Circus clowns

My way into the circus is from working with clowns.

My partner in my company - as well as my collaborator on the 38th season of The Big Apple Circus - is Joel Jeske.  Joel has worked as a clown with Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus, Cirque Du Soleil, and The Big Apple Circus.

Joel with Grandma - photo by Paul Gutheil

Along with his talents as a performer, Joel has an encyclopedic knowledge of the art form of clowning.  He and I have spent many hours discussing and viewing the work of the great clowns from the past century: Chaplin, Keaton, Lloyd, Laurel & Hardy, the Marx Brothers, Sid Caesar, George Carl, Peter Sellers (and on and on).

My discussions with Joel also included many of the great circus clowns: Lou Jacobs, Emmett Kelly, Otto Griebling, Grock, Oleg Popov, and Charlie Rivel.  These are all superb performers, each one worth investigating in detail.

In America, clowns have an unfortunate stigma attached to them.  Even the best contemporary clowns - Grandma, Bello, Bill Irwin, David Shiner - fight against an unfortunate view of clowns as either birthday party entertainers or terrifying figures from horror films.

In other parts of the world, clowns are considered great artists, held in high regard and beloved for their iconic routines.

When I was in Monte Carlo this year, I got into a fascinating discussion about clowns with the great Jasmine Smart, a highly respected circus equestrian and ring mistress from a famous circus family in the UK.  Jasmine recommended I look at the work of two contemporary European clowns: Jigalov and Housch-Ma-Housch.

These two artists, while wildly different in style, represent two directions in circus clowning.  Jigalov appears as a kind of everyman character, albeit one in baggy pants and a floppy hat.  Housch-Ma-Housch, on the other hand, appears almost alien, with a highly theatrical appearance and unique voice and language.

I'm a newly converted fan of both, but your own taste will guide you as you see them in action.

Looking ahead to our season with The Big Apple Circus, the clowns will be Joel and his sidekick from the past seven years with Parallel Exit, Brent McBeth.  For obvious reasons, I couldn't be happier.

Brent and I will be leaning heavily on Joel's experience, as we are both coming to the circus for the first time.  Along with conceiving the show, Joel is writing and directing the clown material, and he's obviously earned my trust and respect from our work with Parallel Exit.

Brent and Joel - photo by Peter Dressel

I'm very excited to begin this journey with these two friends and collaborators.  Many questions - Will they be funny?  Will they work together well?  Will they be flexible and able to work quickly? - are already answered.  Yes, on all counts.  That said, Brent will be stepping into the circus ring for the first time, playing in a new playground and adapting to those particular challenges and expectations.

We're both glad he'll be doing it with Joel by his side.

My challenge to Joel and Brent is this: let's create the funniest routines we've ever done.

No pressure. 

We have a long and storied tradition to live up to.