Book Reviews – Be A Clown! – The Complete Guide to Instant Clowning by Turk Pipkin, Walt Chrynwski, Chris Reed
(Editor’s note: this book should not be confused with the children’s book “Be A Clown” nor Mark Stolzenberg’s Be A Clown, and has no relation to Cole Porter’s classic song “Be A Clown”)
Paperback – 104 pages
A very nice book – light and lively, easily read, many photos, with a good insight into the mind & heart of a clown. This lively, humorous handbook covers all aspects of clownmanship, including makeup, funny faces, costume (including inexpensive clown-size shoes), and props (including a favorite Red Skelton routine, the Bouncing Hankie). Encourages the reader to create a clown persona with many photos and suggestions. Several getting-started routines are included. Develop your own oddball walk, swallow chair legs — you’ll always have a stunt up your sleeve. Written by the towering Turk Pipkin, a 6′ 7″ professional clown.
Includes plastic clown nose (OK for starting, but you’ll want to get a “real” nose). The more I read it, the more I like it.
Table of Contents
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Introduction: Step Right Up
- A very good introduction to the book, and to clowning in general. Italicized entries are sidebars or pull-outs, discussing something of interest, typically a clown bit, skit, or piece of advice — in this instance, the classic balancing a (ping pong ball, feather, cup, etc.) on your clown nose.
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- Who Am I?
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- Balance a Ping Pong Ball on Your Nose
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- The Heart of a Clown
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- Five Great Clown Handshakes
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Ring One: Get Ready
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To Speak or Not To Speak
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- Will your clown speak, or be silent? Discussing the pros and cons of each, as well as non-verbal communication, which is vital for both styles of clowning. As an aside, I love the Flea Circus skit! You can see a version of that on film in Charlie Chaplin‘s Limelight.
- Trick or Treat
- Silent Clowns
- Talking Clowns
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- A Flea Circus
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Your Clown Costume
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- Central to your clown character, discussing your costume. He begins with hats, which many clowns use — but as he says in Suited to You, if it doesn’t fit your character, don’t use it! You can see the Spring-loaded Hat Trick to the right. He also discusses some inexpensive (and creative) ways to get some clown shoes that match your character.
- Start at the Top: Clown Hats
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- Suited to You
- Spring-loaded Hat Trick
- If the Shoe Fits… Don’t Wear it!
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The First Steps
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- Something overlooked by a lot of introductory clowning books is the walk, or posture, of a clown. Remember Groucho Marx? You should. Remember the distinctive walk of Carol Burnett’s ‘Mrs. H-Whiggins’?
- Your Own Walk
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- Famous Clown Walks
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Make-Up: Creating a Unique Face
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- Using a minimalist, everyman style of make-up. If that works for you, wonderful! If not, feel free to consult a different book, such as Strutter’s Complete Guide to Clown Make-Up.
- What Will Your New Face Look Like?
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Make-Up Tips
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Clown props
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- Special Delivery
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- The Bouncing Apple
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- The Bouncing Hankie
- In a Classy Joint
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Think Like a Clown
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- The essential part of clowning — how to think like a clown.
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- Make ‘Em Laugh
- Running Gags
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Ring Two: Get Set
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Clown Skills
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- A very basic introduction to some of the better-known skills your clown might use, but covering the basics. And the classic Boxing Sketch does a good job of demonstrating how to do slapstick safely and properly.
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- Balancing
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- Juggling
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- Slap, Slap, slapstick
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- A Clown Class: The Boxing Sketch
- Anywhere
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Satire and Parody
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- The Clown Marksman
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- The Clown Magician
- The Sword Swallower
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Clowning With Kids
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- Hey Kids! Shaking hands
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- Balloon Animals
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- Who’s There? (Following in your Footsteps)
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- Afghan Bands: The Story of the Circus Belts
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- A Stunt That Wows!
- At a Party
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Audience Participation
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- I have to admit, I’m a big fan of audience participation sketches. And a much bigger fan of the Parade of Elephants after seeing it done live at Clown Camp 1998 by Brenda Ahern — it works, and it’s hilarious!
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- The Parade of Elephants
- The World’s Strongest Clown
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The Sideshow
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- Around the Circus
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- More Classic Clown Turns
- Circus Lingo
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Ring Three: Go!
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- Once a Clown
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- Putting It All Together
- Kiss You! I Hardly Know You!
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Appendix: Sweeping Up The Sawdust
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Where To Now?
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- Schools for Clowns
- Equipment and Information
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Index
I rate it 4 clowns on a 5-clown scale.