Be a Clown!

by Mark Stolzenberg

Book Overview

If you love to clown around, it's time to get serious about it...serious fun that is. Being a clown means more than merely putting on silly makeup and jumping around: it's a wonderful form of self-expression that brings joy to yourself and to others. Take a look at the world's best jesters and expand your understanding of comedy. Here are the (literal) tricks of the trade: ideas for using cartoon-like imagery, choosing a distinctive costume, finding...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0806958049
• ISBN13: 9780806958040
• Release Date: December 1899
• Publisher: Sterling Publishing (NY)
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 7.9" x 10.0"
• Age Range: 9 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 4 to 12

Customer Reviews

More Than Expected!!

This book contains a lot more than expected this is great for beginners who are looking for a place to start. It is a short read but is jammed with information so much so that Im going to reread it again and start putting it to practice. Clowns and Clowning mean so much to the individual and the clown character portayed by the individual, this book gives an amazing starting point for exploring that individuality through structured play. Mark gives an amazing overview and even a writing structure for creating your own sketches or Clown Entrees. This would be a great book for someone looking to lead structured play such as a teacher or just a clown collective. This book is worth having in your library for so many reasons. I think both beginners and all clowns interested in expanding or refreshing your ideas can benefit from this book. There really is to my knowledge a very limited number of books that cover clowning in the sense and light that it should be taken in. Overall a good starting point in my opinion anyone truly interested in pro clowning should start here then check out further titles such as Angels can Fly by:Alan Clay and as well as The Art of Clowning by Eli Simon. The hardest part about clowning and learning clowning may be the fact that it is really hard to work solo for structured play. But this book should be considered as a great source to get any clown out there started. Hope this review was helpful. Wishing you all the best in all your Clowning Endeavors

Brilliant

Books by successful performers tend to be filled with self-adulation and are very sparse in usable how-to advice. Stolzenberg's book is a brilliant exception. For me, as an adult, it teaches many humorous subtleties we can use in every-day life. For my daughter, this book gave her the ability to expand her self-awareness beyond her persona. The writing is clear, non pretentious, yet eloquent. If there is a better book on the subject of clowning, I am not aware of it.

Inspiring!

I originally purchased this book as a potential reference book for an associate of mine but made the mistake of reading it. This book is great! It's written in a fun, thought-provoking way that can inspire anyone -- even me -- to clowning. It gave me a whole new appreciation for the art of clowning. It gives information on choosing a character, costume, the all important hat, makeup and even skits and physical gags you can do. If you're interested in clowning or are just curious about the art of it you have to buy this book! It's an exceptional resource and a must-have for the aspiring clown's library!

A great book for beginning clowns

This is a wonderful book that will introduce you to the basics and essentials of clowning.You'll find lots of photos and exercises that touch on many of the aspects of clowning including; warm-ups, skits, creating routines, clown\props relationship, costuming, physial comedy, make-up, clown psychology, clown\clown relationship, and so much more. Plus the most important and always emphasized aspect, your own clown character development. There is tons of practical info in this awesome book. I believe this to be the best beginning clown book one can buy!