As a professional clown, Jeske has worked with Cirque du Soleil, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, and Big Apple Circus. He is also an actor, writer, and teacher.
He performs on theater stages and is the associate artistic director of the theater company Parallel Exit in New York City. He has been nominated for three Drama Desk awards, and Variety has called him a masterful performer.
HOW DID YOU BECOME A CLOWN?
When I was 12, I read about Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College. I was determined to go. Once I got onstage with my first high school play, it was a natural fit. I loved making people laugh. I studied communications in college, specializing in theater and television, and I moved to Chicago after graduation.
I auditioned for everything to get in front of an audience and start creating laughter. I finally got accepted into Clown College in 1996. I have been told Clown College was harder to get into than Harvard. Thousands of people applied my year, and the school accepted 35. After graduation, I was one of 12 clowns who were offered a contract to tour with Ringling Bros. When you run away with the circus, you really run away with the circus.
WHAT EXACTLY IS A CLOWN?
A clown is the audience represented onstage. They are the outsider involved with the story, who turns to the audience and says exactly what everyone is thinking. They are human times 10-a collection of foibles and mistakes that allows the audience to see themselves in the clown's misadventures. Clowns fall into two distinct categories: the white face and the red nose. The white face represents the brain. Their comedy is based on intellect. The red nose represents the heart. Their comedy is based on emotion.
WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE A CLOWN?
Denne historien er fra May/June 2023-utgaven av Muse Science Magazine for Kids.
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Denne historien er fra May/June 2023-utgaven av Muse Science Magazine for Kids.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Who's Your Cousin?
The great apes are among the most popular animals in most zoos. Their actions, facial expressions, and family life remind us so much of ourselves. Have you ever wondered, though, how we might look to them?
Is it possible to die of boredom?
To figure out if we can die of boredom, we first have to understand what boredom is. For help, we called James Danckert, a psychologist who studies boredom at the University of Waterloo in Canada.
THE PROBLEM WITH PALM OIL
Palm oil is all around you. It’s in sugary snacks like cookies and candy bars. It’s in lipstick and shampoo and pet food.
SERGE WICH
Serge Wich’s favorite days at work are spent out in the forest, studying orangutans in Sumatra and Borneo or chimpanzees in Tanzania.
ELODIE FREYMANN
When you’re feeling sick, it probably doesn’t occur to you to try eating tree bark.
Guardians of the Forest
EARLY, MAKESHIFT WILDLIFE DRONES HELPED TO DETECT AND PROTECT ORANGUTANS.
APE ANTICS
The Whirling World of primate play
Dr. Ape Will See You Now
HUMANS AREN’T THE ONLY PRIMATES THAT USE MEDICATION.
THE LEFT OVERS
A lot has happened for modern humans to get to this point. We lost most of our hair, learned how to make tools, established civilizations, sent a person to the Moon, and invented artificial intelligence. Whew! With all of these changes, our bodies have changed, too. It’s only taken us about six million years.
SO, WHAT IS A PRIMATE?
What do you have in common with the aye-aye, sifaka, siamang, and potto? If you said your collarbone, you re probably a primatologist—a person who studies primates. If you’re not, read on.