Subject: On Joe Jackson's Handlebars
From: citycabn (citycabn@gateway.net)
Date: Wed Feb 16 2000 - 12:58:57 EST
In my search for Seymour's guru, Joe Jackson:
http://www.webdom.com/chof/allinduct.html
JOE JACKSON SR.
(1873 - 1942)
Joe Jackson Sr. was born as Joseph Francis Jiranek in Vienna, Austria. He
was Austrian bicycle champion, and a member of a world champion bicycle polo
team before he became an entertainer. He started with a serious bike riding
act, and then developed it into a comedy break- away bike act performed by a
tramp character. Preferring intimate settings, Jackson worked almost
exclusively in vaudeville and European one-ring circuses. His act took him
to England, the European Continent, Russia, Siberia, Turkey, and most of the
United States. He encouraged his son to take over the act and it was
performed by either father or son for over 100 years. Following a
performance at New York's Roxy Theater, he took several curtain calls, and
then died in the wings.
***
And even one Archie Leach weighs in with:
Touring the English provinces with the troupe, I grew to appreciate the fine
art of pantomime. No dialogue was used in our act and each day, on a bare
stage, we learned not only dancing, tumbling and stilt-walking under the
expert tuition of Bob Pender, but also how to convey a mood or meaning
without words. How to establish communication silently with an audience,
using the minimum of movement and expression; how best immediately and
precisely to effect an emotional response — a laugh or, sometimes, a tear.
The greatest pantomimists of our day have been able to induce both at once.
Charles Chaplin, Cantinflas, Marcel Marceau, Jacques Tati, Fernanel, and
England’s Richard Herne. And in bygone years Grock, the Lupino family, Bobby
Clark, and the unforgettable tramp cyclist Joe Jackson; and currently the
more familiar Danny Kay, Red Skelton, Sid Caesar, and even Jack Benny with
his slow, calculated reactions. Surprisingly, Hitchcock is one of the most
subtle pantomimists of them all; it’s such a pity he doesn’t do it
professionally, so that everyone might have the joy of watching him as I
have.
http://carygrant.net/autobiography/autobiography5.html
--Bruce
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