The Present

This cheeky animated present knows how to intrigue the audience by popping out and surprising those who think its just “Christmas decore”. The present glides around, sings carols and charms the audience with its friendly, curious but naïve nature. This act draws on he performers skills as a clown and kids are charmed by this funny character who appears and disappears.

Danny Diesendorf has been performing street theatre and working as a professional actor and clown for the last sixteen years. He is a graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts Theatre Making Course (Grad dip Animatuering). He has also trained in London at the physical theatre school Ecole de Mime Corporel and has done training intensives in clowning with Phillipe Gaulier. He received a comedy award from the Melbourne Fringe Festival in 2003 and performed “Toggle the Clown” at the Logie Awards 2006 and performed a variety of acts at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and Paralympics. He has also been contracted to perform at Westfield shopping centres in Canberra over a period of many years. When creating clown and street performance Danny aims to entertain people of all ages, from small children to their grandparents. His style of clowning is playful and never patronizing, drawing on the innocence and lateral thinking of the essential clown.

Danny has a wide range of performance skills; including juggling, unicycle, tight-rope, stilts, close-up magic, fire-stick and break-dancing, which he weaves into his acts. Danny currently works as an actor with Melbourne Playback Theatre Company. He has appeared on television in the ABC drama Bastard Boys.