Stanley Ted Edwards (April 15, 1950 – August 3, 2023), known professionally as Jango Edwards, was an American clown and entertainer who spent most of his career in Europe, primarily in France, Spain, the Netherlands, and England. Edwards' performances were mainly one-man shows in the European

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...

tradition, in which he combined traditional clowning with countercultural and political references. Edwards built up a cult following over more than three decades of touring Europe with his shows.

Biography

Stanley Ted Edwards was born in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, on April 15, 1950. His family owned a successful landscaping business. During the late 1960s, he became immersed in radical politics, philosophy, religion, and the esoteric sciences. After three trips to Europe, he decided to give up his possessions in the U.S. and to travel to Europe to study the art of comedy and the clown. He became a busker in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and formed traveling comedy groups there. Beginning in 1975, he became known as one of the primary organizers and performers at the "International Festival of Fools", an occasional citywide festival of

alternative comedy Alternative comedy is a term coined in the 1980s for a style of comedy that makes a conscious break with the mainstream comedic style of an era. The phrase has had different connotations in different contexts: in the UK, it was used to describe ...

and clown acts in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

. Edwards gained a fan base in the Netherlands and for many years attracted enthusiastic audiences to his performances there. He also developed a fan base in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. From the 1980s, Edwards spent much of his time in France, where his style of performance was well received. For a time he gave regular performances at a small theater in the Pigalle district of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Later he was based in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

. Between 1990 and 1998 he had several appearances on an Austrian comedy TV series called '' Tohuwabohu''. In 2004, he released a

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

compilation of live performances: ''Jango Edwards: The Best of Jango''. Edwards also recorded four audio albums: ''Live at the Melkweg'' (Milky Way Records LP 1978), ''Clown Power'' (Ariola LP 1980), ''Live in Europe'' (Polydor LP 1980), ''Holey Moley'' (Silenz CD 1991) and two books: ''Jango Edwards'' (written in English but with a cover in German) and ''I Laugh You'' (Rostrum Haarlem, 1984). The ''Clown Power'' album was a limited edition of 3000 copies, each with a different album cover. In 2009 Edwards opened in

Granollers Granollers (; ) is a city in central Catalonia, about 30 kilometres north-east of Barcelona. It is the capital and most densely populated city in the comarca of Vallès Oriental. Granollers is now a bustling business centre, having grown from ...

, the "Nouveau Clown Institute" (NCI), a training center specializing in the world of clowning. Although the NCI has received no government or private funding, it has survived independently. Jango Edwards died in Barcelona on August 4, 2023, at the age of 73.

Bibliography

* "J comme Jango... Edwards", in ''Improvisation ''so'' piano'',

Jean-Pierre Thiollet Jean-Pierre Thiollet (; born 9 December 1956) is a French writer and journalist. He is also affiliated with the European Confederation of Independent Trade Unions, a European trade union. Career Thiollet attended a school in Châtelleraul ...

, Neva Editions, 2017, p. 66-69.

References

External links

* * *
Jango Edwards' channel on YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Jango 1950 births 2023 deaths American clowns Male actors from Detroit American expatriates in France American mimes American male film actors American male television actors American expatriates in Spain American expatriates in the Netherlands American expatriates in England