Lawrence.com

Richard Renner has been making a living as a clown for close to 30 years and books other entertainers with his Vodvill Entertainment Company. He won't be performing at the Lawrence Busker Festival because he's got a gig out of town, but he's the guy who dreamt up the whole thing. He lives in Lawrence.

Tell me about yourself.

I went to school at KU. I was in the theater department. When I got out of the theater department, I found out that there were thousands upon thousands of unemployed actors. Ninety percent of Actors' Equity is unemployed at any one time. I went about creating my own style, my own performance. I started street performing. I learned how to juggle. One of the few things I actually learned in college: I learned how to juggle.

I went to the International School of Movement Theatre in Elkins, West Virginia, and later on they moved to Philadelphia. I attended that in the summers and learned from international performing artists. : From there I came back to Kansas City. I'd met a man from Kansas City there who'd formed a company called Mimewock. They were a loose collection of movement artists and clowns, etc., and I started performing with them. Everything took off from there.

What kind of performance were you doing?

Pantomime and silent clown work. Later on I learned how to do stilt walking and rope walking and started doing more stage shows. From there I went on to become a touring artist on the Kansas Arts Commission and have been for 15, 20 years now. That's given me some legitimacy. I mean, people recognize what I do as being an art form you have to train for, which helps. It's nice.

Is legitimacy a constant battle when you're a clown?

It is. People say, "You're a clown?" and they either get scared or amused. And I have to tell them, "Well, I'm a clown, but in the same sense that Red Skelton is a clown, that Dick Van Dyke is a clown, that Jerry Lewis is a clown, that kind of thing. "I don't wear any makeup, and the clothes I have fit me. They're not baggy or outrageous. The most I have on is a red nose. Clowning, clown theater in particular, is more of a study of movement. How a certain character moves in time and space, if that's not to out there for you. There's a whole technique and study to it.

Tell me more about that.

Think of slapstick and pantomime. People will laugh just at the physical aspect of it. You don't need a big wig or makeup or anything like that if you can perform the physical aspect of comedy. And that's actually derived form clowning. Clowning started off with very physical activities, because in the middle of a circus you just can't be heard, so you have to be big and broad and be able to translate what's going on up to the very tiers. In theatrical clowning, you bring that all down. You don't have to be as big and broad because you're in a smaller, more intimate setting, but you do have to be able to communicate in a funny way.

A lot of my teachers would have us watch cartoons. When someone would fold up like an accordion, he'd say, "There. Do that." Once you get your eye trained to looking for clownish movement, you see it everywhere.

How long have you been making a living off this?

Since 1981, I'd say, that's been the majority of my living. And I haven't had any other jobs since 1988.

Wife? Kids?

No. A couple ex-wives. I have a partner now who has a child and we live together. She shares her boy with me. He doesn't call me step-dad. He calls me stunt-dad. There's a trick that needs to be done, he calls me in.

What's your job like now?

I've expanded a bit personally. I still do the clowning and stilt-walking and such. Now I'm doing more environmental entertainment. I have a recycling show in schools and festivals. I have a car called the Recycle Cycle, made completely of trash and recycled goods and stuff you'd find lying around in a garage, which is where I found it. It's got activities and interactive things. Squirts water, makes noise, lights flash. It's pretty big, bright and beautiful. It's all about teaching recycling and environmental awareness to kids. It's a pedal car. So I pedal it into the festival or in the parade or whatever and stop and do a quick show. It's got a PA on it. Then I let the kids play with the car.

:I also have a four-foot remote control robot I work with named Gizmo. He doesn't teach anything. He's just fun. I operate him remotely, try and be as inconspicuous as possible. He plays music, dances, sings. He talks to kids. Kids talk to him. He has funny things to say. The kids are quite enamored with him. I talk through him with a voice modulator.

What kind of gigs do you typically do?

This time of year, a lot of outdoor festivals. I'm getting ready to go to the Kentucky State Fair tomorrow. Then during the schoolyear I do school shows, a lot of Christmas parties for companies. I also book other entertainers.

Under your Vodvill Entertainment label?

Yeah. Unique people with useless skills is what we call 'em. : There's a lot of business to do the show. You've got the show, then you've got the business. Contracts, the website, taking phone calls, setting everything up for the weekend. I've got to call where everyone's going to make sure we're all set up, ready to go, everyone knows what to expect. I don't want to get any "What the hell?" phone calls during the weekend. I want everyone to know exactly what's happening.

What have been some of your best experiences?

One of the best I ever had was I was doing a show for a family fun night somewhere in Kansas City. I had these kids just goin', just laughin' so hard. And this little boy in the front row, he literally fell out of his chair and wet his pants. I had to stand there and watch that.

How old was he?

I think maybe third grade.

I've gotten some wonderful comments from parents of kids who've been traumatized, who will come up to me and say, "I've never heard my son laugh like that," or, "My son hasn't laughed in three years, since his brother died."

What are the challenges of the job?

The difficult part's usually on the business end. My heart really is in the performing, but sometimes I have to be a businessman. I try to make that fun too, but sometimes you've just gotta track people down.

To get paid?

Yeah. You want to be treated well and you want to treat people well. It's easy to do when you're making 'em laugh, but then you have to stop and be a businessperson sometimes.

How did you get the idea for the Lawrence Busker Festival?

It came about from walking around downtown and seeing some of the "street performers" and panhandlers, and just realizing that this city really accepted this. This really did a great job of accepting street performers and having some good spaces for them to perform in. I knew what was possible out there. I've been to other street performer festivals in Toronto and Boulder, Colorado, and other places, where street performing goes on on a regular basis.

I knew there were plenty of street performers around here, people who were my friends and people who were capable of doing it, and I just thought, "You know, we really ought to do this. We really ought to show up with a little better class of street performer." I don't want to demean the people that are out there. What they're doing is great. It adds ambience and certainly makes what we do more acceptable too. I just wanted to see it happen, and I had plenty of contacts and friends that I knew could make it work.

Is there anything you'd like to say about the festival?

I want to make sure people know that these people are working for tips. We're paying them a small, small stipend. Our goal is that no one loses money by coming here. We're making sure they're fed and they've got gas money and they can go home. So we're giving them a stipend, but their payment is going to depend on the generosity of the people here.

I hope the people of Lawrence really embrace this and see the value of having really good street performers in this town. And if we can get that reputation, then these people will stop at times when there's not a festival going on.