List of Posts
In July, I did a post on Beating Yourself Up for Fun & Profit. Good stuff, if I don’t say so myself. Planning my Bloomfield College visual effects class for the fall reminded me of this pretty sharp VW commercial. All VFX, but a variation on the same theme…
Okay, let’s be honest, it would be pretty bogus of me to pretend to be objective while reviewing a show (Flocked) that stars two friends of mine (Audrey Crabtree & Gabriela Muñoz) and is directed by a third (Hilary Chaplain), now wouldn’t it? On the other hand, I did swear on the Blogopedia Bible to report on all interesting physical comedy in the known universe, so I would risk being consigned to eternal Blog Purgatory were I not to mention the show at all.
I just got back from the opening night of this century’s 6th NY Clown-Theatre Festival, a cabaret hilariously hosted by the Leroy Sisters (Aimee German & Jenny Sargent) and featuring excerpts from most of the performers we’ll be seeing in the festival. If this preview was any indication, it’s a strong and varied lineup.
Last post’s Japanese photo prank reminded me of some other funny videos from the land of kyogen and kabuki that I wanted to share with you. I thought this would be a quick post, but as I started to follow links, instead of hitting a dead end, I stumbled upon a treasure trove of Japanese visual humor. Eventually I realized that I wasn’t looking at isolated performers but at a broader cultural phenomenon: contestants on Japanase television talent shows concocting elaborate sight gags. The work is quite creative and the results often hilarious.
I was in Tokyo for 3½ days but spent too much of it figuring out how to get home in the middle of a hurricane. So no physical comedy report, but here’s a clever sight gag I think you’ll enjoy.
I’m not in Thailand for physical comedy, but I do keep my eyes open. I like to believe that clowning is universal, as natural as human error, but that doesn’t mean every place you visit is a hotbed of variety theatre, much less of inspired foolishness. Here in Chiang Mai, “cultural capital of northern Thailand,” physical comedy has proven to be an elusive commodity.
Jean-Gaspard Deburau! Jean-Louis Barrault! Le Théâtre des Funambules! Children of Paradise! The Boulevard du Crime! Cool stuff, but been there, done that in this previous post, so I won’t repeat myself here except to say that Children of Paradise is a must-see movie, especially for readers of this blog.
Christopher Lueck, producer and host of The New York Downtown Clown Monthly Revue, has a new project, teaching slapstick comedy by means of instructional videos offered through his new website, LearnSlapstick.com. Here’s the infomercial you’ll see if you go to the site.
Here’s a riddle for you: what do the sticky floors of New York City subway cars and dusty, musty books on Elizabethan drama have in common? For the answer, just read on….
A short follow-up to post 168, the pieing of Rupert Murdoch at a Parliamentary hearing. Jonathan May-Bowles, aka Jonnie Marbles, has pleaded guilty and been sentenced to three to six weeks and fined £250 costs — plus a £15 victim surcharge.
From the BBC wire, 12 August 2011. Richard Westcott reports:
Staff at Birmingham’s Central Library have discovered a priceless collection of more than 500 silent movie music scores. They made the find during a clearout before a move to a new building and unearthed more than just a bit of old junk.
No, not Abbott & Costello, but Allora and Calzadilla. Yes, we are finally leaving the world of commedia, but not the world of Venice. Earlier this summer I reported on A & C’s work, this year’s unusual U.S. entry to the Venice Biennale arts festival, which runs through November 27th. In that early post, I didn’t have any video to show from Venice. Now I do, plus this dissenting review from the NY Times.
I’m always on the lookout for news about Carlo Gozzi for reasons that will soon become obvious. When I saw John’s post where he lamented the fact that there was no public domain English version of The Love of Three Oranges for him to post and share with you, I had to jump in. I have one of the more popular modern English versions of Three Oranges and, while it’s not public domain, my publisher actually has 90% of the play online for you to read at your leisure. It’s really only missing the last scene or so.
Whether or not you’ve been following all my posts on commedia dell’arte and the various Carlos (Goldoni, Gozzi, Mazzone-Clementi), whether or not you think commedia is the holy grail of ultimate theatricality or merely a corny, hoary, outdated performance style, you will probably be surprised to learn that a modern adaptation of Goldoni’s Servant of Two Masters is the hottest ticket in London.
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Workshops & Other Events
My first book (1976)
My book Clowns has long been out of print, but you can borrow it for two weeks at a time from the Internet Archive. More information is available here.
My second book (2015)
Visual and verbal humor for the cognitively and artistically curious! Available here.
“A book to treasure!”
—Bill Irwin