History and Philosophy

“To have any movement forward, you have to have a philosophy of clowning.  To have a philosophy of clowning, you have to have a history of clowning.” – Victor Vladimirov, Director of the Moscow State College of Circus and Variety Arts, speaking at the 1993 World Clown Congress in Harnosand, Sweden.

“To have a valid philosophy of clowning, you have to have an accurate history of clowning.” – Bruce “Charlie” Johnson

Mistaken ideas about clown history have caused people to make false statements limiting the options for current performers.

In the 1990’s a member of one of the clown organizations wrote a letter to the editor of their magazine complaining that a Tramp makeup category competition judge had unfairly criticized him for using bright colors in his tramp costume. 

The judge wrote an article defending his position.  The judge said that since Emmett Kelly was the first Tramp clown, he is the prototype everyone must follow.  He said that Emmett Kelly did not wear bright colors so modern Tramp clowns cannot wear bright colors.

The competition judge was completely wrong.  Emmett Kelly was not the first Tramp clown.  I have been able to trace the Tramp clown character back to Jim McIntyre and Tom Heath who introduced their characters during an 1874 circus appearance.  Their characters were inspired by the rise of homeless people caused by the 1873 recession.  The Tramp clown was extremely popular in Vaudeville prior to World War I.  So, Emmett Kelly is not the prototype.  The character existed for over fifty years before Emmett began appearing as a Tramp clown.

Also, Emmett Kelly wore a bright Kelly-Green shirt.  In his autobiography Clown: My Life in Tatters and Smiles, Emmett said that he chose that color for two reasons.  The first was that he felt a Tramp costume needed to be brightened up with color.  The second was to connect his appearance to his last name.

Believing that Emmett Kelly is the Tramp prototype has led to many people trying to place limits upon the Tramp clown.  In his autobiography, Emmett said that he moved slowly to stand out in contrast with other circus clowns who moved very fast.  His slow pace had nothing to do with being a Tramp clown. 

I have heard instructors claim that Tramp clowns should not juggle because that is in violation of the Tramp’s slow moment.  That is false. 

Emmett Kelly performed a brief juggling routine. He would demonstrate that he could perform the three-ball cascade.  He stopped and balanced a feather on his nose.  Then he began juggling again.  He dropped one of the balls.  Keeping his focus on the feather, he carefully knelt down.  He felt around but could not find the ball.  Then he tipped his head down to look for the ball revealing that he had been cheating.  Instead of balancing the feather on his nose, he had stuck the feather securely into the putty he used to build up his nose.

Otto Griebling, one of the most famous Tramp clowns, performed a well-known preshow routine where he juggled four pie plates.  He would juggle in front of one section of the audience.  He was not satisfied with their response.  He moved in front of another section of the audience and juggled the four pie plates briefly.  He felt that their response was a little better.  He moved back to the first section and repeated his juggling bit giving them the opportunity to applaud louder.  Soon he had all of the sections of the Big Top competing to see who could applaud and cheer the loudest.

There is a long history of Juggling Tramp clowns.  James Harrigan was a famous Tramp Juggler touring vaudeville beginning in the 1890’s.  W. C. Fields began his career by performing as “The Great Tramp Juggler.”  The Juggler’s Bulletin, a newsletter published in the 1940’s, listed 34 famous Tramp Juggling acts that had toured vaudeville.

Emmett Kelly was performing in circuses when he created his clown character known as Weary Willy.  Most, but not all, circus clowns worked silently at that time.  Emmett followed that style.  He also made his character essentially sad.  Some clown instructors teach that means all tramp clowns must be silent and sad. That is far from the historical truth. 

Early in the Twentieth Century, Nat M. Wills was famous as The Happy Tramp.  His was a vocal character.  He sang and performed monologues.  He was the first entertainer to be the headliner at the famous Palace Theater.  When he appeared at New York’s Hippodrome Theater, with its massive stage, an actual locomotive pulled two box cars full of tramps onto the stage.  Wills exited one of the train cars and sang “When Old New York Goes Dry.”

The truth is that the Tramp clown character was very popular in Vaudeville from 1890 until the United States entered the first World War in 1918.  There was a great variety of Tramp acts.  In addition to Tramp Jugglers, there were Tramp magicians, thieves, monologists, singers, and a pianist.  Later when ice shows began there were skating Tramps.

Studying entertainment history does not impose more limits.  It reveals additional options. 

Two of my students told me that they loved the Dead & Alive routine, but they could not perform it.  When I asked them why, they responded that neither one could carry their partner off on their shoulders.  That is how the version taught at the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus ends.  My students thought that meant it was the only ending.  I told them that there are other potential endings.  The original version, performed by Secchi and Alfano in the 1860’s, ended with Secchi turning his partner face down, putting a wheel with a short axle in his hands, and pushing him off like a wheelbarrow.  In Pete In The Well, a version perform in Nineteenth Century Medicine Shows, the “dead” person snuck off stage, donned a sheet, and returned as a ghost terrifying his partner.  In 1977, I produced a version for Circus Kirk that ended with me being placed on a breakaway stretcher.  My wife and I debuted our version in 1994 that ended with her levitating me.  My students were delighted that they could end it in other ways.  I know that they immediately began performing it with a variation of the wheelbarrow ending.  They told me that they would experiment with other endings.

Studying history also provides material that can inspire us.  Otto Griebling had passed away before I started clowning.  In his memory, I performed my version of his Come-In juggling act.  He juggled four pie pans.  I usually juggled three balls or three clubs.  Sometimes I juggled three metal spinning plates especially in his honor. 

I have performed Emmett Kelly’s juggling routine in some of my performances. I used a ping pong ball instead of a feather.

In my Tramp Tradition show I perform a brief section of McIntyre and Heath’s Ham Tree Routine.  One hundred and fifty years after it was created there are two lines that always get a laugh.  I perform Nat M. Wills telegram routine, and it always ends with a laugh.

Nat M. Wills created a routine known as No News.  It was widely copied in vaudeville.  Flip Wilson performed it on his television show.

Sometimes old routines need to be updated so modern audiences relate to them.  A popular circus clown routine in the mid-Twentieth Century was the Sword Box gag.  A clown assistant was placed into a cabinet.  Then swords would be thrust through the box making it appear that the clown could not possible still be inside.  After the swords were removed the cabinet was opened and the assistant exited apparently unharmed.  The assistant would drink a glass of water.  Suddenly streams of water would begin shooting out of several places on their body.  Kenny Dodd performed a new version on the Cole Bros. Clyde Beatty Circus in 1977.  There was a lot of controversy about acupuncture at the time.  Insurance companies refused to pay for the procedure while their customers felt it should be covered.  In Kenny’s routine, long acupuncture needles were apparently thrust through a clown patient.  After the treatment concluded and the needles were removed, the patient drank a glass of water.  Suddenly streams of water shot out of several places on their body.

How can you learn more about variety arts history?  How can you make sure that what you are learning is accurate?  What can you do to verify what others have told you?  How is your history knowledge reflected in your performance philosophy?  Is your philosophy valid?  How can you incorporate routines from the past in your performances?  Do they need to be updated?  How can old routines inspire new variations?