I would like to know amongst other clowns who is their All Time Favorite Clown and for what reason! Whether it be the legends like Emmett Kelly, Red Skelton, Lou Jacobs, Felix Adler, Clowns whos recognition has finally come like a Pinto Colvig (the original Bozo The Clown), or maybe someone on a more personal and/or local level!

I hope everyone responds as it is a postive format to pay tribute to those that may have greatly inspired us to do what we do!

BOY THAT IS A HARD QUESTION FOR ME TO ANSWER. I LOOK AT DIFFERENT CLOWNS FOR DIFFERENT THINGS. AS RODEO CLOWNS GO PROBABLY THE BEST IN THE BUISNESS IS ROB SMETS BUT I DIDNT LIKE IT WHEN HE TOOK THE CLOWN OUT OF BULL FIGHTIN. AS FOR PERFORMANCE RODEO CLOWNS I ALWAYS LOOKED UP TO A CLOWN NAMED WILBER PLAUGER. HE HAD MANY ANIMAL ACTS AND DID A GREAT JOB OF KEEPIN A CROWD ENTERTAINED. AND EVENTUALY I WANT TO DO ALOT MORE WITH ANIMALS IN MY ACT.BUT I THINK RED SKELTON WOULD BE MY ALL TIME FAVORITE FOR HIS TIMING AND THE ABILITY TO MAKE ANYONE LAUGH NO MATTER WHAT LANGUAGE THEY SPOKE.

I always loved Red Skelton, but also other characters like Lucille Ball and Carol Burnette {sp?} for their comic abilities.

My all time favorite would have to be the Three Stooges. I remember many a Saturday morning sitting in front of the TV with my Grandpa watching the Stooges clown around. (sigh) Those were the days. I sure miss Grandpa too. :cry:

Well I don't know if they are actually considered clowns but I just love Laurel and Hardy. I just found that move March of the Wooden Soldiers a couple months ago. I used to love watching it when I was a kid!

GiGi :)

Emmett Kelly
His ability to make people roar with such simple props. A head of Cabbage, a worn out broom, a few boards,a peanut...Or just find a pretty girl, and fall in love with her, staring at her with the big puppy dog eyes; easy stuff. And, proof you don't need a lot of expensive props to get pople to laugh. Other favoritesare Bobo Bell. The Bozo most of us grew up watching. BOb Keeshan. Yes, Captain Kangaroo. He was also the Town CLown in the pantomime skits.But, before that, he was the horn squeaking, seltzer shooting Clarabell the Clown from the Howdy Doody show.
Red Skeltons Feddie the Freeloader, Lou Jacobs and the car.Lou made all his own props.

Excellent responses! Certainly Laurel and Hardy are clowns, as are The Three Stooges. Though known for their slapstick, in my opinion The Stooges are extremely underrated for their verbal satire. A lot of people can't get past the violence...but they should because Moe was a genius (in front and behind the camera)! I want to make mention of one of my favorites - BUSTER KEATON! Many of us were introduced to Buster through his TV series in the 1950s, but may I suggest renting a few of his older classics back in his clowning prime. I highly recommend "The Navigator" (1924)! I hope to see more posts. Reading your responses are both educational and enjoyable! R.C.F.

Its so hard to choose just one. But I am surprised no-one has mentions Charlie Chaplin. Those movies are timeless. Anyone at any age can relate to them. Plus the guy was a genius.

By the way Scruffy, your character does have that Emmett Kelly-Bob Keeshan kind of look. I was wondering if you patterned that after either/or? R.C.F.

By the way Scruffy, your character does have that Emmett Kelly-Bob Keeshan kind of look. I was wondering if you patterned that after either/or? R.C.F.

Not intentionally.
Kelly and I both have/had a square jaw. I played around with more of Grieblings style of mouth and it just didn't work with my face. When I tried the Kelly style mouth it was a perfect fit. Also, Kelly only accented his natural eyebrows, I do more of an Auguste style eye treatment. I have been compared to Emmett kelly for years, but I think that is normal for most people to see a tramp clown and think of Emmett Kelly. Outside of our circles, He is one of the few clowns whose name is known.

Roy Brown's "Cooky the Cook". The most lovable and witty brunt of jokes and kindly troublemaker in history.

Art Carney's "Ed Norton" for his comic genius.

Who could forget Cooky! Watching Ed Norton sign his name is a lesson at the feet of the masters. Great stuff.

When the circus came to town and a young boy got to hang with the clowns and run errands for them one took time to talk to the boy and change his life
His name was Lou Jacobs and that boy was me
And Ihave to agree with Fred about Buster Keton who in my opion was a genius

Jamz...................................All I can say is WOW.....................You as a boy with the larger than life legend, Lou Jacobs?! I am now going to kiss the paper post trail you walk on!!!

If you have any Lou Jacobs stories you wish to share, I would be enthralled! (If you feel it inappropriate for the Clown Forum, you can always PM me)! By the way, did I say WOW yet? :D :D :D

And thanks for the "Buster" endorsement!

My friend Gilligan the Clown trained under Lou at Ringlings Clown School and has a lot more stories than I have but I remember a very tall man whith a quiet voice
telling me making people laugh is a gift from God and not to let it go to waste

{Bowing to Jamz}

Truly, you have been at the feet of the master (Clown that is).....

AMEN Clown Brother!

Sadly at that time I didnt really know who I had right in front of me and let a great opertunity slip by

We all wish for hindsight! At least you did have exchanges that are a lasting memory for you! Not all of us can say that! :wink:

Watching him eat a hot dog sides is somethiong no one can forget or him e4ating water meln and spiting out melon and eating the seeds

Lou Jacobs i love his acts!!

Sid Ceasar

Good one Tim. Could you enlighten us to why Sid Ceasar is your fav? Always like to hear the opinions why! Take Care R.C.F.

do i get any points for saying homie the clown, or will that get sent to the corner with a dunce hat put on my head?

Good one Tim. Could you enlighten us to why Sid Ceasar is your fav? Always like to hear the opinions why! Take Care R.C.F.

Hard to put my finger on any one thing. Essentially, he was a comic genius who could do it all. I like the all around performer as well as the vaudvillian basis of a lot of his stuff. I also apprecaite good satire, as much of his stuff was. Further, on TV, he was the man who had all the writers in hand as far as what made it into the show and was was shot down... not just some stooge reading lines. The improvonisational ability leaves you on edge, not knowing what to expect next. He could readily go in and out of many characters. Basically, I think he was the best at what he did, above anybody else.

I just got through watching the last part of "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World"
on AMC last night, and it was chock-full of old greats! Including
Sid Ceasar and the Three Stooges.

If you haven't seen this classic comedy, go and rent it. If you haven't
seen it lately, you owe it to yourself to check it out again!

Ashed

There is a little known Clown from Liverpool, England Called Peter Reid, at his best he was right up there, but sadly he got complaicant and arogant, and turned away from the people who loved him, now his career has gone right down the pan!!

Ashes is right! I think for an all-around-feel-good-time every clown should be required to see "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World"! It is a starstudded line up, and keeps you laughing and going right til the end! I loved it as a kid, and I love it just as much today! :D

Ashes, I didn't get to see all of it the other day but I was watching to. Also talking about comedians what about Don Knott? OH those Eyes.

Yes, Don Knotts is a master at conveying information
just with his eyes!

I have a boxed set of his movies in my desk at work.


I have MMMMW on DVD and pull it out fairly regularly
to watch it.

Rat Race was supposed to be similar to MMMMW, but I
didn't like it near as much.

Ashes

Everybody set your VCRS.

July 28th at 12:15 Pm on Turner classic movies they are showing an old Joe E. Brown movie called the circus clown. Joe E. was a great clown?comedian. This one is well worth taping!

thanks Scruffy

Well I can't belive no one said my favorite treo. the Marx Bro. I have to say that I just love the Harpo hand shake.

I love the Marx Bros. Just bought and watched a boxed set of
some of their movies.

They are funnier and wittier every time I watch them.

Ashes

Harpo was alway my fav...

He was so cute.

My laptop is named "Groucho" and my router is named "Harpo"

All the PC's in my home domain have been or are named after comedians -
Lucy, Curly, Moe, Larry, Hanks (Tom Hanks) -- my daughter's PC.
George and Gracie.

I was watching The Wizard of Oz w/ my daughter today and it occured to me how great Ray Bolger (sp?) was!


GiGi :)

well i hate to say it but im indecisive or am i? :? ? well anyway i gots a poem for you but i decided it would be at the clown jokes page (its a good 1 :wink: ) so go look

This is so great to see how all the legends have influenced us in one way or another! Keep those comments coming in! It kind of proves how collectively, we are where we are at today because of all these icons of the past! R.C.F.

FryPan from The Pumpkin Head & Zeeppo

Whoa--this one's old! My fav is Buster Keaton.

It's a tie between Lou Jacobs and Barry Lubin for me.

Barry's VERY good but LOU JACOBS is the BEST EVER. I've seen him perform and he positively OWNED the audience when he was on the floor.

His daughter Dolly was my next door neighbor when I lived in Tampa. I got to meet him inperson when he came up to bring Dolly a bar-b-que. He had borrowed an old van from someone to bring it up to her. While he was visiting it developed a flat tire but the truck didn't have a spare. It was late night and he was going to sleep in the truck overnight ( real circus guy)and get the tire fixed in a.m. I loaned him the spare off my van which was very well used but would still hold air, He knew another act was headed north in a couple days and they would bring the tire back. Well two days later I got the wheel back with a BRAND NEW tire on it. Dolly's comment was a simple "That'S Dad'"

Lou Jacobs was not just a GOOD clown , he was a GOOD person.

It'd have to be Karl Adrien Wettach or Grock as he's known an absolute genius who performed theatrical shows solo for years keeping the audience entertained for an hour or more with his antics.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FN9CWQCZFpU

And of course Charlie Rivel would be a close second I adore his gentle approach that draws you in

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hK_G5EdmAk

Smartii

A close second to Lou Jacobs would be Walt Stimax...who?...While Walt was a producing clown for several major Shrine circuses, he spent most of his career ( almost 50 years) working on small mud shows (circus) A classic whiteface, he was trained by Albert White. No matter how small an audience was his wardrobe was ALWAYS sharp and first-class. He was "old school" and nothing but a gentleman. He believed that if only 1 person was watching,they paid full price for their ticket and deserved his best. I consider it an honor that I knew him as a friend.

If Red Skelton and the Three Stooges combined....

I love Red Skelton and the Three Stooges

there is no way i can choose just one... does lucille ball count as a clown or are we talking red nose clown...