All Fall Down: The Craft & Art of Physical Comedy: Judy Garland Goes Full Harpo

An Introduction...
So this is what I wrote 16 years ago; still more or less true!

Ring around a rosie, a pocket full of posies
Ashes, Ashes, we all fall down

Welcome to the All Fall Down blog, an exploration of all aspects of physical comedy, from the historical to the latest work in the field, from the one-man show to the digital composite, from the conceptual to the nuts & bolts how-to. Be prepared for a broad definition of physical comedy (mine!) and a wide variety of approaches. Physical comedy is a visual art form, so there’ll be tons of pictures and videos, but also some substantial writing and research, including scripts and probably even some books.

This blog is a result of me wanting to follow through on lots of unfinished research from the past 25 years. It’s made possible by a full-year sabbatical leave from Bloomfield College that will take me through August 2010. It’s also made more practical by the ease of Web 2.0 tools for managing and distributing content. I had envisioned a web site similar to this blog more than a decade ago, but never got too far with it because it was simply a lot more work. Now, no more excuses!

Just as this blog will be sharing lots of goodies with you free of charge, I hope you will share your knowledge and ideas with me. Feel free to comment on any of it, or to write me directly with your suggestions. Admittedly I don’t see this as a free-for-all forum on the subject of physical comedy. It’s my blog, I’m the filter, and it won’t be all things to all people. That being said, I hope it will bring together insights, information, and people, and encourage others to make their own singular contributions to the field.

I hope to be adding substantial and varied material to the blog on a regular basis, so check back often and be sure to check out previous posts. And finally, a thanks to all of you, past present, and future whose work contributes to our knowledge — and our fun. We are truly standing on the shoulders of giants.

— John Towsen
New York CIty
May, 2009

My Favorite Posts
Okay, there are literally thousands of physical comedy blogs out there, but only one physical comedy blogopedia. Why list my favorite posts? Because I want to draw attention to my best research and writing, to posts that make the strongest connections between old and new, between theory and practice, between ha-ha funny and broader global issues. If I die tomorrow, which is impossible because it's already the day after tomorrow in Australia, these are the ones I would like read aloud at my funeral, with high-rez projection of all videos. (Is it bad luck to write that?) Also, please mention that I never voted for a Republican. —jt

001 — Zen & the Heart of Physical Comedy — Yale Theater article from 1987
002 — Knockabouts & Cascadeurs, chapter 5 from my Clowns book
008 — On the Shoulders of Giants: from the 2-High to the 1200-High
023 — Early Film: Georges Méliès at the Cinémathèque Française
042 — My Life as a Parkour Traceur
048 — On the Streets of Copenhagen at the Climate Change Summit
082 — Tables are Funny — Live from Barcelona! #2
092 — From Meyerhold to Circque Mechanics' Birdhouse Factory
106 — Live from Paris: In Search of Max Linder
136 — Whatever Became of.... Lang & Cravat
186 — Japan's Got (Sight Gag) Talent
249 — Sid Caesar was my Father
260 — On the Shoulders of Giants: The Oblivious Gag (or, Channeling Harold Lloyd)
264 — One Play, Two Directors
288–291 — Remembering Ken Feit
298 — Funny Feet: The Art of Eccentric Dance
332 — Comedy Acrobatics Nirvana
337 — Remembering Gregory Fedin.... and Nina Krasavina

Top Related Blogs & Web Sites

Here are some useful and fun blogs and web sites that touch on the whole field of physical comedy, rather than just sites by performers about themselves (not that there's anything wrong with that). Click away!

Vaude Visuals
Comedy for Animators
Clown Alley
Circopedia
Spectacle Magazine
Silent Film Music
Silent●Ology
New Slapstick
Anthony Balducci's Journal
Circo Méliès
Circostrada
Travalanche
Sideshow Circus Magazine
Circ.. Manel Sala "Ulls"
Clown Evolution
Clowns Online
An Encyclopaedia of Clown
Novelties & Wonders
The Slapstick Linguist
Mythical Monkey
Performers.n et
A Conspiracy of Clowns
Circus Net Info
Acting Clown Actor
Showbiz David
Storia del Circo
Palace of Variety
Silent Era
Bristol Silents
Busker Central
Clown Link
Think Foolishly
Clown Planet
Trunk Stories
Adventures of Steve & Ryan
Clownbaret.tv
BongarBiz
A Fool's Idea
Circus NYC
Au Cirque
Circus Fans Italia
Pantomime-Mime Portal

For the latest posts from these blogs, see below. (Blogs only; not web sites.) These are automatically sequenced by Google in order of most current posts. The blog at the top of the list is the blog with the most recent post. Since the whole idea is to keep you (and me) up to date on current posts in the field, blogs that have not been posting regularly have been dropped from the list; if you've been dropped but are now posting regularly, just let me know.

Complete Books
Here's a list of complete books available for free as pdf documents right here on this here blogopedia, arranged in chronological order; dates are publication in the original language. Click here for a Tech Note on these books. Click on the book title to go to that post. More books coming!
3rd Century BC:
The Mimes of Herodas (1906 verse translation)
The Mimes of Herondas (1921 prose translation)
1509:
In Praise of Folly by Desiderius Erasmus
1600:
Foole Upon Foole by Robert Armin
1753:
The Servant of Two Masters by Carlo Goldoni
1787:
Memoirs of Carlo Goldoni
1797
Memoirs of Carlo Gozzi
Mémoires de Carlo Gozzi
1833:
Deburau: Histoire du Théâtre à Quatre Sous par Jules Janin
1838:
Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi, edited by Charles Dickens
1858:
The History of Court Fools by John Doran
1859:
Souvenir des Funambules par Jules Champfleury
1860:
Masques et Bouffons de Maurice Sand
The History of the Harlequinade by Maurice Sand
1869:
L'Homme qui Rit / The Man who Laughs by Victor Hugo
1880:
Scenari Inediti della Commedia Dell'Arte
1883:
Il Goldoni e la Commedia dell'Arte di Alfonso Aloi
1885:
Fous et Bouffons de Paul Moreau
1889:
Mimes et Pierrots: Notes et Documents de Paul Hugounet
Pantomimes de Gaspard et Ch. Deburau
1890:
The Delight Makers by Adolf Bandelier
Carlo Gozzi e la Commedia Dell Arte di Ernesto Masi
1897:
Le Théâtre des Funambules: Ses Mimes, Ses Acteurs et Ses Pantomimes Depuis Sa Fondation, Jusqu'à Sa Démolition par Louis Péricaud
1904:
Le Maschere Italiane Nella Commedia dell'Arte e Nel Teatro di Goldoni di Elvira Ferretti
1912:
The Commedia Dell'Arte by Winifred Smith
1913:
Goldoni: A Biography by H.C. Chatfield-Taylor
The Fools of Shakespeare by Frederick Warde
1918:
Deburau: A Comedy by Sacha Guitry
1920:
Goldoni & the Venice of his Time by Jospeh Kennard
1923:
Studies in the Development of the Fool in the Elizabethan Drama by Olive Mary Busby
1935:
Masks & Marionettes by Joseph Kennard

Saturday, August 30, 2025

Judy Garland Goes Full Harpo

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