Well. The NY Clown Theater Festival has been going on for some time now! It is a wonderful event and one of the reasons why is because of the OPENING PARADE! Here is a glimpse at some of the images from the Parade that started off the 2012 Festival! It has been held at the charming BRICK THEATER in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
See you at the next NY Clown Theater Festival? Hope so…
I attended a rehearsal for the upcoming Commedia Company show which is this Monday at Cantina Royale in Williamsburg.
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Director: Virginia Scott
Nicholas Mayfield – Assistant Director, Roberto DiDonato – Assistant Director,
Peter Martin – Artistic Director, Lydia Bottom – Associate Producer
Cast: Brandt Adams, Will Clark, Virginia Scott, Jeff Seal, Christopher Traumantana.
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Here are some photographs from that evening. I was delightfully impressed by the hilarity that was present at the rehearsal. The show should be very funny!
A very informal talk by cast members about the content of the upcoming show.
Some Portraits of cast members with masks.
Its the only contemporary commedia show in town! Monday night December 17 in the back of a Mexican restaurant in hipper than hip hip hooray wonderful Williamsburg, 7 of the most dangerously talented, bravest and funniest actors in the world use the Italian half-masks of the European Renaissance theatrical form known as the Commedia Dell’arte to transform themselves, space and time at lightning speed. But this is not your Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-European-Grandfathers Commedia! We don’t do it the Renaissance way, at least not in public (what company members do on their own time is their own damn business). Discovering the Commedia characters in the present day, the Commedia Company takes on contemporary situations. Every night is a different show organized around theme so you can come back every week and see something you’ve never seen before . . . in more ways than one! Its part stand-up, part improv, part physical comedy, part character comedy, part political comedy and all imagination.
Come at 7:30 to hang out with the cast before the show, listen to live music, have a drink, or eat some Mexican food. Tickets are $10 online or $12 at the door. CASH only at the door Not appropriate for children. Run time is between 1 and 1.5 hours.
The creation of the Commedia Company is Phase One of the development of a performance wing of the Funny School of Good Acting. Were raising the profile of the funny forms and shining the light of the extraordinary skills and talents of our faculty and alumni.
Join the community of ha-ha-ha! Who knows what is gonna happen next? Not us! It’s improv! But we are in this together. And its a spectacle Royale.
Angela Delfini Explains It All For You: A ¾-Woman Show
Angela gets her temper going as the audience member tries to help her to get her shoe on.
From the Festival brochure:
Straight from Barcelona, Toronto, and La Spezia, meet Italy’s greatest export, personality pioneer Dr. Angela Delfini, and her nervous but brave subject, Estrella. Join them on a clownesque five-step recovery program full of unique challenges and you-can’t-go-home-again transformations. Can the maniacally confident Delfini get the stuck-in-beta Estrella to dance and laugh her way to version 2.0 and beyond?? Probably, but not without your help!
Angela’s show will be performed on the following dates and times at the Festival.
Saturday, September 8 @ 7pm
Tuesday, September 11 @ 7pm
Sunday, September 23 @ 2pm
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Sitting in the front row was a young ‘Harpo’ commenting on almost all the acts on stage. (His mother has her hand over face)
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Look at What We Found
A clown ensemble from San Diego, California had to deal with the young ‘Harpo’ as he got involved in the show
The ensemble got into an improv of the previous clown act.
Headed up by Tommy Galan the ensemble worked with a guitar player as well.
From the Festival Brochure:
Look At What We Found is a theatrical improvised clown performance that invites the audience into a world where they can let go of their rigid adult lives, surrender to play, and find the joy and magic they left behind as children. The clowns begin with the stage and theater as their blank canvas, and with one brush stroke of stupidity at a time they build a tapestry of games, play, interaction and fun. Together, clowns and audience will Look At What We Found!
One more performance!
Saturday, September 8 @ 3pm
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JON DAVISON
Jon is an accomplished clown and performed one piece in this cabaret. His remaining time with the festival will be teaching a workshop on Sat/Sunday. His performance was delightful.
Utilizing his clown skills and a comedic visual built into his costume Jon charmed the audience.
Nothing like ‘reaching out to your audience’.
Getting into the audience and making it work is one of the routines of a great clown.
R Sikoryak talks about his upcoming show "Masterpiece Comic Theater" at the COMIC BOOK THEATER FESTIVAL presented at The Brick Theater in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. June 3rd thru the 29th. This hour long multimedia show adapts R. Sikoryak's graphic novel “Masterpiece Comics” and its sequel and features re-tellings of classic literature in the styles of popular American comics. Inspired by epic poetry, Gothic romance, and Elizabethan tragedy, as well as superhero stories, cat cartoons, and gum wrappers, Masterpiece Comics Theater uses projections, a rotating cast of voice actors, and live sound effects in the manner of Sikoryak's long running Carousel comics performance series.