OK, I want to try and put together a short skit for Buzz Clownstrong, my Halloween clown character. I tried to string together a few jokes and all, but think it is missing something...

Greetings fellow earthlings. It gives me great pleasure to have the opportunity to introduce myself. I am Buzz Clownstrong and I will be the next Astronut in space. It will be one small step for a clown, one giant leap for clownkind. And yes, in case you were wondering, I am on the front page of today's newspaper. (reaches down and picks up the newspaper under my feet.)

I was so excited when I heard that NASA was auditioning people to be among their next generation of Astronuts. My parents always had high hopes for me when I was growing up, and they always said I was a space cadet. But all kidding aside, I really am a down to earth kind of clown.

My friend (need a good name) wanted to be here with me. He is going to be the first magician in space. His goal in life is to become the most famous flying sorcerer.

To help me prepare, for a trip into outer space, I have been working on overcoming motion sickness by learning to ride a unicycle. I am hoping they are a little easier to ride in outer space where I won't have to worry about gravity.

I have also been getting used to having objects flying around my head by learning to juggle. (Do a little juggling...)

I am hoping to go on a mission to the sun. Some people think that might be dangerous with the sun so big and bright. But I tell them to rest assured, NASA scientists are usually smart and have probably realized it is safer to travel to the sun at night. I know it is going to be a long trip and that we will only have a few opportunities to meteor showers along the way.

I think my biggest concern is the food they serve in outer space. I heard they have many unidentified frying objects.

I'm getting hungry so I know it is almost launch time.

I don't have much time as I left my space ship at the parking meteors. Until we meet again, I am Buzz Clownstrong and I will be the next Astronut in space.

I like it the only other space clown I know is Captain Visual

I have images of Ed Norton on the Honeymooners doing his "Captain Video" bit, complete with space helmet.

I think your concept has a lot of potential. I'd get kinda crazy with it. For instance, when you go to pull the paper up from under your foot, pull at it repeatedly until it tears. Hold it up and note how your picture is on "That part." pointing down to what still remains beneath your foot. Talk funny. Repeat certain things like a broken record and have someone come to jostle you out of it. Milk the puns. Leave the "needs a good name" in and say exactly THAT. Your parents always said you were "a little spacey - (long pause) cadet."

Make your intro and outro something like, "And here's that 'Spacey character," BUZZZZZ CLOWNSTRONG!!!!!"

Thanks tim, I will see what I can do to milk it for all it is worth.

My picture wasn't in the paper, I was just standing on it, therefore I was "on" the front page of today's paper.

My friend (need a good name) wanted to be here with me. He is going to be the first magician in space. His goal in life is to become the most famous flying sorcerer.


David Cometfield

Buzz Heavymonth

OK, I want to try and put together a short skit for Buzz Clownstrong, my Halloween clown character. I tried to string together a few jokes and all, but think it is missing something...

Greetings fellow earthlings. It gives me great pleasure to have the opportunity to introduce myself. I am Buzz Clownstrong and I will be the next Astronut in space. It will be one small step for a clown, one giant leap for clownkind. And yes, in case you were wondering, I am on the front page of today's newspaper. (reaches down and picks up the newspaper under my feet.) If you are picking up the paper it would be a good place for a bit. First I would milk the part about being on the paper. At first just point down to the paper, then slowly repeat the line about being ON the paper, then pick up the paper and say "I didn't say I was in the paper." Now how about doing the torn and restored newspaper routine only when you restore the paper your picture is on every page. "But I will be after I'm in space."

I was so excited when I heard that NASA was auditioning people to be among their next generation of Astronuts. My parents always had high hopes for me when I was growing up, and they always said I was a space cadet. But all kidding aside, I really am a down to earth kind of clown.

My friend (need a good name) wanted to be here with me. He is going to be the first magician in space. His goal in life is to become the most famous flying sorcerer. "But it wasn't in the cards."

To help me prepare, for a trip into outer space, I have been working on overcoming motion sickness by learning to ride a unicycle. I am hoping they are a little easier to ride in outer space where I won't have to worry about gravity.

I have also been getting used to having objects flying around my head by learning to juggle. (Do a little juggling...)

I am hoping to go on a mission to the sun. Some people think that might be dangerous with the sun so big and bright. But I tell them to rest assured, NASA scientists are usually smart and have probably realized it is safer to travel to the sun at night. I know it is going to be a long trip and that we will only have a few opportunities to meteor showers along the way.

I think my biggest concern is the food they serve in outer space. I heard they have many unidentified frying objects.

I'm getting hungry so I know it is almost launch time.

I don't have much time as I left my space ship at the parking meteors. Until we meet again, I am Buzz Clownstrong and I will be the next Astronut in space.



Just a couple of ideas. Where are you thinking of using Buzz, or are you just starting to prepare for October already?

I am trying to come up with an original one person skit to use for the American Clown Idol contest at Circus Magic.

I probably do need to have a few more real tricks and things to perform. I don't have the rules for this year's competition, but last year it was limited to a single performer, in clown makeup and costume, and under a few minutes (??) in length.

I only have one day to put together any props for this event.

I like the name Dave Cometfield.

I added the joke that when we perform together, it will be out of this world!

Not sure how much time you have until the competition but you might want to think about the definition of a "skit" with a beginning, middle and end. Right now you are putting together a Jay Leno type monologue. It reminds me of a stand up routine from Comedy Central instead of a clown skit. You have a good start but if you are going to take home that first place spacecraft we want you to be top notch.

I was hoping that I could find a good Boy Scout skit on the internet that I could adapt, but didn't see anything. I suppose I could re-enact the lunar landing or something. Last year's competition had one true skit and two juggling routines. So, maybe the monologue could still work.

I did come up with a few more jokes/puns to add...

What on Earth was I thinking?

Sorry, I spaced out for a second.

NASA has some of the smartest brains in the world working for them.

You don't understand the gravity of the situation.

They keep telling me I can't bring everything because they don't have enough space. Hello! Everything out there is space.

I just know they will want me to do a bunch of chores because I keep hearing that this whole space vacuum is a big deal.

I think I came up with a way to make it a bit more like a skit....

Buzz is unemployed and starts looking through the classified section of the newspaper and sees that NASA is looking for some new astronuts. I could then think out loud or call a friend for help/advice... Most of the jokes could still work with a little effort. I would need to come up with a blow off to bring the skit to an end.

Not sure how much time you have until the competition but you might want to think about the definition of a "skit" with a beginning, middle and end. Right now you are putting together a Jay Leno type monologue. It reminds me of a stand up routine from Comedy Central instead of a clown skit. You have a good start but if you are going to take home that first place spacecraft we want you to be top notch.

I think it could totally work as a monologue type of skit such as he's already outlined if it's done with solid character, good timing, and a few funny bits of business (like the newspaper thing - though don't explain the joke, that's just begging for a lame groan - or entering with a fishbowl on his head.)

What if you entered with a drink in your hand and introduced yourself as "'Buzzed' Clownstrong?"

Enters. Starts talking (muffled, but can't be heard) with a fishbowl on top of his head. Struggles with it and finally pulls it off. Takes a deep breath. Then a drink.

"Ah, gareetings, jolly good fellows of the big blue planet! It gives me great pleas-e-ure to have the ooppoortunitee to intro-e-du-ice myself. Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiii (dropping voice then raising it in glissando) a-im Buuuuuizzed Clowiiiiinstrong and Iiiiiiiii will be the next Eeeee-Astronut in space. Heeheeheeheehee. (Takes a drink.) It will be one small sip for a clown, one giant martini for clowinkind! (takes a drink) And, yes, in case you were wondering, I am atop the front page of tomorrow's newspaper. - today. (reaches down and picks up the newspaper under my feet. struggles with it. tears part away. holds it up) "Right on top!" (nervously) "Heehee - that part!" (points down at what remains.)

I was soooooo excited when I heard that NASA was unemploying people to be among their next generation of (clap hands - point to the sky) "patta bee, baada booooooooom!" Yeah. (takes drink)

My parents always had hiiiiiiigh hopes for me when I was growing up, and they always said I was a spacey kid - et. They always knew I was out of this wooooorld. Ooooooooooooo. (takes drink)

But first I had to pass the test. I answered, "ooooooooooooooo" (takes drink), and the U.S. Government Cutback Budget office said, "That's good enough for US, let's send him off to space!" Teeeheeheeheeeheeeheeeheeheee (takes drink)

I have a friend. I dooooooo! We met while in "the program."

My friend...... needs a good name.....

.....wanted to be here with me.

He is hoping to be the first magician in space. His goal in life is to become the most famous..... flying...... sorcerer. And replace the shuttle program.

To help me prepare, for a trip into outer space, I have been working on overcoming motion sickness by learning to ride a unicycle. I am hoping they are a little easier to ride among the stars where I won't have to worry about gravity. (Starts to take a swig. Then stops. Shakes his head.) "Don't drink and ride!"

I have also been getting used to having objects flying around my head (Do a little juggling...) But, I seem to see then even without juggling... hmmm... for some reason. ahhhhhhh (takes a drink)

I am hoping to go on a mission to the suuuuuun. Yeah, that's my bright idea! Some people think that might be dangerous with the sun so big and..... sunny! But I tell them to rest assured, NASA scientists are usually smart and have probably realized it is safer to travel to the sun at night. yeeeeeeah (takes a drink)

Alas, I don't have much time till launch as I left my ship at the parking meteors." And I need another drink!

Tang-yoooooou! Now count me down tennineeightsevensix- Five- (holding hand up) FOUR- THREE-TWO-ONE..... Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! (Starts to exit - arms extended like flying - then abruptly stops and looks back - now in a lower voice), "Where's the restroom?" (points and nods then runs off in that direction.)

That's roughly how it would work in the crazy mind of tim.

If this is supposed to be family friendly, I would recommend skipping the 'Buzzed' part, and depending on how much time you have to do this in, you might want to skip the long inflections - but it's up to you. Find out how much time you have, and time yourself doing the routine and see how long it takes.

I do like the coming in with the fishbowl on your head, though.

I think I came up with a way to make it a bit more like a skit....

Buzz is unemployed and starts looking through the classified section of the newspaper and sees that NASA is looking for some new astronuts. I could then think out loud or call a friend for help/advice... Most of the jokes could still work with a little effort. I would need to come up with a blow off to bring the skit to an end.

With the changes to the beginning you could actually the torn and restored newspaper as your blowoff.

Looking at it that way it is starting to come together. I like some of your new puns.

If this is supposed to be family friendly, I would recommend skipping the 'Buzzed' part,

I think drunken characters are perfectly family friendly, as the historic tradition of such on classic television, radio, and film illustrates. Plainly, drunks are funny.

Now, maybe I'd avoid my "high" bit - especially if accentuated with a faux joint for a prop to take repeated drags upon. Given, one might not make edgier concepts - like a drunken astronaut - a standard bit for the kids' show which you're marketing. But for a stage competition at a convention, I see no reason at all to be overly nicey nice among what amounts mostly to other adult professionals in the industry.

Push the envelope. That's where the hilarity exists. Not in what's safe. Roll 'em over and give them something to remember!

It's not 'overly nicey nice' to not do things that encourage the drinking of alcoholic beverages, let alone drinking to excess, it's mature, and shows that even while clowning, you can be responsible.

When my Dad goes into a competition, he goes in with the stuff that he does all the time in his show. He wants to be judged on what he does when he's actually performing for an audience. He doesn't want to do anything that might be considered 'edgy' if that's not what he does regularly. If there happens to be people in the audience that might want to hire him, he doesn't want to turn them off of it by doing something that seemingly encourages or shows irresponsibility.

Perhaps you find drunkenness amusing, but I find it irritating.

Clowning is about pushing boundaries. Testing limits. Reflecting upon life and even mocking its foolishness.

As such, a drunken character shows us something of a reality which exists so prevalently in all of society. Is the fact that someone is drunk in real life funny? Not necessarily. It can even be quite sad, moronic, or frustrating. All the more so an alcoholic, whose serious issues cause a lot of pain for himself and his family. (Though an alcoholic family may well need to laugh at dad, for instance, to survive.) But an inebriated person can, indeed, be a hoot in the fact that - not unlike a clown - they are often loose, on the edge, willing to say or do things which one might not under normal social mores. There is a certain direct innocence in it all.

The clown's job is to, likewise, enter into this sort of moment of life, and thereby satirize this foolishness. A drunken character, then, in no way is necessarily endorsing or promoting over consumption. Rather, he is merely reflecting upon it, shining a mirror for us to see the irony between how life can sometimes be in its fallen reality versus how it, perhaps, should be in its ideal. Or, conversely, how the ideal itself can fall hilariously short and have inherent difficulties, also. In a word, the clown helps break things down so that we can find the "truth", and be led to live in it freely.

(Do you really think that I'm suggesting the clown has an actual highball in hand, rather than a mere prop which he's posing with? - Though I might not necessarily object to him drinking genuine tequila, either, admittedly.)

Your dad's style and objectives are admirable, considering what he's attempting to accomplish as an entertainer. I have much great respect for his abilities to be both quite skilled and entertaining, in a family friendly sort of presentation. Indeed, such advances the art and business positively.

But that isn't the only legitimate way when it comes to comedy and clowning.

Shouldn't a character named "Buzz" at least have wings and be a bee?

(Do you really think that I'm suggesting the clown has an actual highball in hand, rather than a mere prop which he's posing with? - Though I might not necessarily object to him drinking genuine tequila, either, admittedly.)

NO!!! Do you really think that having an actual drink in his hand is what would be the issue? Clowns - especially those that clown for kids - should be good role models. If a clown is even playing drunk, it may - whether it is meant to or not - give some kid the idea that it's ok - or even cool - to drink and get drunk.

Drunkenness is NOT cool, it IS dangerous - no 'buts', or 'not ifs'.

Computer was acting up, so it posted 2x. This repeat post can be deleted, so as not to clutter the space up.

Tim: (Do you really think that I'm suggesting the clown has an actual highball in hand, rather than a mere prop which he's posing with? - Though I might not necessarily object to him drinking genuine tequila, either, admittedly.)

NO!!! Do you really think that having an actual drink in his hand is what would be the issue? Clowns - especially those that clown for kids - should be good role models. If a clown is even playing drunk, it may - whether it is meant to or not - give some kid the idea that it's ok - or even cool - to drink and get drunk.

Drunkenness is NOT cool, it IS dangerous - no 'buts', or 'not ifs'.

No, I think it's funnier if you believe that Tim needs to hear it TWICE!

I know very good entertainers who work "clean" shows for family/children's entertainment and also do more adult oriented entertainment in alternate venues. (And that's not even touching upon face/body painters who might put little kitties or rainbows on a child's face one day and do a full body paint of a nearly naked woman the next.) While there can be issues of integrity of reputation if you're concerned that some moms may be scandalized at the other side of your work which would keep them from hiring you to twist balloons at little Bobby's birthday party, neither is such necessarily a reason to stifle or disband creativity in varying sorts of venues for a serious performing artist.

I don't know that a clown's job is necessarily to be a role model. If s/he is, that's great. But his function is, simply, to entertain effectively. We also need to separate the act from the person. Someone might do a saucy act while still being an individual of outstanding character. Or he might do a good kid's show and beat the hell out of his wife at home. What if the clown does a clean family oriented show for the kids while the parents are getting schloshed ten feet away? Shoot, to insist that the clown be a role model would effectively eliminate many historic greats of the circus clowning world who had rough reputations.

No one is saying drunkness is "cool." But it does tend towards funny. And, in some cases, even endearing. (Crazy Guggenheim from the Jackie Gleason show, for instance, who many a dad would watch with his son, laugh at, and then say, "Now, listen to him sing beautifully.") Yes, Mister Dunaheheeheeheeheeeheeeheeeeheee! Drunks are solid characters for an entertainer - and clown.

Now what I REALLY want to hear is a report from Toony on what he actually did and how it went.

Drunkenness is NOT cool....

Perhaps we could agree that "Drunks ain't cool, but they sure are fools!"

Still, tell me that this isn't funny and fantastic comedy/clowning:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orYhEEWWyX8

Interestingly enough, just look where I found information about the similar Lucy bit while searching for its video:

Lucy Does a TV Commercial | I Love Lucy | Vitameatavegamin | Lucy Ricardo | Lucille Ball | clown ministry | I Love Lucy season 1 (http://www.clown-ministry.com/index_1.php/articles/lucy_does_a_tv_commercial_i_love_lucy_season_1/)

(If the latter link's location ain't enough to scandalize Barry's impressions about religion's relation to and views of clowning, I don't know what would possibly be.)

This little discourse between Tim and Harpoeta reminds me of the following joke.

The uptight new school principal was making the rounds of his school on his first day. Upon passing the stockroom, he was startled to see the door wide open and teachers rushing in and out, carting-off books and supplies in preparation for the arrival of students the next day. This shocked him because at the school where he had been a principal previously had used an elaborate request/check-out system that required his signature for everything. He briskly walked off and stopped by the office of the school's long-time custodian and asked, "Do you think it's wise to keep the stock room unlocked and to let the teachers take things without filling in requisitions?"

The Custodian looked at him gravely and replied, "We trust them with the children, don't we?"



Harpeta writes, "Clowns - especially those that clown for kids - should be good role models".

I'm not totally useless then, I could always serve as a bad example!

The following article by Roger Scruton probably deserves a thread in its own right. But I think it touches on something relevant to this discussion. On numerous occaisions, Harpoeta has insisted setting up joke free zones on a number of varied topics. Not only that, she seems to have wide suport and sympathy from other forum members. This article deals exactly with this phenomena of a puritanical element in American humour.

The Decline of Laughter

by ROGER SCRUTON

Laughter is not only a joy and a balm, it is the principal way we have of accepting the failings of our fellows.

Reason shows itself in all our attempts to understand the world and in all our ways of relating to each other. It is displayed in our choices, and also in our involuntary reactions. Only a rational being can weep or blush, even though weeping and blushing lie outside the reach of the will. And only a rational being can laugh. Hyenas make a noise like laughter, but it is not a sign of amusement, nor does it have the social function that laughter has — which is to make light of our differences and to rejoice in what we share. Laughter is not only a joy and a balm, it is the principal way we have of accepting the failings of our fellows. And laughter, though confined to rational beings, must be spontaneous if it is to be real. Willed laughter is a kind of sneer; spontaneous laughter is an acceptance of the thing that provokes it, even when, by laughing at something, you cut it down to size.

A society that does not laugh is one without an important safety valve, and a society in which people interpret crude humor not as the first step toward friendly relations, but as a mortal offense, is one in which ordinary life has become fraught with danger. Human beings who live in communities of strangers are greatly in need of laughter, if their differences are not to lead to civil war. This was one of the functions of the ethnic joke. When Poles, Irish, Jews, and Italians competed for territory in the New World to which they had escaped, they provisioned themselves with a store of ethnic jokes with which to laugh off their manifest differences.

Ethnic humor has been studied in depth by the British sociologist Christie Davies, and his findings — in The Mirth of Nations — are a salutary reminder of the ease with which spontaneous social solutions can be confiscated by the po-faced censors who seek to govern us. The jokes and teases that Christie assembles are gestures of conciliation, in which difference is made harmless and set laughingly aside. Yet everywhere in the modern world a kind of puritanical vigilance is extinguishing the ethnic joke, condemning it as an offense against our common humanity. What was traditionally regarded as a way to prevent social conflict is now seen as a major cause of it: The ethnic joke is accused of "stereotyping," and so tainted with the indelible stain of racism.

Even more sinful than the ethnic joke in the eyes of our moral guardians is the old comedy of the sexes. Despite all the ingenious labor of the feminists, ordinary people notice the very real differences between the sexes, and the very great need to accommodate those differences and to defuse the conflicts to which they might give rise. Humor has been the traditional recourse of humanity in this predicament, as men jokingly defer to their "better half," and women submit to the edicts of "his nibs." But who now would risk making a joke about sexual relations or the female temperament in a faculty lounge? You might think that the censorship goes only one way: After all, savage denunciations of men, and whole disciplines of pseudo-scholarship devoted to repeating them, are familiar features of academic life in America. But try making a joke of the masculine defects, and you will be in just the same trouble as if you had made a joke about the weaknesses of women. For the feminist the failings of men are no laughing matter. Not surprisingly, therefore, the literature of feminism is devoid of humor — and advisedly so, for if it ever were to employ this resource it would die laughing at itself.

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There are many joke-free zones in our religious literature. The Old Testament is full of them — think of that appalling Book of Joshua — and the Koran is as rigidly humorless as any document that has survived the efforts of humanity to laugh it off. But this points to another area in which humor has become dangerous. Christians, Jews, atheists, and Muslims, living side by side in acute consciousness of the divisions between them, are greatly in need of the religious joke. The Jews, through their experience of the Diaspora, living as strangers and sojourners among communities that at any moment might turn against them, have long been aware of this. As a result the rabbinical traditions are full of self-deprecating jokes, which underline the absurd position of God's chosen people, living on the margins of a world that does not know that that is who they are. Jewish humor is one of the greatest survival mechanisms ever invented — which has aided not only its own survival but the survival of Jewish identity, through an unparalleled history of attempts to rub it out.

It seems to me that we stand in need of a repertoire of religious jokes and a bold habit of expressing them. However, many Muslims have an exaggerated capacity to feel slighted, and there is scarcely a humorous remark to be made about Islam that will not instantly be read as an expression of hostility. Here too the censors are hard at work, depriving humanity of its natural way of defusing conflict, and forcing upon us all a kind of tiptoeing and apprehensive deference that is in fact far closer to hostility than any robust guffaw. Of course, religion is a sensitive topic, and the traditional British response, that it should therefore never be mentioned in polite society, is understandable. But in a world of increasingly belligerent affirmations of faith, the British solution is no longer available. Satire of the kind directed at Tartuffe by Molière is surely what our mullahs deserve. By satirizing them, we come to terms with them; we also distinguish their ludicrous self-righteousness from the gentle path of accommodation that ordinary Muslims want and need.

An outside observer cannot fail to be struck by the decline of that kind of humor in America. This universal human resource, which in the works of James Thurber, H.L. Mencken, Nathanael West, and other great exponents enabled America to weather previous social upheavals, and even to accommodate the new kind of American woman, is now marginalized or disapproved. A joke in bad taste can cost you your career, as Don Imus recently discovered — and any joke, however sophisticated, that touches on race, sex, or religion runs a serious risk of punishment. As a result, an eerie silence surrounds the great questions of modern American society — a silence punctuated by the hysterical outbursts of the humorless, whenever their factitious sensitivities are provoked.

That this is an unhealthy situation surely goes without saying. More depressing, however, is its effect on ordinary morality. In the past it has been axiomatic that faults are forgiven, if followed by a clear intention to mend. This axiom does not, it seems, apply in the world of American censorship. One remark judged to be "racist," "sexist," "stereotyping," or "homophobic," and you must leave the community of the saved forever. It is the end of your prospects in any career over which the censors exert their control — and that means any career in education or government. You can grovel as much as you wish, like Don Imus; you can perform the equivalent of King Henry II's barefoot pilgrimage to Canterbury, and it will make no difference. One fault and you're out.

And it doesn't matter if it is not a fault: Your remark may have been misunderstood, your joke may have gone unintentionally wrong, you may have made a slip of the tongue — you may, like the hero of Philip Roth's great novel The Human Stain, have merely used in its traditional meaning a word that, in some novel usage, has been placed on the political index.

Moreover, the ability of the self-appointed censors to discern ideological sins and heresies has been vastly enhanced by their daily exercises in resentment. Such accusers know how to discern racist, sexist, and homophobic thought-crimes in the most innocent-seeming small talk. And they know no forgiveness, since they are cut off, like all humorless people, from the process of self-knowledge. The desire to accuse, which brings with it a reputation for virtue without the cost of acquiring it, takes over from the normal flow of human forgiveness, creating a wooden personality familiar to all who have had to deal with the lobbies that now control public opinion in America.

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What is needed, it seems to me, is a seriously rude, arrogant, and well-educated class of journalists, who would lend each other support in ridiculing the pretensions of the censors.
What should be our response to this? It is easy to say that we should laugh at it. But losing your career is not a laughing matter; still less is it a laughing matter to be put on a list of targets by the Islamist offense-machine.

We had such a class of journalists until recently in England. Throughout the left-wing takeover of the universities in the 1970s, journalists like T.E. Utley, Peregrine Worsthorne, George Gale, and Colin Welch would treat their readers to witty, disrespectful, and outspoken dismissals of the new intellectual movements. As a result, those movements gained control only of the universities and not of public opinion. Some of that bold class of journalists were on the left, like Alan Watkins and Hugo Young; some were on the right, like Utley and Worsthorne. But in the fight against the censors they stood together, united in their contempt for the puritan disease. As a result, each could be as rude as he liked about the surrounding sea of stupidity and still raise an accepting laugh from his readers.

Alas that most of those journalists are no longer with us, and reading about the Don Imus affair in the American press, I wonder whether they ever had their equivalent over here.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Roger Scruton. "The Decline of Laughter." The American Spectator (June 2007).

From a strange bedfellow to Barry, the eminent Francis Cardinal George has recently noted (along the same line of critiquing American Puritanically influenced ideology, even in its secularization) how: "...for modern American culture, everything is tolerated but nothing is forgiven, while for Christianity it’s exactly the reverse – many things aren’t tolerated, but everything can be forgiven."

Perhaps in the existing tension and its release of laughter can be discovered something of this chasm and the difference of understanding.

Via an interview of last year, he continues:

"That makes us very legalistic, as I say in the book. Today, you need a lawyer to accompany you at every step of your life, practically. Nothing is done without a lawyer, so we have lawyers in courts, lawyers in the legislature, lawyers in private practice, in corporations, and so on. If you’re not a lawyer, you’re hardly part of public life anymore."

Q: "Would you see the explosion of legalism as the index of a culture that doesn’t know how to forgive?"

A: "That’s right. Punishment has to be legal, and it has to be permanent."

It is, indeed, laughter which allows us to see what's wrong held up to the light, recognized for its fallen nature - and forgive! Such that we might be reunited in what is true and right; restored to health and life.

OK, I am not sure what I did with the final version of the skit. I wrote it out on loose leaf paper while at my hotel room. I tore off part of it for Bob Gretton to use for my introduction.

I call it Clowns in Space.

[Announcer]
Greetings fellow earthlings! It gives me great pleasure to introduce Buzz Clownstrong, the next great American astronut.

[Buzz]
Wow, what a weekend I had at Circus Magic. I learned a lot and picked up a few items from the dealers. My favorite is this red and blue silk that matches my uniform.

[Perform a bit of magic]
Oh, wait, this is a yellow and green silk.

[Throw it aside]

At least, there is nothing wrong with my Chocolate Colored Brown Es.

[Walk forward and step on the Washington Post]
Look at this, I am on the front page of today's Washington Post.

[Bend down and try to pick up the paper]
Let's see what is going on today.

[Sit down and start reading the paper]

Sir Toony Origionals is having a half off sale on men's suits. They aren't going to get me to fall for that one again.

Steve Kissel is having a convention in Hawaii. I wish I could go.
[Start singing some Hawaiian music and doing hula]

The Clown Network dot com is casting for a new reality series, Clowns in Space. I can just picture it, one small step for a clown, one giant leap for clownkind.

I always thought I was a down to earth kind of clown, but my parents always thought I was a bit of a space cadet.

I bet I could become an expert juggler in space [Start juggling] and I wouldn't have to pretend to be able to juggle eight balls.

I should call my friend Magic Cometfield and get him to audition with me.

[Get out phone and call Magic]
Hey Magic! Guess what, you can finally have your chance to become the most famous flying sorcerer. We have an opportunity to put on a performance that will be out of this world.

[Pause to listen]

No really, I just read it in the Washington Post. The Clown Network is casting a new reality series, Clowns in Space. You got to audition with me.

[Pause to listen]

Don't worry, I am sure you can bring anything you want, there will be plenty of room. They don't call it space for nothing.

[Pause to listen]

Sorry, I spaced out for a second, what did you say?

[Pause to listen]

Yeah, space food can be a bit unusual. I bet we will be eating some unidentified frying objects on a daily basis. And don't forget about the meteor showers.

[Pause to listen]
What on Earth was I thinking. I can't do this.

[Pause to listen]

Why not? You don't understand the gravity of the situation. I get motion sick trying to ride a unicycle.

You go without me. Talk to you later.

I like your patter and pacing and puns. You even got a cheesy magic trick in there and made it work with the scenario, which is cool. And the Bob Newhart phone thing always works well, imo. I wonder whether it would further things if you pulled out an old brick cell phone to call on. Totally futuristic, clown!

So how did it go over?

(See what happens when you leave us too long?)

Can we rename this thread: "Warning: Will Robinson!"?

The target audience was the adult clown... It probably would have gone over the head of kids. It would need more action or visual humor to make it a generic skit.

Yes, a Blue Tooth or Eye-Phone would have made a fun addition and fit well with the puns. I think I have seen a frisby that looks like fried eggs...

I was joking with Clyde D Scope before the skit and he mentioned the old "men are from mars women are from venus." I wanted to find a way to include that along with "clowns are from....?"

Well, I have a year before the next Circus Magic convention. I will keep this idea spinning in the back of my head and maybe have something a little stronger next time.

Also, next year, I need to make sure my friends actually see the skit and vote for me. A few didn't get up until it was over and the ones I saw during the balloon and face painting competitions which was before the American Clown Idol competition left to get coffee.

My favorite Martian. Man on the Moon. Mighty Mouse. Marvin the Martian.

Just some other outer space character thoughts to play with.

I was going through the things I picked up at Circus Magic and noticed the SECA convention theme is 2010: A Space Odyssey. I wasn't really planning to go to Florida for their convention, but it would be a potential place to take Buzz Clownstrong.

Returning to the ancillary topic, I attended Chicago Shakespeare Theater's presentation of Private Lives last night. Of course, the plot is riotously hilarious - and violent. More than just the physical comedy of fight sequences or biting verbal barbs, there is the underlying issues of how humans interact at a base level. And this seeming seething is even something of a significantly attractive feature among the two protagonists to the point it excites them sexually.

Should we stay all hush hush on such things because it isn't the ideal of a functioning family?

Well, here were some thoughts from the director, Gary Griffin, which were printed in the program:

"This play takes on questions of marriage and relationship, but it bubbles in such a way that you should also have a grand time in the theater. What I hope will happen is that you have the most wonderful time for two hours, then get in the car and go, "Whoa! What was I laughing at? That really is unfortunately very true."

(Now, why he thinks we should be driving cars in Chicago - rather than walking, biking, or taking transit - is another question; but perhaps a similar like reflection on a sad yet humorous reality.)

The interview continues:

Q: "How have you come to understand the comedy, farce, and pathos of this piece?"

A: "There's pain behind the comedy - pain is the root of comedy. Amanda and Elyot live in the moment, existing in a glorious improvisation. In a moment of intense risk and passion, they decide to run away and try it again. What's a definition of insanity? -- doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. This play explores that particular kind of insanity."

The questioner advances:

"The insanity of love?"

To which, he ultimately concludes (after some extent of thoughtful reflection)....

"I hope our audiences will discover an essential play about love, marriage, and, possibly, forgiveness."

Sir Toony Van Dukes that is one terriffic skit with plenty of puns, and one can build the background from reading a letter to narrating a short skit. Thank you for sharing!