Brick Presents Amuse Bouche: A NY Clown Theatre Festival Hors D'Oeuvre

The Brick Theater, presenter of the blockbuster New York Clown Theatre Festival in 2010 (and returning in 2012!), does not want fans of Clown Theatre to go hungry in the meantime. This September The Brick presents its biennial Amuse Bouche selection of outstanding Clown Theatre work: 9 mainstage shows, 3 cabarets, clown films and classes, with performers from Australia, Canada, Mexico, and the far corners of the U.S. of A.!

Amuse Bouche will run September 7-25 at The Brick (575 Metropolitan Avenue between Union Avenue and Lorimer Street, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn). Tickets ($15) are available online at www.bricktheater.com or by calling Ovationtix at 1-866-811-4111.

CABARETS

OPENING NIGHT CLOWN CABARET with PREVIEWS
Hosted by The Leroy Sisters
Wed 9/7 @ 8pm FREE
The LeRoy Sisters kick off the Festival with a sensational Vaudeville Noir Cabaret that'll lay you under your seats ‘til next week. The scrappy sisters from the Canarsie sticks (who are currently world famous in Newark and Elk Horn, Indiana) present a cyclone of varieties previewing all the shows in the Festival. And, of course, the evening shall be dipped in the LeRoy special sauce of corsets, back flips, gorillas, and minor injuries. For more information on the LeRoy Sisters go to: www.canarsiesuite.com

CLOWN CABARET
Hosted by The Donovan Ensemble
Wed 9/14 @ 8pm $15
Directly from their summer tour The Donovan Ensemble hosts this night of clown antics, featuring: Emmett and Merril and their popular comedy stylings. Former Ringling Clown Emily Carragher in How to Catch a Man. Festival veteran Vincenzo Tortorici, doing an adaptation of Brecht's Baden Lehrst or Mr. Smith and Friends. Straight from her work in Austria, Hilary Chaplain does Fred goes fishing. Lynn Berg as Awful Knofel does some daredevil clowning. And members of The Laboratory (Audrey Crabtree, Aimee German, John Leo, Billy Schultz, Tanya Solomon, John Towsen, and Ophra Wolf) show up with their physical comedy antics. More surprise guests to come! For more information on the Donovan Ensemble visit www.donovanensemble.com

CLOWN CABARET
Hosted by Crabtree & Honeywell
Wed 9/21 @ 8pm $15
The Festival Co-Directors, Crabtree & Honeywell, get down to some funny business while showcasing this variety clown cabaret, featuring: Mr. and Mrs. Clown, bringing their personalized blend of acrobatic aerodynamism and preposterously pinpoint balletic proficiency. Vocal acrobat and funny man Zero Boy. Joining us from his recent clown work in Le Reve in Las Vegas, Brett Alters will be performing Only You, directed by Clown Festival Alumnus Stefan Hayes. New York's Billy Schultz with Matoida Sassrofkin at Work. Goofball Lisa Lou performs The Globe Challenge balancing a dangerous plethora of skills with funny. Captain Napkin makes an appearance. And more surprise guests to come!

CLOWN FILMS

COMEDYSHORTS: Clowns on Film
Fri 9/16 @ 10pm $15
ComedyShorts will feature a selection of hilarious clown films:

Bony Lil's 2 shorts Creation + Distraction is a duet of silent short films on the more harrowing aspects of the creative process. Part I: a classic story of girl meets blank sheet of paper. Part II: inspiration run amok, literally, off the page, featuring unique handcrafted animation. They will screen with live original music by Clifton Hyde and live foley by the films' creators Zea Barker and Michael Pope. bonylil.com

Jeff Seal's A Day's Messing is a silent comedy shot entirely on Super 8mm in the style of Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. A New York City bike messenger must deliver an important package to keep his job while trying to find the girl of his dreams. Combining modern-day clowning with classic silent film techniques, A Day's Messing is an utterly unique cinematic and comedic experience.

Morro and Jasp: Behind the Nose is a film from Up Your Nose and In Your Toes productions. Morro and Jasp take to the streets of Toronto to talk about clown stereotypes starring Morro and Jasp with Foo, Sketchy and Fenelope. Directed by Elli Weisbaum and featuring the music of The Good Lovelies.

MAINSTAGE SHOWS

BEZINKULE
NEW YORK
Written and Performed by Christopher Rozzi
Directed by Tasha Gordon-Solmon
Fri 9/9 @10pm & Sat 9/10 @ 10pm
From the creator of the hilarious hit Outre Island, this one-man comedy follows Professor Lawrence Fishburne, head of research at the Institute for Abnormal Awareness and Nonstandard Knowledgement, on his journey into another dimension in order to collect a rare and magical artifact called... the Bezinkule. We see him in a series of diary entries, which he is recording as a hologram image for the woman he loves, Miss Lillian Treemont, the most esteemed actress of the Old Lady Vic theater company. His mission is not only to acquire this treasure for her, but also to prove his inexplicable adventures and feats of wonder. Will he make it through the many way too complex missions he must accomplish in order to find the Bezinkule? Who will he meet along the way? Creatures? Is there singing and dancing and fun? No. YES!

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