Friday, July 11, 2014

Recreating the Clown...

I would apologize for not posting in um...eight months but you've got two hundred other posts to read!

It's been a long time since I recreated my character.  I'm way over due.  I haven't done it, because I'm comfortable and it costs a lot of money to buy new costumes.

When I first thought of being a clown, I loved the baggy pants Bill Irwin type clown.  Then I went to Clown College and became a pretty traditional white face clown.  While I did the white face, I messed around with Auguste and the baggy pants guy.

I went to a character clown.  It was a bit sloppy for me.  I like very clean looking clowns.

then to my current look.  I have jodpur pants (riding pants), tuxedo style shirt and a tuxedo jacket without sleeves.  A vest with scalloped tails.  And a top hat.

I've done this look for at least 15 years.  For the  past few years I've been getting tired.

For the past 6 months I was a character on the vaudeville stage of a replica Speakeasy here in San Francisco.  I created a fast talking comedy magician.  The baggy pants vaudevillian I've been fascinated with for years.

What's so much easier this time, the internet.  The last time I changed I worked with a costumer, designs, shopping for fabric.  I'm not great at all this.  But I worked it and spent a fortune but I have a unique look.

I've spent so much time looking at old vaudeville and burlesque clips lately that I'm going that direction.

My costuming starts with the hat.  I've been thinking a lot about the bowler.  I like the bowler it's just silly.  I can also do a lot more hat tricks out of the gate with this hat than I can with the top hat.  It's shorter so it rolls down my arm better.  I'm debating the color.

I've found a lot of nice clothes online in the style of the late 1800s.  I'm matching things up.  I like the look and I like that I can buy off the rack and create a unique look.

I'm going to transition into the shows that I love, the large shows.  The schools, the stages, the libraries.  I'm learning some new material, especially hat manipulation.

Did I mention no make up?  No nose?  I've given in.  I'm always a clown but the world has spoken, I need to lose the clown nose so I can grab more gigs.


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