Hey guys!
I really liked all of these videos and I noticed that even though every person is different, they all make specific gestures and everyone had a type of unity that worked really well for their character in the realm of clowning. When it came to Mr. Bean, I loved his use of the drum set and how it slammed on top of his hand. This worked really well with the traditional clowning due to the fact that it's a simple task to not let the symbols slam on you, but clowns normally kind of mess that common sense up. Marcel's clown, however, looked very animated and totally different than Mr. Bean's. I noticed that he used more of his entire body with what he was doing rather than emulating what an object was. I really felt this worked great and I loved the differences each video had, especially with these two, but the major similarities they had as well.
Apr 11, 2014
Video Reactions
Personal Reaction:
The strength some of these people have is crazy! The amount of control they have over their bodies requires serious muscle. I laughed at a lot of these, I grew up with physical comedy (Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry, mostly :P) so I am a huge fan. Each was very distinct in their own style, which I enjoyed the variety as well.
Professional Reaction:
I think it's easy to forget that miming is a form of clowning, because people recognize it as its own art rather than thinking of all clowns when it is mentioned. Each clown had a very distinct character and story that went with the character, and each story was very well performed. Rowan Atkinson is very good at doing the unexpected methods of problem solving from our reading. And who doesn't love Mr Bean?
The strength some of these people have is crazy! The amount of control they have over their bodies requires serious muscle. I laughed at a lot of these, I grew up with physical comedy (Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry, mostly :P) so I am a huge fan. Each was very distinct in their own style, which I enjoyed the variety as well.
Professional Reaction:
I think it's easy to forget that miming is a form of clowning, because people recognize it as its own art rather than thinking of all clowns when it is mentioned. Each clown had a very distinct character and story that went with the character, and each story was very well performed. Rowan Atkinson is very good at doing the unexpected methods of problem solving from our reading. And who doesn't love Mr Bean?
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| http://www.theplace2.ru/photos/Rowan-Atkinson-md2030/pic-328333.html |
Clowning
Personal reaction: I really feel like after reading what a clown actually does for a routine that it seems silly for people to have such a fear of clowns. When a lot of people hear the word clown today they do not think of actors who use physical comedy or anything about that nature. Generally they picture horror movies and/or that story "My Cousin It," I think it was called. Clowns are supposed to be funny not scary, and I never knew there were distinctions between different types of clowns.
Professional reaction: After the reading on what the different kinds of clowns there were and what the history of the clown was, one of the things that stood out to me was the mention of the name Marcel Marceau. This name caught my attention because a year ago I was in a one act at Metro that had to deal with a mime, and my character tried to reference Marcel to my friend in order to give an example of what a mime actually did. I find this interesting because for some reason I never really tied the act of miming as clowning. They were generally separate categories for me, but now I see that miming is a form of clowning.
Professional reaction: After the reading on what the different kinds of clowns there were and what the history of the clown was, one of the things that stood out to me was the mention of the name Marcel Marceau. This name caught my attention because a year ago I was in a one act at Metro that had to deal with a mime, and my character tried to reference Marcel to my friend in order to give an example of what a mime actually did. I find this interesting because for some reason I never really tied the act of miming as clowning. They were generally separate categories for me, but now I see that miming is a form of clowning.
Clowining Videos
Rowan Atkinson
I love Rowan Atkinson. I was first introduced to him many years ago by my parents. He is hilarious. His facial features are probably one of my favorite things he does in his comedy. In this video I loved how he used his body and pantomimed this huge drum solo that kept going awry.
Marcel Marceau
This one was weird. It was fine when he first started changing masks from one facial expression to the other but after that it just got weird. I did not laugh at all during this performance. Personally I don't know why anyone would want to pay money to see this performed. I understand that he was telling a story and I guess it was cool how he kept changing his body posture based on the mask used but over all it was just weird.
Bill Irwin
This guy had pretty good control of his body. I liked the part where he was dancing and making his foot dance but then his foot just kept on dancing off the stage making the rest of his body follow. The hat tricks were also pretty cool. I cracked up when he shot the gun after he turned his dancing into a karate battle. I think that his height really worked for his character, especially with the costume because it just made the character look like he had long awkward limbs, but it worked.
Jeff Wills
First of all that mustache is hilarious. This was an impressive show of body strength. The use of the two curtain things was really creative. I didn't really find this video that funny. I mean the only funny part was when he did that high pitched scream when he thought he was going to fall.
I love Rowan Atkinson. I was first introduced to him many years ago by my parents. He is hilarious. His facial features are probably one of my favorite things he does in his comedy. In this video I loved how he used his body and pantomimed this huge drum solo that kept going awry.
Marcel Marceau
This one was weird. It was fine when he first started changing masks from one facial expression to the other but after that it just got weird. I did not laugh at all during this performance. Personally I don't know why anyone would want to pay money to see this performed. I understand that he was telling a story and I guess it was cool how he kept changing his body posture based on the mask used but over all it was just weird.
Bill Irwin
This guy had pretty good control of his body. I liked the part where he was dancing and making his foot dance but then his foot just kept on dancing off the stage making the rest of his body follow. The hat tricks were also pretty cool. I cracked up when he shot the gun after he turned his dancing into a karate battle. I think that his height really worked for his character, especially with the costume because it just made the character look like he had long awkward limbs, but it worked.
Jeff Wills
First of all that mustache is hilarious. This was an impressive show of body strength. The use of the two curtain things was really creative. I didn't really find this video that funny. I mean the only funny part was when he did that high pitched scream when he thought he was going to fall.
http://www.theplace2.ru/archive/rowan_atkinson/img/RowanAtkinson4.jpg
Apr 10, 2014
Clowning Videos
I was inspired (and intimidated) by these videos and got some ideas for our Clownlympics performance from them. Rowan Atkinson has a great sense of play and reminds me of an overgrown kid in this drum skit. He kept his drum set very clear and his movements precise. I was impressed by how well the drummer matched his movements during the performance (even though I'm sure it was all choreographed).
The first thing I noticed about Marcel Marceau was how beautifully he moved his hands - it could be a dance! He established each mask well in terms of where they each were and I liked that the scene built and by the end he was using his entire body to match each mask. Something that made his performance easy to follow was how consistent his 'neutral' face was in between the masks.
Bill Irwin had a wonderful style of movement that was free, agile, and exact. I particularly enjoyed his hat moves - it is now my life ambition to learn how to do that forward-spring-into-the-hat move if it's the last thing I do (which it probably would be). He squished and expanded very well too, I thought, and his physical comedy style reminded me a lot of Dick Van Dyke.
For Jeff Wills, my eye was immediately drawn to his handlebar mustache. The concept for the piece was original and very clever and he used a great balance of looking slightly out of control but still safe enough that the audience was never too concerned about him falling, and being concerned for someone's safety makes things decidedly less funny. I've never seen aerial dance used as a comedic tool and I thought it was really fun.
The first thing I noticed about Marcel Marceau was how beautifully he moved his hands - it could be a dance! He established each mask well in terms of where they each were and I liked that the scene built and by the end he was using his entire body to match each mask. Something that made his performance easy to follow was how consistent his 'neutral' face was in between the masks.
Bill Irwin had a wonderful style of movement that was free, agile, and exact. I particularly enjoyed his hat moves - it is now my life ambition to learn how to do that forward-spring-into-the-hat move if it's the last thing I do (which it probably would be). He squished and expanded very well too, I thought, and his physical comedy style reminded me a lot of Dick Van Dyke.
For Jeff Wills, my eye was immediately drawn to his handlebar mustache. The concept for the piece was original and very clever and he used a great balance of looking slightly out of control but still safe enough that the audience was never too concerned about him falling, and being concerned for someone's safety makes things decidedly less funny. I've never seen aerial dance used as a comedic tool and I thought it was really fun.
http://www.theplace2.ru/photos/Rowan-Atkinson-md2030/pic-377550.html
Apr 5, 2014
Video Response
While I didn’t think anything Rowan Atkinson did was funny,
I could “see” the drum set. I would not have been able to “see” it if he didn’t
have a very clear picture in his head.
Marcel Marceau’s piece is what I think of when I think of
classic clowning and miming. Something I would like to avoid looking like at
all costs. Also, there was something going on with his costume in the crotch
area that kept bringing my eye back to his twig-n-berries. Another thing I want
to avoid at all costs.
When it comes to the Bill Irwin clip, I see why you like
him so much Jenn. It was funny and he has complete control over his body. He
was doing very difficult moves and making them look effortless. I also helps
that there was dancing in the clip, you know how I’m bias in that department.
I found the Jeff Wills clip very interesting. I do enjoy watching the arial
performers, but a lot of times they look so clumsy in-between each move. I think it was a great idea to make an
arial fabric act into a comedy. So I guess what I’m getting from these videos
is that any comedic physical performance can be called clowning.
Clowns Ex Machina. Photo by Vanessa Lenz. http://circusnow.org/causes/clowns-ex-machina/
Apr 3, 2014
Clowning Vids For Homework
Here are the vids I'd like you to view for your reading response:
1.) Rowan Atkinson
2.) Marcel Marceau
3.) Bill Irwin
*Note: I took a class from Bill Irwin in Physical Comedy back in the day. I pretty much worship him. 4.) Jeff Wills (this is a WIP piece, FYI)
1.) Rowan Atkinson
2.) Marcel Marceau
3.) Bill Irwin
*Note: I took a class from Bill Irwin in Physical Comedy back in the day. I pretty much worship him. 4.) Jeff Wills (this is a WIP piece, FYI)
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