Ringling: Statue Gag

Joe Wesson, Bob Kramer, and Skip Lackey perform a statue gag for a publicity (maybe a Clown College audition) on the Blue Unit in 1980.

Emmett Kelly and Bette Middler 1977

Here are the three Emmett Kelly sections from Bette Middler's first television special on CBS that co-starred Emmett and Dustin Hoffman. Ah, the '70s!

I liked the part where Emmett was weary. 

Ringling: Almax Repair Gag

Al Rios and Max Richardson performing a repair gag on the Ringling Red Unit in 1997

CLOWN ALLEY CLASSIC: Reducing Machine Clyde Beatty 1980

Recently I discovered on an old hard drive that I had saved a lot of the videos from Pat Cashin's "Cashin Comedy Company" Youtube page that got shut down. Many, many, many videos were lost, but luckily I grabbed some! 

I'll roll them out occasionally as a little treat!

From January 28, 2007:

"The Reducing Machine" presented by the Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros, Circus Clown Alley on their 1980 indoor tour.

The gag was produced by Dean "Elmo Gibb" Chambers and was announced by longtime Beatty-Cole ringmaster (and former Beatty-Cole clown), Mr. Jimmy James.

I see Mark Friesen as the yellow haired professor, Gary Cooper as the red haired doctor, "Simon" (I only know his clown name) as the yellow haired doctor, Sandy Kaye as the slim nurse, Mike Snider as the busty nurse, John Kennedy "Eggroll" Kane as the woman from the audience, and Miguel Padilla as the blow off. Any help on the other professor would be appreciated! 

My Friend, Grock

A fantastic documentary on Grock from 1962 featuring performance footage I had not seen before. Enjoy! 

Kelly Miller 1996: Darren Burrell and Tom "Popcorn" Sink

Burl and Popcorn demonstrating their skills on the Kelly Miller Circus in 1996

Ringling: Plastic Man

Andrew Scharff performing his Plastic Man routine during the Three Ring Adventure of Ringling's 129th Edition (Living Carousel) in 1999.

Andrew has been performing this routine since he attended Clown College in 1995, and has performed it on Culpepper Merriweather Circus, Kinoshita, the Togni family's American Circus, and clown festivals and performances all over the world!

Jimmy Armstrong: Clyde Beatty

 

Backstage shots of Jimmy Armstrong on the Beatty Show taken by Bruce Davidson in 1958.

Jacko Fossett, Billy Merchant, and Jimmy Scott

A program page from 1974/1975 the Belle Vue Circus in Manchester featuring Jacko Fossett, Little Billy Merchant, and Jimmy Scott.

Thank you to Fudi Zsilak for sharing!

Remembering Pat Cashin

Seven years ago Pat Cashin, the founder and namesake of this blog, passed away much too young. Not a week goes by that I don't think of him, or one of the amazingly funny things he said offhandedly, or a story about him.

I have no idea how he ran this blog so well, because I struggle to post several times a month. He was a great friend and he is missed by so many. May his memory live on in all of the people's lives he touched

Here he is with Aziz Gual and Lance Brown in final gag of the 1997 Ringling Clown College graduation, Three Brothers' Pizza.

Mump & Smoot: The Café

Canadian clowns Mump and Smoot performing an excerpt from their show, "Something", at Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario.

Nola Rae: The Conductor

Nola Rae performing a sketch from her show "Upper Cuts" at the Shaw Theatre in London, 1984.

Matute Alvarez

Chilean clown Matute Alvarez doing a version of Jeff "Gordoon" Gordon's toilet paper act.

Matute will be clowning at Cirque D'Hiver this winter along with comedy magicians, Scott & Muriel. 

Clown College: Dentist Gag

Sean Conklin and Kirby Soderberg perform a dentist gag during the 1989 Clown College graduation performance. 

Tomas Kubinek

A preview of Tomas Kubinek's one man show from Portland in 2012.

Cirque Du Soleil: Dralion Preshow Clowning

Hayden Spencer, Borys Borys, Facundo Gimenez and Guto Vasconcelos perform preshow clowning in Dralion in 2014.

The History of Bozo The Clown

A retrospective on the character of Bozo The Clown from WGN.

Los Alarcons

Los Alarcons performing on Circo Mundial

Ringling: Tom and Tammy Parish 1981

A news story from 1981 featuring soon to be ICHOF inductees Tom and Tammy Parish on the Ringling Blue Unit. 

Ringling: Human Bomb

Margie Talavera and David Kiser performing a human bomb gag on the Ringling Blue Unit in 1990.