Photo by Marc Norberg:

I feel this photo helped define Theatre of Fools for the 21st Century.  This was the last picture that Marc took of me in the 20th Century, but it crystalized the direction Rosie and I were heading.

Marc had just finished photographing my new Chicken Man character to promote my one-man show at Bryant Lake Bowl’s cabaret theater that premiered on January 1, 1999.

At the end of the shoot Marc looked down at my shoes, and realized that they hadn’t been included in any of the shots that day.  He insisted that I return the next morning so he could photograph just the shoes.

This image he captured the next day ended up becoming Theatre of Fools’ logo because it was the perfect masthead for the direction of our work in the 21st Century.  In the following years we developed a series of full evening shows, where I explored a different aspect of the clown archetype in every production. Each of my new characters had one thing in common…      their shoes.

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Note: This photograph is of my hand crafted slap shoes that I made when Rosie and I were performing at the Colorado Renaissance Festival.  During the off days I apprenticed with master shoemaker Doug Gilisppi, who taught me everything I know about shoe making.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo by Marc Norberg:

This photo session with Marc was extraordinary.  It was the first photo shoot after he moved into his studio to 711 W. Lake St. in Minneapolis.

I remember feeling like I was inside a womb of light as the camera was clicking away.  I don’t know any other photographer who is a greater wizard with light than Marc.

Rosie and I had both gone through a painful journey to arrive together at this place of peace bathed in light.  The glowing egg represents the renewal of our family through the birth of our son Gabriel.

This photo session was just after we finished documenting on video our full evening Wacky Chicken Show, thanks to a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board.  Our good friend Jeff Kraker, from KARE 11 TV,  did a beautiful job of producing and editing the DVD.

This was the first project we had the help of outside director Josette Antomarchi.  Rosie and I had first met Josette backstage at the Guthrie Theater before performing in a benefit for our friend and neighbor Kevin Kling.  Josette was dressed from head to toe in feathers, and Rosie and I were chickens.  It was an artistic match made in heaven.

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Photo by Marc Norberg:

This is Marc’s favorite from the Egghead photo shoot.  I never used this shot in any of the Fringe Festival promotion because I was billing the show as a dark comedy.

Today when I look at this shot I see why Marc loved it so much.  It was a really a rough period in my life, and seeing me smile here is like watching the sunrise after a dark night of the soul.

The twinkle in my eye is the spark in my imagination that hatched the idea for The Wacky Chicken Show.

It has been quite an journey.

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Photo by Marc Norberg:

The is the second picture that I’m posting on my blog from the same photo shoot with Marc Norberg.  This photo represents a very dark period of my career.

I first thought of this character after I had returned home to Minnesota from directing the Disney Entertainment Arts Festival in Florida.  He was a character I wrote into a play called “Which Came Last The Chicken Or The Egg?”  I was going to play The Egg and Rosie was going to play The Chicken.

Before we ever had a chance to mount the show, our second daughter Katya died at six days old.  I remember Rosie and I each needed to grieve in our own way.

My way of processing my grief was through my art.  I’ve always believed that clowning is a healing art.  I premiered The Egghead at the first Minnesota Fringe Festival in 1994.

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Photo by Marc Norberg:

I guess I’m on a Marc Norberg binge.  Whoever has been following these posts on my new blog, knows that he has taken some extraordinary pictures.   Marc has captured Rosie and I in his photographs throughout our entire career together, which has been the gift of a lifetime.

This photo session took place in 1994.  Makeup wizard Crist Ballas created my prosthetic egg shaped head and was present at this photo shoot with Marc.  It was interesting being in the same room with two geniuses doing what they do best.

The Egghead is a character I created and perform on the US Fringe Festival circuit from 1994 to 1996.  I was the first artist to sign up for the first Minnesota Fringe Festival.  The founder, Bob McFadden telephoned me and said, “Congratulations you’ve made history, you’re this first artist to apply.”

I asked, “Has anybody else contacted you?”

Bob replied, “No, not yet.”

I felt like the first person to arrive at a party, wondering if anybody else was going to show up.  Now of course our Minnesota Fringe is the largest Festival of its kind in the United States.

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Photo by Marc Norberg:

This is the last in a series of pictures I’ve recently posted by photographer Marc Norberg.  At the very end of the session Marc grabbed an instamatic camera and took a flurry of shots of me from random angles.  He then created this picture by taking an exacto knife to the finished prints to piece together this montage of me with three legs and no arms.

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Photo by Marc Norberg:

This is a picture from a photo shoot I had with Marc Norberg a few years back.  I remember when he turned my hat sideways and said, “Trust me.”  When I saw the test Polaroid I was blown away by his genius for capturing the eccentric soul of another one of my characters.

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Photo by Marc Norberg:

Photo by Marc Norberg:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo by Warren Brant:

I’m juggling fire on the Witchwood Stage in the early 1980s.  This year is my 40th season at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival.

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