Page 14 • East Oregonian/Hermiston Herald
July 2016
PROFESSIONAL FUNNY WOMAN
Contributed photo
Jamie Coventry and Nata-
sha Kaluza.
CLOWN
SCHOOL
CONNECTION
Before
discovering
clowning, Jamie Coventry and
Natasha Kaluza were once
unhappy with their jobs.
They became friends at
San Francisco Circus Center
Clown Conservatory in 2002,
but before that the two were
working offi ce jobs that left
them unsatisfi ed.
They had studied theater in
college, but were unable to fi nd
a career after graduation.
“Clown school changed my
life,” Coventry said, chuckling.
Coventry & Kaluza’s clown
career has taken them as far as
Europe and Japan to perform.
Their act earned them the “Best
Comedy/Clown Act” award
two years in a row at the Amer-
ican Circus Festival. It wasn’t
until last year that they started
booking county fairs, however.
Because many county fairs
often feature more than one
clown act, Coventry & Kaluza
are always looking for ways to
make their show unique.
Near the end of their show,
Kaluza catches up to 50 hula
hoops thrown by Coventry
with no strings attached,
which is rare among circus
performers, Coventry said.
Shows at 12:45 p.m.,
3 p.m. and 7:15 p.m., Les
Schwab stage.
It’s impossible to place
Heather Pearl’s entertainment
act into one singular category.
Better known by her stage
name, Mz. Pearl, she has been
performing professionally for
20 years, combining magic,
physical comedy, clown acts,
juggling and stilt-walking,
just to name a few. Performing
in a wide variety of roles and
entertainment venues, Pearl is
simply referred to as a “Profes-
sional Funny Woman.”
Pearl’s act at the Umatilla
County Fair will consist of a
European-style clown perfor-
mance, distinguished by its
character-driven, light makeup
and physical style of comedy.
Pearl will also perform tricks
such as juggling and plate spin-
ning. Her show relies heavily
on audience participation,
mainly from children, although
she aims to draw in all age
groups.
“A lot of times at the end of
a show parents will say, ‘Wow,
my kids liked the show and I did
too,’” Pearl said. “People have
preconceived notions about
clowns. But a lot of people are
pleasantly surprised.”
Shows at noon, 2:15 and
4:30 at the Les Schwab Stage.
Contributed photo
Mz. Pearl will entertain at the
2016 Umatilla County Fair.
Magician turns hypnotist, to mystify fair audience
Don Slone will welcome an
old friend to his new Umatilla
County Fair.
Magician and hypnotist Jeff
Martin fi rst met Slone at an
Oregon Fairs Association show-
case a decade ago when Martin
was giving an example of his act
to a small crowd.
Slone, who took over as
Umatilla County Fair manager
earlier this year, approached Jeff
and his wife, Pam, and offered
them a spot in his former Harney
County Fair. Slone proudly
boasts that he was the fi rst fair
manager in Oregon to hire Jeff as
a magician and hypnotist.
Once Slone became manager
of Umatilla County Fair, he
knew he wanted Jeff as one of
this year’s entertainment acts.
Jeff will perform both magic
and hypnosis shows on the Les
Schwab Stage twice a day during
the August 9-13 fair.
Jeff has been a professional
magician since 1979, but didn’t
start performing full time at fairs
until 1999. Pam handles the
marketing and scheduling for her
husband’s act, though she says
her main role is to make Jeff look
good.
Anywhere from six to nine
months of a given year, Jeff
and Pam are traveling to shows
around the country. Their
summers are spent at fairs and
festivals where Jeff performs
close-up magic, but Jeff also
does gospel shows, school
shows, motivational speaking
and corporate events, among
Contributed photo
Jeff Martin, a magician and
hypnotist, will perform at the
2016 Umatilla County Fair.
others.
“We do it all,” Pam said.
As if that wasn’t enough,
Jeff also recently graduated
from hypnosis school. Jeff took
classes from Las Vegas-based
hypnotist Marc Savard over a
two-year span before adding it
to his entertainment arsenal last
summer.
Jeff said he has been well-ac-
quainted with hypnosis since
childhood — his mother was a
hypnotist — but never received
formal training until well into his
adult life.
Magic and hypnosis are
synonymous for many enter-
tainers. In fact, Jeff said fi ve or
six of the top hypnotists in the
country are former magicians.
“The gist of the show
construction is very similar,” Jeff
said. “It’s mor`e like an improv
show, but your subjects come out
of the audience.”
Magic shows at 2 p.m. and
4 p.m., hypnotist shows at
5:15 p.m. and 8 p.m.,
Les Schwab stage.
Chaos and a little IMPROVISATION
Contributed photo
Mark and Dre have been per-
forming their comedy rou-
tine for 20 years.
Coming
from
different
performing backgrounds, Mark
Bunnell and Andrea Terry
discovered their crossover
potential as a duo.
Now known as Mark & Dre,
they’ve performed together since
2000, when they both took part
in starting the Carnival of Chaos
— a blend of vaudeville, cabaret
and cirque comedic theater — in
San Francisco.
Since then, they’ve devel-
oped an old variety-style show,
incorporating prop comedy,
musical parody and sketch
comedy. More simply, all of
their shows have a moment of
surprise, chaos and improvisa-
tion, Terry said.
Bunnell performed solo for
many years in the genres of
street-style and motivational
comedy, while Terry came from
a collaborative background in
theater and musical production.
Between Bunnell’s experi-
ence entertaining kids and Terry’s
musical skills in adult shows,
the two realized they were able
to bring together completely
different audiences. Being able
to play off the male-female
dynamic and combine the silly
with the sophisticated allows
them to tap into many different
senses of humor.
“You need that at a fair,”
Terry said.
Shows at 1:30, 3:45 and
6:30 p.m. at the Les Schwab
Stage.