By Leah Short, LIDLESS Production Dramaturg
Even the most dedicated and serious artists have days when all the emotions and intellectual preparation of rehearsals bubbles over, and the work that day takes a turn for the absurd.
We at Horse Head affectionately refer to this phenomenon as "Ass-Clowning." Some of the great Ass-Clown-ers of the century have made their way through our illustrious group. The impish Ass-Clownery of Founder Kevin Holden is the stuff of legend. The molasses drip voice of the ever smooth Andrew Love makes for a grandly juxtaposed Ass-Clowning - at once vocally sensual and contextually, utterly fucking dumb. And of course, the ladies of Horse Head are not one to be shown up by their male counterparts. Ivy Castle and Mischa Hutchings Ass-Clown so well together that two years ago we spent whiskey soggy months at PJ's Sports Bar making a whole damn show of it for you (see Spaghetti Code by Abby Koenig, HH 2014).
And yesterday in LIDLESS rehearsal, in the midst of challenging art, so much work, professionalism and passion, we reached peak Ass-Clownery. We spent the day exploring how a character can have an asthma attack on stage while another character struggles to comfort them back to a place of calm and safety. I'm not going to do too much explaining, because inevitably like all jokes of the moment, it would be much funnier in time than I could ever put on paper. Suffice it to say that some of our directorial notes today included:
We at Horse Head affectionately refer to this phenomenon as "Ass-Clowning." Some of the great Ass-Clown-ers of the century have made their way through our illustrious group. The impish Ass-Clownery of Founder Kevin Holden is the stuff of legend. The molasses drip voice of the ever smooth Andrew Love makes for a grandly juxtaposed Ass-Clowning - at once vocally sensual and contextually, utterly fucking dumb. And of course, the ladies of Horse Head are not one to be shown up by their male counterparts. Ivy Castle and Mischa Hutchings Ass-Clown so well together that two years ago we spent whiskey soggy months at PJ's Sports Bar making a whole damn show of it for you (see Spaghetti Code by Abby Koenig, HH 2014).
And yesterday in LIDLESS rehearsal, in the midst of challenging art, so much work, professionalism and passion, we reached peak Ass-Clownery. We spent the day exploring how a character can have an asthma attack on stage while another character struggles to comfort them back to a place of calm and safety. I'm not going to do too much explaining, because inevitably like all jokes of the moment, it would be much funnier in time than I could ever put on paper. Suffice it to say that some of our directorial notes today included:
When you lay down, you don't have to go full on Count Chocula
We don't want you guys to look like the cover story from Holding Your Own Boobs magazine.
So, in honor of our first real instance of Ass-Clownery in this process, I leave you dear readers with an SNL oldy in case you need a pick me up, or if you just want to see an example of true Ass-Clowning from some Pro's.
LIDLESS performances are Thursday - Saturday June 2 - 18, 2016 @ 8PM and Monday June 13, 2016 @ 8PM at Fresh Arts Gallery located in Winter Street Studios. Get your tickets today!
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