BOOK REVIEW

 

Creative Clowning. Edited and compiled by Bruce Fife. Java Publishing Co., Bellaire, TX.   224 pg. 210 illustrations. Paperback. $17.95 postpaid.

 

Not many of us are born funny. And a lot of us wonder how those guys up there on the Club Renegade Stage at IJA conventions come up with those gags and lines that make us laugh.

 

Well, the secret is usually that they studied it and practiced it. Bruce Fife's book is an excellent study guide for your practice sessions! Detailed, rich in ideas and illustrations, this book "includes hundreds of things you can do to entertain an audience. Those who are already there will tell you it's not really too hard to put a few gags together and begin enjoying some attention from crowds.

 

Fife called on seven other authors to contribute material. They are Tony Blance, Steve Kissell, Bruce Johnson, Ralph Dewey, Hal Diamond, Jack Wiley and Gene Lee. Fife edited their ideas into chapters on: comedy magic, balloon sculpturirg, funny juggling, balancing buffoonery, puppetry, clown music, mime and physical comedy, stilt walking, unicycling, makeup, personality development, props, jokes and jobs.

 

This is practical advice for the common man, down to the chapter on "How to start your own birthday party business."

 

There's presentation of a multitude of starter material here. Certainly a broad menu from which to select items to fit almost any reader's particular performance personality.

 

Chapter II, on how to juggle funny, says juggling is a basic clown skill. It teaches the basic three-ball routine in a three-page section, then goes on to tricks. If you're looking for a technical treatise, though, look elsewhere. The purpose of juggling for this book is clear: "Juggling is only a tool used by the clown to get laughs. The comedy comes from the way the clown presents himself, regardless of his juggling skill."

 

He goes on to describe arm-waving gags using invisible mosquitoes, germs and imaginary bowling balls. There are some drop lines and good advice. You are urged to goof around to make practice fun, stimulate your imagination and to feel more comfortable with an audience. Have you tried juggling balloons? Fife says it's a good alternative to scarves. He finishes with the complete script of a routine that mixes ventriloquism, juggling and a hand puppet.