Bloggo Ridiculoso

New Review for "The Balloon Gardener"

2011-06-07T01:59:00.001-07:00

http://www.uktheatre.net/magazine/read/the-balloon-gardener-at-norden-farm-centre-for-the-arts-maidenhead_982.html

February Shows

2011-03-04T09:27:00.000-08:00

The first two "The Balloon Gardener" shows are sprouted, grown and harvested. Two great audiences, the first at Haverhill Arts Centre, Suffolk where 114 people came out to see the show. Lovely staff, great audience and I really enjoyed myself.
There was a great spread in the local paper and they came up with...

"A highly visual fusion of top-notch tomfoolery and comedy chaos"
Haverhill Weekly News
The second show of the month was at Quarterhouse in Folkstone, Kent. Once again a fab turn out of 125 people. A modern venue, and a very good audience who willingly took up my offer of "Hey if you want, come and take a butterfly home"..... They were all gone by the time they left the auditorium. I think this is a keeper in the show.

I also performed at press night for the Camden People's Theatre Sprint festival press launch. Although I didn't perform anything from the show and did my cabaret act there was this great write up

"Have you ever seen a slightly balding, slightly round looking, thick rimmed-glasses-wearing man immerse himself into a rubber balloon? Oh you have? Then I need not to talk about Danny & his amazing balloons, a slapstick, clown showing, balloon bursting performance by Circo Ridiculoso. Whether born into a balloon factory, or just bored at work, Ridiculoso knows how to crack a smile on any glum audience by his balloon manipulating skills. It’s good to see something that doesn’t take a lot of brain cells to enjoy."

Ayoungertheatre.com

So thank you for that!

Upcoming March 2011 shows include...

13 - The Arc, Trowbridge, Wiltshire - Show at 3pm
19 - Camden People's Theatre, London - 2.30pm & 7.30pm
27 - Discovery Centre, Winchester, Hampshire - Show at 2pm

Spring Tour of The Balloon Gardener

2011-01-24T05:23:00.000-08:00

The Balloon Gardener on Tour 2011

Danny will be heading out on tour with his brand new show “The Balloon Gardener”. Danny the Wild Balloon tamer has run out of balloons and must grow his own. The tamer turns gardener. Seeds of hilarity are sown as Danny attempts to cultivate bold, colourful, latex shapes in pots. The plot thickens with problem pests, wacky weather and weeds you have never even dreamed of. Contemporary clowning puts the rubber into shrubbery; this fool for flowers creates an organic garden of delights. Blooming marvellous!

February

21 - Haverhill Arts Centre, Haverhill, Cambridgeshire show 2pm

27 - Quarterhouse, Folkestone show 2.30pm

March

13 - The Arc, Trowbridge, Wiltshire - Show at 3pm

19 - Camden People's Theatre, London - two shows tbc

27 - Discovery Centre, Winchester, Hampshire - Show at 2pm

April

10 - Watermans Arts Centre, Brentford, Middlesex - Show at 3pm

May

7 - Gulbenkian Theatre, Canterbury, Kent - Show at 2pm

8 - Artsdepot, North Finchley, London - Shows at 12pm & 3pm

14 - Lincoln Performing Arts Centre, Lincoln - Show at 3pm

June

2 & 3 - Norden Farm, Maidenhead two shows per day tbc

July

17 - Barnsley Civic, Barnsley, Yorkshire - Show at 2.30pm

Theatre Royal Margate

2010-09-19T15:10:00.000-07:00

Greeted by my posters !

On Saturday I performed on the oldest stage that is still used in the country. Its the second oldest theatre in England. Here is their website http://www.theatreroyalmargate.com. Its a beautiful Victorian three tiered theatre, an absolute pleasure to perform in. I performed my show on the shoulders of giants who were there before me, the likes of Charlie Chaplin. It was an honour.

Lighter Than Air set on Stage with Star Cloth!

The audience were lovely and I had great fun picking on a mum with a handbag full of noisy sweet wrappers. They all had a great time, as did I. The staff were very welcoming and friendly, a big thanks to all of you. I met my first person allergic to latex, she had to stay away from the balloons otherwise she would inflate like one and turn red, then blue. Luckily nothing happened on that front.

All the photos were taken on my phone.

Stage view of Theatre Royal Margate

Apparently there are ghosts in the theatre and people interested in the paranormal often visit the venue to take readings, feel the spirits and more. However I didn't see any, but if there were some I hope they enjoyed my show too!

NEW show!!!

2010-09-12T11:00:00.000-07:00

Danny Schlesinger of Circo Ridiculoso is making his second balloon show "The Balloon Gardener". Danny will be creating the new indoor balloon show funded by Arts Council England and supported by Camden People's Theatre. The new show will be for theatres and arts venues for everyone over 3 years old and will be about 50 minutes long.

Danny the Wild Balloon tamer has run out of balloons and must grow his own. Seeds of hilarity are sown as Danny attempts to cultivate bold, colourful, latex shapes in pots. The plot thickens with problem pests, wacky weather and weeds you have never even dreamed of. Contemporary clowning puts the rubber into shrubbery; this fool for flowers creates an organic garden of delights. Blooming marvellous!

Preview dates:

Camden People's Theatre 8th October 7pm, 9th October 3pm and 7.30pm

http://www.cptheatre.co.uk/event_details.php?sectionid=home&eventid=385&searchid=current

Blue Elephant Theatre 24th October 1pm and 3pm

http://www.blueelephanttheatre.co.uk/trumpety-trump-balloon-gardener

The Balloon Gardener will be available to tour from Spring 2011.

From Danny's previous show "Lighter than Air"

"Thanks to simple but effective stagecraft, a healthy dose of natural charisma and a real flair for comic timing, Lighter than Air is an undoubted joy for all the family."

The Scotsman ****

"Charming, poetic, and skillful as it is silly, both full of heart and absolutely hilarious."

Amanda Huotari, Celebration Barn Theater, Maine USA

"A joy from start to finish"

Mark Murphy, Flip Flop International Children's Theatre Festival, Dublin, Ireland

For more details http://www.circoridiculoso.co.uk/"

Spring Update

2010-05-01T09:56:00.001-07:00

Danny has completed his Spring tour of Lighter than Air 2010 playing across the country. Tewksbury, Farnham - Hants, Winchester, Ipswich, East Kilbride, Isle of Wight, and Stockton on Tees. Great, enthusiastic audiences everywhere.

   Danny has taught Clown to Business Link workers in a collaborative project with Central School of Speech and Drama. Hard working and keen business people made the task pleasurable and interesting!

   Early May, Danny will be returning to the Cal Clown School in the foothills of the Pyrenees, Spain to teach students of Clown. He's looking forward to it!

   May also sees the R & D of the next indoor show for Circo Ridiculoso. In addition Danny is preparing an outdoor show for summer events! See Danny climb into a giant Balloon!
Busy Busy!

Its been a while...

2010-02-14T12:34:00.000-08:00

So it been too long since my last post.

The Irish tour finished very well with invitations to come back with a new show. Then I went to Spain to perform my show at the Clown School, Cal Clown, near Gerona. At the end of November it was amazing weather with daytime temperatures of 20 degrees and beautiful sunshine. The show worked very well with a Spanish audience, or Catalan. I then taught the clown students for a few days and that was good fun too.

Christmas came a went with some great balloon twisting gigs around the country.

And now its 2010.... February.

I begin my Spring Tour on Wednesday. I just hope it doesn't snow.

Tales from Touring (part 3)

2009-10-27T03:14:00.000-07:00

Had a lot of fun in Dun Laoghaire, I was asked to judge the halloween costume competition after my final show and the results in no particular order were.... iron man, a cute pumpkin, a pirate/skeleton, dinosaur and a devil. They all got prizes of t-shirts and two tickets to the xmas show. Congratulations, they were all great costumes and was very hard to choose.
The moved onto Mill theatre where there were tow lovely audiences. And up to Castlebar where there were two sold out shows and very lovel and different audiences. Not long to go now before I head home, but still a few shows and kilometres to cover.

More tales soon....

Tales from Touring (part 2)

2009-10-22T07:00:00.000-07:00

Ok now that I've left the town concerned I feel I can reveal my weirdest experience so far in Ireland.

I booked a guest house online for one nights stay. Turned about 9pm and knocked on the door, no reply. I rang the number I had and got a fax machine. Banged on the door again, a couple staying were going out for a walk and they kindly let me in. I left my stuff downstairs and went for a wander, looking for someone. Nobody around. So I spotted an empty room, with the keys in the door, checked it out and brought my stuff up. I settled in and decided to check out where the venue for the next day would be.

I walked around the town centre for a while and eventually found the venue. Great. All set for the next day. On my way back - about 10pm I wandered past the livestock market where they were in mid-flow of an auction. How weird was that, added to my earlier incident at the ghost house.

So I get back to the guest/ghost house and go to sleep expecting a knock at the door throughout the night.
I got up early hoping for a good breakfast and to meet the owners. No - nothing had changed. No breakfast, no people to pay. So I left. I had a free weird night in guest house. Most peculiar.

Tales from Touring (part 1)

2009-10-18T12:14:00.000-07:00

So my Irish tour has begun, in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, the two shows went very well. I had to get the train to the next town, Drogheda in the South. So I went to the station bought a ticket and waited for the train. The train came, but didn't stop at the station, but past it. It was hilarious, for me anyway. Apparently the train usually doesn't stop at Lisburn on its way to Dublin. This was the only service that does during the week. It took about half an hour to get permissions, phone calls, signal changes, and re-routing the trains behind. Then I was able to board and head down to Drogheda. Very comfy and clean trains. Yay! But it still makes me laugh!
Drogheda - lovely busy little town, many people at church (its a Sunday!). I'm staying, courtesy of the arts centre, at a lovely hotel on the riverfront, The D Hotel. Very nice river view, modern furniture, very flash TV and an excellent and free internet connection!
Tommorrow - two schools shows in the morning and off to Sligo.

to be continued....

Off on tour

2009-10-15T08:45:00.000-07:00

So tomorrow I fly to Ireland for an intensive two week tour performing and several International Children's festivals.I've never been to the Emerald Isle, so I'm very much looking forward to it. Even before reaching distant shores i have mastered the pronounciation of Dun Laoghaire, Drogheda and Portalaoise. I feel ready now.

La la laaaah

First International Tour

2009-10-01T13:18:00.000-07:00

October will be a busy busy month. Here is my tour schedule for October. If you are in Ireland or have Irish friends, please come and say hello or tell them about my show "Lighter than air".

9                   Square Chapel Centre for the Arts, Halifax, West Yorkshire - Show at 8pm

~Tour of Ireland~

17                 Island Arts Centre, Lisburn, N. Irleland shows 11am & 3pm,

19                 Droichead Arts Centre, Drogheda, Ireland - Shows at 10am & 11.45am
                     Leanbh Arts Festival for Children

20                 Hawk's Well Theatre, Sligo, Ireland - School show 11am, Family show 6pm

21                 Roscommon Arts Centre, Roscommon, Ireland, Show 11am
                   Lollipops Children's Arts Festival

22                 Backstage Theatre Longford, Shows 11am and 7pm
                     Aisling Children's Festival 2009

23                 Pavilion Theatre, Dublin, Ireland - Shows at 11am & 4pm
                  Flip Flop International Children's Theatre Festival 2009

24                 The Mill Theatre, Dundrum, Dublin, Ireland - Shows at 2pm & 4pm
                       Flip Flop International Children's Theatre Festival 2009

26                 The Linen Hall, Castlebar, County Mayo, Ireland - Shows at 2pm & 5pm
                       Roolaboola Children's Arts Festival 2009

28                 The Source Arts Centre, County Tipperary, Ireland - Shows at 12pm & 3pm

29                 Dunamaise Arts Centre, Portlaoise, County Laois, Ireland - Show 11am

30                 Siamsa Tire, Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland - Show 3pm

Round Up

2009-09-07T13:34:00.000-07:00

So my first full Edinburgh Fringe Festival is over. I thought it would be interesting to throw a few stats around...with some unofficial figures.

24 shows
Total audience of 1263 people!
Out of which 859 paid concs or full price.
And there were 404 comp tickets/passes etc
So I make that an average audience of 52 people each show.
With the lowest number audience being 20 and the highest 107.
Two TV appearances on STV
3 Four star reviews

I thank you.

The Scotsman ****

2009-08-29T15:26:00.000-07:00

Children's show review: Lighter Than Air
Published: 29/8/2009

I HAVE to confess, I am not the world’s biggest fan of clowns or clowning. Like many people, I find them a touch sinister, and usually not at all amusing. So all credit must go to self-styled balloon tamer Danny Schlesinger, who has produced an utterly charming and absorbing hour of children’s entertainment without a red nose or a big floppy shoe in sight.

The action is incredibly gentle as the besuited and heavily perspiring Schlesinger goes through his motions. He juggles and tussles with a series of balloons of all different sizes, all the while playfully interacting with his audience. He utters few words, preferring almost exclusively to use physical gestures and his ultra-expressive face.

The children in the crowd don’t seem to feel threatened, even the couple of youngsters he gets up on stage to help him with some of the routines, and the adults too all lean in for a closer view of the tomfoolery. Such an impressive level of audience absorption is a rare commodity indeed at any Fringe show, never mind one primarily aimed at children.

Schlesinger manages to achieve his strange harmony between circus clowning and Mr Bean-like capers without the resulting performance being anything less than captivating. The pace may be very sedate, but it takes real creativity to craft a whole hour’s routine out of such humble materials as those with which Schlesinger works.

Thanks to simple but effective stagecraft, a healthy dose of natural charisma and a real flair for comic timing, Schlesinger’s Lighter than Air is an undoubted joy for all the family, even those who are normally a little bit afraid of clowns.

Last show to go...

2009-08-29T12:55:00.000-07:00

Its been a wonderful month of doing shows, watching shows, flyering, chatting to people, catching up with friends, and doing shows. Today I received a four star review from the Scotsman, but as yet they haven't posted it up on the internet. Tomorrow - the last show then I pack up and go home. Its been fantastic but I am looking forward to being back at home.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone at Pleasance from Anthony Alderson for co- producing the show, the girls on reception, the technical staff at Above, the lovely flyering team and the press team. Also thank you to Ali Day who has been fantastic. And I would also like to thank everyone who has chosen out of all the other shows at the Fringe to come and see my show.

The List ****

2009-08-19T00:09:00.000-07:00

Here's the review from the List. Four stars!

http://edinburghfestival.list.co.uk/article/20062-lighter-than-air/

Lighter Than Air

Source: The List (Issue 637)
Date: 18 August 2009
Written by: Allan Radcliffe

It’s amazing the fun that can be generated from a few simple props. When clown Danny Schlesinger plods on stage wearing a too-tight suit and a deadpan expression, his arms weighed down with three enormous yellow balloons, you wonder whether he will be able to hook his audience for a full 50 minutes.

Yet his daft physical comedy quickly proves a big hit with young folk and their parents. There are plenty of belly laughs to be obtained from the incongruity between Schlesinger’s rotund body and deadly serious expression, and the folly of his attempted antics – a prime example being the sequence in which he attempts hula hooping to a disco soundtrack.

And it gets sillier, with the performer taking a visual gag and stretching it almost to bursting point. So, a balloon dog acquires a balloon lead and deposits a very realistic-looking balloon poo onstage. There’s a High Noon-style showdown between Schlesinger and a balloon that stubbornly refuses to pop. And then there’s the inept juggling: ‘Oh look – the swirling balloons have knocked the funny man’s glasses off!’ And that was just the cry from this reviewer, through helpless chokes of laughter.

Monday morning adventures

2009-08-15T13:10:00.000-07:00

I turned up at the venue about 10 am Monday morning as it takes a while to set my show up. The dressing room/green room was unlocked - great I thought. A short while later the technician, Jo arrives and says the venue keys aren't where they are suposed to be, so she'll ring the stage manager who had them last night. No answer - its her morning off and she's still asleep. The Pleasance duty manager is called over via the radio and alerted to the situation.

At this point I'm still preparing my balloons and self for the show and mildly amused at the conundrum of doing a show in a locked venue. The duty manager calls the university security, at the same time AirCon Jim arrives to sort out the aircon in the locked venue. He says he has a whole load of tools, and then begins an enormous array of possible things to do to get in the room. He includes things like taking hinges off, cuttung the glass out of the door panel, unscrewing the door handle etc. Meanwhile the security guards have checked for spare keys and report back that the Pleasance venue have ALL the keys.

I'm starting to get a bit concerned now and go and check on the growing queue. Some friends were coming to the show and I explained to them the predicement. I head back into hear the security guards state that the door should not be broken down if at all possible as it will compromise fire regulations.....

My show is supposed to start at 11.30am, I am the first one of about nine shows in that venue over the course of a day. I did wonder how if we would have to cancel the show. At 11.2oam a window was broken and someone climbed in and opened up from the inside. With the fastest set up ever the show went on to my largest Edinburgh festival audience to date - 107. The show was fine in the end but I wouldn't want to do that everyday.

first review

2009-08-10T00:50:00.000-07:00

First review came out today. Four stars, I'm very pleased about this.

Here it is minus photo....
http://fest.theskinny.co.uk/article/96438-lighter-than-air

Lighter Than Air

Posted by Jess Winch, Sun 09 Aug 2009

Leave your worries in the Pleasance Courtyard and enter into Lighter Than Air's deliciously whimsical world of balloons and make-believe. A family show that tickles everyone’s sides, this one-man production manages to entertain children of all ages with a gentle combination of circus and comedy.

Clown Danny Schlesinger is a wild balloon tamer who plays with, trains and sometimes bursts his airy creations. From catching a runaway balloon with a giant butterfly net to balancing balloon animals on his nose, he seamlessly moves from one sketch to another in an almost wordless performance that relies on visual performativity to entertain. There are magic tricks, humour and endless balloons that Schlesinger skilfully manipulates – particularly popular is the balloon dog which leaves a balloon poo on stage, or the balloon sword that he swallows up to the hilt.

There is also plenty of audience participation, with young volunteers invited on stage to inflate Schlesinger and then themselves with a balloon pump and jump through inflatable hoops, while all spectators are encouraged to cheer or surrender at key moments. To be fair, filling a room full of giant balloons and eager youngsters is unlikely to go wrong, but Schlesinger’s original sketches and comic silliness are what make this show worth watching.

Throughout the 50-minute sketch he rarely looses the audience’s attention, which is impressive considering the majority of those watching are under 10 years old. This is simple, light-hearted entertainment that leaves the audience feeling as buoyant as any of Schlesinger’s inflatable creations.

Up at the Festival

2009-08-08T09:57:00.000-07:00

Well here I am up at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. I've done three preview shows and a show today. So far so good. I've had audiences of about 25 -35 people and they have been lovely audiences. I think the first few days I was in shock with nerves, excitement and then I walked over to see my friend Becky's show Balloon Boutique and passed by the Royal Mile where its complete mayhem. Everyone's handing out flyers, advertising their show and all the tourists and locals are their too. It kind of woke me up a bit. So today I went with a flyer team to hand out balloons and flyers for my own show. We shall see if it has worked or not....?
For those of you up here, my show is "Lighter than air" at Pleasance Above, 11.30am 5-30th August (not 17, 24). Book on 0131 556 6550 or www.pleasance.co.uk

First Bloggo

2009-07-28T13:32:00.000-07:00

First Bloggo.

Welcome to Circo Ridiculoso's blog - Bloggo Ridiculoso.

Bloggo Ridiculoso

New Review for "The Balloon Gardener"

February Shows

13 - The Arc, Trowbridge, Wiltshire - Show at 3pm19 - Camden People's Theatre, London - 2.30pm & 7.30pm27 - Discovery Centre, Winchester, Hampshire - Show at 2pm

Spring Tour of The Balloon Gardener

Theatre Royal Margate

NEW show!!!

Spring Update

Its been a while...

Tales from Touring (part 3)

Tales from Touring (part 2)

Tales from Touring (part 1)

Off on tour

First International Tour

Round Up

The Scotsman ****

Children's show review: Lighter Than Air

Last show to go...

The List ****

Lighter Than Air

Monday morning adventures

first review

Lighter Than Air

Up at the Festival

First Bloggo

13 - The Arc, Trowbridge, Wiltshire - Show at 3pm
19 - Camden People's Theatre, London - 2.30pm & 7.30pm
27 - Discovery Centre, Winchester, Hampshire - Show at 2pm