Clownvis performing at Come and Take It Live in Austin, Texas on October 21, 2026. (Photo: Ralph Arvesen)
Clownvis Presley arrived at Come and Take It Live in Austin on October 21 as part of a short run with Mac Sabbath and Alyson Anomaly. It is a pairing that makes immediate sense. One act rebuilds Black Sabbath around mutant fast-food mascots, while the other starts with the image of Elvis Presley, adds clown makeup, magic tricks and absurdist comedy, then wanders wherever the joke happens to lead.
Calling Clownvis an Elvis impersonator does not really describe what he does. The pompadour, jumpsuit, vocal mannerisms and stage presence clearly borrow from Elvis, but the character has long since developed into something separate. Music is only part of the performance. Stand-up comedy, improvised interaction, magic and intentionally ridiculous theatrical bits all compete for space in a set that can shift direction without much warning.
The character was created by performer Mike Leahy, who began developing Clownvis Presley in the 2000s and eventually took the act from small comedy appearances into clubs, theaters, festivals and national television. An appearance on America's Got Talent in 2010 became an early source of attention. The audition ended without advancing, but Clownvis was memorable enough to be invited back for the season finale as part of a collection of audition acts.
That kind of outcome fits the character surprisingly well. Clownvis has never depended on fitting comfortably into a traditional comedy or music category. The act works because it occupies the space between them. A legitimate singing voice can suddenly give way to a deliberately stupid joke, a familiar song can be redirected into parody, and a magic trick may appear simply because it makes sense within the strange world he has constructed.
That live formula remains central to the current show. Recent sets have included Viva Las Vegas, the original Trafficula, Those Crazy Redbox Nights, Clown Motel and an unlikely version of Creep. Magic continues to be part of the presentation as well, along with props and audience participation. Even something as obsolete as a Redbox DVD has become useful material, both as the subject of a song and as something that can be physically thrown into a crowd.
Trafficula is a particularly good example of how the humor works. Rather than simply changing a few lyrics in an existing song, Clownvis created an original about a vampire who attacks people while they are trapped in traffic. It is an absurd concept played with enough commitment that the joke becomes a miniature piece of mythology. The song has remained part of the act for years and was still being performed publicly in 2026, including during a September appearance on Office Hours Live with Tim Heidecker.
Other songs have grown from equally unlikely subjects. Those Crazy Redbox Nights, released in 2024, turned the disappearance of the familiar DVD rental kiosks into nostalgic material. Clown Motel draws from the famously strange lodging in Tonopah, Nevada, while the 2025 single Faygo Rain added another original to a catalog that has become increasingly independent of the initial Elvis concept.
The relationship between Clownvis and Mac Sabbath also goes back much further than the current tour. The two shared stages during the Clown Power Tour in 2016, when the combination of an Elvis clown and a fast-food Black Sabbath parody already seemed designed for the same audience. A decade later, the pairing feels less like an odd booking and more like two long-running theatrical acts returning to familiar territory.
The 2026 schedule has kept Clownvis unusually busy. Earlier in the year he toured independently and later joined IV and the Strange Band for the Oddballs and Outlaws Tour, which crossed much of the country during August. The October dates with Mac Sabbath begin in Austin before moving through Houston, New Orleans, Birmingham and Greenville.
The live character has also expanded well beyond touring clubs. When the pandemic erased conventional shows in 2020, Clownvis launched Clownvis to the Rescue, an online variety show mixing songs, comedy, recurring characters and improvised nonsense. What began as a response to losing live work developed into its own ongoing project, with the official show continuing to present weekly broadcasts years later.
That world now includes characters such as Squeeb, Robodawg and Brainina-95, giving Clownvis something closer to a miniature variety-show universe than a standard musician's online presence. It has also created opportunities for conversations and collaborations with performers who might otherwise seem far removed from the character. In 2025, Maynard James Keenan, Carina Round and Mat Mitchell of Puscifer sat down with Clownvis for a deliberately unconventional interview.
The current run also leads into another setting where the character should have little trouble fitting in. Clownvis is scheduled for Headbangers Boat at the end of October, with appearances that include comedy performances, an autograph session and even bingo. That range says more about the act than a conventional concert listing could. Clownvis can function as singer, comedian, host, magician or general source of disruption depending on what the room requires.
There is real craft underneath all of the silliness. The act would not have lasted for roughly two decades if the entire idea were simply a red nose attached to an Elvis costume. Comedy this deliberately foolish still depends on timing, confidence and the ability to read a room, particularly when much of the performance can move away from prepared songs and into interaction.
That is also why Clownvis makes sense beside Mac Sabbath. Both acts begin with an idea that sounds almost too ridiculous to sustain for an entire evening, then survive because they commit completely to the premise. The costumes get people through the door, but the performance has to do the rest.
By the time Clownvis Presley reached Austin, the character had already survived television auditions, comedy clubs, metal tours, internet broadcasts, magic tricks, vampire traffic jams and the death of Redbox. There may be more conventional ways to open a rock show. Few are likely to be as difficult to explain afterward.
Clownvis shared the stage with Mac Sabbath, Alyson Anomaly, and Worm Suicide at Come and Take It Live. They continue across the United States with the last stop at the Liar's Club in Chicago, Illinois on December 5, 2026.
Clownvis
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