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History of the Circus > Clowning > Flashcards

Clowning Flashcards

(59 cards)

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1
Q

Aram Kharurian

A

Sabre Dance

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2
Q

Second half of the 19th century

A

Spelled the end of the singing solo circus clowns

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3
Q

Singing clown

A

Subtle humor and personal contact with the audience could no longer be conveyed across the large space of the three ring circus

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4
Q

Where did singing clowns retire?

A

Immediately to vaudeville and the touring variety shows

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5
Q

Pantomime Clown

A

Frank “Silvers” Oakley
Enthralled audiences with basketball act
Salary was reduced from $750 to $50 for doing a walk-around only
Committed suicide in 1915

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6
Q

Silent clowns

A

Could erupt into the arena by the hundreds all performing at once

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7
Q

Recently

A

Solo mime clowns have made a comeback

Still in relative rarity

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8
Q

The “Traveling Salesman”

A

Cesar Aedo

1990 Big apple Company

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9
Q

New wave clowns

A

Pickle

Dennis Lacombe

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10
Q

New wave clown performances

A

Can take up to 10 minutes to present

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11
Q

Joseph Grimaldi

A

From him all clowns earned the name “Joey”
Born in London in 1778
Grandson of a performing acrobat
Son of a cruel and quirky pantomime artist
Introduced his “Clown” to London audiences in 1800
Reputation of “King of the Clowns”
Hot Codlins was one of his comic songs
Retired when he was 45
Two return appearances in 1828
Died in 1837

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12
Q

Italian French Mime Clown

A

Domenique Biancolleli

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13
Q

American Whiteface Pantomime

A

George L. Fox

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14
Q

The paradox of clowning

A

With clowns we learn to laugh as much at human pain and suffering as we do in comic situations
The greater the violence the more pronounced the laughter
No matter what the severity the clown survives and he does it with dignity

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15
Q

Conrad Hyer

A

Says clowns are both delight makers and disturbers of the peace

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16
Q

Greg Long

A

of Charlottesville Virginia 1987

Quit college to enroll in clown college and travel with the Beatty-Cole Circus under the name Tomato Soup

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17
Q

Felix Adler and Lou Jacobs

A

Inherently happy clowns

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18
Q

Most American circus clowns

A

Have been male and white

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19
Q

Great black clowns

A

Gordon Bunch and Eph Horn

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20
Q

Fist black clown

A

Eph Horn

Known as the black star

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21
Q

Russel Brown

A

Featured in thr 1989 Milwaukee Parade

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22
Q

Evetta known as “Joey the lady clown”

Josephine Matthews

A

Notable female clowns

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23
Q

Felix Adler’s Wife

A

Amelia

Clowned in the ring

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24
Q

Women in clowning

Study These Flashcards
A

Usually disguised the fact that they were women

25
Peggy Williams
Broke the sex barrier in 1970 | First female graduate of Ringling clown college
26
Ruth Chaddock
Foremost female stilt walker
27
Bernice Collins
First black female clown to appear with the Ringling Show
28
Queenie Moon
Pickle Family Circus Performed by Joan Mankin One of the funniest featured clowns anywhere
29
Clown gags and routines
Have varied very little from generation to generation
30
Clown gags from the heyday
``` Burning house Cop chases inept house painters Clown car routines Exploding car Self driving car ```
31
Clown Alley
A small tent located in the back yard near the performers' entrance to the big top Where clowns dress and get made up
32
Emmett Kelly and son
Well known for frequent and bitter disagreements because son wanted to expropriate fathers face
33
Faces and Style of Circus clowning
(1) Whiteface clown Developed by the end of the century into the characters of Gilles and Pierrot Authoritarian, sophisticated, and exacting Tended to be pie throwers and trick instigators Rather narrowminded and bossy (2) Auguste Clown Abundant pratfalls Gets hit in the face with the pies Butt of all the jokes that are usually instigated by the whitefaces (3) Carpet/Character Clown Non-categorizable routine Usually works alone Derives from the Auguste Most realistic of the clowns Can work independently whenever and however he chooses (4) Modern/New Vaudeville Called private clowns Typically they work alone and without makeup Invested in creating smiles and giggles rather than belly laughs
34
Jean-Gaspard Debrau
Captured audiences in Paris | Wore whiteface makeup, a skullcap, and an all-white suit
35
Neat whiteface
Features are of a natural size
36
Grotesque Whiteface
Exaggerated features
37
Harry Langdon
Neat whiteface clown
38
Pat Voldo
Prominant whiteface in the 1920s
39
Cecil McKinnon
Yo-Yo on the Circus Flora | 19th century neat whiteface
40
Glen "Frosty" little
Current master clown for the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus Neat whiteface clowns
41
Joe Lewis Paul Lung Bobby Kay Paul Jerome
Grotesque whiteface clowns
42
Felix Adler
Most well known grotesque whiteface clown Set out to be a tightrope walker and a few falls converted him into a clown For 50 years he was Americas "King of Clowns" Worked with a pet piglet Had to train approximately 500 pigs to drink from a bottle, climb a ladder and slide down a plank
43
Tom Belling
Orignial Auguste Clown
44
Entree
Routine or gag auguste clown and whiteface clown perform together
45
Modern Auguste Clown
Most recognized circus clown Routines have grown more aggressive, physical, and slapstick in nature Wears the big shoes the bulbous nose the red or orange wig Leaves most of skin color showing Exhibits big features in colors of black and red
46
The Traveling Salesman
Wears no makeup at all | Cesar Aedo
47
Lou Jacobs
Americas premier Auguste One of the most recognized clowns in America Folded 6 foot frame into the worlds tiniest car His dog was disguised as a rabbit and outwitted Lou the hunter
48
Benny Le Grand
Featured auguste clown Cirque du Soleil Wears only a large white triangular patch over his upper lip, slightly accented eyebrows, a moderately exaggerated nose, and an control natural hairline Seems determined to aggressively avenge all the dirty tricks that have been played on Augustes for the past hundred years
49
Ronald McDonald and Bozo
America;s most famous clowns Never performed in the circus Auguste clowns
50
Most popular character clowns
Hobo or tramp clown Tramp Clown may be naive and inherently sad but always has considerable dignity Often a well educated but down on his luck gentleman Face is usually darkened with black Clothes are usually tattered but carefully patched
51
The little tramp
Charlie Chaplin
52
Famous tramp clowns
Otto Griebling and Emmett Kelly
53
Griebling
Lovable round faced tramp who used to attempt to deliver some odd piece of merchandise to an audience member who he claimed had ordered it
54
Kelly
Griebling's close friend Better publicist than Griebling Able to parlay talents into major salary hikes Character Weary Willie Character was a forlorn little hobo dressed in dirty rags and a tattered hat First entered the circus as a trapeze artist Would try and sweep up spotlight
55
Red Skelton
``` One of the great American tramp clowns Characters: Clem Kadiddlehopper Deadeye Willy Lump Lump Freddie the Freeloader ```
56
Excellent tramp clowns
Gene Randow Mark Anthony Michael Christensen Lorenzo Pickle
57
Mark Anthony
His "Tony" represented a unique bridge between the tramp clown and the
58
Michael Christensen
Tramp clown | Founder of Big Apple Circus
59
Lorenzo Pickle
Larry Pisoni Tramp Clown Inventive creator of the Pickle Family Circus Represents a bridge from the tradition American tramp and auguste to the more realistic and modern middle class everyman at the the core of the so called "New Vaudeville" clowns

History of the Circus (1 decks)

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