Sunday, February 19, 2006

Mark Anthony and "Hotch"


Bud, you are right I always found Mark to be a very gentle man.
My favorite of his carvings was the buzzard that he would place either on his derby or his shoulder.
The buzzard had a spring in it's neck so it would always nod it's head slowly as Mark moved and
it's eyes were half closed and it wore a slight smile which to me reflected Mark's personality to a "T".

Posted by Buckles at 2/19/2006 11:47:00 PM

7 comments:

Pat Cashin said...

Buckles,

Where and when is this from?

It's a great transitional picture between Mark's whiteface and his classic tramp makeup.

And I didn't know that he'd done a car gag. How'd he carve THAT out of foam?

20 February, 2006 00:00
Pat Cashin said...

Buckles,

Where and when is this from?

It's a great transitional picture between Mark's whiteface and his classic tramp makeup.

And I didn't know that he'd done a car gag. How'd he carve THAT out of foam?

20 February, 2006 00:01
Anonymous said...

We had this clown “Peppie,” his real name escapes me. A DV from Viet Nam and I think it was Mark Anthony that taught him how to carve foam rubber. Peppie is the clown with a tiny band aid on his nose, and truly an artist with little sharp scissors and a block of foam. For his disabilities the government gave him a free vender’s license and he sold novelties as Peppie the clown for several months out of the year. Generally a laid back humorous sort, he worn this t shirt that said “Life is Good.” I wonder after reading what has been written about Mark, if Mark is responsible for helping Peppie fade out the years that he spent documenting our fallen young soldiers.

20 February, 2006 01:29
Buckles said...

I'm surprised to hear you guys speak of foam rubber. On the Cole Show I once asked him what he used and he said balsa wood. Maybe this was before foam was invented.
This picture was taken with Rudy Bros. Circus in the late 1950's right after I got back from the Army.

20 February, 2006 06:42
Anonymous said...

Yes he did have Buzzards that had a happy like disposition . Now seeing this exelent photo of him and Hotch revises my memory more vividly. Pat; I would bet that auto is all metal and hand formed.
Foam was not so redaily available or practical for some time comming than. Todays terms might call that auto " Rat Rod - like ". I do not doubt this photo is around or just after the Beat Generation, 1955ish ? That minature auto would be very valuable to day, like a George Barris Hot Rod. Mr. Anthonys's Carvings as his over all Manor, Charactor, Props etc. was so uniquely styled and like no other.

20 February, 2006 08:49
Anonymous said...

Mark was such a kind and sweet man. Definatly marched to his own drummer, and was a very giving clown and person.

He carved in many different mediums, I remember his basla and bass wood carvings, and he was the best at the foam rubber props which he colored with chauk. We'd ask him how he free handed the elephant heads for a bendover bit, and his answer was always " You cut away anything that don't look like an elephant."

I remember him showing me video of his little car act,performed on the Paul Kaye Hawaii dates, very similar to Lou Jacobs, Kinko Sunbury and BoBo Barnett's routines with all the water squirting and explosions, but he added a little pull trailer to the hitch on the back and the blow-off was an inflatable vinel elephant bursting out. Great sight gag for a finish, and already head of his time with the design of this type of inflatable.

He also performed the car act as a baker, and pulled in a pile of foam rubber cream pies. Worked it with Swede Johnson.

A gentle-man clown.

-Greg

20 February, 2006 09:35
Anonymous said...

One of the ways Peppie would carve foam that probably originated from Mark was to carve some little animal, like a turtle, and then hollow out the inside so it could be turned in side out. He then would carve that side into something like a rabbit, so he then had a magic trick of turning a turtle into a rabbit. And now I’ve turned this Blog into a craft site.

20 February, 2006 14:07

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