Tuesday, March 09, 2010
BARCELONA: Day Two
Spent the day doing a makeup demonstration, showed some more classic clown video and taught the Nouveau Clowns of Barcelona the art of pie throwing ; )
Monday, March 08, 2010
FROSTY LITTLE: In Our Thoughts
Word has reached us here in Barcelona that Master Clown Glen "Frosty" Little has suffered a broken hip from a fall recently and that I would hope that everyone will take a moment to remember him in their thoughts and keep him in your prayers.
If anyone would like to send a note to Frosty and Pat we can collect them here in the comments and I will forward them when I get home.
If anyone would like to send a note to Frosty and Pat we can collect them here in the comments and I will forward them when I get home.
NOUVEAU CLOWN INSTITUTE:Day One
Greg DeSanto and I arrived in Barcelona yesterday, safe and sound, and spent today sharing classic clown videos with the students.
We have a GREAT group of very interesting international students here.
It started snowing for the first time in years here just after lunch. By the time we had finished for the day word came down that, with five inches of snow, the roads were clogged for 4 hours in all directions and train service has stopped.
So we are waiting it out and hoping that the trains will start running again in a few hours. If not, we have rooms booked for us in the area. The students are delighted to have more time to play and hang out.
I´m about ready for a nap ; )
We have a GREAT group of very interesting international students here.
It started snowing for the first time in years here just after lunch. By the time we had finished for the day word came down that, with five inches of snow, the roads were clogged for 4 hours in all directions and train service has stopped.
So we are waiting it out and hoping that the trains will start running again in a few hours. If not, we have rooms booked for us in the area. The students are delighted to have more time to play and hang out.
I´m about ready for a nap ; )
Saturday, March 06, 2010
ACHILLE ZAVATTA: Interview
Please click the title of this post to watch a wonderful interview (all in French) with M. Achille Zavatta.
Friday, March 05, 2010
IRON CLOWN INGREDIENT #1
PICKLES!That's right! Ringling clowns munchin' down, goin' to town this Saturday crunchin' on PICKLES!
Edited, timestamped videos must be posted to YouTube with the title "Iron Clown Challenge" no later than 9:00 AM EST on Monday to be eligible.
Good luck and may the best Alley win!
IRON CLOWN CHALLENGE: Instructions
THE IRON CLOWN CHALLENGE:
What is The Iron Clown Challenge?
The Iron Clown Challenge is a all-out battle between Ringling Alleys for ultimate supremacy.
Why only Ringling Alleys?
Because the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show on Earth is the only show with real Alleys who have to deal with real Performance Directors and other corporate types who could and would prevent or punish them for attempting to honorably complete the challenge.
What is the "challenge"?
To get as many members of the Alley to perform each challenge IN A SINGLE SHOW as possible and to provide timestamped video evidence, posted to YouTube.
Points are awarded thusly...
10 POINTS: Awarded to Alley members performing the challenge on the floor during pre-show.
100 POINTS: Awarded to Alley members performing the challenge during a gag within the performance.
500 POINTS: Awarded to Alley members performing the challenge during production numbers.
What is the "challenge"?
To get as many members of the Alley to perform each challenge IN A SINGLE SHOW as possible and to provide timestamped video evidence, posted to YouTube.
Points are awarded thusly...
10 POINTS: Awarded to Alley members performing the challenge on the floor during pre-show.
100 POINTS: Awarded to Alley members performing the challenge during a gag within the performance.
500 POINTS: Awarded to Alley members performing the challenge during production numbers.
The Iron Clown Challenge will NEVER be something inappropriate that would damage the image of the show or the clowns, merely something unusual that could (and very well may) go completely unnoticed.
Thus, if the particular challenge is to be on the floor barefoot, an Alley would receive 10 points a piece for video evidence (with a timestamp) of each clown on the floor for pre-show without shoes or socks. 100 points would be awarded for each clown barefoot clown on the floor in a ring gag. 500 points would be awarded for video evidence of each barefoot clown on the floor during opening, spec or finale.
If, say, a 12 person Alley were to accept the Iron Clown Challenge to appear barefoot but none accepted the challenge to do it outside of pre-show, that 12 person Alley would be awarded 120 points.
Each clown may appear only once in the final video, thus Lance Brown appearing barefoot throughout the entire second show on Saturday will only net the Alley the 10 points for appearing barefoot in the pre-show. He is not awarded the full 610 points.
If Lance, for example, were to present timestamped video evidence of his appearing barefoot ALL DAY on Saturday he would still only be eligible for one show.
So the challenge is to work barefoot at some point?
No. That is just the example. This week's Iron Clown Ingredient will be revealed here at 9:00 PM EST.
Boss Clowns: Choose your show on Saturday, grab your video cameras and find your camera people. Your Alley's honor is at stake!
Any questions must be posted here before 9:00 PM EST. No further questions can be submitted or will be answered after that time.
For the rest of you: Buy your tickets for this weekend and possibly be there to witness the very first IRON CLOWN CHALLENGE!
CARTOONS: Witch Doctor
Link courtesy of Jerry Beck
Cartoons DK - Witch Doctor
Ever wonder what would happen if Bello Nock and Sylvester the Jester had babies and they grew up to be the New Monkees on an 80s themed episode of Lazytown? Ask no more...
Cartoons DK - Witch Doctor
Ever wonder what would happen if Bello Nock and Sylvester the Jester had babies and they grew up to be the New Monkees on an 80s themed episode of Lazytown? Ask no more...
SANDY BECKER'S CHRISTMAS CAROL: Recreated with the Original Puppets
For more information PLEASE click the title of this post!
Thursday, March 04, 2010
IRON CLOWN CHALLENGE
Red and Blue Unit Ringling Boss Clowns (and a representative of the Caveagna Family): Grab a video camera and prepare for further instructions! Your alley's honor is at stake!
DUO INFERNALE
For those who never thought that they'd live to see Joe Biden and Sarah Palin work together, here they are. In Italian.
Wednesday, March 03, 2010
TITO MONTOYA: LATEST NEWS
Word from the family is that rumors of Tito's death are just that. He has been confirmed still alive but listed in critical condition at Medical University of South Carolina as of March 3, 2010 at 06:20 PM EST.
Please keep Tito and his family in your hearts, minds and prayers as we wait hopefully for better news.
Please keep Tito and his family in your hearts, minds and prayers as we wait hopefully for better news.
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
ATTENTION ALL RINGLING CLOWNS!
This Friday begins the Iron Clown Challenge. The Red, the Blue and the Gold.
THEODOR SEUSS GEISEL: Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!
Born: March 2, 1904
Springfield, Massachusetts
Died: September 24, 1991
La Jolla, California
American children's book author and illustrator
Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, wrote the popular children's books The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, Horton Hatches the Egg, and many more. As Dr. Seuss, Geisel brought a whimsical touch and a colorful imagination to the world of children's books.
Theodor Geisel.
Reproduced by permission of
Reproduced by permission of
AP/Wide World Photos
. Childhood and early career
Theodor Geisel was born on March 2, 1904, in Springfield, Massachusetts. His father owned a brewery until the onset of Prohibition, a time in the 1920s when buying and selling alcohol was made illegal. Geisel's father then took a job as superintendent of city parks, which included the local zoo. There, young Theodor spent many days drawing the animals and eventually developing his own unique style. Though Geisel would later gain fame because of his unique artistic style, he never once had an art lesson.
After graduating high school, Geisel went on to graduate from Dartmouth College in 1925, and later studied at the Lincoln College of Oxford University in England. After dropping out of Oxford, he traveled throughout Europe, mingling with émigrés (those living abroad) in Paris, including writer Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961). Eventually returning to New York, he spent fifteen years in advertising before joining the army and making two Oscar-winning documentaries, "Hitler Lives" and "Design for Death," which he made with his wife, Helen Parker Geisel. He would also win an Oscar for his animated cartoon "Gerald McBoing Boing"(1951). Also at this time Geisel began drawing and selling his cartoons to national magazines, including Vanity Fair and the Saturday Evening Post. Later he worked as an editorial cartoonist for PM newspaper in New York.
First books
Geisel began writing the verses of his first book, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, in 1936 during a rough sea passage. But success did not come easy for the young author, as Mulberry Street was rejected by twenty-nine different publishers before it was finally accepted. Published in 1937, the book won much praise, largely because of its unique drawings.
All of Geisel's books, in fact, feature crazy-looking creatures that are sometimes based on real animals, but which usually consist of such bizarre combinations of objects as a centipede and a horse and a camel with a feather duster on its head. Unlike many puppeteers and cartoonists who have capitalized on their creations by selling their most familiar images to big-time toy-makers, Dr. Seuss concentrated his efforts on creating interesting books.
In May 1954, after a string of successful books, Geisel published what would become his most famous book, The Cat in the Hat. Legend has it that The Cat in the Hat was created, in part, because of a bet Geisel made with a publisher who said he could not write a complete children's book with less than 250 words. The Cat in the Hat came in at 223 words. In 1960 Geisel published his second-most successful book, Green Eggs and Ham, which used only fifty words. In 1958, from the success of his children's books, Geisel founded Beginner Books, which eventually became part of Random House.
"Basically an educator"
Admired among fellow authors and editors for his honesty and hard work, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author, according to Ruth MacDonald in the Chicago Tribune, "perfected the art of telling great stories with a vocabulary as small as sometimes fifty-two or fifty-three words."
"[Geisel] was not only a master of word and rhyme and an original and eccentric artist," Gerald Harrison, president of Random House's merchandise division, declared in Publisher's Weekly, "but down deep, I think he was basically an educator. He helped teach kids that reading was a joy and not a chore.… For those of us who worked with him, he taught us to strive for excellence in all the books we published."
Wrote for adults as well as children
Geisel's last two books spent several months on the bestseller lists and include themes that appealed to adults as well as children. "Finally I can say that I write not for kids but for people," he commented in the Los Angeles Times. Many of his readers were surprised to learn that Geisel had no children of his own, though he had stepchildren from his second marriage to Audrey Stone Dimond. To this fact he once said, "You make 'em, I amuse 'em," as quoted in the Chicago Tribune. According to the Los Angeles Times, the author also remarked, "I don't think spending your days surrounded by kids is necessary to write the kind of books I write.… Once a writer starts talking down to kids, he's lost. Kids can pick up on that kind of thing."
Before Geisel, juvenile books were largely pastel, predictable, and dominated by a didactic tone (a sense that the books were intended to instruct). Though Dr. Seuss books sometimes included morals, they sounded less like behavioral guidelines and more like, "listen to your feelings" and "take care of the environment," universal ideas that would win over the hearts of youngsters from around the world. Geisel's 47 books were translated into 20 languages and have sold more than 200 million copies. Of the ten bestselling hardcover children's books of all time, four were written by Geisel: The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, and Hop on Pop.
Theodor Geisel died September 24, 1991, in La Jolla, California. To children of all ages, Dr. Suess remains the most famous and influential name in children's literature.
JOE JACKSON JR: A Classic Story (1940s)
Anyone familiar with the life of this great performer knows this classic story...Joe Jackson, desperately ill, goes to an analyst and tells the doctor that he has lost his desire to live and that he is seriously considering suicide. The doctor listens to this tale of melancholia and then tells the patient that what he needs is a good belly laugh. He advises the unhappy man to go to the circus that night and spend the evening laughing at Tibor Sallai, the world's funniest clown.
Jackson is reported to have said, "Wait, what? Tibor who? That's not how this story goes! What the hell are you talking about?!?"
Monday, March 01, 2010
TIBOR SALLAI: Note for Note, Beat for Beat
"Lucy, you have some 'splainin' to do..."
I'm going to give Tibor the benefit of the doubt and describe this as a extremely "loving tribute" but if I'd known that tribute acts made it into international circus festivals I'd have grabbed some pie plates and gone years ago.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
ABC-TV NY: Ringling Special
ABC-TV, Channel 7 in NY, did a 30 minute special on the new Ringling Blue Unit show last night, hosted by Bill Evans.
There was virtually NOTHING on the clowns.
I don't think that I have ever seen a television special on circus that so studiously avoided one of the very basic components of classical circus. I'm curious if the deletion was on the part of the circus or by choice of the television producers.
Either way, it's surprising to see Ringling clowning so obviously marginalized.
There was virtually NOTHING on the clowns.
I don't think that I have ever seen a television special on circus that so studiously avoided one of the very basic components of classical circus. I'm curious if the deletion was on the part of the circus or by choice of the television producers.
Either way, it's surprising to see Ringling clowning so obviously marginalized.
THE MOST REVOLUTIONARY DEVELOPMENT IN PHYSICAL/ VISUAL COMEDY IN THE LAST 700 YEARS!
This man is pure genius; a wizard, a true star!
When your grandkids are watching The Exploding Banana Face Show on The Exploding Banana Face Channel (on Steve Jobs IV's IMAX-ready HD iGlasses) you'll be able to say that you saw it here first.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
SHEMP HOWARD: Don't Ask, Don't Tell
I'm going to guess that Shemp was posing for a gag photo as Father Time... because any other explanation is worse. Much worse.
DAVID AND CHERIE GREGG: East Tennessee Children's Hospital (2/22/10)
Friends David and Cherie Gregg once again dispelling the old wives' tale that circus makeup and costumes can NEVER be used in a hospital setting. It depends completely and entirely on the individual performer, their skill set and their ability to adapt their performance to their audience.
VASILIY MOSELLE AND V. ROSHCHIN: Boxing Entree (1972)
With a guest appearance by Oleg Popov, from the film Carnival.
Friday, February 26, 2010
TAKING BLACK HISTORY OUT OF THE PEANUT GALLERY: By Sam Sanders
An interesting article that brings up many important points.After re-reading it, I realized that it resonated with me for another, entirely different reason. If you remove the word "black" or "African-American" and replace it with the word "clown" it also pretty accurately sums up the frustration many of us feeling trying to gain a deeper understanding of American clowns and clowning, outside the deification of five or six Ringling performers from "The Golden Age of The Greatest Show on Earth"...
Taking Black History Out Of The Peanut Gallery
by Sam Sanders
February 26, 2010
At the beginning of February this year, I posted the following status on my Facebook page:
I was referring to George Washington Carver, one of so many Black pioneers whose face is perpetually plastered on cardboard cutouts in classrooms throughout the country every February.
I remember hearing the stories in grade school. George Washington Carver, the guy who invented a lot of things out of peanuts. Over 300, actually, with concoctions like peanut glue, peanut grease, peanut coffee and peanut meat tenderizer.
That was pretty much all that was said about him.
His story, and those of so many other Black historical figures, are done a disservice every February. That's why Black History Month annoys me — not just because it seems to be in no way focused on any kind of Black future, but because its historical coverage is one-dimensional, mawkish, and well, boring.
And at the end of this month, and the same old show, I'm still annoyed.
I want more than sainthood every February. I want complexity.
We need a better Black History Month, one that recounts the intricacies of the lives our ancestors lived, their human flaws, something that made them a little bit more — relatable. Or better yet, something that would help us believe we could aspire to their greatness. Because now, based on what I hear every February, the only way to make Black history is to be completely perfect — and rather uninteresting.
It would have been nice to have a discussion in my youth about how George Washington Carver’'s fervent belief in God ostracized him from many in the scientific community he became a leader in.
I would have loved to learn earlier that legendary Black soul singer Nina Simone wasn’t just an amazing voice, but was also someone who grappled with bipolar disorder for much of her life.
And I really would have liked someone to tell me that Martin Luther King Jr. got a D in French at Morehouse. Because I almost failed Spanish. Twice. In high school.
But the stories so many children hear February after February make Black folks of yesteryear nothing more than well-dressed, smiling, saintly caricatures.
I want more than that.
I want to know who was crazy. Who could never keep their mouth shut. I want to know who had the biggest ego, who made the funniest practical jokes. I want to know what gossip blogs would have speculated about Malcolm and Stokely and Bayard back in the day.
I want our Black History to be as intricate, and multi-faceted and many-splendored as our Black present. I want someone in my Black History to be extremely socially awkward, to spit when they talk every once in a while, to be too loud in public settings on occasion.
I want more than sainthood every February. I want complexity.
I think it’s doable. Revealing the multiplicity of our Black ancestors’ history won’t make us weaker as a race, or give some anonymous opponent something to exploit. Representing our truest past will only help make us our truest future selves.
Of course, I’m now too old to blame anyone for my incomplete knowledge of this Black History I long for. One can only point a finger at elementary school teachers for so long, if at all.
This heavy lifting is up to me, and “us,” whatever that “us” might be. And others already know this. In response to that Facebook status update, one of my friends, Paul, had the following to say:
“Make your own history, Sam!”
He was right. The best stories aren’t recited. They’re discovered.
“Tomorrow begins Black History Month. I'm hoping not to end those 28 days armed with only a new set of Negro spiritual lyrics and a strange belief that I, too, can make anything out of peanuts.”
I was referring to George Washington Carver, one of so many Black pioneers whose face is perpetually plastered on cardboard cutouts in classrooms throughout the country every February.
I remember hearing the stories in grade school. George Washington Carver, the guy who invented a lot of things out of peanuts. Over 300, actually, with concoctions like peanut glue, peanut grease, peanut coffee and peanut meat tenderizer.
That was pretty much all that was said about him.
His story, and those of so many other Black historical figures, are done a disservice every February. That's why Black History Month annoys me — not just because it seems to be in no way focused on any kind of Black future, but because its historical coverage is one-dimensional, mawkish, and well, boring.
And at the end of this month, and the same old show, I'm still annoyed.
I want more than sainthood every February. I want complexity.
We need a better Black History Month, one that recounts the intricacies of the lives our ancestors lived, their human flaws, something that made them a little bit more — relatable. Or better yet, something that would help us believe we could aspire to their greatness. Because now, based on what I hear every February, the only way to make Black history is to be completely perfect — and rather uninteresting.
It would have been nice to have a discussion in my youth about how George Washington Carver’'s fervent belief in God ostracized him from many in the scientific community he became a leader in.
I would have loved to learn earlier that legendary Black soul singer Nina Simone wasn’t just an amazing voice, but was also someone who grappled with bipolar disorder for much of her life.
And I really would have liked someone to tell me that Martin Luther King Jr. got a D in French at Morehouse. Because I almost failed Spanish. Twice. In high school.
But the stories so many children hear February after February make Black folks of yesteryear nothing more than well-dressed, smiling, saintly caricatures.
I want more than that.
I want to know who was crazy. Who could never keep their mouth shut. I want to know who had the biggest ego, who made the funniest practical jokes. I want to know what gossip blogs would have speculated about Malcolm and Stokely and Bayard back in the day.
I want our Black History to be as intricate, and multi-faceted and many-splendored as our Black present. I want someone in my Black History to be extremely socially awkward, to spit when they talk every once in a while, to be too loud in public settings on occasion.
I want more than sainthood every February. I want complexity.
I think it’s doable. Revealing the multiplicity of our Black ancestors’ history won’t make us weaker as a race, or give some anonymous opponent something to exploit. Representing our truest past will only help make us our truest future selves.
Of course, I’m now too old to blame anyone for my incomplete knowledge of this Black History I long for. One can only point a finger at elementary school teachers for so long, if at all.
This heavy lifting is up to me, and “us,” whatever that “us” might be. And others already know this. In response to that Facebook status update, one of my friends, Paul, had the following to say:
“Make your own history, Sam!”
He was right. The best stories aren’t recited. They’re discovered.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
HAPPY COMMEDIA DELL' ARTE DAY!!!
Visit Adam Gertsacov's Flickr slideshow at...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kafclown/sets/72157623503895410/show/
COLOMBAIONIS CLOWN SEMINAR: Odin Teatret (1968)
Video suggested by Jango Edwards
A working/training session led by the Italian clowns "The Colombaioni Brothers" with a group of Swedish actors, taken from a 20 minute black and white special produced by Swedish TV and directed by Marianne Ahrne.
OLD SPICE: The Making of "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like"
Leo LaPorte interviews Craig Allen and Eric Kallman of Wieden & Kennedy to find out how Old Spice's "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like" was made.
Ringling would be REALLY smart to involve Jonathan Lee Iverson in some type of parody of this by the time the show hits New York.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
CONGRATULATIONS TOM AND PEPE!
Photo courtesy of AUCIRQUE
Congratulations to Tom Dougherty and Pepe Silva on winning the Prix de l'image at the 3e Festival de Albacete!
Congratulations to Tom Dougherty and Pepe Silva on winning the Prix de l'image at the 3e Festival de Albacete!
COOK'S COMEDY CAR: George Cook's Letterhead
George Cook's Letterhead
Shane and I in Bridgeport, CT in 2008The more things change, the more they stay the same...
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
ZAPATTA: with Romeo Anaya (7/31/1973)
Then bantamweight champion of the world Romeo Anaya makes a stop at the guest clown trunk before knocking out Zapatta in this Ringling press photo that I hope Jack Ryan will take the time to tell us more about.
Monday, February 22, 2010
WHY IS IT?
A schmaltzy jazz guitarist playing in a local restaurant on Thursday night doesn't detract from Django Reinhart.
The inept drunk singing karaoke in the hotel bar doesn't change how you feel about the Rolling Stones.
Your brother's video of his kids at Christmas doesn't make Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless any less of a film.
Your grandmother's paint-by-numbers lovingly framed in her back room doesn't diminish Edward Hopper's Nighthawks, Van Gogh's The Potato Eaters or Jacques-Louis David's The Death of Marat.
The inept drunk singing karaoke in the hotel bar doesn't change how you feel about the Rolling Stones.
Your brother's video of his kids at Christmas doesn't make Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless any less of a film.
Your grandmother's paint-by-numbers lovingly framed in her back room doesn't diminish Edward Hopper's Nighthawks, Van Gogh's The Potato Eaters or Jacques-Louis David's The Death of Marat.
So why is it that when people see this...
...it means that all clowns are amateurish and incompetent?
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Saturday, February 20, 2010
KELLY MILLER CLOWN ALLEY 2010: Ryan and Steve are Back!
Ryan Combs and Steve Copeland taking a well deserved bow after premiering their new gag with the all-new 2010 edition of the Kelly-Miller Circus.
The lovely lady performing with them is none other than Ms. Tatiana Fusco, otherwise now known as Mrs. Ryan Combs.
The lovely lady performing with them is none other than Ms. Tatiana Fusco, otherwise now known as Mrs. Ryan Combs.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
REMINDER! NYC "CLOWN HANG: Tonight!!!
ATTENTION ALL NY AREA CLOWNS!!! A NYC "Clown Hang" THIS THURSDAY 6:30 PM-10:00PM at Manitoba's 99 Avenue B New York, NY 10009-6210.
Click the title of this post for directions.
A CLOWN IS BORN
Cory Miller's son, Max, checking himself out in clown makeup for the first time. Max just turned 2.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
FUNNY FACTORY CLOWN BAND: Toy Fair 2010
Vince "Vappo" Pagliano and the Funny Factory Band at the ribbon cutting opening the 2010 International Toy Fair at the Javitz Center in NYC...
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
REMINDER! NYC "CLOWN HANG: THIS THURSDAY!!!
ATTENTION ALL NY AREA CLOWNS!!! A NYC "Clown Hang" THIS THURSDAY 6:30 PM-10:00PM at Manitoba's 99 Avenue B New York, NY 10009-6210.
Click the title of this post for directions.
Monday, February 15, 2010
HAPPY 100TH BIRTHDAY, CHARLIE CAIROLI!
Charlie Cairoli (15 February, 1910 - 17 February, 1980) was an Italian-born English clown, impressionist and musician.
Background and career
Born in Milan, Italy to a travelling circus family of French origin, he began his performing career at the age of seven. He met Violetta Fratellini, who was also from a circus family, in 1934 when they were both working at the Cirque Medrano at Montmartre: he was with his father in a clown act, and she was in a knockabout acrobatic act, "The Tomboys Girls". While she watched him perform he spotted her, and serenaded her on his clarinet. By Christmas that same year they were married.
In early 1939 the Cairolis appeared at the Circus Krone in Munich, in a special performance attended by Adolf Hitler, who afterward presented Cairoli with a watch. In September, when World War II broke out, Cairoli was performing at the Blackpool Tower Circus for the first time; in response to the news of war, he walked to the end of North Pier in Blackpool and threw the watch into the Irish Sea. He chose to stay in the town, where he lived for the rest of his life.
In 1943 he appeared in Happidrome a film based on the radio series of the same name. In 1952 he appeared in the crime drama film, The Secret People. On 11 and 25 November 1962 he performed his clown act on the American television variety show, The Ed Sullivan Show on CBS. On 1 January 1966 he appeared on David Nixon's Comedy Bandbox. He also appeared on the American television variety show on ABC The Hollywood Palace twice in 1966, first on 8 January, performing as Charles Cairoli and Company then on 7 May when he was introduced as a "British Comic Pantomimist".
Cairoli was distinguished in his act by wearing a red nose and a Charlie Chaplin-style bowler hat, eyebrows, and costume, and a moustache slightly larger than Chaplin's. He rose to prominence in the United Kingdom in the 1970s owing to his frequent television appearances, not least on his long-running children's show Right Charlie!. He was possibly the best-known clown on British television at one time, and had a career that spanned well over forty years. He was the only clown to have been the subject of This is Your Life, where on 25 February 1970, he was introduced as the "king of clowns".
He performed at Blackpool Tower Circus every summer season for forty years, a world record for the most performances at a single venue. Out of season he also performed on stage in variety shows and pantomime, including the Grand Theatre in Leeds and Alhambra in Bradford. His appearance in Jack and the Beanstalk in 1972 was the most successful pantomime at Leeds City Varieties and later that year he brought Christmas shopping to a standstill as he led hundreds of youngsters through the streets of Leeds and herded them to the City Varieties where he gave a special show to 600 invited children.
In June 1979, ill health forced his withdrawal from the Tower Circus ring and he was admitted to hospital suffering from exhaustion. He finally announced his retirement in November of that year; he was 69.
Awards
In February 2000 in Blackpool, Cairoli was awarded a posthumous Lifetime Achievement award from the World's Fair circus newspaper. It was presented to his widow Violetta by ventriloquist Keith Harris, in the presence of the television personality Jeremy Beadle.
Personal life
Cairoli had three children with his wife, Violetta. He died peacefully in his sleep at his home, 129 Warley Road, North Shore, Blackpool, on 17 February, 1980. Five days later he was cremated at Carleton Crematorium in Poulton-le-Fylde, where he is commemorated at rose bed 64.
His son, Charlie Cairoli Junior, adapted the role his father had made famous, although performing more cabaret and pantomime rather than in the circus. Violetta died in Blackpool on 16 November, 2002.
Cultural legacy
Charlie Cairoli's name entered popular usage as a reference for clowns in general. The 2004 Chumbawamba song Just Desserts (about pieing) explicitly compares Cairoli's clown behaviour to the anarchist viewpoints espoused by Peter Kropotkin. Similarly, when Garry Bushell criticised The Verdict, he said that "to call it Clown Court would be an insult to Charlie Cairoli".
Welsh pop group The Hepburns recorded a song entitled, "Charlie Cairoli's Ghost".
In July 2008, Blackpool Council cabinet member, Tony Williams called for the erection of a statue of Cairoli in the resort, saying, "I have always wanted a statue of Charlie Cairoli in the town; after all he was the most famous clown in the world and brought more visitors to the town than any other single entertainer. Charlie has never been truly recognised for his massive contribution to Blackpool and we should honour our local heroes."
Background and career
Born in Milan, Italy to a travelling circus family of French origin, he began his performing career at the age of seven. He met Violetta Fratellini, who was also from a circus family, in 1934 when they were both working at the Cirque Medrano at Montmartre: he was with his father in a clown act, and she was in a knockabout acrobatic act, "The Tomboys Girls". While she watched him perform he spotted her, and serenaded her on his clarinet. By Christmas that same year they were married.
In early 1939 the Cairolis appeared at the Circus Krone in Munich, in a special performance attended by Adolf Hitler, who afterward presented Cairoli with a watch. In September, when World War II broke out, Cairoli was performing at the Blackpool Tower Circus for the first time; in response to the news of war, he walked to the end of North Pier in Blackpool and threw the watch into the Irish Sea. He chose to stay in the town, where he lived for the rest of his life.
In 1943 he appeared in Happidrome a film based on the radio series of the same name. In 1952 he appeared in the crime drama film, The Secret People. On 11 and 25 November 1962 he performed his clown act on the American television variety show, The Ed Sullivan Show on CBS. On 1 January 1966 he appeared on David Nixon's Comedy Bandbox. He also appeared on the American television variety show on ABC The Hollywood Palace twice in 1966, first on 8 January, performing as Charles Cairoli and Company then on 7 May when he was introduced as a "British Comic Pantomimist".
Cairoli was distinguished in his act by wearing a red nose and a Charlie Chaplin-style bowler hat, eyebrows, and costume, and a moustache slightly larger than Chaplin's. He rose to prominence in the United Kingdom in the 1970s owing to his frequent television appearances, not least on his long-running children's show Right Charlie!. He was possibly the best-known clown on British television at one time, and had a career that spanned well over forty years. He was the only clown to have been the subject of This is Your Life, where on 25 February 1970, he was introduced as the "king of clowns".
He performed at Blackpool Tower Circus every summer season for forty years, a world record for the most performances at a single venue. Out of season he also performed on stage in variety shows and pantomime, including the Grand Theatre in Leeds and Alhambra in Bradford. His appearance in Jack and the Beanstalk in 1972 was the most successful pantomime at Leeds City Varieties and later that year he brought Christmas shopping to a standstill as he led hundreds of youngsters through the streets of Leeds and herded them to the City Varieties where he gave a special show to 600 invited children.
In June 1979, ill health forced his withdrawal from the Tower Circus ring and he was admitted to hospital suffering from exhaustion. He finally announced his retirement in November of that year; he was 69.
Awards
In February 2000 in Blackpool, Cairoli was awarded a posthumous Lifetime Achievement award from the World's Fair circus newspaper. It was presented to his widow Violetta by ventriloquist Keith Harris, in the presence of the television personality Jeremy Beadle.
Personal life
Cairoli had three children with his wife, Violetta. He died peacefully in his sleep at his home, 129 Warley Road, North Shore, Blackpool, on 17 February, 1980. Five days later he was cremated at Carleton Crematorium in Poulton-le-Fylde, where he is commemorated at rose bed 64.
His son, Charlie Cairoli Junior, adapted the role his father had made famous, although performing more cabaret and pantomime rather than in the circus. Violetta died in Blackpool on 16 November, 2002.
Cultural legacy
Charlie Cairoli's name entered popular usage as a reference for clowns in general. The 2004 Chumbawamba song Just Desserts (about pieing) explicitly compares Cairoli's clown behaviour to the anarchist viewpoints espoused by Peter Kropotkin. Similarly, when Garry Bushell criticised The Verdict, he said that "to call it Clown Court would be an insult to Charlie Cairoli".
Welsh pop group The Hepburns recorded a song entitled, "Charlie Cairoli's Ghost".
In July 2008, Blackpool Council cabinet member, Tony Williams called for the erection of a statue of Cairoli in the resort, saying, "I have always wanted a statue of Charlie Cairoli in the town; after all he was the most famous clown in the world and brought more visitors to the town than any other single entertainer. Charlie has never been truly recognised for his massive contribution to Blackpool and we should honour our local heroes."
VORONIN
Voronin is the gentleman in the tuxedo. Does anyone know the name of his partner in this clip?
NYC "CLOWN HANG: THIS THURSDAY!
ATTENTION ALL NY AREA CLOWNS!!! A NYC "Clown Hang", THIS THURSDAY 6:30 PM-10:00PM at Manitoba's 99 Avenue B New York, NY 10009-6210.
Click the title of this post for directions.
Click the title of this post for directions.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
DAVID LARIBLE: Bell Ringing
Shot on Mr. Larible's current theater tour. He is assisted here by Gensi, his whiteface partner at Roncalli.
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