to feature my Full Monty with the breatheren...I'm somewhat embarrassed, and somewhat proud....and please share that it wasn't my idea to be compared to Chaplin at the end title....maybe Mortimer Snerd, but not Chaplin.......

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Billy ends his wildly successful run at the Comedy Barn in Pigeon Forge, TN at the end of January and plans are afoot to produce a brand new Elwood Smooch revue (with a full 14 person cast). More details to be announced here soon!

WILBUR "WILLIE" HALL: In "THE KING OF JAZZ" (1930)

Link suggested by Michael Karp



Violin in hand and "Little Tisch" lean shoes on his feet: Wilbur Hall in the film THE KING OF JAZZ (1930). KING OF JAZZ is a musical, filmed in early Technicolor, that preserves a part of America’s musical heritage that few people today know ever existed. The film has no plot, but consists of a series of extraordinary production numbers all directed by John Murray Anderson with the music supplied by Paul Whiteman, "the King of Jazz," and his orchestra.

Whiteman, unknown now to all but specialists, had a musical career that ran from before World War I into the early sixties. His band was one of the most successful in history – their first hit, "Whispering," sold two million copies in 1920, about one for every record player in the country. It was the first of more than 20 number-one hits that the band would record in the twenties. However, Whiteman made his greatest contribution to American music in 1924, when he commissioned and then premiered George Gershwin’s "Rhapsody in Blue."

For more on the film please click the title of this post.

WILBUR HALL: On Spike Jones' Show

Wilbur Hall many years later performing on Spike Jones' show.

I enjoyed just watching how much Spike and Freddie Morgan enjoyed the performance!

IGUDESMAN & JOO

Igudesman & Joo, a contemporary musical comedy duo that pays tribute to the style of Wilbur Hall in their show.

DENIS LACOMBE: On Cirque

Mr. Lacombe in Cirque's humbly titled "Cirque Reinvente" with his robot clown entree.

DENIS LACOMBE: On Cirque 2

Also from Cirque's "Cirque Reinvente", Mr. Lacombe's better known "Mad Conductor".

I wish Cirque would create a unit that continued to work in this lower-key vein instead of every new show being presented in the bombastic, overwrought, overthought cliche that they've become.

MEET THE SHNEEDLES: Shneedlemania

As for the break-up of the Shneedles, I blame Yoko.

JOE JACKSON SR.

Photo courtesy of circusbutterflygurl



This photo was taken in the summer of 1979 following the release of his breakthrough single "Is She Really Going Out With Him?"

Mr. Jackson, seen here staring out his window as his coffee grows cold, is watching pretty women out walking with gorillas down his street.

SPIKE JONES: All Star Revue

Is it just me or did television "entertainment" used to be a lot more entertaining?

FELIX ADLER: All Hail the King

Photo courtesy of circusbutterflygurl



The "King" in all his glory; Felix Adler preparing for spec as Old King Cole.

GENE RANDOW

Photo courtesy of circusbutterflygurl



Tick off a Shriner and feel the wet, sticky wrath of Randow: Gene Randow delights in wiping a booger on a young circus troublemaker.

VAS AND STAS: St. Petersburg

Russian clowns Vas and Stas.

MICHAEL O' DONOGHUE: 1940-1994

The TV trailer of the infamous 1979 movie "Mr.Mike's Mondo Video", a creation of original SNL writer Michael O'Donaghue.



O'Donoghue and John Belushi in the "Wolverines" sketch, penned by O'Donoghue, the very first sketch on the very first episode of Saturday Night Live October 11, 1975.

Please click the title of this post to find out more about Mr. O'Donoghue, who passed away 13 years ago today and whose influence on contemporary satirical comedy is immeasurable.

MITCH FREDDES: Transformation

Jonathan "Mitch" Freddes "slaps it on" during his tenure as featured clown on the Ringling Hometown Edition.

If things work out, I eagerly anticipate working with Mitch in China in '08.

BILLY VAUGHN: Hubert Castle International Circus

Billy Vaughn, 1970s, post-Ringlingling on the Hubert Castle International Circus.

DOUGIE ASHTON

Doug Ashston and "His Gal Sal", his wife, Sally.

THE COHEN BROTHERS

Who doesn't love a little person prone to outrageous bursts of slapstick violence? For more on the subject see JOHNNY PULEO AND THE HARMONICA RASCALS.

James Thiérrée - Au Revoir Parapluie at BAM

"...a journey as beautiful and disturbing as a dream or fable."
—LE MONDE



AU REVOIR PARAPLUIE

WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY JAMES THIÉRRÉE
DEC 4—8, 11—15 AT 7:30PM
DEC 9 & 16 AT 3PM
BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) HARVEY THEATER
RUNNING TIME: 100MIN
TICKETS: $20, 35, 50, 60


Nouveau cirque wunderkind James Thiérrée makes his highly anticipated return to BAM with the soulful Au Revoir Parapluie, the follow-up to Bright Abyss, his transfixing, sold-out debut at the 2005 Next Wave Festival.

Marvelous physical theatrics—acrobatics, dance, mime, music—abound. The show begins with a fantastic creature, covered in gold glitter and crooning in an unidentifiable tongue. Realizing that it can’t escape its golden shroud, its face crumples in anguish. The curtain opens to reveal ominously swirling ropes on which climb changelings—careening, flying, and dancing in pitched battle with rocking chairs and great swaths of black cloth. With Au Revoir Parapluie (which translates as "Farewell Umbrella") the extraordinarily gifted and charming Thiérrée and his astonishing company achieve a most delicate balance of pathos and delight.

James Thiérrée - La Veillée des Abysses 1

James Thiérrée - La Veillée des Abysses 2

CHARLIE CAIROLI: Film Appearance

Video courtesy of Craig Royston


A young Charlie Cairoli. I'm hoping that John Cooper will know the name of the film.