David Shiner

David Shiner (born September 13 1953) is an American clown and actor. Shiner was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Francis Shiner, a computer programmer, and a homemaker mother. The lanky Shiner, usually donning a small dunce cap, started as a street mime, first in Colorado, and later in France and Germany. He managed to get multiple gigs with various circuses, including performances with the German Circus Roncalli and the Swiss National Circus ("Circus Knie"). In between he toured performing a dual act with Rene Bazinet. From 1990 he was featured in the Cirque du Soleil's production "Nouvelle Experience", touring for 19 months through Canada and the USA and playing for another year in Las Vegas. With his antics, including stepping through, on and over much of the crowd and the staging of a mock silent-movie melodrama with four members of the audience, he may be the best-remembered of the Cirque's clowns. The production was filmed for HBO and Shiner's popularity rendered... full article at wikipedia