Burlesque Clown Out-Takes!

I recently wrote an article for the next issue of The Berlesker that talks about four performing artists with a connection both to clowning and to burlesque (Dottie Lux, Melissa Roth a.k.a Foxxx Trot, Kenywn Dapo a.k.a Mistress B. and Kyla Webb a.k.a Sammy Tramp.)

Like one does when one is baking a pie, I had to trim off some of the dough and it seems too good to waste. My interview with Sammy was excellently thorough, but strayed too far from burlesque for me to be able to include all of it in The Berlesker piece. I publish it in its entirety below. Likewise, I didn’t hear about Tigger’s clown character Tiggo the Clown until too close to my deadline. So I include something about him below, as well.

Photo by Kim Kristikov

SAMMY TRAMP

TRAV: What’s the connection between clown and burlesque?

SAMMY: Well fundamentally and simply the word burlesque in itself means joke, satire, comedy, caricature, ludicrous treatment of the subject at hand. I think that pretty much sums up what clowning means as well. Before strip teasing was even involved, burlesque meant to satire something. In a more modern context (late 19th century up until now) we saw strip tease, or scantily clad ladies dancing added to that mix. Inherently burlesque and clowning are two types of physical performance often meant to evoke humor or satire, not always, but often. Burlesque clowns and burlesque dancers were in variety burlesque shows together. There were more burlesque clowns than there were burlesque dancers for a long time. That idea has changed drastically, I suppose, since about the 1950′s up until now. I mean burlesque shows were really just seedy non family friendly maybe less talented vaudeville shows in the rougher part of towns.

TRAV: How did you become interested in each?

SAMMY: I’ve been interested in clowns, specifically silent clowns, since I was a child. My dad had me watching silent movies when I was a baby. It was something that was ingrained into me. I started doing theater when I was in high school, and went to college for it, but I never really enjoyed the “text” aspect of theater. I felt like there was too much focus on the writer and the words and the way the words were said. I enjoyed being funny, I enjoyed improv, I enjoyed using my body, and of course, my inherent love of silent film comedies eventually led me to “clowning.” As far as the burlesque element, well I love beautiful women. Hah! I’m kidding, slightly. I had been doing theater for years and I felt bored, it felt stagnant and unenergized. A performance artist friend of mine invited me to a burlesque show in a basement in Chicago. That was pretty much the first I had ever heard of it. The show was terrible, but there was still something about it that made me feel so excited and so energized. The rawness of it, the variety of it, the fact that the audience was yelling and screaming during the show. I remember thinking, “man if this could be harnessed, produced well, and invigorated with better performers this would be phenomenal and untouchable.”

TRAV: Do you consider them separate? Or merge them? Or every possible permutation?

SAMMY: When it comes to shows, production and direction I merge burlesque dancers and clowns all the time. When it comes to my performance style I am much more of a clown first. I consider myself a silent storyteller, but sometimes I do burlesque burlesque dancers.

TRAV: Which is more important to you? (ie, are you more of a clown with some aspects of burlesque; or more of a burlesque dancer with some aspects of clown?)

SAMMY: I am much more of a clown.

TRAV: Why?

SAMMY: I feel like my real goal and m.o. is to keep the art of silent slapstick comedy and pantomime storytelling alive. There are plenty of lovely women doing classic strip teases. That’s not my thing or my passion. I’ll leave that to them. I would be doing what I’m doing even if it wasn’t in a “burlesque” show.

TRAV: Please give me some specifics about your work. Who do you perform for? Where do you perform? Describe your costume, make-up and act.

SAMMY: I travel and perform regularly all over the country and will be heading to New Zealand in a few months. I’m one of the co-heads of VanElla Productions founded by burlesque queen Lola van Ella. We produce in St. Louis a lot, but we also produce and run some of our own tours and other out of town dates. I’m also the artistic director and creator of The Beggar’s Carnivale, which is a very large scale vaudeville, circus, burlesque, live action silent film variety show. My costume is very Chaplinesque. A traditional tramp costume, baggy pants, patched coat, vest, floppy shoes, bowler, and cane. I also keep it in a black and white aesthetic so it really looks like a live action silent film. I wear white face with black accents. I do a lot of traditional acts, flea circus, a silly bad magic act, cane and hat tricks, but I also like to add an element of in your face punk rock modernized style to it. I don’t want to just re-create old clowning I want to modernize it and make it relevant to a new generation without losing the basic elements of what I love.

TRAV: What are you the reactions you hope to get?

SAMMY: I just want to entertain people, make them smile, and make them laugh.

TRAV: How do audiences typically react?

SAMMY: Great! I have been very fortunate. Audiences have really embraced me with open arms. People generally really love the tramp. People really latch on to the Tramp. Almost everyone can relate to the tramp. The idea of the charming down on their luck common man who gets one over on the “bad” guy…timeless. Always.

Photo by Ben Trivett

Sez Tigger: “My Tiggo the Traumatized Clown character was developed for a couple of art shows in 2001 or so. From there he went on to do weird method go-go gigs & then I developed an act for him. He went on to host burlesque shows & somehow appeared in a German art magazine. In 2007 Jonny Porkpie wrote him into one of his Pinchbottom plays, Pretençión”

Which we just saw and reviewed right here just a few days ago. Check it out!

 

 

 

 

Jack LeClair

Today is the birthday of Jack LeClair (1890-1971). He started out in vaudeville in 1912 with a comedy acrobatic act called the LeClair Trio with Al Stern and Tad Tosky. Most of his career was spent as a circus clown, though, first wirth Rentz Brothers, then Campbell Brothers, and finally Ringling Brothers, which he stayed with for 31 years. He became a friend and frequent collaborator of the famous Ringling Bros. clown Felix Adler work. During the winter layovers, they would work in vaudeville together as Adler and LeClair, the Odd Pair”, doing comedy crosstalk and dancing. LeClair is credited with inventing many classic circus clown gags, some still in use today, such as “Blowing Up the Fat Man.” In the 40s he groomed his son Jackie (b. 1927)  to take over the family business, and he himself retired from full time travelling to the Milwaukee area, although he continued to perfom occasionally. As far as I can tell, Jackie is still with us. See his web site: http://jackieleclaire.com/

To find out more about the variety arts past and present, consult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and wherever nutty books are sold.

And don’t miss my new book Chain of Fools: Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to Youtube, just released by Bear Manor Media, also available from amazon.com etc etc etc

Grock in Action

Today is the birthday of Star of Vaudeville #421: Grock (for more on the international clown star and his vaudeville connection go here). You can see him in action here in this 1931 clip:

To find out more about the variety arts past and present, consult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and wherever nutty books are sold. And don’t miss Chain of Fools: Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to Youtube, to be released by Bear Manor Media in 2013.

Stars of Slapstick #4: Toto

Neither the small Scotty dog from The Wizard of Oz, nor the rather embarrassing 70s’ rock band, nor the later Italian movie star, this Toto was a successful clown who conquered many kinds of stages, often performing with a dog named Whiskey. Born in 1888 in Switzerland, he came to the States during the First World War . He achieved the highest fame possible in his line during that era. 1918 was the peak for him in the U.S. — in that year he first played the Palace and began making comedy shorts for Hal Roach. The Roach shorts didn’t work out. Toto left the studio the following year, leaving a void that was filled by Stan Laurel. But he continued to play the Palace many times until its switch to feature films in 1932. In 1938, it was erroneously reported that he had died. He wrote the newspaper to complain. The following day he was dead. Never jump to conclusions!

To find out more about these variety artists and the history of vaudeville, consult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and wherever nutty books are sold. And don’t miss Chain of Fools: Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to Youtube, to be released by Bear Manor Media in 2013.

Vaudephone #11: Hilary Chaplain

And now, here’s a classic routine by the great Hilary Chaplain, the next installment in our Vaudephone series. Hilary is on my very short list of favorite clowns, so I am pleased as punch to be able to share this with you. And the very generous accompanist Ben Model of the Silent Clowns, is just offscreen to the right.

ALSO: please note the swell theme music, by Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks. Don’t miss Vince and his swingin’ band for dinner and dancing every Monday and Tuesday at the Edison Hotel! (Details are here).

Vaudephone is a co-production of Travalanche/ the American Vaudeville Theatre, and Vaudevisuals.com.

To find out about  the history of vaudeville, consult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and wherever nutty books are sold.

Stars of Vaudeville #421: Grock

Once the world’s highest paid entertainer, hailed the world over as the “king” and “emperor” of clowns, Grock performed primarily in European circuses but rates a shout-out here because he did play some American vaudeville dates, including, notably, the Palace. Born in Switzerland on this day in 1880 (Charles Adrien Wettach), he was taught to play and appreciate music by his clockmaker father (Grock was ultimately to master 17 instruments and to make musicianship the wellspring of his act).

He left home to perform with a band of Roma when still a teenager, and worked with a couple of partners before becoming a star on his own prior to the First World War. When he passed away in 1959, he had been an international star and a legend, for decades.

To find out more about  the history of vaudeville, consult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and wherever nutty books are sold.