Pat Cashin's CLOWNALLEY.NET

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

2009-11-26T09:15:00.001-05:00

Scan courtesy of Beth Grimes

1. “At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.” — Albert Schweitzer

2. “You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink.” — G. K. Chesterton

3. “No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks”. — Unknown

4. “Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” — Marcel Proust

5. “He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.” — Epictetus

6. “You simply will not be the same person two months from now after consciously giving thanks each day for the abundance that exists in your life. And you will have set in motion an ancient spiritual law: the more you have and are grateful for, the more will be given you.” — Sarah Ban Breathnach

7. “We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.” — Thornton Wilder

8. “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” — Albert Einstein

9. “Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.” — William Arthur Ward

10. “Take full account of the excellencies which you possess, and in gratitude remember how you would hanker after them, if you had them not.” — Marcus Aurelius

11. “Real life isn’t always going to be perfect or go our way, but the recurring acknowledgement of what is working in our lives can help us not only to survive but surmount our difficulties.” — Sarah Ban Breathnach

12. “We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude.” — Cynthia Ozick

13. “Can you see the holiness in those things you take for granted–a paved road or a washing machine? If you concentrate on finding what is good in every situation, you will discover that your life will suddenly be filled with gratitude, a feeling that nurtures the soul.” — Rabbi Harold Kushner

14. “We can be thankful to a friend for a few acres or a little money; and yet for the freedom and command of the whole earth, and for the great benefits of our being, our life, health, and reason, we look upon ourselves as under no obligation.” — Marcus Annaeus Seneca

15. “When we become more fully aware that our success is due in large measure to the loyalty, helpfulness, and encouragement we have received from others, our desire grows to pass on similar gifts. Gratitude spurs us on to prove ourselves worthy of what others have done for us. The spirit of gratitude is a powerful energizer.” — Wilferd A. Peterson

16. “Whatever our individual troubles and challenges may be, it’s important to pause every now and then to appreciate all that we have, on every level. We need to literally “count our blessings,” give thanks for them, allow ourselves to enjoy them, and relish the experience of prosperity we already have.” — Shakti Gawain

17. “Thou that has given so much to me,
Give one thing more–a grateful heart;
Not thankful when it pleaseth me,
As if thy blessings had spare days;
But such a heart, whose pulse may be
Thy praise.”

– George Herbert

18. “(Some people) have a wonderful capacity to appreciate again and again, freshly and naively, the basic goods of life, with awe, pleasure, wonder, and even ecstasy.” — A.H. Maslow

19. “If the only prayer you say in your life is thank you, that would suffice.” — Meister Eckhart

20. “Find the good and praise it.” — Alex Haley

21. “Give thanks for a little and you will find a lot.” — The Hausa of Nigeria

22. “What if you gave someone a gift, and they neglected to thank you for it-would you be likely to give them another? Life is the same way. In order to attract more of the blessings that life has to offer, you must truly appreciate what you already have.” — Ralph Marston

23. “Happiness is itself a kind of gratitude.” — Joseph Wood Krutch

24. “The moment one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself.” — Henry Miller

25. “There is a calmness to a life lived in gratitude, a quiet joy.” — Ralph H. Blum

26. “Gratefulness is the key to a happy life that we hold in our hands, because if we are not grateful, then no matter how much we have we will not be happy — because we will always want to have something else or something more.” — Brother David Steindl-Rast

27. “Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace and gratitude.” — Denis Waitley

28. “As each day comes to us refreshed and anew, so does my gratitude renew itself daily. The breaking of the sun over the horizon is my grateful heart dawning upon a blessed world. ” — Adabella Radici

29. “For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.”

– Ralph Waldo Emerson

30. “Grace isn’t a little prayer you chant before receiving a meal. It’s a way to live. ” — Attributed to Jacqueline Winspear

31. “When eating bamboo sprouts, remember the man who planted them.” — Chinese Proverb

32. “Only a stomach that rarely feels hungry scorns common things.” — Horace

33. “But the value of gratitude does not consist solely in getting you more blessings in the future. Without gratitude you cannot long keep from dissatisfied thought regarding things as they are.” — Wallace Wattles

34. “Blessed are those that can give without remembering and receive without forgetting.” — Author Unknown

35. “If you concentrate on finding whatever is good in every situation, you will discover that your life will suddenly be filled with gratitude, a feeling that nurtures the soul.” — Rabbi Harold Kushner

36. “Nothing that is done for you is a matter of course. Everything originates in a will for the good, which is directed at you. Train yourself never to put off the word or action for the expression of gratitude.” — Albert Schweitzer

37. “God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say “thank you?” — William A. Ward

38. “Gratitude is a vaccine, an antitoxin, and an antiseptic.” — John Henry Jowett

39. “Feeling grateful or appreciative of someone or something in your life actually attracts more of the things that you appreciate and value into your life.” — Christiane Northrup

40.”The best way to pay for a lovely moment is to enjoy it.” — Richard Bach

41. “Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has plenty; not on your past misfortunes of which all men have some.” — Charles Dickens

42. “Both abundance and lack exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend… when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that’s present — love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature and personal pursuits that bring us pleasure — the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience Heaven on earth.” –Sarah Ban Breathnach

43. “Whenever we are appreciative, we are filled with a sense of well-being and swept up by the feeling of joy.” — M.J. Ryan

44. “Gratitude is riches. Complaint is poverty.” –Doris Day

45. “Many people who order their lives rightly in all other ways are kept in poverty by their lack of gratitude.” — Wallace Wattles

46. “Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die; so, let us all be thankful.” — Buddha

47. “Two kinds of gratitude: The sudden kind we feel for what we take; the larger kind we feel for what we give.” — Edwin Arlington Robinson

48. “There is a law of gratitude, and it is . . . the natural principle that action and reaction are always equal and in opposite directions. The grateful outreaching of your mind in thankful praise to supreme intelligence is a liberation or expenditure of force. It cannot fail to reach that to which it is addressed, and the reaction is an instantaneous movement toward you.” — Wally Wattles

49. “Gratitude should not be just a reaction to getting what you want, but an all-the-time gratitude, the kind where you notice the little things and where you constantly look for the good, even in unpleasant situations. Start bringing gratitude to your experiences, instead of waiting for a positive experience in order to feel grateful.” — Marelisa Fábrega

Be Thankful

Be thankful that you don’t already have everything you desire,
If you did, what would there be to look forward to?

Be thankful when you don’t know something
For it gives you the opportunity to learn.

Be thankful for the difficult times.
During those times you grow.

Be thankful for your limitations
Because they give you opportunities for improvement.

Be thankful for each new challenge
Because it will build your strength and character.

Be thankful for your mistakes
They will teach you valuable lessons.

Be thankful when you’re tired and weary
Because it means you’ve made a difference.

It is easy to be thankful for the good things.
A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are
also thankful for the setbacks.

GRATITUDE can turn a negative into a positive.
Find a way to be thankful for your troubles
and they can become your blessings.

Author Unknown

TWO CLOWNS: Life Magazine (Apr 23, 1971)

2009-11-25T11:31:00.002-05:00

Incredible! An article about not one but two master clowns where the subject of "coulrophobia" is never mentioned? But how can that be?!?

BUSTER KEATON: Perfect Pie Throwing

2009-11-25T09:16:00.001-05:00

Scan courtesy of Paul Gutheil

MADhattan: Dick Monday with Peter Pitofsky (1997)

2009-11-25T09:09:00.001-05:00

HARRY STEPPE

2009-11-24T07:10:00.005-05:00

HARRY STEPPE

Harry Steppe (born Abraham Stepner, March 1888 – November 22, 1934) was a Jewish-American actor, comedian, writer, director and producer, who toured North America working in Vaudeville and Burlesque. Harry claimed to have coined such terms as "top banana" (the headliner or top act on the bill), and "second banana." As one of Bud Abbott's first partners^, Harry introduced Bud to Lou Costello in 1934.

Born in Moscowto Russian immigrant Orthodox Jewish parents, Steppe was billed as a Hebrew, Jewish-dialect or Yiddish character comedian. His gags and skits were also performed by such well-known comedians as Phil Silvers, The Three Stooges, and Abbott and Costello. Although Steppe had penned the "Pokomoko" (aka Niagara Falls) Routine ("Slowly I Turned, step by step, inch by inch...")" and performed it with The Three Stooges, other writers, including fellow Vaudevillians Joey Faye and Samuel Goldman each laid claim to the skit, too. "Lifting" routines from another performer was standard operating procedure in the early-to-mid 20th century, and the famed routine was performed, without originator credit, by...

The Three Stooges in the movie Gents Without Cents (1944)
Abbott and Costello in the movie Lost in a Harem (1944)
Lucille Ball in the TV show I Love Lucy (1951), Season #1, Episode #19 ("The Ballet")
Abbott and Costello on TV in The Abbott and Costello Show (1952-1953)

Phil Silvers credited Steppe with "introducing the phrase 'Top Banana' into show business jargon in 1927 as a synonym for the top comic on the bill. It rose out of a routine, full of doubletalk, in which three comics tried to share two bananas."Silvers further popularized the term "Top Banana" in his 1951 Broadway musical and 1954 film of the same name.

Steppe performed at several well-known theaters on the Orpheum Circuit. According to Loew's Weekly (a program issued free to theater patrons), in a June 18, 1928 performance at the Loew's Theater in New York, he was billed with Lola Pierce. Reportedly, Pierce was an actress he was linked to romantically. Other paramours of Harry Steppe included Vaudeville performers Victoria "Vic" Dayton (whom he apparently married), Edna Raymond and Leona St. Clair

Death

Pulmonary edema contributed to Steppe's death, according to his death certificate. He was at Bellevue Hospital in New York, New York for two days and had been ill for a month, according to a story in Variety magazine, Nov. 27, 1934. Abe Stepner's obituary appears under "Feature News," Billboard magazine, Dec. 1, 1934, pg 5.

OTTO GRIEBLING: Life Magazine (May 11, 1959)

2009-11-24T07:01:00.004-05:00

Requiem for a Clown

A clown in greasepaint asks for a kiss and is rejected. Two weeks later Otto Griebling, one of the most famous circus clowns, is dead. An OpEd remembrance...

"I should have kissed him. I know that now. But he was after all only a clown, his face covered with grease paint and his clothes in tatters....He wooed other women that night. But, as horses and elephants followed the dogs into the rings, I saw no one kiss him. Less than a month later Otto Griebling, one of the most famous circus clowns, died....I wish I had kissed him."

The New York Times, May 20, 1972

CLOWN ALLEY: Reggie Montgomery & Michael Karp

2009-11-24T06:52:00.002-05:00

In reference to yesterday's photo, our pal Mr. Karp replied...

Oh brother, Mr. Cashin! Where the heck did you dig that up?

As I recall, this was a "utility" walk around that Reggie and I did on a kind of on-and-off-basis...much as we did a come-in gag for a while...(Reggie switched with Louie DeJesus for that one....)

As I recall, I stood before the audience and mimed that I was about to perform a magic trick of some sort...I had a few that were really, really lame....As I reacted to the audience's lack of appreciation, Reggie stepped forward, and pulled a pinwheel out from under a silk...He worked it so it looked like a trick.

As the audience applauded him, I kicked him, and he chased me to the next stop...
upset that Reggie was clearly the better magician!

All this is recalled terribly imperfectly... Reggie was a great guy.

And Dougie???? Standing there judgemental and snide, ready to top us the moment we moved on--which, of course, brilliant performer that he was, he did!

(My face is caked with dust from nosing around the memories of the Ancient World!)

It was great seeing that photo, Pat...and an honor to be referred to as "our pal"...
Talk to you soon...

Michael

SEREBRIAKOV: (1977)

2009-11-24T06:48:00.001-05:00

Link courtesy of Raffaele Deritis

Serebriakov is the father of Valery, (aka Val De Fun).

WALLY ON THE RUN: Trick Kelly & Steve Copeland

2009-11-23T11:24:00.004-05:00

Steve Copeland (in Bobby Kay's makeup) and Trick Kelly in WALLY ON THE RUN, a video created for Steve Martin's video contest for his new banjo album.

JOHN HADFIELD: Robot Monkey Head

2009-11-23T11:20:00.002-05:00

Hi Pat!

My new music video is finally complete. You'll recognize 4 Clown College grads in it. Wanted to give you a special sneak preview - we're releasing it later today!

Talk to you soon,
John H

In the remote underground laboratory of a mad scientist, a man in a shiny suit steals the head of a robot monkey. A wild chase scene on bicycles ensues - the man and the monkey head pursued by the scientist and his hunchback assistant.

Meanwhile, the headless robot monkey escapes from the lab and wreaks havoc through the town searching for his head. An angry group of townspeople with torches and pitchforks chases him to the edge of town, where he figuratively comes face to face with the man in the shiny suit. After a brief struggle, the head is returned to its rightful owner.

Or is it...

Robot Monkey Head
Copyright 2006 John Hadfield
and Geri Smith

Cast
John Hadfield - John Hadfield
Mad Scientist - Rich Potter
Hunchback Assistant - Chris Shelton
Police Officer - Mark Manniso
Woman with Broom - Wendy Lapham
Headless Monkey - Bill Champion
Stunt Monkey - John Hadfield
Monkey Head - Hilton
Girls walking dogs -
Julia Russ & Julia Bosso
Dogs - Kenny and Ozzie
Little Boy - Rohan Mandayam

Angry Mob -
Bill Champion
Rosella Champion
Julie Hadfield
Carolyn Bitzer
Suraj Mandayam
Sandy Urban
Chris Shelton
Rich Potter

Executive Producer - John Hadfield
Producer and Director - Nic Beery

Additional Music
Jay Manley

Crew
Nic Beery &
Ismail Abdelkhalek

Caterer - Wendy Lapham

Produced for John Hadfield by
BeeryMedia.com

Special thanks to Nic Beery and Ismail Abdelkhalek

No real monkeys were harmed in the filming of this video

More about John Hadfield, Robot Monkey Head music and merchandise can be found at:

johnhadfield.net

CIRQUE DU SOLEIL: Banana Shpeel

2009-11-23T10:34:00.003-05:00

Article courtesy of Don Covington

'Banana Shpeel': Cirque du Soleil
slides into world of legitimate theater

By Chris Jones, Tribune Theater Critic

“Banana Shpeel” grew out of a desire of Cirque founder Guy Laliberte’s to create a vaudeville show. It comes to the Chicago Theatre on Dec. 2. (Scott Strazzante/Tribune photo)

From “Ka” to “Kooza” and “Alegria” to “Zumanity,” the Cirque du Soleil has conquered tents, casinos, theme parks and arenas in almost every corner of the world. It has achieved total dominance of the high-stakes world of Las Vegas entertainment. It has wrestled with the music of the Beatles and the infamous personality of Criss Angel. Come January in Vegas, it will even take on the biggest entertainment icon of them all: Elvis.

But even as it has cut its extraordinary swath through global culture over the past quarter century, Cirque has assiduously stayed away from one huge segment of the live entertainment industry.

Cirque has ignored these mostly historic, occasionally iconic jewels that pepper American downtowns, make up the chain of Broadway and, in the case of the beloved Chicago Theatre, emotionally embody a night on the town.

It is a gap Cirque’s derivative competitors have shrewdly exploited, creating an endless array of Euro-style, animal-free shows such as “Cirque Dreams,” “Cirque Ingenieux,” “Cirque Imagination” and (coming to Skokie beginning Nov. 28) “Cirque Le Masque.”
But with the arrival of Cirque du Soleil’s new “Banana Shpeel” at the Chicago Theatre (it moves to New York’s New Beacon Theatre in February), it is a gap that exists no more. “Banana Shpeel” — originally billed as a distinctive fusion of vaudeville, clowning and musical comedy — will be Cirque’s first foray into the world of legitimate theater. Or will it?

For commercial theater is a byzantine world dominated by rules, agents, unions, writers, composers, star names and ways of operating very foreign to the famously esoteric, famously creative and famously confidential Cirque process of “création.” It is a less-than-controllable world in which Cirque, for all its sophistication, lacks experience. By its own admission.
“Banana Shpeel” will officially be unpeeled Dec. 2 in Chicago. And those who have bet against Cirque in the past have usually found themselves stuck on black with the wheel showing red. But the story so far of “Banana Shpeel” has included some slip-ups.

“We had a lot of good stuff right from the start,” says Serge Roy, the cheerfully frank Cirque producer in charge of “Banana Shpeel.” The ebullient Roy is sitting in the balcony of the Chicago Theatre, even as the remarkably calm and focused director, David Shiner, forges (and re-forges) the high-stakes show on the stage below. “The problems came,” says Roy, unperturbed by the admission, “when we started to put everything together. We were getting into a world in which we are not at ease.”

Those problems were, in essence, the hiring and firing of the show’s two stars: Annaleigh Ashford (who was a longtime Glinda in the Chicago production of “Wicked”) and Michael Longoria (who performed as Frankie Valli in “Jersey Boys” on Broadway). In September, both were seen (and can still be seen via YouTube) on the season finale of NBC’s “America’s Got Talent,” performing a signature number from “Banana Shpeel.”

They are now gone, their characters written out of the show. The number they were singing is gone too. The original composer, Laurence O’Keefe (another big Broadway name who penned the score to “Legally Blonde: The Musical”), has also come and gone from the project. All of his music has been cut from “Shpeel.”

“We make changes like that all the time during our creation process,” Roy says. “The only difference is that, usually, nobody hears about them.”

Indeed not. Internal creative decisions at Cirque typically have stayed internal, which is the way most businesses, creative and otherwise, like to keep things. And (with the notable exception of its “Criss Angel Believe” show in Vegas) Cirque has always de-emphasized individuals and emphasized the creative whole.

Millions of people have seen “O” in Las Vegas. Very few of them would remember the names of any of the performers they saw. It’s the same with “Ka,” “Mystere,” “Quidam,” you name it.

But unfair as it may be, the firing of a troupe of unknown Ukrainian acrobats in Montreal is a very different matter from nixing three respected Broadway names before rehearsals in Chicago.

When Cirque went to agents in New York, seeking top music-theater talent for a show widely described as Cirque’s first foray into musical theater, the presence of those stars was a legitimizing factor. And when they were removed prior to the process of moving to Chicago, the news spread quickly through the New York theater community (and reached this reporter).

Initially, at least, Cirque seemed surprised by all the fuss. But they are now talking about it openly.

Roy and Shiner are at pains to say that the decision to write out Ashford and Longoria had nothing to do with their work or talent. It was simply a decision to move in a new creative direction. In a one-word statement issued through her representative, Ashford said she was “shocked” by the turn of events that removed her from the show.

“Banana Shpeel” had grown out of a desire of Cirque founder Guy Laliberte’s to create a vaudeville show. Partially as a response to the economic troubles in its core Vegas market, Cirque has been doing a lot of brand extension recently, including a foray into magic. Because high-end magic tends to be dominated by individuals who guard their tricks and their personal brand, that meant Cirque had to break its no-star rule and get into creative bed with Angel.

Longtime Cirque watchers have also noticed its Vegas portfolio is now shrewdly segmented so that there are shows appealing to many sections of the market. “Ka,” an operatic show created by Robert Lepage, holds down the arty high end, while “Criss Angel Believe” attracts a much younger, more blue-collar crowd. But although its tent shows are now slotted into arenas after exhausting the markets that can support the big tops (Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates has announced a booking of the old tent show “Alegria”), Cirque has never had the kind of show that could tour to actual theaters.

So why not create such a show? Madison Square Garden Entertainment, which owns the Chicago and the Beacon, became an enthusiastic partner. Shiner, a highly regarded clowning and physical-theater expert and the creative force behind the hugely successful tent-show “Kooza,” was called in. Shiner put together a conceptual outline. The initial show-within-a-show concept involved a colorful producer, one Marty Schmelky (played by Jerry Kernion), who is auditioning for his ongoing contemporary vaudeville show, “Schmelky’s Spectacular.” Ashford was to play the producer’s singing-and-dancing daughter. Longoria was to play an aspiring actor. The two were to fall in love. Also included: clowning, circus, variety, vaudeville and a Broadway-style love story, replete with much singing and dancing to original O’Keefe numbers.

But once “Banana Shpeel” went into rehearsals in Montreal, it became clear that it could not be or do all of those things at once. According to several of the people involved, there were just too many characters requiring too much exposition.

“The show was becoming too story-based,” Shiner says. “We also wanted to include clowning and variety. But the story element was outweighing everything else. There just wasn’t enough time. … So we would have needed to diminish the roles played by Annaleigh and Michael. And we decided that would have been a waste of their huge talents. It all was a learning process for everybody.”

“It was dragging,” says Roy. “We wanted to do a show with humor and fun. We never wanted to do a Broadway-type show. We found we weren’t comfortable with that. We like to improvise. We like people to have a good time. So we asked ourselves, what would happen if we didn’t try to tell all that story? And once we weren’t telling that story, many of the songs were not needed.”

So Ashford, Longoria and the song stylings of O’Keefe were out. And Cirque, in essence, went back to a world in which it is more comfortable. And within which it has never failed.

“We wanted to revisit the world of our show,” Shiner says. “And we wanted to get our arms around it.”

For sure, Cirque fans will likely notice some new-to-Cirque elements in “Banana Shpeel,” including dialogue and hard-edged slapstick (and, of course, the proscenium setting). But, at least as Shiner describes it, the “Shpeel” that will open Dec. 2 has been shorn of its narrative clutter, and now has a very simple plot.

Various circus acts audition (or are already in Schmelky’s show). A core clutch of five clowns (two of whom are Schmelky’s assistants) alternately aid and disrupt the auditions. A live band, clowning, comedy, variety, tap-dancing and hip-hop are all included. The style is modern and hard-edged. There is a foot juggler. But there is no Broadway-style book. Not any more.

Shiner says the clown routines were created from scratch in the studio — very much in the European theatrical tradition — and were always intended to be at the core of “Banana Shpeel.”

“Our show,” Shiner says, “is based in comedy and dance.”

It will be as simple as that. Cirque has never claimed to have a pretty process. Even during technical rehearsals, Roy continued to tinker. He talked about adding a few more performers, perhaps. He had plans to restage one of the biggest set-pieces. “I’d wish I had a turntable for that,” he said, wistfully, as the remarkable foot juggler works below.

For his part, Shiner says he plans to keep creating long after Dec. 2. “For me, the work is never done until the producers say I can’t come back,” he says.

Unlike on Broadway, nothing (and nobody) is frozen in a Cirque production. Its creations change all the time, even decades after their “création,” and the people who create them say there is no need to change that modus operandi, just because they happen to now be behind a proscenium arch.

A few days before the first preview, Daniel Ross, another of the creatives involved in the production, was standing in the lobby of the Chicago Theatre. Once Shiner and Roy leave, Ross will be the one charged with maintaining the show, which Cirque hopes will tour nationally, maybe internationally, after its New York stand. For years to come. Ross was asked how things were going.

“It’s always the last crunch,” he said, raising his eyebrows and smiling broadly. “I guess we thrive on that.”

CLOWN ALLEY: Reggie Montgomery, Michael Karp & Dougie Ashton; RBB&B

2009-11-23T10:05:00.004-05:00

Our pal Michael Karp prepares to kick Reggie Montgomery's behind for wearing penny loafers on the track while Dougie "The Lord of Misrule" Ashton looks on in approval.

IN MEMORIAM: David Mark Slusser

2009-11-23T09:45:00.001-05:00

It is my sad duty to inform you of the untimely death of David Mark Slusser, former HI-HO the Clown on the Big John Strong Circus in the early 70s. Dave was the son of Chester and Marylu Slusser, long time Circus fans, historians and model builders.

Ken Slusser

David Mark Slusser

November 19, 2009 5:44 PM
THE PORTERVILLE RECORDER

David Mark Slusser, a long time resident of Porterville passed away on November 3, 2009.

A graduate of Porterville Union High School who completed early to join the John Strong Circus as a professional entertainer performing magic tricks as HI-HO the Clown and working as an advance man for the show. He joined the US Army and was assigned to the 101's Airborne obtaining the rank of Sergeant and served as a trainer at Fort Benning, Georgia and as a recruiter in Virginia. He received an Honorable Discharge in 1979 before coming home to Porterville to take care of his aging parents.

A lifelong circus fan, he was an accomplished wood carver and carpenter, he frequently collaborated with his friend Bill Melton on wagon restoration. For many years he has been a regular exhibitor at the Tulare Antique Farm Show, Five Dogs, and Draft Horse Shows.

Dave was preceded in death by his parents Chester and MaryLu Slusser and is survived by his older brother and sister-in- law, Ken and Christine Slusser of Santa Margarita, CA and his younger brother Clyde Slusser of Porterville.
A dedicated artisan who loved his craft and life, he will be missed dearly by his many friends and family.
He will be laid to rest at the Veteran's Cemetery in Bakersfield.

Donations in his honor may be made to your favorite charity.

Service under the direction of Whitehurst-Peters-Loyd Funeral & Cremation Service.

MINI & MAXI

2009-11-22T08:23:00.003-05:00

If anyone can translate their Wikipedia bio (in Dutch), please forward it so that I can add it to this post.

AHORA: Titanes de la Carpa Grande (1970s)

2009-11-21T14:40:00.001-05:00

THE TIMES SQUARE TWO: The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour

2009-11-21T11:35:00.002-05:00

Link courtesy of Drew Friedman and Jay Lynch

From Monsters and Rockets...

The Times Square Two were an eccentric musical comedy duo who were apparently fairly popular in the '60s, appearing on most of the big variety and talk shows of the era - Merv Griffin, Johnny Carson, Dick Cavett, Dean Martin, et al. They affected the personas of a pair of creepy yet endearing nitwits from the bygone days of early vaudeville, with "Mycroft Partner" as a pompous English dandy and "Andrew I" as a storky nerd with Coke bottle glasses, greased and center-parted hair and a squawking, Jerry Lewis voice. (They often introduced themselves as "My Partner and I.")

In reality, "Partner" was Peter Elbling, AKA Harold Oblong, an English writer and character actor who became uniquitous in the '70s and '80s, turning up everywhere from The Phantom of the Paradise to WKRP and Taxi. The "I" in this team was Michel Choquette, a French-Canadian who went on to be one of the early writers for The National Lampoon, among other accomplishments.

At the height of their popularity, The Times Square Two stayed in character even when offstage, claiming to know little about the pop culture of the day and being driven around by a chauffer in a vintage motorcar. They took the act about as far as it could go, finally splitting up in 1970.

The Times Square Two have become rather obscure in the decades since, and footage of their old performances is rare. This clip, from the old Smothers Brothers' show, captures the pair in performance. By being such an odd throwback, their act became sort of timeless. If these two were just starting out now, they would probably baffle and amuse audiences just as much as they did in 1964.

From Michel Choquette...

Peter Elbling and I formed The Times Square Two in Vancouver in 1964, moved to California in 1965, then to New York in 1966. The act broke up early in 1970. Peter has been living in Los Angeles since then, where he has worked in improvisational theatre and as a television actor. He has also made a name for himself as a writer. I stayed in New York for a few years, where I became one of the original contributing editors of National Lampoon. Since then I have worked on various film, theatre and publishing projects. Since 1984 I have been teaching screenwriting and comedy writing at McGill University and Concordia University in Montreal.

If you're interested, I can e-mail you some Times Square Two photos and literature.

Regards,

Michel Choquette

MICKEY McDONALD: Camden Courier-Post (June 9,1933)

2009-11-20T13:13:00.006-05:00

"Hebrew skip-dance"?!? Apparently, had circus comedians of the past not bowed to the pressures of "political correctness", we would not have lost the great rabbinical pachyderm routines of yesteryear...

Clown Elephant Puts on Own 'Weber-and-Fields' Show

Of the many uproariously funny clown gags in the Great Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus, coming to Camden next Thursday, probably the most talented is Mickey McDonald and "Joel", one of the clown elephants, in their impersonation of the Hebrew. In this, the huge pachyderm will be seen doing the Hebrew skip-dance, one of the most difficult things ever taught an elephant.

The vast audiences never fail to respond with roars of laughter and applause, as the pair proceed around the full length of the great hippodrome track.

There are 65 funsters with the huge show this season, and all are of national reputations. A clown band of 35 pieces is another of the outstanding clown features with "The Highest Class Circus on Earth."

BLACK BROTHERS: Polack Bros. Shrine Circus (1947)

2009-11-20T10:25:00.002-05:00

SANTA CLAUS: One Week Down, Five Left to Go

2009-11-20T09:16:00.001-05:00

Santa Claus juggling at Woodbridge Center, Woodbridge, NJ.

EARL SHIPLEY: From the Camden Courier-Post (June 12, 1933)

2009-11-19T11:58:00.005-05:00

At this time Earl was a Producing Clown on the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus...


	"Among the 65 clowns with the Great Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus, coming to Camden next Thursday will be Earl Shipley, one of the most noted funsters in the land of sawdust and spangles. Not only is he famous as a pantomime artist, but he is the producing head of "Clown Alley" for the big show and the leader of the famous Hagenbeck-Wallace clown band."

EARL SHIPLEY: Billboard Article (November 29, 1952)

2009-11-19T05:01:00.002-05:00

It seems that 57 years ago, Earl Shipley accurately predicted the coming of "Kuliki Taka".

CLOWN ALLEY: Circo Rolex

2009-11-19T04:59:00.002-05:00

THIS is "Kuliki Taka".

SIAMESE CAR: Popular Mechanics (1921)

2009-11-18T08:42:00.004-05:00

Click on the .jpg above to read the article.

BOBO & FAGIOLINO: Boxing Gag

2009-11-18T08:33:00.000-05:00

Recorded on Circo Nando Orfei

KRAFT FAMILY COMEDY CLUB: Leo Laughs at Jokes

2009-11-18T08:23:00.002-05:00

My pal Kevin Kraft knockin' 'em dead at the Kraft Family Comedy Club. Attendance was light the night of this taping with only one audience member in the house, his one year old son Leo.

Leo is the type of kid I want in the audience for ALL my shows!