Today was fun. The first group that went did actual sporting events. They were caught in the spotlight and "asked" to do three events. There was much harm to several of the clowns though no actual harm occurred. From what I recall, there was a front fall, a back fall, a back roll, a front roll, a side roll, a cartwheel, a collapsed pyramid, and a lot of humor. The events were well defined into the shock-put, the pole jump, and the human pyramid. Each participant worked the event differently and had their own difficulties completing or not completing the event.
The second group, surprisingly, did fishing. Each clown walked out and pulled out a fishing rod in their own way. The last clown to produce a rod caught an enormous fish, I'm assuming. It was definitely creepy to all the clowns. There was a few falls and rolls but the amount of motion on stage swallowed a lot of them. The part where they all lost the fish in the water after catching it on their hats was funny, especially when the last clown was the only one that didn't seemed bothered by the fact that the fish was lost to the waters to maybe be caught again someday.
Apr 10, 2015
Clown Olympics
During class today we performed the clown Olympics which gave us all very good experience identifying with our inner clown. The first group did a performance where they all attempted to move an object which was much to heavy to lift up. Finally, Bryan manged to pick it up and as he was throwing it between hands he fell over. In the next scene everyone took turns moving across the mats while performing exercises we've covered throughout the semester. Over all it was a very good scene that I was able to understand every part.
In my group's performance, we all split up to do separate rolls on the mats to get into out fishing poses. Once this happened we were able to act out a scene of trying to fish something giant out of the water and manage to contain it. Overall we found that by not grabbing the fish entirely we were able to act out a comedic routine through our personally clowning mannerisms. Very great exercise today in class.
In my group's performance, we all split up to do separate rolls on the mats to get into out fishing poses. Once this happened we were able to act out a scene of trying to fish something giant out of the water and manage to contain it. Overall we found that by not grabbing the fish entirely we were able to act out a comedic routine through our personally clowning mannerisms. Very great exercise today in class.
Clownlympics Review!
Today was our clownlympics, and it was a blast!
Nikki, Scott, Jason, Zayn, and Audrey did a fishing event. I thought this was a clever idea! Everyone came out to cast their fishing line in their own character, each differing from the last greatly. I especially loved Scott's big personality. Each character was exaggerated in different ways, and I liked the diversity of clowns I saw.
My group did a track meet that we unexpectedly walked in on! We were taking a stadium tour and walked in on a crowd waiting for the track events to happen. We did shot put, pole vault, and ended with a grand pyramid. The problem was to entertain the crowd by completing the events, and each of us completed the events in our own doofy way. By the end we were all exhausted and didn't want to be performing anymore.
I loved this performance, it helped us focus more on the physicality of a character, and how that creates different personalities. This will be very helpful for our final when we move on to our Seussian scenes!
Nikki, Scott, Jason, Zayn, and Audrey did a fishing event. I thought this was a clever idea! Everyone came out to cast their fishing line in their own character, each differing from the last greatly. I especially loved Scott's big personality. Each character was exaggerated in different ways, and I liked the diversity of clowns I saw.
My group did a track meet that we unexpectedly walked in on! We were taking a stadium tour and walked in on a crowd waiting for the track events to happen. We did shot put, pole vault, and ended with a grand pyramid. The problem was to entertain the crowd by completing the events, and each of us completed the events in our own doofy way. By the end we were all exhausted and didn't want to be performing anymore.
I loved this performance, it helped us focus more on the physicality of a character, and how that creates different personalities. This will be very helpful for our final when we move on to our Seussian scenes!
Apr 4, 2015
"Be a Clown" response.
I am definitely intrigued by the different types of clowns that can be classified. Depending on the overall appearance of the clown and actions he/she makes you can differentiate them from being a Whiteface, Auguste, or a Character. In choosing the clown costume, it makes sense that you want to find things like a hat and other clothes that "refine your character" to draw out the clown in you. Find clothes that really put you in that clowning mood so you can easier play the personality you want. In Clown Rule #6, it states that "it is more important to think like a clown than to look like a clown", that statement tells me that your intended audience studies your actions and personality more closely than your appearance. Also that you can wear whatever clothes you feel most comfortable in while having the mentality of a clown and people will still understand the humor you are conveying.
Apr 3, 2015
Clowning as an alternative method of treatment
Robins Williams plays a great clown in the film “Patch Adams”
when he decides that he wants to make people laugh. His career starts out when he is studying to
be a doctor and decides the best form of medicine is laughter and fun. Williams portrays a clown who wears a red
nose cap and giant shoes that squeak when he walks. His entire outfit is matched with a medical
professional although he adds a few items that any other clown would wear. By doing this it shows that he wants to fit
into the hospital but also in a joking way.
Robin Williams uses great clown techniques by performing
tricks for children. He blows up
balloons and morphs them into different animals. Another thing he likes to do is pull out
different toys from his pockets and things that are much too large to fit in
his jacket so it looks funny. As a
clown, Williams uses a lot of motion.
His arms seem to always be flailing in the air and he’s always got
something different to show people for comedic effect.
Williams shows how a clown can be happy at times and very sad
at others. He gives off a wide range of
emotions due to the different people he encounters. Some of his patients require serious medical
work which laughter alone cannot fix, and other times he can simply do the
trick by telling a few jokes and making a fool of himself. This primarily works with the patients with
mental disorders who are in need of therapists.
As a whole I would say Robin Williams showed me the significance
of clown work; that you must truly understand your targeted audience and be
able to relate with them in some way or another. Find what stresses them out and make a joke
out of it.
I've got some 'splainin to do!
Lucille Ball
“That was Lucy: slapstick Garbo, female clown of the
century, by every standard the First Lady of Television. I Love Lucy, her
original series, was the most popular sitcom in TV history. In 1952 the show
captured 67 of every 100 viewers at 9 on Monday nights, and for four of its six
years (1951-57) on the air it ranked No. 1 in the Nielsen ratings. The Lucy
Show (1962-68) and Here's Lucy (1968-74) ran for nine seasons in the Top 10.
And for 32 years reruns of I Love Lucy have dominated the worldwide syndication
market. As one fan said "Every
minute of the day, somewhere, someone is watching I Love Lucy.”
-
People Magazine, 1989
Lucille Ball was actually given the
chance to start “I Love Lucy” because of a clown routine that she
performed. The television networks had originally
rejected her request to do a series co-starring Desi Arnaz, her Cuban born
husband. They did not think the public
would accept the two of them together.
So, to prove that their concept would work, Ball and Arnaz went on a
tour of theaters and made a pilot film.
The basis for their act and film was a musical clown routine created by
Pepito the Spanish Clown. He supplied
them with the props, including a gimmicked cello, and taught Lucy how to do his
routine. The success of the act and the film
convinced CBS to allow the couple to try out their series. Ball later repeated Pepito’s musical clown
act in an episode of the show, and Pepito also performed some of his other
routines as a guest star on another episode.
Lucy Ricardo
is an extremely physical character. All of her movements are big, even when she’s
just doing dishes and brushing off her dress. I’ve noticed that often she either
takes up a ton of space and needs plenty of room, or is right in someone else’s
bubble of personal space. Along with her body movements, Lucille also had a
rubber face. She could contort it into all sorts of crazy positions that
sometimes don’t even seem possible. (I included an image of a common one) She
was incredibly expressive with her mouth and used intense lip color to accent
it. Her bright, doll like eyes were also an advantage, making her fascinating to
watch.
The show itself uses physical humor
and classic clown behavior. An episode usually consists of poor Lucy
recognizing a problem, coming up with a scheme to remedy said problem. Then,
her solution only makes things more complicated and creates an overwhelming
mess for Lucy to scramble around fixing. Another common scenario is a
misunderstanding between Lucy and her husband or their landlords. In an episode
I watched the other day, the couple was on a cruise and Lucy was upset because
Ricky was there as entertainment and had to work so she locked him in their
room together. When he wanted to leave, she did everything in her power to
distract him so he wouldn’t find out she lost the key. She started dancing with
him, got him to inspect the furniture in their room, and threw things all over.
When she decided to call for help, she yelled out their window and ended up
getting stuck in it. Then, she tried all sorts of ways to get unstuck: pushing,
bending, pulling, wiggling, shimmying, stretching. The whole thing was pretty
ridiculous. The woman was an expert at appearing ditzy and out of control,
which, ironically, takes a lot of precision.
The Marx Brothers
Whilst I was reading Scott's clown review of the great W.C. Fields; I, too, was reminded of my father. My father loved that comedian, but the ones that were able to top Mr. Fields were a small group of, for lack of a better word, "gentlemen"; these gents were the Marx Brothers.
The Marx Brothers began in the same way as Fields, in the vaudeville circuits that toured the U.S. at the turn of the century. But where Fields was only one man performing great stand up material and fantastic feats of juggling and stunts; the Marx Brothers were four.
In the beginning you had...
Chico Marx- The wise cracking italian sardonic, usually of a down trodden or lowly sort of character.
Harpo Marx- The silent type, or at least he communicated with horns, bells, unimaginable faces, blow torches, pockets with a Tardis-like sense of mystery and anything else he can get his hands on. But oppositely he can play a harp that turn him from the funniest man in any room to the one that can steal your gaze
Zeppo Marx- The tenor voice and pretty boy that was able to keep up with the others, but as depicted in the films, he was really just a romantic lead to bring some sort of tie-in to the plot of the movie.
and finally
Groucho Marx- The inimitable quick wit and aesthetic that would bring the whole damn house down laughing.
He was undoubtedly the break away star and could easily carry on a film of just his material.
Separately, they were hilarious. Together, they were absolutely riotous.
They had wit and zingers, slapstick comedy galore, musical talent and physical comedy that would confound the audience and be the inspiration for generations of comics and performers. The mirror clip we saw as an example for class, was performed twenty years earlier by Harpo and Groucho in "Duck Soup".
Here's a link to an excerpt of their classic material.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0Gwe5gKgjo
The Marx Brothers began in the same way as Fields, in the vaudeville circuits that toured the U.S. at the turn of the century. But where Fields was only one man performing great stand up material and fantastic feats of juggling and stunts; the Marx Brothers were four.
In the beginning you had...
Chico Marx- The wise cracking italian sardonic, usually of a down trodden or lowly sort of character.
Harpo Marx- The silent type, or at least he communicated with horns, bells, unimaginable faces, blow torches, pockets with a Tardis-like sense of mystery and anything else he can get his hands on. But oppositely he can play a harp that turn him from the funniest man in any room to the one that can steal your gaze
Zeppo Marx- The tenor voice and pretty boy that was able to keep up with the others, but as depicted in the films, he was really just a romantic lead to bring some sort of tie-in to the plot of the movie.
and finally
Groucho Marx- The inimitable quick wit and aesthetic that would bring the whole damn house down laughing.
He was undoubtedly the break away star and could easily carry on a film of just his material.
Separately, they were hilarious. Together, they were absolutely riotous.
They had wit and zingers, slapstick comedy galore, musical talent and physical comedy that would confound the audience and be the inspiration for generations of comics and performers. The mirror clip we saw as an example for class, was performed twenty years earlier by Harpo and Groucho in "Duck Soup".
Here's a link to an excerpt of their classic material.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0Gwe5gKgjo
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