Clown Ingredients part 1

A friend of mine posted this wonderful recipe.

Genuine Australian Camel Stew

NOTE: Recipe requires a quite large Dutch Oven,
Recommended for entertaining VIPs in Camp.

3 Medium sized Camels
1 ton salt
500 bushels Potatoes
1 ton pepper
200 bushels carrots
3000 sprigs parsley
2 small rabbits
1000 gallons of brown gravy

Cut camels into bite sized pieces, cube vegetables.
Place meat into pan and cover with 1000 gallons of brown
gravy. Simmer slowly for 4 weeks. Garnish with Parsley,
Should serve 3800 people. If more are expected add 2
rabbits.

He told me he couldn’t take credit for it because he found it while searching the Web for camels in Australia. He was curious about something he listened in the radio. He said this to me:

“I was listening to the radio, and someone mentioned camels were introduced to Australia and the population has exploded because they thrive in the arid environment and have no natural predators...I was curious”

I am glad for his curiosity.
This takes me back to a clown workshop I took a year ago.
Before that I was completely uninterested about clowns, those red noses and slapstick scenes didn’t move my heart. It was until I lived through the experience of creating my own clown character that my respect for this profession grew.
To become a clown you have to be able to laugh at yourself and to be able to laugh at yourself needs a lot of self-confidence as we know.

There is a special technique to wear the nose. You have to give your back to the audience in the rehearsal room, just like you do with a mask, because at the end a red nose is one of the simplest but most wonderful masks.
When we give our back to the public, many times it can be translated in stage language, as “I am not here”.
Then you have to decide the timing to appear (or turn to face the public). Are you going to face the audience, slow and shy, slow and mean, fast and nervous….all this will define your character from the beginning of the improvisation. Make a bad choice and you are stuck. So you have to be absolutely playful with yourself and be very aware where you are going with your situation..

There is nothing worse than trying to make laugh and face no reaction. To be able to make laugh others, we need to be absolutely serious about our character, the circumstances and the way we will react to the situations we create. But this is just one tiny part.

Timing and the surprise element, is another important part.

This friend of mine is very funny, he has timing. Although he honestly doesn’t credit himself with the “Camel Recipe”, he has a natural gift as a clown. He makes a “divertissement” of the recipe:

1- OK, I've got the camels, but had a few problems sneaking them in past my landlady and up my stairs.
They are loud, and smelly.

2-I also have the other ingredients, and all of a sudden...a thought came to me that one could probably halve this recipe for fewer people.

Oh well, I guess I'll just have some leftovers to freeze

3-I truly entertain myself.
And the camels think I'm a riot, as well.
(yes, I understand camel-speak)

And so on.

My friend has absolute credit to another recipe “Caramel”, it is a great example of timing and surprise. But this will have to be posted later. If not this one will be too long to read.

To be continued……