Mar 13, 2011
CloWniNg iZ fUn
So, after watching the clip on the arial clowning guy, I really started to think about what really constitutes as clowning? The obvious things are silly guys dressed bright and colorful with red balls on the end of their noses. They ride tiny bicycles and play gags on each other to make an audience laugh. But the guy in this video was just a guy in an old style bathing suit... ok, so he did have the pedophile stache going on, but let's not focus on that. He was playing things comedically by using sharp movements and miming how strong he is and whatnot but I don't think I would consider him a "clown" though. (I do have to say, Hats off to his choice of music though!) If his act is considered clowning, then why don't we call Vaudeville acts "clowning?" Are the Three Stooges considered clowns? I guess I am not understanding what qualifies you to be a clown versus a vaudeville actor or even just a comedian. Heck, could we consider candid camera or punked a type of clowning? I know that movement has a lot to do with "clowning" but I just want to know what true clowning is. Back to the video though, I wanted to point out a few things. This guy really knows how to use his instrument or the fabric and it was indeed entertaining. I really liked how he would try to tease the audience and make them think that he was going to fall or was afraid of falling. I am sure that is considered clowning/joking. I really liked the part when the fabric split into two pieces and how he utilized it. I thought that the routine was entertaining but felt that it lacked some of the comedy he was trying to get at. I felt like some of it was lost in the choreography or something. And I didn't get the whole pumpkin pale thing at the end. I have seen other people do similar "fabric" dancing and they seemed a lot more fluid that he was. It flowed better therefore was not as predictable as his. I also noticed that his back was to the audience so I felt that I lost a connection with him because of that. It is amazing that the way we communicate and move really has a lot to do with the way we present it. I don't know... what this guy can do is WAY more than I will ever be able to do in my life so I really don't have much room to talk. I know what he did was very difficult and I commend him for it. These were just some observations I made, that's all... I don't want to hurt Jenn's friend's feelings :)
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Trust me: My feelings are not hurt at all. You make some very good observations! Aerial silks are not my strong suit, and part of my choice to choreograph a comic silks piece was that it would hopefully play to my strengths (timing & characterization) and somewhat excuse my current shortcomings (form & control). I was surprised to find all the ways in which something like being suspended in the air can make comic performance difficult! (Not the least of which was staying checked in with the audience when my back kept ending up to them.)
ReplyDeleteBut more to the point: Clowning. I think there are many different schools of thought. My training as it pertains to clowning has been in a red-nose/Lecoq technique, so my definition conforms to that. What makes clowning distinct to me is that it expresses supreme (and hopefully sincere) innocence and vulnerability, and engages the audience in as direct and responsive a manner as possible. They say in Lecoq classes that the more the performer is suffering, the funnier the audience is likely to find it. In my experience thus far I tend to agree.
So was my aerial piece a clown piece? I'd say it was a genre-blend, inspired by clown. In some ways it's impossible to do proper clowning without absolute control of the timing of one's responses, and choreographing to music takes some of that away even when you're not thirty feet up. But it was fun to try!
My definition of clowning is pretty broad--I'd actually include comedians and vaudeville acts as clowning, just different types. Once you watch the three assigned video clips of clowning, see if you can find what clowning is by observing their similarities--in other words, why did I choose those three as clowning examples?
ReplyDeleteBut I'd call Jeff's piece clowning, myself. Also that movement bit I showed you all of me in the beginning of A Flea in Her Ear.