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Ken Kirkwood started his own entertainment business, Team Kirkwood Interactive Entertainment. His wife and daughter are also a part of the fun.
Ken Kirkwood, wife Denise and their daughter, Keni, dressed for the business of clowning around. Ken and Keni will be teaching a circus skills class here in Maryville.
The Kirkwoods of Sevierville at one of their fun events. They perform at theme parks, charity events, business openings, etc.
Keni and Ken Kirkwood pose outside of a Dunkin’ store where they performed for the grand opening.
Leading fun events are part of Ken Kirkwood and daughter Keni Kirkwood’s business as operators of Team Kirkwood Interactive Entertainment.
Leading fun events are part of business at Team Kirkwood Interactive Entertainment.
Ken Kirkwood started his own entertainment business, Team Kirkwood Interactive Entertainment. His wife and daughter are also a part of the fun.
Ken Kirkwood, wife Denise and their daughter, Keni, dressed for the business of clowning around. Ken and Keni will be teaching a circus skills class here in Maryville.
The Kirkwoods of Sevierville at one of their fun events. They perform at theme parks, charity events, business openings, etc.
Keni and Ken Kirkwood pose outside of a Dunkin’ store where they performed for the grand opening.
Leading fun events are part of Ken Kirkwood and daughter Keni Kirkwood’s business as operators of Team Kirkwood Interactive Entertainment.
Leading fun events are part of business at Team Kirkwood Interactive Entertainment.
If throwing pies in people’s faces, making balloon animals, juggling and creating laughter are skills you are seeking to hone, Parks & Rec has the perfect six-week session.
But there’s also hand-eye coordination, balance, poise and confidence that will play into this new class with an emphasis on fun.
Circus skills will be taught for ages 10 and up beginning on Wednesday, Sept. 14, and continuing each Wednesday, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., through Oct. 26. There will be no class on Oct. 5. The cost is only $65. And you don’t have to be a kid to sign up, just a kid at heart, said Ken Kirkwood, co-teacher with his daughter, Keni.
The Kirkwoods have their own business, Team Kirkwood Interactive Entertainment, which also includes Ken’s wife, Denise. All three of the Kirkwoods started in entertainment at Dollywood years ago before deciding to branch out on their own. They reside in Sevierville.
Denise was a dancer at the Sevierville theme park and Ken managed the character actors before being asked to stage manage the parade along Dollywood’s inner streets. He dressed up as a clown who followed along the parade route carrying a then 2-year-old Keni. She was clad in a monkey suit.
That was so much fun, Ken said, that he sought out a place where he could get more training as a clown. That led him to Mooseburgers Clown Camp in Minnesota. Ken even trained under Ringling Bros. Master Clown Glen Gordon “Frosty” Little. He passed away in 2010. There were only four clowns ever to have been given the title of master clown by the Ringling organization.
With that training under his belt, Ken was ready to embark on his own journey.
“Then we started out own company,” Ken said. “We started out simple, getting contracts here and there. Things just took off.”
The business has grown over the last 19 years. This trio has traveled to five different states to perform at festivals, theme parks, charity events and other public events. Most recently, Team Kirkwood has been hired to provide a party-like atmosphere to some area Dunkin’ openings.
They don’t, however, perform at birthday parties.
They have also taught a summer camp for years through Maryville-Alcoa-Blount County Recreation and Parks Commission. Ken said those have been for children, but he felt like adults might want to get in on the fun, too.
As he described it, the class will take a simple, safe, beginners look at all kinds of fun things to include stage presence, communication and characterization. There will be exaggeration and physical comedy, a look at costumes and makeup and beginning juggling. Class participants will learn how to balance a broom on their finger and spin plates.
Comic illusions, simple slight-of-hand, dancing with happy feet and an introduction to props and toys will be part of the instruction as well, Ken said. Those who want to make balloon animals can learn those skills.
And while you might think there is little skill involved in throwing and also receiving pies thrown into the face, there is a correct way to do both, Keni said.
Like her dad, Keni has also studied under some Ringling Bros alumni. She attended The American Clown Academy in Georgia.
“It is an adventuresome way to grow up,” Keni, 21, said. “It’s fun to get to do something that can not only be your career but you get to spend time with the people you love most, your family.”
This duo pointed out this upcoming class isn’t their chance to show off what they know. This father/daughter team wants participants to be encouraged about what they can do.
“We have the opposite approach of what most people might think,” Ken said. “We want people to come and play alongside us and see how many things they ca do that they had no idea they could do.”
Seeing a person juggle plates or improve on timing and coordination are the visible signs of this instruction, Keni said, but there are other positives that result. She said parents tell them how performance has improved their child’s self-confidence or helped them find joy again after tough times.
“Those kinds of connections are really what we thrive on,” she said.
Ken also likes to remind people that we don’t stop playing because we get old. “We get old because we stop playing,” he said.
Many of the skills that will be learned are not just for clowning around. The whole program is centered around encouragement, Keni explained. Teamwork, confidence, timing, public speaking, composure and communication are all part of the process, she said.
“We just have a really fun way to present them,” this instructor said.
Ringling Bros no longer takes circuses on the road, but Ken and Keni said the circus giant has plans to return to producing shows, minus animals.
Team Kirkwood has found its own way of presenting a show. “We can set up to be a circus with animals,” Ken said. “Our elephant is a pink plush. We have inflatables and plush animals. Kids get a feel of what the circus was about.”
According to Ken, everyone has a little bit of ham in them; he said they just don’t want to admit it. He encourages anyone 10 and over who has ever thought of joining a circus to come try it out. Even if you have never wanted to join a circus, the fun to be had is enticing, Ken added.
On the last night of the class, participants can invite friends and family to come see what they have been working on and maybe join in.
“We let people smile when there are a million things in the world that take away that smile,” he said. “It is fun to forget all about that and just enjoy playing.”
The Circus Skills class is being offered by Parks & Rec beginning on Wednesday, Sept. 14 and continuing weekly through Oct. 26. Cost is $65. For ages 10 and up. Register at parksrec.com or at the Parks & Rec office, 316 S. Everett High Road, Maryville. Call 865-983-9244 for more information. The class will be held at Everett Recreation Center.
Melanie joined The Daily Times in the early 90s and has served as the Life section editor since 1993. A William Blount and UT alum, Melanie is generally the early arriver who turns on the lights in the newsroom.
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