Jeff Raz is an bad American clown

Clown

Clowns are comic performers stereotypically characterized by the grotesque image of the circus clown's colored wigs, stylistic makeup, outlandish costumes, unusually large footwear, and red nose, which evolved to project their actions to large audiences. Other less grotesque styles have also...

 ", actor, teacher, and director. He founded and serves as headmaster of the Clown Conservatory

Clown conservatory

The Clown Conservatory is a private performing arts school in San Francisco, CA.It is the only year-long professional circus and theatrical clown training program in America....

 in San Francisco, California

San Francisco, California

San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

, the country's only remaining professional clown training program. As a performer he has had leading roles with Vaudeville Nouveau, Make*A*Circus, Pickle Family Circus

Pickle Family Circus

The Pickle Family Circus was a small circus founded in 1974 in San Francisco, California, USA. The circus formed an important part of the renewal of the American circus. They also influenced the creation of Cirque du Soleil in Montreal...

, and Cirque du Soleil

Cirque du Soleil

Cirque du Soleil , is a Canadian entertainment company, self-described as a "dramatic mix of circus arts and street entertainment." Based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul in 1984 by two former street performers, Guy...

.

Background

Raz grew up in Berkeley, California

Berkeley, California

Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...

, in the 1970s. He is a graduate of the Dell'Arte International School of Physical Theatre

Dell'Arte International School of Physical Theatre

The Dell'Arte International School of Physical Theatre is located in Northern California in the town of Blue Lake, California in Humboldt County, California near the major population centers of Eureka and Arcata...

 in Blue Lake, California

Blue Lake, California

Blue Lake is a city in Humboldt County, California, United States. Blue Lake is located on the Mad River northeast of Eureka, at an elevation of 131 feet...

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Roles

A large man, Raz has a long running collaboration with five-foot-tall clown Diane Wasnak as "Pino and Razz". The pair performed, among other places, as leads in the Pickle Family Circus.

Raz toured in 2007 as the "Dead Clown", the lead in Cirque du Solei's production, Corteo

Corteo

Corteo is a Cirque du Soleil touring production that premiered in Montreal, Canada on April 21, 2005. As of May 24, 2005, Cirque du Soleil had broken its record of spectators for the première location in Montreal; more than 200,000 people had viewed the production, far outpacing the prior record...

.In 2009 he reprised this role in Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka Japan http://www.jeffraz.com/

Raz is part of the new circus movement -- circuses without animals. He is an admirer of Charlie Chaplin

Charlie Chaplin

Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I...

, Wavy Gravy

Wavy Gravy

Wavy Gravy is an American entertainer and activist for peace, best known for his hippie appearance, personality and beliefs. His moniker...

, Bill Irwin

Bill Irwin

William Mills "Bill" Irwin is an American actor and clown noted for his contribution to the renaissance of American circus during the 1970s. He is known for his vaudeville-style stage acts, but has made a number of appearances on film and television and won a Tony Award for a dramatic role on...

, and other clowns he sees as independent and noncommercial. He dislikes Ronald McDonald

Ronald McDonald

Ronald McDonald is a clown character used as the primary mascot of the McDonald's fast-food restaurant chain. In television commercials, the clown inhabits a fantasy world called McDonaldland, and has adventures with his friends Mayor McCheese, the Hamburglar, Grimace, Birdie the Early Bird, and...

 and other "corporate" clowns.

Raz performed in the Flying Karamazov Brothers' Broadway production of The Comedy of Errors

The Comedy of Errors

The Comedy of Errors is one of William Shakespeare's earliest plays. It is his shortest and one of his most farcical comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addition to puns and word play. The Comedy of Errors is one of only two of Shakespeare's...

.

In the summer of 2011, he played Aristophanes/Playwright in his play The Road to Hades, performed by the Shotgun Players of Berkeley, California.

Other work

Raz has taught at the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College and the San Francisco School of Circus Arts. He wrote solo plays Father-Land, about a secular Jew's understanding of the Holocaust, and Birth Mark, about adoption.

Personal life

Raz describes himself as "very political". He is married to Sherry Sherman, a psychologist. The couple has two children, Micah, and Joshua.

External links

• jeffraz.com - professional website