Otsie Kerplotsie is Brooklyn clown and NY Downtown Clown Impresario Christopher Luecke. Christopher was born in Milwaukee, WI. He is a graduate of The Dell’ Arte International School of Physical Theatre in Blue Lake, CA and has also earned a BFA in Acting from Brooklyn College (Cum Laude). Most recently he has studied clown with the New York GOOFS. Christopher […]
Read moreJoe Kudla, half of the team of Puke and Snot, passed away on Monday. He was 58 years old, and had been performing Ren Faire stages for over 30 years, including letting young upstarts Penn and Teller open for them. Read more below (obit from the Pioneer Press) or visit the Puke and Snot website, listed below for more details. […]
Read moreCircus Amok, New York’s radical, community oriented, political free Summer in the Parks Circus is up and about again for summer 2008. This year’s show is called “SUB-PRIME SUBLIME” and will feature the following: Acrobatic Economists, Fantastical Free-Falling Free Markets, Tenanacious Tenants, Querelous Quarks, Neurotic Neutrons, Vaulting Villains, Stupendous Stilters, Disco Dorothy, Lions and Tigers and Zebras Oh My! They […]
Read moreWhat do you get when you take two European Cirque du Soleil performers who decide they want to focus a little bit more on clowning and a little bit less on spectacle? Besserweiser. Which in English translates roughly as “Know-it-all” , features two very skilled performers from Cirque who do just that. In their own words: In our society we […]
Read moreThe schedule for this year’s festival has been announced. Although my time is limited this year (expecting a baby in late August) I plan on blogging for the festival as I did last year. I’ll be previewing a bunch of the acts here over the next couple of weeks or so. Looks like a very exciting lineup with a big […]
Read moreThe article features Circus Smirkus, Ringling's Vice President of Talent Tim Holst, and former Ringling clown (and Bindlestiff musician, Peter Bufano Listen Now [4 min 13 sec] August 6, 2008 · Where do the clowns of tomorrow come from? Some of them are coming from Circus Smirkus, an award-winning touring training camp for aspiring aerialists, jugglers and rubber-nosed pranksters. Smirkus […]
Read moreBill Irwin’s show THE HAPPINESS LECTURE just received 5 Barrymore nominations. The Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theatre are the Greater Philadelphia region’s only comprehensive theatre awards program, recognizing artists for excellence and innovation while serving to increase awareness of the richness of the local theatre community. Each year, over 100 productions produced by the region’s professional theatres are reviewed […]
Read moreSomehow it escaped me that this week is International Clown Week. I don’t really celebrate it per se. In fact, I mostly shun this kind of stuff. The problem is that the kind of clown stuff that I am interested in (and hopefully, if you are reading this, you are interested in too) is not the cutesy stuff, of which […]
Read moreDeborah Kaufmann spent her childhood in dance and acting classes. She earned a degree in Visual Art from Bennington College. After brief careers as a production potter, a sign language interpreter, a props mistress, a typesetter and an aluminum can inspector, Deborah stumbled into her life as a clown. By seeking out master teachers such as Richard Pochinko, Tony Montanaro, […]
Read moreThrough August 28, Audrey Crabtree (co-organizer of the NY Clown Theatre Festival at the Brick and who plays Laura in the Hilarious Bouffon Glass Menageree) , is hosting a drop in class in Bouffon. Mondays, 8-10 pm, Classes are $10 each, 521 West 26th Street, 2nd floor (between 10th and 11th)(More info below) For those not in the know, Bouffon […]
Read moreNicole Feld, daughter to Kenneth Feld, and heir apparent as Big Boss of the Ringling shows, has an article in the NY Times today, under the column: THE BOSS. When I was at Clown College, Nicole came to the final graduation– she was probably around 9 or so, and it was a big deal, because she was grading you along […]
Read moreI’ve featured Kathie previously on the blog here But that was before she had a blog! She’s got a relatively new blog Clownmommy.com It’s a personal account of her trying to do her work as a mom. So far I’ve read through most of it, and it definitely talks a lot about the struggles I have now (and I’m sure […]
Read moreClick the image to see the first episode. It’s really great and looks to tell the hard-scrabble story of the Bindlestiffshttp://thebindlestiffs.com/ep1.html
Read more
Kendall Cornell & Co scored a NY Times article about their work and upcoming show!  THE WHEN, WHERE AND HOW: Thursday, July 31st at 7:30 pm Friday, August 1st at 7:30 pm Saturday, August 2nd at 7:30 pm updated venue! Manhattan Children’s Theatre, 52 White Street (between Broadway and Church) in Tribeca MAP Advance tickets: $15 at theatermania.com or […]
Read moreMichael Bongar, former Ringling clown, graduate of clown college and now one of the most well-versed and influential of the variety bookers in the NY Area, is coming out of retirement for one set of shows as part of a NY Goofs reunion night at the Flea Theatre. Billed as his “Farewell Tour”, I’m sure there will be lots of […]
Read moreA little bit of a shameless plug, but truthfully, I’ve done most of my best work by being shameless. It’s when I get shameful that I have to worry! Anyway, it’s probably the last flea circus gig before the baby is born (unless something happens in the next week!) so come check it out if you can! Click the image […]
Read more