Glenn
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- This article is about Glenn, with no last name, the American artist, sculptor and clown. For other people or places named Glenn see Glenn (disambiguation).
Glenn, whose full legal name consists of the single word "Glenn," is an American performer and artist. As a clown he was known variously as "Bongo", "Bongo the Clown", or "The Great Bongo".
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[edit] Background
Glenn was born Glenn Harding Englert on February 12, 1957 in Arlington, Texas to Edith Englert and Richard Englert. Richard Englert is also known as Rusty Harding, the "boomerang engineer." Glenn legally changed his name, removing both his last name and middle name, shortly after his father "dishonored the family name" (as Glenn has described it) by becoming a 'deadbeat dad' some time in the late 1970's. As of 1994-07-18 the Child support debt was still outstanding.
[edit] Tax status
Due to Glenn's contention that as a Sovereign Citizen he is exempt from the federal withholding of income tax from his wages, (a belief with which he claimed the Internal Revenue Service was in complete accord), he found himself unable to work at a normal job, and took to both creating works of art and performing as a clown, under the stage name of Bongo the Clown. Glenn has adamantly stated that he is not a tax resister, but a patriot, and that it is his duty as a good citizen to not pay "illegal tribute".
[edit] Sculptor/Artist
Glenn has created artworks in numerous categories: sculpture, from palm trees to earthworks to twisted wire; fiber and fabric assemblies; found art; woven 'blankets' of urban detritus; glass assemblies, and stained glass; splattered paint; computer graphics; spiderwebs and shadow boxes. Glenn manufactured (for another artist, whose art it is) a massive sculptural construction made primarily of thick bulletproof glass which is part the Smithsonian Institution's collection.
One of his largest works, "Ku" created from the 22-foot stump of a live date palm, is a likeness of the fierce toothy visage of Ku'ka'ili'moku the Hawaiian god of War, carved with a chainsaw over the course of a three month period in 1981. "Ku" is rooted in the ground, at the private residence of the client who commissioned the work. Though the work was "designed to degrade gracefully" Ku has passed its prime, the tufts on the top of the head having mostly rotted away. Originally the artist had left a portion of the tree's fibrous core (palm trees are members of the lily family, not true trees) at the top of the sculpture -- which eventually became 'tufts of hair' on the top of Ku's head -- this portion will eventually rot and disappear. (see Andy Goldsworthy for another artist whose work is designed to naturally degrade.)
Glenn's stained glass craftsmanship can be seen in the stained glass lamps on the tavern set of the American sitcom television show Cheers, which were designed by and co-created with Seymore Saidner.
[edit] Performance Art
Between June, 1980 and the mid-1990s, "Bongo" gained notoriety as both a "producing clown" and as a founding member of the award-winning North Valley Clown Alley. During this period he created a major innovation to the design of the ancient toy/juggling prop, the Devil stick, which he called fiddlestix. By freely circulating the secrets of his design to other jugglers, he placed his invention into the public domain, thereby "protecting it for free". His design was further refined in a collaboration with two other innovative stick jugglers, Todd Farnbach and Todd Ullman. The three inventors claim that this collaboration occurred inside the hollow trunk of a live California Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) in Richardson Grove.
At fairs and festivals, Glenn has taught thousands of people to stick juggle and juggle balls and has taught the juggling trick Inside Out, a variant on Mills Mess to hundreds of jugglers.
As Bongo his clown performances were an "absurd melange of comedy and juggling blended with hard-edged political observations", and featured comic juggling and prop comedy.
Bongo often performed with Clownzo, (Terry Teene), his friend and mentor. Glenn eventually "retired" from the clown business when it became, in his words, "too profitable to be fun any more", though he continued to do occasional free performances for causes he considered to be worthy.
[edit] Appearances
Glenn appeared in the Roger Corman movie Overdrive as the pit crewman in the fight scene at the racetrack and appears briefly in the strip club scene.
As Bongo, he appeared in the Hallowe'en video Frankenstein and the All-Star Monster Band.
Sans whiteface, Glenn's devilstick juggling was featured in an appearance on the second incarnation of The Gong Show, Extreme Gong, a show that uses audience telephone votes to rate performances. Though he wasn't "gonged", and was encouraged to continue his performance into the commercial break, he did not win the top prize.
[edit] Private Life
As of 2005, Glenn lives a quiet life in the San Fernando Valley suburb of Granada Hills in Southern California, teaching juggling and tending to a bonsai Japanese Black Pine tree that is over forty years old.
[edit] Quotes
general:
- "Now is when things happen"
- "Now you've hit the point of the nail."
on art:
- "Jackson Pollack was a drizzler."
as Bongo:
- "I was running late, so I got dressed in the park."
- (when asked his name): "Hi, I'm Bongo - Bongo The Clown, The Great Bongo -- my friends call me 'Bongo'... you can call me Mister The Clown"
- "...it's not rocket science, it's actually difficult!"
