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Drew's a fool
Some of you may know me from Motionfest East (I’m the guy who dropped ALOT during my critique session performance) or from Motionfest West (I’m the guy who lived on a chair).
I grew up in Athens, Ohio where I became interested in magic, acting, and later juggling. I studied theatre at Ohio University where I was lucky to have the opportunity to work with John Towsen, who introduced me to the worlds of physical comedy and clown-theatre. From there I went to Paris and studied with Jacques Lecoq. Other influential teachers from this time period (the 80’s): Klauniada, Peterhoff, Sigfrido Aguilar, Carlo, and many others (leaving me inspired but scattered).
I moved to Chicago in 1989 where I lived and performed for 11 years. There I created one-man shows for theatres. My basic premise usually involved putting my naive oddball persona into dramatic and sometimes dark situations to deepen the humor and give context to the skills. Thus the dramatic fool moniker.
But the theater work did not pay the bills and I wasted too many years with boring day jobs. I was introduced to street performing by Drue Franklin and did as much as I could for two summers in inhospitable Chicago. My personality was not quite cut out for that path, but it helped my indoor performing immensely. Then I discovered I could make a living doing corporate and other miscellaneous gigs. Which means I get paid to develop skills and improve timing, presence, and character. I have never been happier.
I now live in Pittsburgh, PA and am retooling my dark but goofy one-man vaudeville play entitled Help! Help! (That’s the short title; the whole title is Help! Help! I Know This Title is Long, But Somebody’s Trying to Kill Me!) which is about a guy who changes signs that introduce each act in a variety show. None of the acts show up because unfortunately they have been murdered. The sign-changer must now perform all the acts, while avoiding the other performers’ fates.
I occasionally teach workshops in dramatic foolery and my website is partly devoted to furthering the art of clowning and physical/visual comedy:
http://www.dramaticfool.com or
Foolishly,
Drew Richardson (dramatic fool)
I grew up in Athens, Ohio where I became interested in magic, acting, and later juggling. I studied theatre at Ohio University where I was lucky to have the opportunity to work with John Towsen, who introduced me to the worlds of physical comedy and clown-theatre. From there I went to Paris and studied with Jacques Lecoq. Other influential teachers from this time period (the 80’s): Klauniada, Peterhoff, Sigfrido Aguilar, Carlo, and many others (leaving me inspired but scattered).
I moved to Chicago in 1989 where I lived and performed for 11 years. There I created one-man shows for theatres. My basic premise usually involved putting my naive oddball persona into dramatic and sometimes dark situations to deepen the humor and give context to the skills. Thus the dramatic fool moniker.
But the theater work did not pay the bills and I wasted too many years with boring day jobs. I was introduced to street performing by Drue Franklin and did as much as I could for two summers in inhospitable Chicago. My personality was not quite cut out for that path, but it helped my indoor performing immensely. Then I discovered I could make a living doing corporate and other miscellaneous gigs. Which means I get paid to develop skills and improve timing, presence, and character. I have never been happier.
I now live in Pittsburgh, PA and am retooling my dark but goofy one-man vaudeville play entitled Help! Help! (That’s the short title; the whole title is Help! Help! I Know This Title is Long, But Somebody’s Trying to Kill Me!) which is about a guy who changes signs that introduce each act in a variety show. None of the acts show up because unfortunately they have been murdered. The sign-changer must now perform all the acts, while avoiding the other performers’ fates.
I occasionally teach workshops in dramatic foolery and my website is partly devoted to furthering the art of clowning and physical/visual comedy:
http://www.dramaticfool.com or
Foolishly,
Drew Richardson (dramatic fool)
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