LES NONO: Font Leur Cirque

SAM POOKA: Part One

Folks, strap on your laughing hats...





I eagerly await the treasure that is Part Two.

THE HANLONS: Superba Poster

CESAR AEDO: Big Apple Circus (1989)

Video courtesy of Circopedia

PAUL JEROME: Whiteface

LARRY HARMON'S "LIFETIME OF LAUGHTER" AWARD RE-INSTATED BY THE INTERNATIONAL CLOWN HALL OF FAME

Larry Harmon, TV Icon’s Alter Ego, Honored, Again, At Wisconsin Museum

(Baraboo, WI., Sept. 27, 2010)---

Five years ago, under a different regime, the late Larry Harmon, creator of TV’s Bozo, was dropped as an honoree at the world’s only museum dedicated to buffoonery, the International Clown Hall of Fame (ICHOF), located outside of Milwaukee, Wisc.

At the time, museum management claimed that while Harmon, who passed away in 2008, popularized Bozo on TV, he didn’t invent the character and therefore didn’t warrant a special homage in the collection.

At the time of the incident, Harmon said: “Isn’t it a shame the credit that was given to me for the work I have done they arbitrarily take it down, like I didn’t do anything for the past 52 years.”

Today, a new team of advisors at the clown hall has announced that Harmon’s induction has, for good reason, been reinstated and he is now a full fledged member of its esteemed, bulbous-nosed group which includes the likes of clown stars such as Emmett Kelly and long time Ringling Circus clown ambassador Lou Jacobs.

“Larry Harmon did so much for clowning it’s hard to fully imagine his impact,” says ICHOF president Greg DeSanto. “Multiple generations and millions of people were entertained by the Bozo character he so masterfully fashioned for television.”

Adds Harmon’s widow, Susan Harmon, “Larry would be thrilled, he so loved this character and gave his life to creating a magical persona that touched so many.”This year is the 50th anniversary of the nationally acclaimed Bozo TV show, one of TV’s most enduring shows, which last aired in 2001, after a 40 year run. Two years after his death, Harmon’s memoir, “The Man Behind The Nose,” co-authored by Thomas Scott McKenzie, has landed in bookstores via It Books’ Igniter imprint (a div. of HarperCollins) (Igniter, 256 pages, $25.99).

Bozo was a product of Hollywood. Born as a children’s record clown on the fledgling Capitol Records in Hollywood, the Bozo character gravitated to TV, first with a live show on Los Angeles station KTLA. Quickly, live Bozo TV shows cropped up in Chicago, New York, Boston and 200 other markets internationally.

Many famous folks owe Harmon their major league starts.

“Muppets” creator Jim Henson and his puppets made their TV bow on Harmon’s Bozo Show in Washington DC. Carroll Spinney, who’s been delighting kids as “Big Bird,” also got his start with Harmon and Willard Scott, 76, the eternal weatherman on NBC’s “TODAY,” was a Harmon find, too, bowing on TV as Bozo in Washington, DC.Another 205 actors around the world followed Harmon in the floppy red clown shoes and created over 10,000 hours of Bozo shows.

Press Contact: DIGNEY & CO., Jerry Digney, Jerry Brown; 323 993 3000

###

To clarify: Greg DeSanto is the Director of the International Clown Hall of Fame and Research Center and is President of the ICHOF's Board of Directors. The ICHOF is now located in Baraboo, WI. Larry Harmon's "Lifetime of Laughter" award has been re-instated. Mr. Harmon is not an inductee of the International Clown Hall of Fame and Research Center.

PAUL JUNG: At Work in His Laugh Factory (Undated)

Photo courtesy of the International Clown Hall of Fame

Master Producing Clown Paul Jung in a rare photo at work in his Tampa "Laugh Factory".

AL KELLY: The King of Double Talk

LES BUBB

LAURA KIBEL: The Clown

MR. KARP STEPS OUT!

Photo by Miriam Linna

Mr. Michael Karp (CC Class of '68 and RBB&B '67-'69) in Brooklyn, NY last Friday night at Drew Friedman's book signing were he rubbed elbows with Plonsky all-stars such as Mr. Friedman, Kathy Bidus, Mark Newgarden, F-Troop star Larry Storch, The A-Bones' Billy Miller & Miriam Linna and Dictators' lead singer Handsome Dick Manitoba!

CLOWN CABARET: Tonight in DC!

Clown Cabaret

the second Monday of every month
8 pm

October 11, November 8, December 13, January 10
February 14, March 14, April 11, May 9, June 13

Fort Fringe - The Shop - 607 New York Ave NW

Tickets $10

For years now people around the world have talked about “those clowns in DC.” Well it’s time to take the title back from the politicians and return it a little dignity again. DC's monthly Clown Cabaret provides clowns from the DC area, and a few distinguished fools from elsewhere. You just have to be the audience. Show up, laugh and play along. You are half of the show.

Clown Cabaret performs the second Monday evening of each month at Fort Fringe. We will teach, show and foolishly draw from any and all aspects of clowning: Modern, classic, circus, commedia, theatrical, verbal, silent, knockabout, slapstick, lyrical and anything/everything else we can find. So for an evening of artsy-fartsy, pie-in-the-face, clowning fun, come to the Cabaret...come see what makes a real DC clown.

For more info, click here.

SCOTT & MURIEL: Sawing a Host in Half

PETER PITOFSKY: Evening at the Improv

CHARLIE RIVEL: Johannes Heesters - Operettenmelodien (1957)

DENNY WIILLIS & WALTER GALETTI: Zaterdagavond, Ja Ja

The gentleman that follows Denny Willis & Hunting Quartet performing  'The Fox has left his lair' is clown Walter Galetti performing verbally, without makeup or his trademark bounding rope.

FRANCESCO BEELOO: Circus Van Martin Hanson (Winter 2009/10)

Mr. Beeloo is the White Clown. I am not familiar with the other artists.

SHEMP HOWARD: Highlights (for Children)

NOUVEAU CLOWN INSTITUTE: Special Offer!

We here at clownalley.net received the following special offer to share with one and all direct from none other than Mr. Jango Edwards himself at the Nouveau Clown Institute in Barcelona...

HURRY! HURRY! HURRY! A ONCE IN A LIFETIME OFFER!

ARE YOU FEELING A BIT FUNNY? WELL COME AND VISIT US BEFORE IT WEARS OFF.

JUST CALL MS. MANDELLA OUR NOUVEAU CLOWN INSTITUTE HOSTESS AND REQUEST YOUR APPLICATION FOR OUR EACH AND EVERYDAY FREE PASS GIVE AWAY DAY TOUR COUPON. PRESENT THIS VOUCHER TO THE INSTRUCTOR OF THE 1ST SESSION OF THE THREE DAILY 2 HOUR CLASSES SO YOU CAN PERSONALLY EXPERIENCE THE N.C.I. ON THE INSIDE. 

DON'T WAIT BEFORE IT'S TO LATE ONLY A LIMITED NUMBER OF N.C.I. DAY PASSES AVAILABLE. 

SO DON'T DELAY CALL TODAY. YOU WILL FIND OUR WEBSITE BY CLICKING THE TITLE OF THIS POST!!!

ICHOF: Chester "Bobo" Barnett's Induction

Bonnie Ann Barnett-Murphy with her children, Christiana and Michael.

Michael is holding Bobo's induction plaque.

Christiana taking us all on a guided tour of the ICHOF's new digs in Baraboo, WI. Look for ICHOF Director Greg DeSanto, fellow Board of Directors members Karen DeSanto and Sandy Weber, Ron "Toto" Johnson and I believe I saw Neil Skoy in there as well amongst the glitterati.

Toto was the only one who was able to fit into Bobo's car. Think it was easy? 

IN MEMORIAM: Sir Norman Wisdom (Obituary from the London Telegraph)

Sir Norman Wisdom

Sir Norman Wisdom, who died on Monday aged 95, ranked second only to Charlie Chaplin as the 20th century’s most consistently successful British screen comic; he shared with Chaplin a talent for visual and physical humour whose roots lay in music hall and whose appeal transcended cultural boundaries.

When the two men met briefly in 1950 Chaplin told Wisdom: “You will follow in my footsteps,” and three years later Wisdom made his first major film, Trouble in Store. Although he was already established on stage and on television, reviews of the film were moderate, and Rank executives held out no great hopes for it. In the event, the film set records in 51 London cinemas, and Wisdom’s plaintive theme song, Don’t Laugh at Me, spent months in the Top 10.

An unbroken run of 15 successes followed until 1966, with the 5ft 4in tall Wisdom holding off even the challenge of James Bond to be Britain’s favourite box-office draw. In 1964 a record 18.5 million people watched his BBC pantomime Robinson Crusoe.

Wisdom’s screen success declined along with the British film industry. His last outing was an ill-advised sex comedy in 1969, What’s Good for the Goose. Sex, like colour film, seemed to jar.

He did not translate well in America, which already had a similar star in Jerry Lewis. A later role, however, in a Broadway musical, Walking Happy, earned him a critics’ award in 1967, and the following year The Night They Raided Minsky’s saw him nominated for a supporting Oscar.

Yet everywhere else Wisdom’s pathetic charm cast a binding spell. He was as popular in South America as he was in Iran, where he met boys whose only English was his catchphrase “Mr Grimsdale!” His films were often shown in eastern bloc countries, where he achieved celebrity status. In Britain his cocking a snook at the Establishment prefigured the Sixties; in the eastern bloc Marxist censors approved his proletarian if hapless subversion of the elite. A hospice established for those affected by the Chernobyl disaster was named after him; and in 1995 he received the Freedom of both the City of London and of the Albanian capital, Tirana. Wisdom was the only Western actor whose films were allowed to be shown in Albania under the dictatorship of Enver Hoxha.

Norman Wisdom was born at Marylebone, London, on February 4 1915. He was not candid, nor perhaps sure, about his date of birth and regularly knocked up to 12 years off his age.

He grew up in poverty in Paddington (where his first memory was of a Zeppelin passing overhead during the First World War), the son of a chauffeur and a seamstress. His father was a violent drunk who often hit Norman, once throwing him against the ceiling. When his parents separated Norman and his brother were farmed out to paid guardians. They eventually grew up at Deal, in Kent.

Norman left school at 14, becoming a delivery boy for Lipton’s and then a commis-waiter at a London hotel, from where he was sacked for dropping a loaded breakfast-tray down a lift shaft. He walked to Cardiff with the aim of becoming a miner, but was deserted by the friend who had promised him work, and instead embarked in a steamer bound for Argentina as a cabin boy. The crew taught him to box, and in Buenos Aires Norman (who weighed only five stone) found himself matched (for money) against an opponent twice his size and age. He won the fight, but the crew spent his prize-money.

Back in London, and still only 14, he was disowned by his father and began living rough on the streets, at first sleeping at the foot of Marshal Foch’s statue in Victoria. He would sneak into cinemas to keep warm.

He lasted two hours as a trainee draughtsman before finding his first métier as an Army bandsman. In 1930 he was sent to Lucknow, India, with the 10th Hussars. As well as learning to play 11 instruments, he also became adept at falling off a horse for the amusement of officers’ wives. It was his first solo performance. A fanatical gymnast who later performed all his own stunts, he was also for three years the Raj’s flyweight boxing champion.

Wisdom returned to England a civilian in 1936 and worked as a telephone operator, and when war broke out was seconded to work Churchill’s own switchboard. He then joined the Royal Corps of Signals. His concert party work was spotted by Rex Harrison, who encouraged him to become a professional.

His break came in December 1945 at the Collins Hall, Islington, a venue for new variety turns. He had followed the manager everywhere for three weeks asking for a chance. Billed as “The Successful Failure”, he produced an act that was a synthesis of his experiences and would never change. Wisdom was life’s victim, a gormless, game village idiot. Mime and pratfalls were his stock-in-trade, dance and song mere distractions, as he clowned with musical instruments that shut on his fingers or was knocked out by his boxing shadow. It was silly, unsophisticated fun larded with pathos — and austerity audiences lapped it up. In Skegness one teenage schoolgirl laughed so hard that she dislocated her jaw. Within two years Wisdom was a West End star.

Not everyone appreciated his rise to top billing. An upstaged Canadian act took to coming on to interpret Wisdom’s routine until laid out by an uppercut. By 1950 he was appearing regularly on the new medium of television, as well as in pantomime and ice spectaculars. He was also a favourite with the Royal Family and performed at Windsor Castle.

Yet he still wanted to create a character unique to him, and in a Scarborough charity shop he found a uniform. “The Gump”, in a jacket three sizes too small with tie awry and cap askew, became his trademark role, the eternal schoolboy with the looks of a beaten puppy.

Wisdom became addicted to hard work, following 12-hour days on a film set with two exhausting shows at night. He was also a perfectionist, rehearsing a new sketch for up to a week. The punishing regime cost him his second marriage while bringing him the trappings of wealth. He collected cars, kept a 94ft yacht and lived in the Sussex house once inhabited by Anne of Cleves. In 1968 an appeal he lost against paying tax on £200,000 worth of silver bullion invested in America set a legal precedent. In 1980 he moved to the Isle of Man.

He appeared in no more films after 1969, instead making four series for television, A Little Bit of Wisdom, up to 1976. Thereafter he was seen sporadically, most notably in a straight role as a dying cancer patient in a 1981 BBC play, Going Gently. He then had a screen part in a dire British thriller, Double X, in 1992.

Wisdom kept himself formidably fit through golf, jogging and even football. He was still performing a relentlessly physical stage act in his eighties. There was a ghostwritten autobiography published in 1992, Don’t Laugh At Me.

He was appointed OBE in 1995 and knighted in 2000.

From 1995 until 2004 he made occasional appearances as Billy Ingleton in the BBC’s television comedy Last of the Summer Wine. In 2004 he had a cameo role in Coronation Street, and in 2007 he appeared in Kevin Powis’s film Expresso. he had a small part as Winston the butler in the film Evil Calls: The Raven (2008).

Norman Wisdom’s first marriage, to Doreen, was a wartime romance, and was quickly dissolved. In 1947 he married Freda Simpson, with whom he had a son and a daughter. That marriage was dissolved in 1969.

LOS CALUGAS

LARRY GRISWOLD

SMEAR, SPLAT & DIP: Disney's Animal Kingdom, Orlando, FL

MYSTERY CLOWN: Bell Routine

BOBO BARNETT: Inducted Into the International Clown Hall of Fame (October 1st, 2010)

Photo courtesy of Steve Flint

Bonnie Barnett-Murphy, daughter of Chester "Bobo" Barnett, accepting the plaque inducting Bobo into the International Clown Hall of Fame from ICHOF Director Greg DeSanto and board member Karen DeSanto at a ceremony held in Baraboo, WI last Friday night.

BEN TURPIN: A Tribute

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY, JAMES ROANE CASHIN!

CONGRATULATIONS CHESTER "BOBO" BARNETT: 2010 Inductee in the International Clown Hall of Fame tonight!

Dear Bonnie,

Throughout my career as a circus clown, I always ask any of the older performers that I've worked with the same question, “Who is the best circus clown that you've ever seen?” The two names that answer that question most often are Otto Griebling and Bobo Barnett.

People who've worked with your father describe his act in the hushed and reverent tones that jazz musicians use to describe Miles Davis or Charlie Parker, that sportswriters use to describe Babe Ruth or Michael Jordan, that comics use to describe George Carlin or Richard Pryor.

Their eyes take on a far away look as they fondly remember the details of the act: the car, the dogs, the table and the trumpet. Despite the fact that your father retired decades ago, the memory of seeing your dad in the ring still stands out clearly for so many of them.

“...then he'd play 'Peg O' My Heart' or 'Am I Blue' on the trumpet and there wouldn't be a dry eye in the house. He played so beautifully. He just killed 'em. No one could follow him. No one...”

It has been a genuine pleasure to get to know you and your father, first through your writing and later by meeting you and your daughter, Christiana at the Book Expo at the Javitz Center in New York when you did me the great honor of allowing me to portray Bobo in helping to promote your wonderful book. The films that you've shared on your website are an invaluable document of a very gifted and dedicated artist and an inspiration to all who love clowns and clowning.

Bobo earned his place in the Hall of Fame a long time ago and we're all extremely happy to finally welcome him here to take his place among the pantheon of the very best in the profession.

Thank you so much for sharing so much of yourself and your Dad with the rest of us,
 
~Pat
 
P.S. You know that I'd be there if I could ; )
 

For more information on tonight's ceremony please click here.

 

JAMIE'S ALMOST ONE!

Tomorrow will be Jamie's 1st birthday. If you've enjoyed clownalley.net over the last year, please consider taking the time this weekend to donate blood at your local blood bank, donate your change to the Ronald McDonald House at your local McDonald's restaurant or make a donation to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

At one year old, Jamie is a happy, healthy fan of Sesame Street, Yo Gabba Gabba, Oobie, Rolie Polie Olie, Oswald, Jojo's Circus, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and The Cat In the Hat Knows a Lot About That. As much as he enjoys those shows, they don't hold a candle to what REALLY makes him laugh. Jamie thinks that his dog Honeybear and his big brother Shane are just about the funniest things in the whole wide world.

He may or may not grow up to be a clown but his infectious laughter proves he's already got the makings of a wonderful audience member ; )

CLOWN COLLEGE AUDITIONS: Boston, MA

JEFF RAZ: Hospital Clowning

THOMAS MOORE QUOTE

Thomas Moore, in his 12th book Dark Nights of the Soul, explains Beauty best. He describes how the spiritual practice of beauty can be an avenue for transformation...

"Beauty feeds the soul, wakens it, and brings it to life as nothing else can. Beauty is a deep-seated reaction to some meaningful and stunning presentation of life. It stops you and gives you an instant promise of pleasure. But if you have no soul, you won't even see the beautiful in the thick layers of your practicality and in the density of your own ego. All your senses and your full imagination have to be alert when beauty makes its appearance. "

"… The beauty of a thing is its depth and meaning being revealed. To perceive that beauty, you need an eye for both appearances and for the invisible radiance of a thing. You also need the capacity to be affected. But many people walk through life defended against all positive influences. They are not open to the invitations and messages coming at them at every turn. They wonder why life feels empty and meaningless, when the problem is not the absence of meaning but their blindness and deafness to it. . . .”

"Beauty nurtures the soul by serving the spirit. Beauty takes you out of your cramped, merely personal worries and sets you down in a field of eternity. The essence of spirituality is an enlargement of vision. The experience may only last a moment, but in these matters a moment is [just] enough. You need a transcendent sense of things, not one that lets you escape from your situation but one that gives you an added perspective. In this, beauty and religion serve similar purposes, and so it's no wonder that they are so often allied.”

 

BRIN DE PAILLE: Scarecrow

SUZANNE CLEARY & PETER HARDING: We No Speak Americano

Link courtesy of Gene Wolande



This came along at the perfect moment to make my day.

GEORGE ORANGE

LOU JACOBS: Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey backyard in Milwaukee, WI (August 12, 1941)

From the archives of Sverre "Bex" Braathen

FIORELLO: Comedy Dog Act

DMITRI BOGATIREV: Military Drill (1984)

THE BIT-52'S: Rock Lobster

"Paging Mr. Kovacs. Mr. Ernie Kovacs, white courtesy phone please."

THE ACROMANIACS

HILLEL: Masters of Illusion

Link courtesy of Cap'n Mike Heidtman

OK GO: White Knuckles

The best things in life are OK Go videos.

MOROCO: Tennis Entree; Circo Beto Carrero (2009)

JON WEISS & MATTIE : Circus Vargas (2010)

I like it. I really should put a ring on it.

CIA SEBES

ICHOF VIDEO PRESENTATION: Tonight in Seaside Heights, NJ @ 7:00 PM

Greg DeSanto's ICHOF Clown History Video Presentation at Clownfest in Seaside Heights, NJ is tonight at 7:00 PM in the Church Hall at the corner of Grant and Central. Admission is free to CF attendees and $10.00 for the general public so ALL are welcome. Scheduled to be there are ICHOF inductees Jim Howle and Leon McBryde as well as Trish Manuel, Michael Karp, Kenny Columbo, Victor Ruiz, Dave Carlyon, Gary Spear, Doug Young and Mark Lohr!

DJAMBO DJAMBO

I don't know which is worse: the outfits, the hairstyles or the song. Oh wait, it's the song.

I can only hope that Charlie Rivel sued for misappropriation of his image.

KIT & KAI: From Singapore

AURELIA'S ORATORIO: McCarter Theater in Princeton, NJ (Sept 10-Oct 17, 2010)

I saw Aurelia's Oratorio last night. If you are familiar with the astonishingly high quality work of Aurélia Thierrée's parents, Victoria Thierrée Chaplin and Jean Baptiste Thierrée, as well as that of her brother James, you'll know that I entered the theater with extremely high expectations.

And I was not disappointed. Not for one single solitary second.

You cannot miss this show! The McCarter is DIRECTLY across from the Princeton train station and surrounded by ample parking. If you are anywhere in the tri-state area, anywhere in the Northest, you have no excuse for not making the trek to Princeton between now and October 17th to witness one of the very best "new circus" shows that I've ever seen.

Please DO NOT watch the video below if you plan on coming. See the show without knowing any of the visuals. If you can't make it to the McCarter, watch and see what you're missing...

The McCarter Theater is making $20 tickets available to all weekday performances Tues-Thurs @ 7:30pm. for readers of clownalley.net. When people call to order tickets (609) 258-2787 they should mention the clownalley.net discount!

RICHARD HEARNE: Mr. Pastry

ICIRCONDATI

ARCHAOS

You know what's weird, as "contemporary" and "new circus" as Archaos is, Otto Griebling would still look perfectly at home in this environment.

SASHA: Orchestra

BARTO: Glove

KAREN BELL & ROBIN EURICH

Former Ringling clowns (and Clown College instructors), now with Circus Sarasota and members of the Showfolks of Sarasota Clown Alley, Ms. Karen Bell and Mr. Robin Eurich.

MONSTER TRICYCLE

Dear Santa,

PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE?

~P

DAVID LARIBLE: al II° Gran Premio del Circo di Genova nel (1994)

JERRY LEWIS: On Stan Laurel

Jerry pays tribute to Stan as only Jerry can.

FRIDAYS: The Chiropractor (1980)

Physical comedy wasn't dead on American television in the late 70s/early 80s, it was just extremely rare. Here's Michael Richards and Mark Blankfield in a sketch from the ABC late night show Fridays.

ICHOF VIDEO PRESENTATION: This Friday Night in Seaside Heights, NJ

If you have not yet registered to attend Clownfest in Seaside Heights, NJ this week the you'd better get over to clownfest.com immediately so you don't risk missing a second of the fun and education. This year, Greg DeSanto will be there on behalf of the International Clown Hall of Fame with a sheduled a discussion on what's new with the ICHOF and a presentation of EXTREMELY RARE INTERNATIONAL CLOWN FILMS and VIDEOS! If you've seen any of Greg's earlier presentations you know that there is ALWAYS something that's been added to the collection as more and more rare performance videos get unearthed by the ICHOF.

This one is no exception. 

The ICHOF has just obtained a MAMMOTH collection of new video that will knock your striped clown socks off, so check out clownfest.com to be among the first to view these rare treasures in their ONLY NORTHEAST APPEARANCE FOR THE REST OF 2010!

TOTO CASTINEIRAS: Finimondo (2009/2010)

QUOTE

“C’est le temps que tu as perdu pour ta rose qui fait ta rose si importante.” 

- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

 

AURELIA'S ORATORIO: McCarter Theater in Princeton, NJ (Sept 10-Oct 17, 2010)

Aurélia’s Oratorio

At the McCarter Theater in Princeton, NJ

September 10 - October 17, 2010

Starring Aurélia Thierrée

Featuring Jaime Martinez

Created and Directed by Victoria Thierrée Chaplin

Presented in Association with ArKtype and Crying Out Loud UK

 

SPECIAL CLOWNALLEY.NET DISCOUNT: The McCarter Theater is making $20 tickets available to all weekday performances Tues-Thurs @ 7:30pm. for readers of clownalley.net. When people call to order tickets (609) 258-2787 they should mention the clownalley.net discount! 

Please click the title of this post for more 

info from the McCarter Theater's website!