Wednesday, March 19, 2014

From Bob Swaney


Chic,
This was a very elegant performance with opera music as the background.

13 comments:

Chic Silber said...


Thanks Bob for this excellent

card with a perfect billing box

Roger Smith said...

21+ years after Lou Jacobs passed, a modern-day show in a foreign land uses his full makeup dead center in their advertising. I have to wonder what they say when fans ask why this feature of their billing was not in the program.

Chic Silber said...


There have been at least dozens

of similar make ups over the

years including the US postage

stamp long ago but none of them

can really compare to Mr Jacobs

Larry allen Dean said...

Roger, you would be shot for saying that in Europe. That is not Lou Jacobs. That image pre dates Lou Jacobs. That is the most famous clown in Europe. I made the same mistake when I was there. They wanted to string me up ! I will work on getting you his name. Perhaps someone might help me out here.

Bob Momyer said...

I agree with Chic. Lou had a way of making his makeup work that no one could duplicate. I believe it was his facial structure. You could see his clown face even when he wasn't wearing the makeup.
Bob

Bob Momyer said...

Albert Fratellini wore a similar august makeup to the one on the poster and to Lou's
Bob

John Herriott said...

This Lou Jacobs for sure. And fiend Chic the potage stamp is and was supposed to be Lou saluting our American circus. Lets not quibble.Lets LAUGH.

Chic Silber said...


Let's stay friends John but I

vividly recall the controversy

that surrounded the publication

of that stamp & the official

word from the US Postal Service

was that it was a variation of

Lou's style of clown make up

meant to glorify all of circus

in America & not specifically

of Lou himself but I also heard

unofficially that there was an

attempt to have it be of him

Chic Silber said...


I have seen "true" likeness of

Lou on trucks & pictorials in

several Latin American cities

Memorably in Guatemala & Peru

Chic Silber said...


I visited a dear little flea

bitten family show in Viejo

in the mountains of Guatemala

They performed in a 15 by 25

meter (49' x 81') square push

pole top & had a small elephant

a small hippo & 4 horses along

with some very accomplished

performers & their 2 trucks as

well as their pictorial paper

featured the Lou Jacobs image

Somewhere I have photos

Chic Silber said...


My wife just corrected me as

the small town was Ciudad Vieja

which was a colonial capitol

Chic Silber said...


In Lima Peru I saw a tremendous

banner (as wait paper) for the

"Ringers Brothers Circus" with

Lou's exact likeness on it

Bob Momyer said...

I was backstage at the Garden on the day , when the artist commissioned to make the stamp made the rendering of Lou and Lou told me, "I'm gonna be on a stamp, ain't that something". As they say, right from the clown's mouth.
Bob