Plum Tuckered Out

My eyes are crossing from exhaustion.  I saw just about every show in the Festival and blogged about each one of them.  Had a fantastic time doing it.  Thank you all the clown performers who courageously put themselves out there.  To anyone or two of you who read my posts, know that I enjoyed writing them.  Although I profess no literary proficiency, I worked hard to find the right words without giving the good bits away.  I loved meeting and hanging with everyone.  It was a pleasure to get to know Williamsburg.  Ate a-plenty in the neighborhood.  (I think I may have put on-a some weight.)  Parking was a breeze.  I discovered 2 other clowns who also live in Northern Queens.  Maybe we can put on a festival in our borough that no one visits except for the US Open and the airports.  To the festival organizers and the Brick:  You Rock.  Clowns Rock.  I'm over and outta here friends.

HOW TO GIVE UP ON YOUR DREAMS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING and THE LAST SHOW YOU'LL EVER SEE

In How To Give Up On Your Dreams Without Really Trying, the audience is expertly life-coached by Bony Lil (Zea Barker) on the title subject.  Lil has given up on her dreams and wants to pass along her success at accepting failure.  Through interaction, the clown transforms the audience into seminar students who have come to hear her discourse and the wisdom contained therein. One piece of advice given is “if at first you don’t succeed, fail, fail, fail, and give up.”  The presentation method includes handwritten cardboard signs that hang with clothespins and string.  This ridiculously pathetic visual aid system indicates that she has achieved her goal spectacularly.  Other methods used include a Pity Party--wherein audience members toss out statements (“I sat on my glasses”) and receive sympathetic “awwws” in return.  There’s guided meditation and dream interpretation too.  The show is an excellent mix of physicality and verbal play.

The Last Show You’ll Ever See (Sarah Liane Foster, Nomadic Theatre Company) is a trombone concert energetically played by a high-strung lady with a wonderfully malleable hat.  She philosophizes about several hefty subjects between excerpts of Brahms, Wagner, Joplin, Holt, Strauss and others “adapted for trombone.”  The narrative revolves around eschatology or the study of the end of the world.  Artfully woven into that theme is the risk of pressing buttons, brain surgery, the need for brain cleansing, and historical reenactment.  This is an amusingly worried woman with a lot to say.  There were a variety of musical and historical endings in this show, but fortunately, for today, the world was not among them.

Neon Lights and Carmen the Mopera

Neon Lights (Jeff Seal and Chris Manley) is a po-mo-vau (post-modern vaudeville) show that's a comedy of errors.  Toward the end of the show the thought occurred to me “what a pair of lamebrains.”  I arrived at that conclusion after they took us through several segments, blissfully unaware of the fact that the mix-ups and mis-steps were clearly a result of their own ineptitude.  The difficulties were simple in nature and appeared to be small matters, but added up to a lot of failures.  They sat in the wrong seats and had to switch.  They botched jokes.  They unwittingly revealed personal issues.  Their problems mounted to such a degree in the "Historical Re-Enactment" sketch of the sinking of the Lusitania, that it brought the show to an utter standstill.  They didn’t know how to proceed because they had completely gotten in their own way and painted themselves into a corner.  Their accomplishments were not at all what they had set out to do in the first place (with a few exceptions noted), and we were perfectly happy to go with them wherever they wandered, because they were such appealing lamebrains.

The overture to this production of Carmen the Mopera (Julie Goell) immediately informs us that this Carmen will be of a different stripe than what you would see onstage at The Met or La Scala.  After a brief and funny description of the libretto, our intrepid cleaning lady begins her performance.  All her props, made up of cleaning equipment, such as mops and dusters, buckets and clothespins, are transformed into alternate objects for the purposes of telling the story.  The entire opera unfolds as she portrays and sings all the parts.  She even acts the House Manager and Usher of her backstage utility room turned Opera theater.  Using her multi-lingual approach and comic ability, the performer conveys her love for the work with which she is having so much fun.

LEGS AND ALL, SHORTY & FATTY'S HALF CENTURY EXTRAVAGANZA! and CHANNEL ONE

Legs and All (Summer Shapiro and Peter Musante) is a multi-layered work of exquisite simplicity.  Events unfold in unexpected and visually thrilling ways.  We are treated to an alternate universe (within which exist more alternate universes) where nothing is exactly what it seems.  The characters dwell in this world as though it were perfectly natural.  Although the narrative is abstract, they are entirely human and identifiable, and beautifully portrayed.  The work is enhanced by the music and lighting, but it is the performers’ skill as physical comedians, expressive from head to toe, that make Legs and All a real gem.

Shorty and Fatty’s Half Century Extravaganza!  Our fab hosts Shorty (Deborah Kaufmann) and Fatty (Karen McCarty) subtitled their show “a couple of old birds present a bunch of old farts” translation: all performers are over the age of 50.  Their opening dance number was entirely ridiculous and set the tone for the coming acts.  Each was announced in the vaudeville style of title cards on an easel, with Shorty in her parrot voice squawking “Start the show.”  First was Diva (Hilary Chaplain).  This pregnant opera singer‘s face goes into hilarious contortions while singing an aria in the throes of labor pains.  Lil’s Hair & Beauty Parlor (Lilli Sukula-Lindblom as Italian-speaking Lil) mistreated her unfortunate assistant Valentino (Bryce, hired from his seat in the audience) while giving a make-over to a game audience member.  (Richmond Shepard) Standup Mime told jokes accompanied by mime movement.  He moves spryly for 81 years old.  Clifton’s Senior Moment (John Leo billed as Clifton Wells) tried to pass himself off as older than his years but Shorty and Fatty had Gork the Stagehand (Michael Getlan) toss him off the stage.  The Hole (Nancy Smithner, Therese Schorn, Bernie Kramer) presented their strange tale of three well-bred ladies (Bernie portrayed a very critical Aunt in drag) with mime and mask.  They sip tea in the parlor and then descend into a demon world where they sprout tails and lose their inhibitions.  This Old Man (Will Shaw) in big clown shoes, sang the title song while playing his ukulele.  His clown charmed us with great hat tricks and tie gags.  Femininity Tonight! Lost Beauty Secrets of the New Euro Woman (Julie Goell) with her German accent, gallantly made a fine mess on herself rather than subjecting a member of the audience to her gloppy cosmetic mixture.  Gotta Dime for the Ancient Mariner? (John Leo as Samuel Amos Hart) appeared yet again as an old sea dog, and once again was whisked away by Gork at the command of the hostesses.  Vases (David Sharps) was a classy, unique balance act that inspired oohs and ahs from the audience.  It was well-urned.  My Way (Bernie Kramer) presented a one-man song and mime crime drama including shootouts and car chases.  Mildred and Foo Foo (Mildred Penniman--John Leo this time in drag), directed her adorable chihuahua to dance, this time giving himself the boot off stage before Gork did it for him.  All three times John was exposed as being too young for this show and unceremoniously hustled away.  Turns out he was one of the gang.  The Amazing Zakahhr (Michael Christensen) clad in furs, ranted in gibberish as he tried to subdue a wild mole.  Gork the Stagehand (Michael Getlan) silently and steadfastly assisted all the acts in moving props and cleaning up.  Despite his goof ups, he earned his moment in the spotlight and used it to eat some plums.  There you have it.  Lively clowns showing us that age is only a number.

Channel One (James & Jf, also known as Emily James and Ishah Janssen-Faith) is a show by a sparkling team who portray a multitude of wacky characters doing tv shows on the only channel to be found in the future.  (Do their moms really talk like that or did they script them?)  They idiotically provide their own a capella backstage music and sponsor announcements, and compete for the spotlight.  It’s a very vocal show that ends with a great verbal volley.  There was a moment when Ishah cracked herself up while improvising some silly line.  What a pleasure to see a clown who is really enjoying herself.

A Brief Word about Legs, Shorty & Fatty's Cabaret, & Channel One

Last Thursday evening, Mother Nature upstaged the Festival with tornadoes, wind and hail, preventing me from attending the The Leroy Sisters' Cabaret.  Regrets all around.

Here’s the thing today:  I want to write about all the shows I’ve just seen, but won’t have time to do it properly for a couple of days.  For now I’ll just say that Legs and All, Shorty & Fatty’s Half-Century Cabaret, and Channel One were all great shows.  Go see Legs and Channel.  Two very different shows that are equally entertaining.  I'll comment on all more specifically in the next day or two.  Meantime, hold  your breath.

The Kapinski Private Eye Academy, Coney Island Chris and Angels Noted

I am a proud graduate of The Kapinski Private Eye Academy, Butt Kapinski, Private Eye (Deanna Fleysher) Proprietor.  Walking (and sometimes running) through the streets of Williamsburg, we were led by the inscrutable, toughened-by-a-tough-world Butt Kapinski.  It's a journey into her wacky, noir-inpsired world--this is her beat--and now we're on it with her.  Det. Kapinski asks us to play along and makes it easy to do.  We became students of detection and witnesses to a little drama played for out for our edification and entertainment.  It is a lovely and inventive use of the neighborhood as set piece--including graffiti, local buildings, ambient lighting, and some nice touches left unmentioned so as not to spoil the fun.  I was wondering what the "partial nudity" listed in the program would be.  I think it made a shadowy appearance along with sex, drugs and alcohol.  The longer we were together, the more I got into the spirit of the piece and enjoyed being out on the open streets, where we were observed by passersby.  (Typical worldly New Yorkers, especially in Williamsburg, who barely blink an eye at an unexplained gathering with a clown at its center.)  A strong character carries this site-specific clowning, aided by strolling musicians and a small supporting cast.

Coney Island Chris (Chris Allison) is a doofus character with sideshow skills not for the faint of heart.  One classic illusion after another elicits both "Don't do it" and "Do it!" shouts from the audience.  Coney Island Chris masterfully creates anxiety in us and then gives us an outlet to blow off the buildup of steam by exposing the illusions.  However, I am mystified by his glass eating.  He does it convincingly and with a hearty crunch.  His clown keeps us laughing all the way through to the big finale.  I was impressed by the emphasis on the importance of proper hygiene in sideshow work that is achieved without the use of hand sanitizer.

I regret that I didn't get to see the full show of Send in the Angels (Denni Dennis and Clare Parry-Jones, but I got the preview before the The Wow Show.  Because it was opening for a children's show, I was told that they toned down the material in this brief appearance.  I can only guess where they may have gone with it in the full program.  The clowns brought pillows to make audience members more comfortable--as we would expect of angels.  These angels are clearly not always angelic and the inevitable pillow fight was also expectation fulfilled.

Hula Hell is Miss Saturn and Shows Revisited (Sat. Sept. 11, 2010)

Hula Hell is Miss Saturn (Jenny McGowan) is a very offbeat and funny character with impressive hula hooping skills.  Her interaction with the audience is a very direct and personal dialogue that is ongoing throughout the performance.  When Miss Saturn greets us with a hello, she expects a response.  She simultaneously coaches, educates, and entertains.  There is a lot of activity with audience members on stage. The show builds to an eye-popping, psychedelic finale.

It was a pleasure to attend repeat performances of this double bill: Ms. Pretty Smart, Secret Agent and Perhaps, Perhaps, Quizás...  I witnessed different audiences responding to the same material in different ways, revealing the ephemeral nature of the live theatrical experience--in particular, the delicate art of clowning--that relies profoundly on the audience of the moment: the ultimate clown partner.

Just to set the record straight, Ms. Pretty Smart, Secret Agent (Olivia Lehrman) really does speak fluent Chinese.  The bride clown (Gabriela Munoz) of Perhaps, Perhaps, Quizás… is still looking for a groom.

I note that the work in this festival trends toward a great deal of audience interaction.  This not to say it is in any way a negative aspect.  In fact, it is fascinating to see how each performer handles the audience through their unique character.  You’ve been forewarned:  You never know when you might get recruited in a clown show, so wear clean underwear.

The Wow Show!

If you are reading this in time, then shut off your computer right now and go see The Wow Show (Vincenzo Tortorici, Have Vaude, Ville Travel Productions) - Today at 3pm! Enzo the Clown’s show is a wonderful combination of clowning for kids and adults.  He has a good hook into the way kids think about chores, such as cleaning up, and showing off skills, such as juggling cigar boxes.  He wins over the adults in the audience with his witty asides and great comic ability.  His enthusiastic “wows!” made me laugh from the start to finish.  Enzo is a silly clown with a kind heart and a gift for wowing children, their parents, and everyone in between.

Thursday September 9 Cabaret hosted by Eric Davis

Introducing himself as Dewey, our ridiculous host for the evening, Eric Davis, dressed all in white, kicked off the second Cabaret of this year’s festival. First up was Cirkus Luna! presented by members of Theatre Group Dzcieci. Their unsightly overbites and male strip tease (the women would have no part of it) were not for the faint of heart.  They were followed by Diz and Izzy Aster –Vaudeville’s Late Bloomers (Sabrina Mandell and Mark Jaster) a charming, sweet, and amusing pair of vaudevillians. The whole audience enjoyed the sing-a-long of Button Up Your Overcoat. (I’m sorry they only had two shows in the festival, both of which I was unable to attend.)  Next up was Rake and Roll Featuring Cliff (Barbara Ann Michaels). Cliff played air guitar on a rake to the music of Joan Jett and Jimi Hendrix, making it look cooler than cool in her own nutty way.  She led a well chosen pair of audience members to rock out on stage with her.  This is Bob (Richard Harrington and Laura Walton) was presented by a curious team. He was quite attached to his mooing toy and she couldn’t make up her mind which costume she wanted. After they performed a thorough costume switch, leaving him in her skirt, she was still not satisfied. Don’t Ever Tell Anyone What Happens In This House by Two-Hander (Audrey Crabtree and Jonathan Kaplan) was an outright stupidly funny piece. This act’s props included the most low-tech cardboard car, toy (squirt?) guns, a plate full of real noodles, and other objects only visible in mime form. We witnessed the home life of a barmy couple performed by two utter goofballs; their son, a member of the audience. Leah Abel and Olivia Lehrman played a couple of old folks picnicking. Leah as the old man portrayed him excellently in drag. Olivia as the old lady showed us an entirely different aspect of her work from the character of Ms. Pretty Smart. Their Ensure drinking contests and geriatric sex were hilarious. Summer Shapiro and Peter Musante gave us a preview of Legs and All. This is an engaging work of original and really funny physical comedy, deftly played. Hula Hell is Miss Saturn (Jenny McGowan) was the closing act of this cabaret. Pink-haired, spandex-clad Miss Saturn sang about her hula hoops and got an audience member to spin a enormous hoop with her. Her off-the-cuff sense of humor and play with the audience was a lot of fun. It was another entertaining evening with a wide array of styles, promising more gems to be seen in the festival.

Ms. Pretty Smart: Secret Agent! and Perhaps, Perhaps, Quizas...

I awoke in the middle of the night thinking about how I am dutifully writing about the clown festival and that quite possibly no one is reading it.  Hi mom.


Ms. Pretty Smart: Secret Agent! (Olivia Hallie Lehrman) is a very enthusiastic clown hounded by a demanding boss. She escapes her job by traveling into her rich fantasy life as a French-accented spy. Audience interaction was handled with comic dexterity, weaving us into the character’s imaginary world. The improvisational moments that happened in this show were delightful. The performer employs her acrobatic skills while playing musical instruments. Could it be she really speaks fluent Chinese? Like me, she might just leave you wondering.

Perhaps, Perhaps, Quizás... (Gabriela Munoz) is a bride ready to walk down the aisle with that special man. First she has to find him. Wordlessly (but for some goofy humming) she turns to the audience to mine what prize may be found there. This clown has a beautifully open face where we see her entire inner life expressed. She is at times exasperated, hopeful, cynical, and impatient, and we can’t take our eyes off her for a moment. (It occurred to me that this bride has probably been married and divorced many times.) She clearly likes creamy wedding cake, a bit of romance, and expects her man to step up to the plate. The piece was short, simple, and left me wanting more.

Clowns with Gowns, Ferdinand the Magnificent, Morro and Jasp Do Puberty, Manchego: The Birth of Cheese

I will not describe the best bits or give away surprises to be found in the performances. That I leave to the pleasure of your live experience.

Clowns with Gowns (Adriana Chavez and Heidi Rider) are a pair of charmingly goofy gals. Their characters are distinct, well matched, and extremely likeable.  The act focuses on the relationship rather than a story.  The presentation flowed seamlessly from one beat to another, revealing the ups and downs of their companionship.  As I already stated in an earlier post, their costumes, hair and makeup are a visual delight.  Much is communicated in this silent act, including an illuminating glimpse into the creation of Carmen Francesca Maria Frida Ophelia De La Rosa’s costume. Gertrude’s also had very silly components such as an oven mitt.  Their entrances were a fabulous surprise; their eccentric dancing was totally entertaining; their melodramatic death scenes were a laugh riot; as was the entire show.

Ferdinand the Magnificent (Nick Trotter) sounds like a magician’s name. He is far from magical, though he does execute feats of originality. At first his appearance is off-putting and might likely scare off those folks who are unnerved by clowns. As time went on his character grew on me thanks to his joyful stupidity.  His clown cares whether or not the audience liked him and that is another redeeming quality.  He made music and danced with unexpected objects for instruments. Aside from his singing, he was silent, using the cowbell on his diaper to express himself.  There is a place for these strange sorts of clowns on stage, as they mirror the elements in our culture that make us squirm, executed playfully.

Morro (Heather Marie Annis) and Jasp (Amy Lee) Do Puberty is a well-conceived and well-executed look at puberty through the eyes of sisters with the havoc-wreaking intensity of hormone-driven teens. The story includes all the trappings of pubescent girls, such as sanitary napkins, tampons (bloodied and not), make-up, magazines, diaries, phonecalls from boys, fantasizing about love, teen idols, pondering sex and the fear and elation at the onset of menstruation. There was a time when such a topic was not seen in the world of clowning. It is uplifting to observe the gusto with which these two clowns bring it to our attention in such an entertaining fashion.

Manchego: The Birth of Cheese (Ambrose Martos) is just that, a cheesy lounge act. I could easily picture the act on a cruise ship. The show combines many elements: a smarmy entertainer engaging the audience, clown and skill acts, puppetry, a film sequence, and a narrative shift into flashback. A genuinely funny performer, Ambrose possessed at times an extraordinary expression of pure openness in his eyes that drew me in wholeheartedly, melting my heart.

Opening Cabaret Teases!

The opening cabaret to the festival last night was a blast.  All the teasers for the upcoming shows were hysterical and left me wanting more.  The festival presents a wide variety of styles of clowning, well represented in this cabaret, hosted with lots of fun by Audrey Crabtree, Eric Davis and Robert Honeywell. 

Coney Island Chris was a perfect opener for the night with his and cringe-worthy sideshow feats combined with great comedy.  Butt Kapinski, a hard-boiled and very silly private eye with her own interrogation lamp attached to her body, gave us a sample of the skills of detecting to be performed on the Streets of Williamsburg.   We saw the world of Morro and Jasp, two overwrought clowns obsessed with the mind boggling experience of puberty.  Shorty and Fatty, who will host their cabaret of clowns over 50 showed us that clowns definitely get funnier with age.  Clowns with Gowns wear costumes that are a visual delight with hairdos that will  make you laugh out loud.  A silent act, with an interesting relationship.  Ferdinand the Magnificent, also silent is another visual curiosity of a different sort.  He apparently carries a lot of useful items in his diapers.  Perhaps, Perhaps,  Quizas...a bride in search of a groom, settled on one rather quickly.   Ms. Pretty Smart, Secret Agent has a great command of physicality and funny.  Neon Lights, two very silly friends, with their combination of goofiness and physical skill in the vaudeville tradition, brought the evening to a close.   I left feeling really excited and looking forward to seeing these shows in their entirety.  This promises to be a fantastic festival!

Festival 2010

Welcome one and all to the clown festival and my blog! I am very excited to serve this function for all my fellow clowns. You are going to see some fantastic clowning of all stripes and colors.


If you want to know more about me, visit www.ninalevine.com and check back here for posts on the shows beginning tonight!