Today a long overdue tribute to that leader among the New Vaudevillians, Avner the Eccentric (Avner the Eccentric, b. 1948).
I'm quite certain I first learned about Avner from the 1988 book Acrobats of the Soul: Comedy and Virtuosity in Contemporary American Theatre by Ron Jenkins. This book is surprisingly hard to track down nowadays. I read it not long after it came out, maybe even before I worked at Big Apple Circus in the mid '90s. It provided a wonderful snapshot of key figures in the then-burgeoning New Vaudeville movement, in particular the players with a clown or circus orientation. Anyway, this leads me to wonder if its author was any relation to Henry Jenkins, who wrote the equally wonderful What Made Pistachio Nuts?: Anarchistic Comedy and the Vaudeville Aesthetic (1992), another book that made a huge impression on me. I note that the latter Jenkins is from Atlanta, which also happens to be the hometown of Avner Eisenberg. Who knew that Atlanta was a fevered font of cerebration on the ancient art of clown? UniverSoul Circus is based there too. I have to conclude that it has something to do with all that ingestion of Coca-Cola.
Anyway, Avner graduated from the University of Washington in 1971. As all good scholars know, the Pacific Northwest is also Karamazov country. Avner, like the Karamazovs, started out performing at Ren Fests in that region in the '70s. He also studied mime with Jacques LeCoq in Paris, and taught at California's Dell'Arte International School of Physical Theatre (where several of my friends studied at his feet!)
Avner is not only a clown and a mime, but also juggles, walks a slack wire, performs sleight of hand magic, is a puppeteer, and is a certified Ericksonian Psychiatrist. Among the vaudevillians of the classic era, the only one I can think of who possessed so many skills is Joe Cook. One of his major influences as a clown is Emmett Kelly. It should be implied from his reputation as a superlative clown and mime, but ought to be reiterated: Avner is a superb actor. So he not only fools with props, like brooms and hats and ladders, but if you look at his face in close-up, every action he performs is 100% connected to his mental processes. A CHARACTER is doing these things. On top of it, his Jewish identity informs the art. That big fuzzy beard, reinforced by the derby, work clothes and suspenders, suggests a simple man from the shtetl. Some of his routines are set to klezmer music.
Like many of the co-called "New Vaudevillians", Avner was most prominent in mainstream pop culture in the '80s. He participated in John Towsen's seminal 1983 Clown Theatre Festival in New York, leading to a 1984 solo show at the now defunct Lamb's Theatre on 44th Street (arguably a Broadway venue). That same year he appeared on the British variety show The Paul Daniels Magic Show. With the Karamazov Brothers, he was in both the 1985 film The Jewel of the Nile and the 1987 Lincoln Center production of A Comedy of Errors. A 1986 TV special called The New Vaudevillians featured Avner, bubble man Tom Noddy, Larry Pisoni of the Pickle Family Circus, and the late, lamented Peter Scolari. Avner was also a guest star on the TV shows Webster (1986) and Brenda Starr (1989), had a small role in Woody Allen's Crime and Misdemeanors (1989), and played a ventriloquist in the 1989 Broadway play Ghetto. In 1990 he starred as cartoonist R. Crumb in a play called R. Crumb Comix. He has been in numerous production of Waiting for Godot, in both principal roles.
For decades now, Avner Eisenberg has circled the globe many times now as both a performer and a teacher. For much of that time his wife and creative partner Julie Goell was at his side. Ms. Goell wrote the book Life in a Clown House: A Manual and a Memoir, and thrilled us by performing at the Brick Theatre's Clown Theatre Festival several years ago. She passed away in 2016. Based in Maine, Avner the Eccentric is still highly active to this day. I highly recommend his youtube page (here), as well as his official webpage (here)
For more on vaudeville, old and new, consult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous.
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