Hi, I'm Greg! I'm pretty new to clowning as a primary performance medium, but it has been an aspect of my musical performances since 2014 when my band La Bas became a staple act at Detroit's Theatre Bizarre ("The Greatest Masquerade on Earth"). Besides performing as musicians for that event, we were also hired as roving lane performers / character actors, and we learned our style of clowning from the many excellent professional clowns who work that event annually. In that group our clown practice consisted mainly of pantomime / physical comedy in addition to our songs themselves, which mostly made light of human mortality. We found great opportunities for both humor and pathos in making it ok for our audiences to laugh at death.
Since relocating to Pittsburgh for a lutherie job opportunity in 2020, I have been deep-diving into everything I can learn about clowning and circus more generally, as I intend to prioritize these arts more highly in my performance practice moving forward. I am pursuing clowning not strictly as a professional entertainment medium, but additionally as an art form with the capacity to speak truth to power, to show us something about ourselves and the world, to extend our attention beyond ourselves, and to make us wonder about possibilities we've never before dared to dream.
I do not believe my performance skills are yet strong enough to begin performing primarily as a clown, but I hope to be able to do so by the end of this summer (2022). As performers and entertainers, professional or not, I believe we owe our audiences a mutually beneficial relationship where their time and attention are rewarded with a truly engaging performance. Ultimately, our time on earth is the only thing of real value in anyone's life, and for an audience to give up that time to you, you'd better have something worthwhile to show them in return!
I think deeply and critically about all aspects of circus and clowning (and really all art) all of the time, and I am always thrilled to engage in lively conversations about these topics! I'm very much looking forward to the opportunities this forum presents to do just that. Big shout to Zeeppo for getting it off the ground!! Can't wait to see how it grows!
"Everything is important but nothing is serious" - Phillippe Petit
I glad you joined. I am here in Pittsburgh with you. I hope you get a chance to join us for our Sunday Circus Crafts meeting.
Hi Steven, we did already meet briefly a couple of weeks ago - I stopped by the CMU juggling club three weeks back and you folks helped me learn how to toss clubs, but I haven't been back for a couple of weeks due to family obligations in Michigan. I'm on the mailing list though and I'm planning to be there tomorrow! Looking forward to meeting you all again. Thanks!
"Everything is important but nothing is serious" - Phillippe Petit
@gregwilson excellent I am sorry I didn't remember. We sometime have a whole bunch of people at these things. Also my memory is not the greatest
hello nice to meet you