Since I was a young man, I have always been obsessed with a photograph by Alfred Eisenstadt. Taken in 1963, it depicts a number of children watching an outdoor puppet show at the moment that the Dragon is slain. It’s a wonderful photograph, full of joy and wonderful and that moment of belief that children have. I love that photograph, […]
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I have lived in Barcelona now for 3 years, and it never ceases to amaze me how festivals get by my radar. I have my antennas tuned for circus and theatre festivals, but somehow I just discovered this circus festival happening this weekend. It is about 15 blocks from my house, and in it’s 25th year, which means that for […]
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Sad news, friends. It has just been announced that PeeWee Herman (actor Paul Reubens) has been struggling with cancer for the last 6 years and has just lost that battle, passing away on Sunday evening.. I read it on Rolling Stone, but wanted to write about it here. He was a big influence on me as a young performer, and […]
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TAKE A WALK ON THE FUNNY SIDE: CLOWN SKILLS 101 I’m teaching Clown Skills 101 an intro to clowning class at the Comedy Clubhouse twice in the next couple of months. The classes are on Sunday May 14 and Sunday June 14 from 12pm-4pm at the Comedy Clubhouse in Barcelona. (Each class is a separate class) It’s a beginner’s level […]
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UPDATE: due to a suitcase malfunction (didn’t arrive on time) the show will be on Friday at 8:30 pm, and the class will be SATURDAY only. Prices for the class are less, and if you already purchased tickets, you will get a refund. Links should still be valid At Espai Piluso, a small space in Barcelona’s Poble Sec neighborhood, Swiss […]
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Two of the original members of Theatre de Complicite , Jos Houben and Marcello Magni, opened the 2016 London International Mime festival with their show Marcel, It’s a clown double act in which Houben, the tall, skinny figure of authority puts the shorter clown Magni through a series of demanding physical and mental tests. What these tests are for, it’s […]
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Joe Dieffenbacher, former director of the Clown Conservatory in San Francisco and the former clown teacher at the Dell’arte School, is teaching some workshops in Spain. And I’m attending some of them! I’ve written about Joe before multiple times, see here to see the list, and I’ve known Joe a long time, but I don’t think I’ve ever taken a […]
Read moreDan Rice, the most famous clown you’ve never heard of, is going to turn 200 this year! You may not have heard of him, but surely, you know his image. Dan Rice was “most likely” the model for the classic Uncle Sam poster. It’s not 100% proven, but the poster looks a lot like him, and combines his costume and […]
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I’ve been attending the Festival of Fools here in Barcelona, which has been among other things a big send off to the Never Ending Jango Edwards, one of the principals of the festival for the last 50 years. (For the history of the festival, check out this recent post about the latest book about it.) Jango recently announced that he […]
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The Festival of Fools Barcelona 2022 is in fool swing right now. I’ve seen a few of the shows this year so far, and have been posting excerpts of some of the videos I’ve taken over on my Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/kafclown/ If you want to catch any of the festival, you should check out their website https://festivaloffoolsbcn.com/. There are plenty of […]
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I got a call a few days ago from someone looking to talk about clowns. And since that is one of my favorite subjects, I was more than happy to oblige. Now I don’t purport to be a spokesperson for clowns, or represent clowns on the whole. I wouldn’t say I’m a particularly good role models for other clowns to […]
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I’ve been coming to Barcelona for the past four years, and I’ve known Harris about that long. He’s a business guy turned magician, who has been slowly and patiently creating a niche for himself here in Barcelona as a comedy magician. He has (or had) an online store, a magic podcast, he plays standup comedy audiences as well as corporate […]
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THE FESTIVAL OF FOOLS I attended the opening night of the Festival of Fools gala put on by Jango Edwards and the Nouveau Clown Institute in Barcelona. I’ve featured Jango on these pages before- he’s kind of a legendary madman/bad boy of the clown world- moved to Spain in the 70’s and lived there for 40 years without papers before […]
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After seeing the circus a couple of weeks ago, I’m seeing another live show this weekend. Oliv A Drift, a one woman clown show written and performed by Cristi Garbo and directed by Jango Edwards. (Two shows in a month’s time! It almost seems normal!) I’ve featured Jango on the blog before (although looking back, not in some time.) He’s […]
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It’s Funny Friday this week! Two great performers (and alumni of Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Clown College) will be performing this Friday night via Zoom together. This is a don’t miss comedy show! Frank Olivier (http://www.funnyfrank.com) is a San Francisco based juggling phenom. He has been performing for over 30 years on the street and at corporate events doing […]
Read moreIt’s always sad when a fellow raccoon passes into the next world. I’m sad to report that former Ringling clown Kevin Ryan recently passed away from complications of COVID. A fellow alum of Ringling Clown College (although a different year than I) he was on the Blue Unit for two years, and after that he worked with other circuses […]
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