Boxcar Theatre Presents HERE COMES BOSWICK THE CLOWN 12/26-1/1/2010

What's a clown to do when he has to host a kids party he forgot he was having? The answer is in the new holiday favorite Here Comes Boswick the Clown, playing December 26 - January 1 at San Francisco's Boxcar Theatre (www.boxcartheatre.org). Created and performed by Boswick himself (aka David Magidson) Boswick runs December 26, 27, 29, 30, 30 & January 1 at 11am & 1:30pm at Boxcar's South of Market home stage, 505 Natoma Street, at 6th.

" I feel strongly about having children attend theatre that is appropriate to them," said Boswick / Magidon. "Children are drawn to a stage, they love dramatic play and participating in drama. There is not a lot of theatre for children that is focused entirely on them. This is my answer to that."

When Boswick / Magidson the Clown wakes up in the morning he finds a group of kiddos (the audience) whom he forgot he invited over. Scrambling to be a good host he tries to entertain his guests, but can't seem to get the hang of it. His juggling clubs are on the ceiling. He botches a simple cooking recipe, and attempts to perform magic. Filled with memorable characters (all played by Boswick / Magidson!), exciting juggling, goofy magic, and filled with audience participation and multi-media fun, this family crowd pleaser is sure to tickle kids funny bones and entertain the adults.

"Boswick takes our audience on a theatrical journey where they will laugh and laugh," said Boxcar Artistic Director Nick A. Olivero. "They watch the show and are also part of the show, which is very important for children to feel they are being talked to directly. Adults love the show as well, because laughter is infectious and they find themselves as drawn into the show as much as the children."

"In the 50s and 60s there was a show Kid's Say The Darndest Things, in which Art Linkletter asked the children questions and they answered honestly, which is very funny," said Peter Matthews, Boxcar Artistic Director. "This is a cornerstone to what Boswick does and what will draw not only the children but the adults into the show."

Boswick / Magidson started performing as a youngster. He learned to juggle at age nine when a camp counselor showed him how. No piece of fruit or tennis ball was safe in his San Leandro, California home through middle and high school. This is also when he discovered the library: spending hours and hours among the stacks studying magic and juggling.

"Before the Internet if people wanted to learn about magic, juggling or how to join a circus, they checked out books from the library. Imagine that!" laughs Boswick / Magidson.

Boswick / Magidson performed throughout his middle and high school years, including bouts of singing and dancing. He discovered to joy of pratfalls in the play One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest where he had to take a tumble in a stage fight. About this time, a touring mime gave a workshop at school and Boswick / Magidson became fascinated with body movement copying Shields and Yarnell and doing puppets. After high school Boswick / Magidson spent an intensive summer studying acting at ACT in San Francisco and was amazed by the then hardly known Geoff Hoyle who was teaching physical comedy. Boswick / Magidson graduated college with a degree in acting from Emerson College in Boston. Once again, acting was fun but focusing on theatre movement, mime clowning, Comedia Del Arte, dance all intrigued him.

After College Boswick / Magidson auditioned and was accepted by the world famous Ringling Brother's Clown College in Venice Florida. The year he auditioned there were 5000 other applicants, 50 were accepted to train intensively in Florida. The agreement, if chosen, you will tour with the Circus. Out of the 50 that trained with the circus 16 were brought onto the 3 touring circus shows. Boswick / Magidson toured with the Gold Unit Ringlings first venture outside the US. The whole unit of the circus went to Japan, where the Japanese had never seen this style of entertainment before.

Boswick / Magidson then joined two other fellow clowns in creating their own troupe, called the Kloons. The Kloons spent the next five years in a broKen Down Volvo creating theatrical clown juggling shows. They toured the East Coast, the West Coast of Canada, and all over California and Oregon. When the Kloons broke up, Boswick / Magidson began to make a living any way he could, sometimes street performing but mostly being invited to perform for children at their birthdays. He has performed in nearly 4000 birthday parties in his career.

"This was the training ground to learn what makes children laugh but mostly how to entertain a group that has babies up to 80 year olds watching," said Boswick / Magidson.

In the last few years Boswick / Magidson has focuses on creating a theatrical presence for children aged four to eight. He is a very popular performer in Northern California libraries where he demonstrates how a clown gets ready for a show by putting on his Make Up For the children and demonstrates how he transforms from David to Boswick the Clown in a matter of six minutes.

Boswick / Magidson has done many commercials over the years including one for AT&T, The San Francisco Examiner, Nissan, Chevrolet, BMW. He had a scene with Sean Penn in the movie Milk that ended up on the cutting room floor but made it to the missing scenes section of the DVD about a time when Harvey Milk was made up as a clown and was a guest of the Ringling Brothers Circus. He is the star of the children's movie Here Comes The Clown and has had his own local children's show on Public Access for two years.

Dedicated to high visual concepts and transformative theatre, Olivero and Matthews provide San Francisco with its most innovative and thought-provoking theatrical experiences through its "Boxcar" and "Sidecar" productions. Boxcar's commitment is to produce "Experiential Theatre" and is proud to be known as a "Directors' Theatre." This next season Boxcar re-imagines the familiar by taking well-known plays and turning them on their head. "You have to hand it to Boxcar; as other companies scale back and tighten belts, it steps forward and belts out scales." (Rob Avila, SF Bay Guardian)

Tickets for Here Comes Boswick the Clown are $7 for kids 12 and under; $9 for everyone else. Tickets may be purchased online at https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/91618 or by calling 1-800-838-3006.