THE CREATIVE PROCESS FOR VARIETY ARTISTS

A study of the variety artists commonly known as clowns.

In these pages, Johnson mostly concentrates on the sources and nurturing of the creativity at the heart of being a variety entertainer. He discusses popular theories of creativity, such as the left-brain/right-brain split, which holds that different hemispheres of the human brain specialize in different things. He draws on his own experiences as a clown learning about the world of entertainment, giving readers a glimpse inside the workings of Clown Camp and its various expositions all over the world. The author breaks down the learning process into various modes: Beginner mode, Explorer mode, Judge mode, and so forth. All come with their own encouragements and warnings: “A new idea, like a seedling, is fragile,” he writes. “Focusing on flaws can quickly crush it.” In addition to broader questions (like, “why do you want to be creative?”), he also delves into the details of the craft, everything from warmups to the intricacies of blocking rehearsals. “The art of circus, magic, puppetry, and theater,” he writes, “is one of illusion and fantasy”; his aim in this book is to clarify the inspiration and hard work that go into creating that fantasy. Johnson’s book features his engaging black-and-white drawings and other illustrations throughout, but the most consistent wonder of the work is its sweep—at every step along the way, Johnson broadens his scope in fascinating ways. Talk of varying entertainment routines opens into talk about creativity in general (“If you think you are creative, you act accordingly, releasing your creativity”); researching the history of clowns leads to a discussion about all-around research etiquette (“Always be courteous and do not make demands,” he writes. “The staff is there to assist you, but they are also responsible for protecting the items in their collection”). The result is an expansive work that will be engaging and valuable to audiences far beyond the boundaries of the entertaining world.

A surprisingly rich and varied compendium of clowning lore and technique.