April is a crazy month for classic comedy anniversaries, including the birthdays of Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd and (this year) the centennial of the first comedy short directed by Buster Keaton (though not the first one he released). And numerous others, as well. Join me Monday, April 19 (7pm) for my zoom crash course on classic comedy, where we’ll be talking about these guys and many others, and what makes them unique, how they influenced each other, and everyone who came since! The talk will be available only to members of my Patreon family — go here to join so you can take part in all the Travalanche zoom talks, and other exclusive benefits, like my upcoming Podcast about Old Time Medicine Shows, coming up in early May. Come find out why the poet tell us “April is the Foolish Month”!
I absolutely adore laughter. I love feeling it, sharing it, hearing it, and provoking it. It’s my passion, which is why I’ve spent so much time with clowns, clowning, teaching others to clown, and writing about my art. I know that there’s so much more to this ancient and heart-warming art, but it’s still the joy of laughter that motivates and inspires me.
Caroline Dream performing as one of her clown characters.
Click the book to go to Caroline’s “CLOWN YOURSELF” on Amazon.com
Surprisingly, Rodney Dangerfield and Bill Murray were never in a scene together in Caddyshack. Luckily that wasn’t the case in Rodney’s first prime – TV special in 1987.
Join Jim Turner & Ellie Covan for a mutual birthday Raising Cain wrap party, with surprise guest Deb Margolin, special edition Bingo, and the raffle stops here!
Doyens Richard Bach & Michael Howett shepherd a virtual Donor Dinner! Cook along with them or simply simmer in their brassy banter & scandalous stories!
One of the funniest, if not the funniest comedic actor of all time being interviewed on network TV by Gene Shalitin 1980. So much fun watching him change accents and talk about his career.
He is best remembered for his role of inept French police Inspector ‘Jacques Clouseau’ in the “Pink Panther” series of films (1964 to 1982). The last of that series, “Trail of the Pink Panther” (1982) was made after his death, using film clips and unseen footage from his earlier “Pink Panther” movies. Born Richard Henry Sellers in Southsea, Hampshire, England, his parents worked in an acting company run by his grandmother. During World War II, he enlisted in the British Army, where he met future actors Spike Milligan, Harry Secombe, and Michael Bentine. Following the war, he set up a review in London, which was a combination of music and impressions (he played the drums), which led to his doing impressions on BBC television’s “The Goon Show.” Moving rapidly into a series of British comedy films during the mid-1950s, he quickly caught widespread audience appeal, and each successful role led to more and better films. Following British comic tradition of doing multiple roles in the same play, he was adept at performing multiple roles in his movies, including his hilarious “The Mouse that Roared” (1959) (playing three different parts), the black comedy, “Dr. Strangelove” (1964), (playing an pragmatic RAF officer, a wimpy United States President and a weird German scientist), and “The Prisoner of Zenda” (1979) (playing the roles of Rudolf IV, Rudolf V, and Syd Frewin). In 1959, he won the British equivalent of an Oscar for his role of ‘Fred Kite’, a labor leader in “I’m All Right, Now,” (1959), and in 1979 he was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for his role of ‘Chance Gardiner’ in his film, “Being There” (1979). He was married four times, to Ann Howe (1951 to 1961), to actress Britt Ekland (1964 to 1968), to Miranda Quarry (1970 to 1974), and to actress Lynn Frederick (1977 to his death in 1980).
Presenting a show has many costs. To help defray these please see the above methods for donating to this cause. Bindlestiff Family Cirkus is a ‘not-for-profit’ 501(c)3 organization.
Fernanda Sumano performed a high energy hula-hoop act that allowed us to follow her through the house she was performing into the street and then the roof!
Wilfredo sang a lovely song for the viewers which included the ever-present “I”.
Keith Nelson introduces the ‘Ask Hovey’ segment of the show.
2020 marks the ten year anniversary of Movement Theater Studio’s world-renowned month-long Summer Physical Theater Institute. Hosted by CUNY Brooklyn College’s Theater Department on the grounds of their beautiful campus deep in the heart of Brooklyn the four-week intensive and such one-week workshops as Clown, Character Mask, The Ensemble Director and of course Norman Taylor’s transformative master classes have attracted almost 3,000 students from across the globe during this last decade. We are very proud of that! And despite the setbacks of this year’s Covid-19 pandemic, MTS remains committed to providing the highest level of physical acting training to its students – both new and returning.
To that end, we have both pushed back our 2020 summer offerings and shortened the length of the full-time intensive. We’re lucky enough to have the same world-class faculty and with a lengthened teaching day we will be able to cover almost as much as before. SO! Below you will see a start date of July 20th (which we believe best positions us to ensure we will be free of social distancing rules and limits on public assembly) and we’ve significantly cut prices in acknowledgment of the particular hardship brought upon the artistic community. Of course, the city may still not be open-for-business and we may not be able to run these courses. But we are planning on it – and signing up those who might NEED a place to get creative at that point more than ever! Lastly, I would like to thank all of the many who have trained with us this past decade – who have brought their talent, dedication, and fun into the room. These are punishing times for the creative soul but I believe that like the Phoenix from the ashes the curiosity of the artist will prevail and thrive – no matter what the foe. See below and…..
TWO-WEEK INTENSIVE July 20th – July 31st, 9 am – 6 pm
The first comprehensive Lecoq based training program in New York. Focusing on the Actor as Creator, the 2020 Summer Physical Theater Intensive at MTS is based on key elements of the Lecoq pedagogy, including Le jeu, Clown, Neutral Mask and Lecoq’s 20 Movements in approaching the creation of original and physically told narratives. Faculty include Richard Crawford (Actor War Horse, Clown Director Cirque Du Soleil), Adrienne Kapstein (War Horse, Broadway), Yuval Boim (LISPA), and Virginia Scott (FizGig Studio).
ONE WEEK WORKSHOPS
RICHARD CRAWFORD CHARACTER MASK July 20th – 24th
A dynamic and playful weekend workshop exploring the fundamentals of mask play and the creation of mask theater; using full-faced Larval and Expressive masks with MTS founder/director Richard Crawford
CLOWN 1 July 27th – 31st
It’s your big chance to seek the source of your comic nature, connect to your playful spirit, and discover your clown! Virginia Scott – Discovering the Clown
RICHARD CRAWFORD
LECOQ 101 AUG 3rd – 7th
A dynamic and playful weekend workshop exploring the fundamentals of mask play and the creation of mask theater; using full-faced Larval and Expressive masks with MTS founder/director Richard Crawford
VIRGINIA SCOTT CLOWN 2 AUG 3rd – 7th Pre-requisite: Clown 1. Now let’s make some funny stuff to show the audience! The clowns develop material unique to them and each student walks away with 5 minutes of individual material!
NOTE: update on May 6th: if these summer classes can’t run because of extended gathering restrictions we will move everything online.
Host 
Pio Carrada performs a beautiful aerial act with multicolored lighting.
The cast takes their online Curtain Call!
RICHARD CRAWFORD