sacred mischief in knoxville

Just reading an article in the newz about how a group of demonstrators stopped a racist rally in Knoxville…the protestors dressing up as women/wives/brides it would seem judging from the photo, and proceeding to disarm the white power rally with spouts of mischievous humor: -here is an outtake from the article in indy media>

“White Power!” the Nazi’s shouted, “White Flour?” the clowns yelled back running in circles throwing flour in the air and raising separate letters which spelt “White Flour”.

“White Power!” the Nazi’s angrily shouted once more, “White flowers?” the clowns cheers and threw white flowers in the air and danced about merrily.

“White Power!” the Nazi’s tried once again in a doomed and somewhat funny attempt to clarify their message, “ohhhhhh!” the clowns yelled “Tight Shower!” and held a solar shower in the air and all tried to crowd under to get clean as per the Klan’s directions.
The strategy ended up with the KKK stomping off, and the counterprotestors parading to the center with a police escort to help make their way.

Hei Hei

http://asheville.indymedia.org/article/107Clowns

My mother calls me a humorist

I’m calling myself a humorist these days. In a conversation with my mother the other day, she told me “ I tell people you are a humorist.” She does not like the word clown: “You use THAT word?” she asks me. I tell her that sometimes I do despite the possibility of deep misunderstanding. Especially in the United States. it is about just that-Depth. The notion that a clown might possibly have depth, conjure up feelings or philosophical insight is not usually associated with the word clown in this country. Compare that with Spain, where my friend, Tortell Poltrona, founder of Clowns Without Borders, calls a clown ‘un provocador de sentamientos’ (a provoker of feelings), which many in that country would affirm. Of course for my mother, I think it is more about respect and dignity.

How is the clown perceived in the US?

There was a survey done some years ago that is often quoted, that 94% of American children when asked to name a clown name Ronald McDonald. If you Google ‘clown’, first up is the Wikepedia definition that states: “Clowns are comic performers, stereotypically characterized by their colored wigs, stylistic makeup, outlandish costumes, and unusually large footwear.” It follows with a brief historical perspective : “Clowns spread in cultures of any time and place, because they meet some deeply rooted needs in humanity: violation of taboos, the mockery of sacred and profane authorities and symbols, reversal of language and action, and an ubiquitous obscenity. An interesting example can be found in the Native American clown societies.”

So perhaps in the United States, I should call myself a ‘humorist’, and reserve the word ‘clown’ for other parts of the world. Americans seem to like their humor brash, loud and somewhat crass. It is fine to put down anybody and anything in the honorable goal of a good laugh.

There is a lot of negativity around clowns in the United States, and elsewhere in the world. Referring again to Google, the website ihateclowns.com comes in at #7. Every day in my google alerts for the word clown, half the entries are uses of the word as a negative invective to describe some politician or public figure as an idiot, mostly in Anglophone countries. The evil clown image is getting a lot of play these days as well. Lots of people, especially children are scared of clowns. This is perhaps because the clown make-up and exagerations were created to reach across the huge circus tent audience, not to be seen from two or three feet away.

I read an article in the New York Times the other day, a story about Rowan Atkinson’s “Mr Bean”, and British comedy in general, discussing how the amiable bumbling Bean doesn’t quite stick with a population more bent on more caustic comedy. The article points out that a British comedy, no matter how successful worldwide, never makes more than 25% of it’s gross in the US. It is interesting that an article about humor (in a US newspaper) makes a judgment based on $ signs, confirming the almighty dollar’s dominance of the cultural landscape of the United States.

Well this discussion could go on ad nauseum. On the bright side, there are other words to choose from. The Hopi describe the role of clown as a ‘delight maker’. And there is the word “Kunzenmacher”, joy bringer, in Yiddish. Oy veh!

Airport Tai-Chi anyone?

“People who look at you might think you are crazy” the Dutch policeman says to me in the outdoor plaza of Schipol Airport. Grey morning clouds, wet pavement, umbrellas, deep rain spouts, the drops multiplying exponentially as the grey expanses of cement and asphalt disappear in an opaque cacophony of silver bullet lines.
I was in the middle of the Cherokee “Dance of Life”, or some variation on that theme, a Tai Chi’ esque ritual offered to the four directions ( wing, over the big mountain, tree, energy from the ground to the sky, energy from the sky to the ground).

Well I often do some form of stretching before long flights and stuck moments, sometimes the ritualized version if I feel so inspired, other times more straightforward yoga/chi gung style exercises.

I was quite surprised by the negative, near street fighter energy of the short wiry near shaved head policeman. Two had approached me under the huge awning of the all glass wall of the terminal. The two men who approached me in their blue uniforms surprised me, I was deeply engaged. I guess that after twenty years of the practice, and much philosophical reflection on the value of doing such actions in the public forum, that I had come to the conclusion that my actions were not worthy of security considerations. Even in these heightened security alert times, only once has any security official wished to check the nature of my actions.

This time however I am subjected to the good cop/bad cop treatment. I am honored, and perturbed. Resisting sparks of argumentative nature surfacing, I let the smaller cops attitude wash over me. Still when he came up with the comment about people perceiving my actions as crazy, I felt the need to reply and did, in a respectful calm way. I told him that I resented his comment, his suggestion that I might be looking crazy I told him was his judgment, that people usually wanted to know if I was doing Tai-Chi.

I thought that would be the end of it, after all I showed him my ticket and passport, and certainly what I was doing had no illegality about it. However, the little guy started questioning my ability to speak Dutch, what was I doing in the country, did I visit a lot and so forth. Eventually he ran out of questions, or maybe got tired of giving me a hard time. So I asked if I could finish my stretch. Both policeman told me it would be best if I didn’t. There was a hint of threat in the answer, like maybe they would be taking me in for more severe questioning if I attempted to continue.

There had been considerable discussion with friends during my three day stay in Amsterdam about how stricter the police had become in Holland, and that was a reflection of the shift in government towards a more conservative right wing stance. Most of that discussion had focused on how the city was cracking down on it’s free wheeling bicycle tradition, issuing tickets for traffic violations and not using bicycle lights at night, something that would have been unthinkable when I lived in Amsterdam twenty years ago. Well I guess everything changes…

About airport stretching:

Of course it is not that accepted a practice to stretch outside, or inside airports. Having a bad back ( I wear a brace for long flights), the stretching is essential to my well being, especially when there is a show to perform at the other end of the flight. I have often thought that there should be yoga lounges in airports. The consideration if it is a proper thing to do in a public forum seems like a no brainer to me. After all people jog in public streets all the time, and stretch in all ways imaginable. Public parks include plenty of facilities to enhance the activities, so why not airports.
Taking the thought a bit further, is it not the role of the clown to do just that, to do actions like mine in public places. Isn’t it part of the role to make people question entrenched attitudes and cultural/public moral values. Wouldn’t a logical conclusion to a philosophical pondering of my actions be a positive outlook towards the practice. Certainly airline officials at countless boarding gates have smiled, quipped, and offered encouragement of my practice. No doubt they understand a little better how that cramped airplane seat feels like after five or six hours.