Quiddlers - Misplaced Pages

Physical comedy group

The Quiddlers are a physical comedy group formed in Southeastern Michigan. They are known to audiences worldwide as "The International Ambassadors of Physical Comedy."

History

The Quiddlers began in the spring of 1986 as a group of five college students and friends in their early 20s under the name "The Marauding Miners." The group first appeared on a public access program called Waterford Tonight, on Comcast Cablevision Channel 45 in Waterford, Michigan. Later that spring, the Miners performed at Eastland Center (aka Eastland Mall) near Detroit for the production staff of the syndicated game show "Puttin' on the Hits." After winning first place in the day's live competition, the group was invited to appear on the program from the soundstages at Universal Studios in Universal City, near Los Angeles. The Marauding Miners won on Puttin' on the Hits and began to take calls from agents and managers from around the world. The following year, the group performed on the Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon for muscular dystrophy, which was broadcast live from Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

In 1986, two of the original members left the group to continue college and careers. The remaining trio, founder Paul Ebejer, Richard Altman, and Gary Lewis (no relation to Jerry Lewis or his musician son Gary Lewis), decided to rename the group. "The Quiddlers" was chosen randomly by pointing at a word in a pedestal-mounted dictionary in the library of Oakland University, where all three attended. It is defined, essentially, as people who have no real job (in the traditional sense) or means of living. The three agreed that, since they were building a reputation as freelance performers in the New Vaudeville scene, the definition fit perfectly.

From 1986 to 1993, the trio toured extensively and performed on television variety shows, at sporting events and corporate galas, and in live theater venues on five of the six inhabited continents. Notable television appearances included two consecutive shots on NTV's "World's Comical Performers" in Tokyo, Japan, and Random Acts of Variety on Ha!—Ha! would later merge with the Comedy Channel and become known as Comedy Central. The men also performed with the famous French comedian and musician Patrick Sébastien on his hit program "C'est Fou", and appeared in repeats of his "Best of C'est Fou" broadcasts.

In the summer of 1991, The Quiddlers performed in Monaco's elite "Sporting Club" (run by the Société des Bains de Mer, or SBM) as one of three variety acts within a one-hour program of singing and dancing. The Quiddlers were booked for the entire season, along with rotating acts like extreme magician Rudy Coby from LA, seventh-generation circus acrobats, The Nicolodis from Paris, and visual comedian and Montréal native Michel Lauzière. The next summer, they performed in Stuttgart, Germany's "Theatre Varieté" along with Kai Eickermann, an award-winning European breakdancer; Team Rosa, Swedish gymnasts; and the KGB Klowns, a pair of professional clowns from Ukraine who were trained under Soviet rule.

In 1993, Altman and Lewis left the group to pursue other creative careers in writing and graphic design, respectively. Ebejer is still active in theater as a creator and performer of multiple Las Vegas shows. He continues experimenting with designs and themes, and as new roles are created, he calls on several talented people to fill them.

Currently

The latest incarnation of The Quiddlers, under Ebejer's creative direction, is performing in Las Vegas as part of a long-running cabaret show in a major casino resort on the Las Vegas Strip. The troupe also continues to travel the world featuring a stable of talented comic performers who carry on the original comedic tradition of The Marauding Miners.