The Intern-al Report: News from the Field

On Feb. 27, Dan Kamin will bring side-splitting, family-friendly comedy to Hilbert Circle Theatre--without saying a word. In a performance of "The Classical Clown" with the ISO and conductor David Glover, Kamin will play a mischievous clown who battles the conductor for control of the orchestra. His masterful physical comedy is sure to delight everyone from toddlers to their grandparents.

Kamin's comedy resume is impressive--he trained Johnny Depp and Robert Downey, Jr. for their acclaimed performances in Chaplin and Benny and Joon and taught Depp how to knuckle-roll a coin for Pirates of the Caribbean. We asked Kamin to tell us a little more about his inspiration and experiences. As expected, he brought his satirical sense of humor and quick wit to the interview.

What got you interested in physical comedy?  

I'm overly susceptible to movies. As a kid I saw the movie Houdini with Tony Curtis and I promptly became a boy magician. In college at Carnegie Mellon I saw a Chaplin film and I became a silent comedian. Your readers will be relieved to know that I've never seen The Boston Strangler.

As a boy magician, how did you learn magic?

I grew up in Miami, where I was taken under the wing of various shady criminal-types who liked to show off their skills at cardsharping and such to a goggle-eyed kid. I became fascinated with the mechanics of deception, which naturally enough led me to a career in show business. 

Why did you want to be a performer at such a young age? 

I was desperate for money, and I couldn't get the job I really wanted, which was to be a bagboy at the local supermarket. Those guys had cars and girlfriends. The best I could do was magic shows at the birthday parties of hyperkinetic, sugar-crazed children. Unfortunately, I soon learned that girls are repelled by magicians.

At age 16 I tried to find fame by performing at local talent shows. I never won a single one, but I did make it onto The Ted Mack Original Amateur Hour, the American Idol of its day, on which I lost on national TV to a group of four sailors singing "Blue Moon."

After you saw the Chaplin film that inspired you, how did you go about learning to do physical comedy? 

At first I had no idea. I read some books about Charlie Chaplin, but they didn’t help. Then I met a man named Jewel Walker, a world-class mime artist who taught in the drama department at Carnegie Mellon, where I was studying industrial design. I realized that mime was where silent movie comedy had gone, so I attached myself to Jewel like a leech, becoming the sorcerer’s apprentice. Just as I once spent hours learning how to manipulate coins and cards, now I learned how to create illusions and tell stories in movement, thus completely ruining my chances of leading a normal life. 

Is it always just you in your performances? 

Usually there's also an audience.  I refuse to go on if I outnumber the audience. 

You often perform with orchestras.  Do you play an instrument?

I play the buffoon. Bands and orchestras are so desperate to attract audiences that they turn to charlatans like me. By adding visual comedy and silent storytelling, I cheapen the musical experience and make it great fun for everyone. Except for the conductor David Glover, of course, who will hate me to his dying day. 

What can the audience expect at a "comedy concerto?" 

A lifetime of regret. 

What happens in “The Classical Clown?”  

In "The Classical Clown" everything gets turned upside down.  I'm a mime who wants to conduct, and by the end of the show I do, and David Glover and the whole Indianapolis Symphony become mimes. It is truly humiliating for all concerned, and yet another reason to hate mimes.

Are you a silent character in all your symphony shows? 

The Classical Clown is the only silent stage show I do--but David Glover will make up for it by talking all through the show.  

What was it like working with Robert Downey Jr. and Johnny Depp?  

It was a dream come true to work in movies. Classic movies inspired me, and I came full circle by adding classic visual comedy to modern films. By the way, I taught Johnny Depp how to roll the coin around his fingers the way he does at the end of Pirates of the Caribbean. He became my magic apprentice while we were working on Benny and Joon.  But does he call? Never.

How often do you come up with new performances?   

I come up with new ones whenever I'm artistically inspired, or someone offers me money. Which may be the same thing, come to think of it. 

Where do you perform other than with symphonies? 

I’ve performed in just about every imaginable setting—factories, the streets of London and in mental hospitals. For the patients, I hasten to add, not as a patient.

What makes these smaller shows different than performing for a huge audience in a theatre?  

I love performing for hospital patients or old people because they can't run very fast. Large audiences tend to turn into angry mobs of screaming, torch-bearing villagers out for my blood.

Have you ever been in any movies yourself?  

I did cameos in Chaplin and Benny and Joon and played a wooden Indian who came to life in the film Creepshow 2.  I also played a small, uncredited role in D.W. Griffith’s film The Birth of a Nation.

Wait, wasn’t The Birth of a Nation made in 1915?

Don’t quibble.

Do you have any suggestions for anyone interested in this type of performing?