Comedy In Motion: Magic, Weird Skills, And Outrageous Comedy

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Dan Kamin, who created Johnny Depp's physical comedy routines in Benny and Joon, will bring his unique blend of comedy and illusion to the University of Arkansas on Tuesday, September 30, when he performs in Giffels Auditorium at 8 p.m. His appearance is being sponsored by the University of Arkansas Artists and Concerts Committee.

Kamin's presence on campus will be unmistakable: watch for his appearance as the mysterious "Corpozoid Man," a ghostly figure who moves in hypnotic slow motion and looks like a corporate recruiter from the twilight zone.

In "Comedy in Motion," Kamin blends weird skills, rude stunts and outrageous comedy in a dazzling combination of eye-popping movement illusions and mind-boggling sleight-of-hand magic, capped by some of the routines Kamin created for movies. While on campus, Kamin will also visit classes in the communication and drama departments.

In addition to creating the physical comedy scenes for Chaplin and Benny and Joon, Kamin played the wooden Indian that came to life in the cult classic Creepshow 2 and created Martian movements for Tim Burton's Mars Attacks!

Kamin’s astonishing movement skills and quirky comedy have earned him invitations to perform in theatres and arts festivals around the world, from Lincoln Center and the Battersea Arts Centre in London to the Bowlus Art Center in the American heartland of Kansas.

"Dan’s shows are breezy postmodern vaudevilles of physical and verbal comedy, but they offer more than pure entertainment," said Frank Scheide, an associate professor of communication who arranged Kamin’s visit to campus. "As Lancaster's New Era says, he is 'a world class mime who constantly pushes past the classic mime performance to delve deeper into the entire idea of illusion and entertainment. Kamin has a biting wit that he uses quite effectively to satirize the corruption of our political world and himself as well.’ "

When he was 12, he began his performing career by doing magic shows at the birthday parties of "often obnoxious children." Attending Carnegie Mellon University to study industrial design, Kamin said his hopes for a normal career evaporated when he saw the eye-popping movement illusions practiced by master mime Jewel Walker.

"I promptly became the sorcerer’s apprentice. The great silent comedy films of Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin added more fuel to the fire, and soon I was touring the country with my first original show," said Kamin.

Undeterred by the fact that vaudeville was long dead, he cobbled a new vaudeville circuit out of colleges, theatres and schools. His "Comedy Concertos," which blend lowbrow comedy with highbrow music, have become popular with symphonies nationwide. Kamin also creates special programs and pranks for corporate clients such as PPG Industries and Westinghouse. And when he becomes "The Corpozoid Man," he strolls into crowds in slow motion, terrifying the very children who tormented him as a youth.

Kamin returned to his comedy roots to write Charlie Chaplin's One-Man Show, revealing the secrets of Chaplin's comic art. Hailed as a breakthrough work, the book boasts a preface by another Chaplin fan, Marcel Marceau.

During the past several seasons he has performed Comedy Concertos with the Boston, Singapore, Philadelphia and Baltimore symphonies, toured his solo shows throughout America and England, and directed several hit productions of classic comedies in his hometown of Pittsburgh.

Additional information about Kamin and his work can be found on his Web site at http://www.dankamin.com/.