Mark “Woody” Keppel, Vaudevillian, Charlotte, Vermont

For 24 years, vaudevillian Mark “Woody” Keppel has slipped into the skin of his alter ego, Woodhead. Hitching up his Bermuda shorts, tripping over props, flailing away on any instrument that’s handy, and juggling with frantic fury, he’s entertained on six continents, in theaters from Beijing to Berlin. “I’m just out there humiliating myself for a living,” he confesses. This August, Woody claps on his artistic director/producer hat for a grand-scale family reunion of sorts. The first Festival of Fools (802-865-7166) brings together an international cast of vaudevillians, “all of the performers I’ve met over the years.’ Jugglers, comedians, acrobats, dancers, and musicians take over multiple stages in downtown Burlington in August. “Check your brain at the door,” says Woody, who’s performing with his Danish partner, Henrik Bothe, in a new show called Foolz. And be prepared to duck some flying chickens.

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