New York Clown Theatre Festival Review - Friday, September 19th

Amy G EnterSHAMEment

Typically I am not a fan of cabaret acts, but Amy Gordon (aka Amy G)'s show is very unlike any typical cabaret act. How many have you seen where the lead performer dons a full chicken mask and costume? Yeah, there was nothing traditional about this show.

Amy began the evening by explaining to us how her life has been full of "shameful" moments. However, rather than let them get her down, she has chosen to highlight and showcase them as part of her show. Personal catharsis through performance. And whether her embarrassment was based on her physical self (she opened with an act where she kept removing layer after layer of fake breasts) or based on pissing off the judges on Germany's Got Talent, Amy truly lets it all hang out.

Her overall level of skill was masterful. She sang beautifully, kicked higher than a Rockette and performed some amazing clown work on roller-skates, convincingly pretending to almost fall on her face. Her audience interaction was also hysterical, as she repeatedly calls back to the one special (and in this show's case, gay) man who she designates as her love interest throughout the show. She embraces the ridiculous, which is the overall theme of her show: to accept and celebrate the shameful parts of your life. She is clearly unafraid of playing to the extreme as her closing act displays, when she casually begins to play America the Beautiful on a kazoo in a very non-traditional way.

If there was one thing that seemed lacking, at times it appeared that the character of "Amy G" was so strong that I didn't really believe that she suffers from any shame. Her larger than life personality has so absorbed these embarrassments that she doesn't really seem affected by them. One true moment of vulnerability appeared when her wireless mic started to break down during a song. For a minute, I felt I glimpsed the real Amy Gordon. However, instead of really sharing her frustration, she tried to hide it behind a bigger smile and because of that her performance felt more like an act than a true sharing of shame. That is far from a complaint, as Amy G overall kept me laughing, fully entertained and challenged to bring a much stronger A-game to any performance work I do from here on.

Life After Death

Of all the shows I saw in the festival, Mary and Harry Johnson succeeded most in keeping me on the literal edge of my seat. Their jokes were hilarious, their acrobatics impressive and they expertly kept the audience unsure of the reality that they were watching. The show began with an almost too-cute strobe driven, silent movie style car scene, where our two main characters get into a deadly accident. They have an artistic death, that hints at the crudeness that is to come, and lands them in heaven? hell? purgatory? we don't really know. It's their after-life, which ironically enough is a theatre with an audience. Great, with those plot points out of the way, it's time to play. And I haven't seen two clowns play to the extreme onstage more than Mary and Harry.

They pushed deep into the land of the taboo, and took the entire audience along with them on the ride. Many of their acts involved audience interaction and through intimidation, bribery and affection they encouraged their "volunteers" to join in their world of insanity. So as not to be defined as a merely obscene show, many of their pieces were balanced out with skills in acrobatics, movement, music and performance art. My favorite moments were when we dropped out of the world of the lewd (which were gut-wrenchingly hysterical) and suddenly found ourselves in these beautiful moments of real art. The juxtaposition of incest jokes with Shakespearean poetry itself had such wonderful incongruity that I was left paralyzed to watch, impulsively react, and be taken for a joyous ride.

It is often said that clowns bear a striking similarity to children.  Mary and Harry definitely feel like the misfit troublemakers who were just a little too aggressive and mature to be the class clown. Yet even when running around the audience completely naked and fuming with anger, you couldn't help but laugh at their youthful ignorance and innocence. As I said, they appeared onstage ready to play, and we were lucky enough to be there to share in the fun.

New York Clown Theatre Festival Review - Thursday, September 25th

Big Shoes Short Tales

While this piece was definitely performed by a clown, to me it did not feel like a "clown show."  It was an autobiographical solo show based on real life stories of former Cirque du Soleil performer, Michelle Nicole Matlock.

The piece had some hilarious moments, specifically a section where Michelle gambles away the last bit of survival money sent to her by her mother. . . and wins the lottery! It was great fun watching her switch back and forth between the smart, cautious person who intends to use her winnings for good, and the wild party girl who ultimately blows it all in a single week. Michelle's stories are full of wonderful surprises and mini misdirections. Her large "shocked" eyes place the perfect emphasis on her tales of working at the fabulous Jekyll and Hyde restaurant, her desperate need to keep returning to her mother for money, and her realization that she would walk away from her first pride parade no longer a virgin.

Unfortunately, as a whole the show seemed unfinished. I felt that the performance, while energized and passionate, was a bit unpolished. For example, I enjoyed watching Michelle share with us the joy she received from ribbon dancing, but after her initial discovery the joke began to lag as her moves did not seem to heighten either in skill or in their absurdity. Also, at the end of the show, there's a beautiful moment where Michelle finds her oversized clown shoes and understands that this is her new direction in life, but then she bows and ends the show. This is the moment to finally show us the clown that she became. We are all primed to see this newly discovered clown persona that we have caught hints of throughout the show. Instead by ending the show abruptly, I was left feeling unresolved. The night had some great laughs, but overall I think this show needs a bit more work before it is a finished product.

Clown Cabaret with Summer Shapiro

One of the saddest parts of the festival being over is that there will be no more Thursday night Clown Cabarets. What a wonderful experience it has been sitting in a theatre and getting to see so many different acts that truly run the gamut of style. This final cabaret was wonderfully hosted by Summer Shapiro. She kept the evening balanced and moving, throwing herself into each moment as it unfolded. I feel as if this night had the most acts of any of the cabarets, but a few were most memorable to me.

(NB: I am leaving out two of the acts that I loved, because they had full shows, with individual reviews to come).

Anna and Amy

What a fantastic way to start a show. These two cowgirls had loads of energy that immediately hyped the audience up. Their mixture of goofy fun and dangerous violence seemed to only speed up as their choreographed dance spun them out of control. Whether they were flipping, fighting, punching or literally frightening the audience with some close-call whip cracking, their giant smiles infected the crowd with laughter and delight.

Mik Kuhlman

Mik is a performer who truly knows how to command a stage with silence and subtlety of movement. Her "tiny prince" clown is not overly outlandish, wearing merely a crown, a flesh-toned nose, a mustache and an oversized coat. But with just an incredulous look to an unresponsive audience member, we are in love with this tiny-big character. When she finally began to "melt" into the floor, there was little logic and it was not the grand spectacle one might expect from a clown, but her specificity and emotional connection kept us riveted and laughing.

Zero boy

And speaking of specificity, Zero Boy must have an internal file cabinet of thousands of different sound effects at his disposal. Having never seen this main-stay of the downtown comedy scene, I was blown away at his mime and vocal skills. He quickly painted a picture onstage with his voice and actions, and seemed to improvise his way through scene after scene. There was something almost alien about him, and maybe that's why he fits so well into the world of clowns.

New York Clown Theatre Festival Review - Sunday, September 21st

Last week was full of seeing shows, which has meant a week of getting backed up on blogs. Let's chase it back to the beginning with the Sunday night line-up.

Locked Up

Two clowns, Tiny (Sophia Knox-Miller) and Tall (Cara McClendon), are trapped in a single cell, forced to find ways to keep themselves entertained. With the limited resources at hand, a piece of string, a spoon, their seats, they concoct games to play and worlds to explore. Much of the fun in the piece comes from the clowns switching from antagonizing to befriending each other. As one clown loses herself in a game, she fails to notice the injury she is causing to the other. However, these clowns are truly a team, as they share their fun, sorrow and eventually root for each other's much dreamed of escape.

As the clowns defined their confined space abstractly, and handled the sound effects for both the actual events occurring in their space, and those that occurred only in their minds, I found it occasionally confusing as to what I was supposed to believe was literally happening. One possible interpretation that I toyed around with was that the entire play was just one big imagined game. However, that scenario takes away from what I felt to be the most effective scene in the show. After a complex and imagined escape from prison involving thunderstorms, giant birds and a prolonged (possibly too long) period alone adrift in the ocean, the clowns found that they were really still in prison, this first escape was all imagined. The sadness of this realization breaks each clowns spirit, and while this part was not necessarily funny, I felt the clowns' vulnerability shine through. If not for that moment of tears, I do not think I would have been as invested in the clown's actual escape later.

All in all, I had fun watching these clowns mischievously giggle at their self-induced merriment, and would be eager to see more work from these two performers.

tinyDANGEROUS-POPCORN!

I had a lot of fun at this showcase of clown and physical comedy short films, mostly driven by the insane antics of the two hosts John Leo and Andy Sapora. Having never experienced one of their tinyDANGEROUSfun shows, it was hilarious to see their "Best Of" lineup of silly, stupid and sometimes scary stunts. I'm still surprised that after watching them juggle X-Acto blades and set their arms on fire, I was so easily suckered into joining them onstage with the offer of just a cookie (In my defense, it was a very tasty cookie). I was brought up to perform as part of their traditional "13th Act." Since this was a movie night, instead of performing an impromptu scene, we had to go outside and film an impromptu short film in the style of Kung Fu and Psychodrama; one shot. It was very satisfying to pull it off and get the immediate reaction of the audience's laughs.

There were some other great films shown that night. I loved Willie Jones: Trouble with Love, an extended black and white piece about a man and woman who literally bump into each other and fall for each other. They are pursued and their relationship challenged by the police, her father and a couple of no good henchmen. This was easily one of the best pieces of the night on all levels, style, acting, plot. However, some of the less stylistically clean pieces were just as funny. An extended Humor Seminar had everyone in stitches and repeating the tag-line into the next act. There were also some great musically driven films and a very funny modern clown piece with Jeff Seal chasing a laser pointer all across Brooklyn.

I am excited to catch tinyDANGEROUSfun in one of their regularly scheduled shows once they land a new theatre, with what I'm told will be "higher ceilings."

New York Clown Theatre Festival Review - Friday, September 19th

After spending my Thursday night at the Clown Cabaret, there was one show that I was more excited to see than any other.

A Few of My Favorite Things

Jeroen Bouwhuis is one of the most skilled modern day mimes that I have seen. In his performance, he makes use of only a few props, but through a litany of music and self-created sound effects, he brings to life an entire universe around him. Jeoen's ability goes far beyond comic timing, as every move he makes is accompanied by a perfectly timed sound cue. With this level of specificity you would imagine that there is no way that Jeroen could spend equal time engaging with the audience. However, more than many other shows I have seen in the festival, Jeroen is super conscious of the crowd around him, and appears to have an ongoing conversation with them throughout, sharing how he feels about the events of the show, as well as checking in with the audience's response to the material.

There was no clear plot to A Few of My Favorite Things, which did not bother me, but it did create the occasional wandering moments, where it seemed Jeroen was just killing time between bits. As the sequences unfolded though. the show consistently came to life in new and unexpected ways. The opening scene, where Jeroen shoots his imaginary gun at every one and thing in his make believe universe could have been seen as dark if not for the sheer joy he takes and shares with the audience throughout. Another section which I had seen in the previous night's cabaret was even more engaging and funny within the context of the emotional life he had endowed on the silverware in the earlier scene. And his universe's capabilities grew even funnier in a section where he brought up an unsuspecting audience member for a date. She, being a clown as well, knew how to play along and add even more details. I almost expected to hear sound effects partnered up with her made up gesture of clicking her seat belt.

This was a fantastic show, and should it come back to New York, I would highly recommend it for anyone interested in expanding their definition of mime beyond the white faced, black clothed standard.

New York Clown Theatre Festival Review - Thursday, September 18th

After a long weekend of no shows, it was great to get back to the Brick for a double whammy of hilarious and touching clown performances.

Pompo and Pipo

Despite its deceptive name, Pompo and Pipo is a solo clown performance. We are immediately introduced to Pompo, a musically inclined clown with a vivid imagination. She appears as a modern day hobo-style clown, happily living amongst discarded boxes, garbage and her assorted "keepers." As we see her pass through her day, she interacts with Pipo, what appears to be a small urn, and turns out to be someone she has lost in a tragic accident. The darkness of this piece is revealed, as we understand that the imaginary world of Pompo is not so much a clown at play, but someone living in denial and hiding from reality.

This piece depends on the ability of Pompo, played by Z Smith, to create an imaginative reality that is inviting to the audience. We are introduced to Pompo's universe as a place of fun and games. Trash becomes musical instruments, plastic bags are balloons, and newspapers are hats. Through Pompo's miming of preparing a delicious breakfast, we begin to believe in this clown's ability to create her own universe. This made it believable that she had the power to conjure an entire audience to attend her birthday party, a scene that had the potential to feel like a contrived "clown" moment instead of an invitation into the world of Pompo.

It was nice to see a clown show that attempts to balance both a light and dark reality. We take for granted that clowns interact at times with their audience, and it was satisfying to see a show that places that interaction within a specific context. We are a part of Pompo's created universe, and she speaks to us to escape the empty place that her loss has created.

Clown Cabaret hosted by Deenie Nast

I had never met Deenie Nast before. Wow. Although she might object to the term, this is a clown who knows how to handle herself onstage. Played expertly by Audrey Crabtree, Deenie hosted the hell out of this evening of clowns and comedy. When she was onstage, whether it was singing, talking to the audience, or bossing around her team of assistants, she owned every inch of the stage. As much fun as each of the acts were, Deenie filled every segue with so much laughter, that you almost forgot that anyone else was there.

Here is a quick description of two of the hilarious and notable acts that stood out to me.

Jeroen Bouwhuis

A truly skilled clown and mime, Jeroen immediately grabbed my attention by taking a moment to engage in eye contact with every person in the room before beginning. With our full attention, he dove into a piece where he brought a spoon to life with amazing realism. The spoon, feeling insulted for being used to pick up hot soup, began an epic battle with Jeroen. This puppetry battle switched speeds, direction and emotional levels keeping the audience consistently surprised and laughing heartily. Jeroen has unbelievable physical control of his body, and his timing and specificity made this piece a true stand-out.

Dimitri Hatton

If Jeroen's act was sharp and specific, Dimitri was wandering and chaotic, but just as pleasurable and satisfying. Dimitri began his act with a simple lighting trick, trying to get the stage lit. However, this devolved into what felt like a 15 minute act of mayhem and disarray. It was hard to tell what was improvised or scripted as Dimitri fumbled and fell all over the stage, pulling props from offstage, onstage and tearing down the very curtains of the space. Several times in the festival, I have seen talented clowns make their deliberate actions seem like blunders for comic potential, but none of them have been able to keep the routine going for as long, or with such great detail as Dimitri.

There is one more cabaret next Thursday (September 25th), and I can't wait to see the smorgasbord of talent that will be served up at that one.

New York Clown Theatre Festival Review - Friday, September 12th

After an intense week of seeing shows, taking classes and running workshops, I had a somewhat light weekend, only seeing one very energetic show.

Jeff and Buttons

Ever want to see a comedy duo where both members refuse to play the "straight man?" Well, that is Jeff and Buttons.  These guys definitely utilize their whole bodies, literally flinging themselves around the stage, but the true energy of the show comes from their text. Almost as if trying to fit a 3 hour production into their allotted 60 minute slot, they take off at the top of the show and only speed up until its conclusion.

Jeff Seal (Jeff) and Chris Manley (Buttons) know and love their style of quick Vaudevillian riffs and gimmicks. However, rather than get caught up for too long in a single game, they quickly devolve their jokes to the silly, then absurd, then ludicrous, strange, bizarre, and sometimes just for fun confusing and utterly nonsensical. Most enjoyable is when they return back to square one to remind the audience that all of their tangents are still part of one elaborate bit. They used this to great effect in their opening, which involved testing out their microphones and the sound system (watching an empty stage has never been so funny), and in their telling of the basics of a knock knock joke that was far from "basic."

It was a lot of fun trying to keep up with this show. I do feel though that both performers could have spent slightly more time tending to their audience. While the majority of the show was delivered out to the audience, it seemed more presentational than personal. A few more moments of really checking in with the crowd might give the show some room to breathe and make the laughs more intimate. Either way, this turbo-charged show was a welcome change from some of the slower, more deliberate pieces I have seen this week. A great element of clown is the hilarity of chaos, and these two are a verbal and physical maelstrom.

A Day of Play - No Make-up and New York Clown Theatre Festival, Thursday September 11th

No Make-up (Guest Teacher Aitor Basauri)

For the 4th week in a row, my Thursday evening has begun with my Clown Jam. What is a Clown Jam? Right now, it's whatever I want it to be, and I've enjoyed watching it evolve for the past month.

Thanks to Kevin Laibson, Ali Farahnakian and my good friends at the People's Improv Theater (The PIT), I have been granted full reign of their theater every Thursday from 6pm-7pm to host No Make-Up. For only $1, anyone can drop in and get some stage-time working on their clown craft. And that is the form it has taken for the past month; a Drop-In. Most of the people who have attended have little to no clown experience, or took a class in college and always loved it. Each class begins with a basic warm-up, and then focuses on 1-2 exercises that allow everyone to discover their clown, or be more comfortable just playing without judgment. It has been wonderful watching people who have no idea what they are in for, get up onstage and play with reckless abandon.

One of my loftier goals was reached this past Thursday, as we had our first Special Guest instructor; Aitor Basauri. Those who are unfamiliar with Aitor can read my review of his recent Q&A session as part of the New York Clown Theatre Festival. I did not overly publicize his visit, as he was coming straight from teaching a full day workshop, and we were not sure if he could make it. He did, and the lucky few who were in attendance benefitted from a very unique No-Make-up session.

Aitor felt that with only four people in attendance, we could skip working on exercises and instead jump straight to creation. He gave us ten minutes to quickly come up with a "play" that we would have to perform for him. The only requirement; that we make him laugh. The four of us stared into each other's eyes and started planning, plotting and over complicating our mission. A love scene, in an elevator, in a hospital. You know, comic gold.

When our time was up, Aitor gave us a wonderful pep-talk. "What you're going to do will be bad. It's inevitable. You cannot write a good piece in ten minutes. So just have fun, and we will play with it." What followed was a horrific improv set. It was painful to be in, and very painful to watch. And then Aitor began giving us notes. He saw all of these tiny elements that we blew right past that could be mined for humor. On our second turn, he had characters introduce the show, made us reduce the elevator to the size of a phone booth, helped us define our comic relationships, and it all made the piece not only funnier, but more fun to play. By the end of the 3rd and 4th time, he kept focusing in on the ridiculous logic of the scene and still individually coached each of us to better clown performances.

I hope to have a new guest teacher come by each month to help lead a workshop. I've enjoyed proctoring the jam so far, and I learn every time I do it, but it was so nice to get up on my feet and just play.

If you want to do the same, come down to the People's Improv Theater (123 East 24th Street between Park Ave and Lexington Ave) any Thursday from 6pm-7pm (no jam on October 9th, Thanksgiving and Christmas).

Clown Cabaret hosted by Adira Amram 
Watching the New York Theatre Festival's Thursday night Clown Cabaret instilled in me the importance of workshopping material and testing material in front of a crowd.  New York, has a strong comedy scene where improvisers, sketch comedians and stand-ups can play almost any night of the week at an open-mic, jam or as part of a variety show. For clowns, our opportunities feel a little smaller. That's why it was so wonderful to see an entire evening of clowns showing off a quick 5 minutes of something different.

I will say this, the night had a very awkward feel to it. Some pieces landed, some did not, some were classic clown routines, some I am still trying to figure out what exactly they were. What was great though was this was an audience of clown performers, teachers, enthusiasts watching each other and sharing their laughter, when the clowns earned it, in a comfortable and supportive manner. There were some pieces that clearly have more to grow, and since I think we generally learn better from observing our successes than attacking our failures, I want to highlight the three acts that stood out to me the most.

Becca Bernard
I'll say this, Becca kept things moving. Her piece had a very simple set-up. She was going to play a piece of music on her cello. However, everything that could go wrong, did. The piece was full of problem after problem, both expected and unexpected. What impressed me most about Becca's performance were the moments when the clown suddenly found herself stuck in a problem that Becca had obviously set-up without the audience noticing. Some of her moves seemed so chaotic that it was hard to tell that she was performing a carefully choreographed dance of sorts. It was especially satisfying that the piece ended in an actual skill; cello playing and soft shoe tap.

Felipe Ortiz/Sebastian Sero
I thoroughly enjoyed watching these gentlemen perform in La Cita, and was thrilled that they brought a completely different piece to the cabaret. I am a big fan of successfully finding humor in places that may be labelled "inappropriate." Once I recognized that this scene was taking place at a funeral/wake, I was geared up for some comedy. Felipe magnificently got himself in trouble, and brought the audience on such a wonderful journey as he moved through the emotional range of guilt, curiosity, fear and ultimately sheer joy. This silent piece could be a lesson for any clown new or old on timing, vulnerability and pleasure. It was definitely my favorite of the night.

Eric Davis
Red Bastard was one of the first shows I saw that excited me to study clown. However, having now seen the show twice and as the program only listed that Eric Davis was performing, I thought this might be something different. Eric must have known that not only I, but the rest of the audience might hold these same feelings. So what did he do? He played the situation honestly. Why perform a show for an audience who has seen it before and probably knows it by heart? Why not create a new game where that very audience competes to see who can perform Red Bastard as well as the master? As a testament to how well Eric knows this character he jumped in and out of script, and in and out of character to play with the energy in the room. He explored his text in a way that he had never used before and gave a room of people expecting a re-run an exciting re-boot instead. Just like seeing the show for the first time, we all felt a sense of danger and excitement. It was a truly honest performance that was an excellent way to close out the cabaret.

A second goal I have for No-Make-up is as a showcase/workshop for clowns who are developing new work. As any clown performer can attest, you cannot really tell if a piece is successful or not until you have seen it in front of an audience. They are the ultimate judge. I invite any clown who wants to workshop a small piece of a show to join us at No Make-up where I can provide such a crowd. Anyone who is interested can e-mail me at NoMakeupClownJam@gmail.com.

New York Clown Theatre Festival Review - Tuesday, September 9th

On Tuesday night at the NY Clown Festival, I was lucky enough to be both entertained and educated.

La Cita (The Date)

The first slot of the evening was filled with a pair of clowns from Bogota, Columbia. Although the piece was created and performed by Felipe Ortiz, I say "pair of clowns" because Mr. Ortiz, was expertly accompanied by Sebastian Sero's use of live piano, guitar and pre-recorded songs and sound effects. In this performance not only was the music a key character in the story, but the duo's interactions had their own comic enjoyment as Mr. Sero shared his responses to the games and jokes both with Mr. Ortiz and with the audience.

As a man preparing for a date, Mr. Ortiz deconstructed the preparation and eventual event, ensuring that the audience followed his every step. Throughout, he showed us that his skills lay beyond just clown, and includes juggling, puppetry, stunts and more. Using these tools, he comically complicated simple tasks ranging from getting dressed, to setting a table, to changing an ordinary lightbulb. Every movement took on the air of a difficult mission, all with the one goal of impressing his date upon her arrival.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching this clown continually get himself in and out of trouble. The sheer joy he got from smashing plates with a hammer had me in hysterics. However while I found the piece fun and entertaining, I believe it could have been served better by a few more changes in its tempo and rhythm. As the piece began, I loved the painstaking time that Mr. Ortiz took in his preparation. As it progressed though, it succeeded most when we were surprised by a change of music or pace (my personal favorite being a slow-motion dream sequence). These moments sent us on a different emotional path and off of the sometimes overly repetitive tune that followed a large portion of the action.

All in all, I felt that La Cita was a fun show that masterfully understands its own style, and plays within that exceptionally well.

NB - Although I was a fan of the puppetry and ball handling that was the eventual date, I had hoped Mr. Ortiz would transform the woman in the front row, with whom he was continually falling in love, into his partner revealing that all of this had been for her and attempting to hide the chaos that he had left strewn all over the stage. Bringing the woman back onstage for an extended sequence may have been a more satisfactory button to the play. Also, it may have forced a change of pace based on the whims of an unprepared audience member.

An Evening with Aitor Basauri

"I am not a clown, I'm an idiot." - Aitor Basauri.

First, let me admit that is not an exact quote from Aitor Basauri's Q&A session on Tuesday night (None of the quotes I contribute to him are exact, as I was listening and laughing not taking detailed notes). However, I believe that sentiment was generally expressed and Aitor would likely stand by it. Second, I would also like to admit that I have some personal bias, as I have taken Aitor's week-long intensive workshop and I believe he is a fantastically supportive teacher who has a mind perfectly balanced between his light and dark personas.

Regretfully, I have yet to see Aitor perform with his famous SpyMonkey troupe, but listening to him describe their history and style, which he refers to as simply "funny theatre," reminds me of my own journey to discover clown. Like many of us, he began with a desire to be a serious actor, but his attempts were met instead with laughter. After taking this abuse for some time, he accepted his place onstage as an idiot and sought out a teacher to help him to become. . .a better idiot. That teacher came in the way of Phillippe Gaulier. Studying with him, Aitor learned the Art of Clown, and with friends he made there, he set out to finally be a Professional Idiot.

I have always enjoyed Aitor's frankness. Rather than putting forth any great philosophical theory (which he probably could bullshit his way through since he once was a philosophy student), he states his goal simply and concisely, "I want to make people laugh." Clowning, specifically where it speaks to playing games, having fun and sharing your pleasure with the audience, is just his tool to make people laugh. Ask him "how do you become a good clown?" and he responds "Get up and try something fun. If people laugh, then it's good. If they don't, it's shit."

While this simplicity may not give you much insight into exactly how to have fun, or break through emotional barriers, or discover your inner clown, it does speak to one of the most important aspects of clowning. Practice. Listening to Aitor describe how he and SpyMonkey build a show, it sounds like great fun, but also great work. Spending weekends locked up struggling through ideas on their feet. Pulling in directors and writers to help craft beauty out of the dark inner workings of their minds (sex and the grotesque are the playground of SpyMonkey). Then spending a month working and polishing material, so that they are sharp and ready for an audience. This is not the description of a group that rehearses once or twice a week, and spends half their time talking. This is a group of do-ers and workers. Most of all, it is a group that seems to know how to play with each other, so that they can share their experiences of fun with their audience.

We often spend so much time in our heads thinking about how to do things perfectly. It's wonderful when an idiot can come along and give you a quick reality check.

"It's not really something you can talk about. You just have to do it." - Aitor Basauri

New York Clown Theatre Festival Review - Sunday, September 7th

Sunday night proved to be a full course of performances at the Clown Theatre Festival. Having spent the weekend studying with Caroline Dream in her class The Games Clown Play, I was excited to finally sit back and watch three fully fleshed out shows.

Ein Tod kommt selten allein (Death seldom comes alone)

Ein Tod deals with the issues of death and coping. It's underlying concept, that death is a natural part of life that should not make us suffer, but has the power to make us laugh, is beautiful and has great potential for catharsis. Unfortunately, the overall show seemed to lack any true life or death stakes to make it possible to reach that cathartic state.

After a brief introduction, we are presented with two young clowns who devise a game of catch with a large red balloon. Eventually, the balloon deflates serving as the metaphorical death that these clowns deal with for the rest of the play. The relationships between the clowns and the balloon begin vague, as the clowns attitudes towards each other shift from friendly to mildly antagonistic with no clear motivation. Their affection for the balloon suffers from a similar ambivalence, and so their eventual shock and horror at the balloon's passing seems disconnected from any true emotion.

This early misstep makes it difficult to enjoy the games that the clowns play throughout the rest of the piece. Whether threatening the audience with their own suicides (which occurs too often and with little variety beyond the manner of death) or challenging each other to a cry-off over the grave of the recently departed, their suffering never feels honest enough to open up the path to laughter.

Giovanni!

A clown can exist in so many forms beyond the red-nosed variety. Giovanni, an "italian" waiter is one of those brilliant exceptions. With what can only be described as a laughable accent that does not try to be convincing, we are flooded with a linguistically complex description of the life of Giovanni. Who this character is remains a mystery throughout the play. His strange back story might be real  or made up, and either way it does not matter. His message, which shines through all of his diatribes on childhood, family and career, is perfectly clear. Life is about connection and love. And it is his job to deliver both of these to his clients, the audience.

Just like his character, Hew Parham tirelessly serves his audience. He works his way across the stage with intensity and precision delivering a complex physical, verbal and emotional performance. Much like an expert waiter who can convince you to order the specials off the menu, he commands the audience's attention, without ever demanding it. And then, at the moment it seems he has lost his power to persuade, abandoned his will to go on, he throws himself fully into a tirade on how truly important it is for us to not give up on those things that truly matter. His inspirational words mixed cleverly with his absurdist visual imagery acts as a meat tenderizer for your soul.

In my opinion, the best clown shows use laughter to open up a small space inside of you, and then slowly reveal the deeper beauty that they have snuck into that space. Giovanni! is that kind of show.

Poofy du Vey in "Burden of Poof"

A silly title disguises a show of great emotional depth about a clown burdened by her innermost fears and paralyzed from experiencing life. At the heart of every clown there should be an honesty of expression. Often we are shown joy or anger, but fear by its very nature is sometimes too scary to reveal in its truest form. As Poofy, Courtney Cunningham taps into and bravely shows us the all-encompassing power of fear.

Poofy not only knows exactly what she wants in life, but she has built a To-Do list outlining it in detail. However, she is trapped in inaction and self-inflicted distraction, bound by her fears. As an audience, we completely understand Poofy's paralysis because of the visceral response Courtney Cunningham has to the real and imagined fears that surround her. The change of the lights or a perceived slight from the audience and Poofy is forced to quickly contort her face, body and attitude into a posture of protection or dismissal. She must deflect anything (good or bad) that comes her way, because everything has the potential to harm her. The bubble she has built for herself, may ineffectively protect her from her pain, but the pain in her eyes reveals her justification for creating it.

Anyone who has stopped themselves from chasing a dream can immediately identify with Poofy. And the tangibility of her anxiety, so beautifully portrayed, makes her eventual overcoming of those fears something to be truly celebrated.

Clown Parade & Pie Fight

What a special time of year to be a clown. Two years ago, I discovered that New York had a clown festival. My participation was mild as I saw only two shows and attended one workshop. I had developed the barest pieces of a personal clown, and was still slightly embarrassed to be seen in a red nose. Two years later:

That's Joey (my clown) after he's put together his parade outfit. Yeah, a weird clown habit I've developed is talking about my clown persona in the third person. Not unusual in the clown community. Very odd to everyone else, as I've learned.

On Friday, September 5th, The NY Clown Festival held its annual Public Parade and Pie Fight. Although, I have begun to develop another clown persona, Dr. Moist Pete (some might suggest that they are different parts of the same clown), it was pretty obvious that Joey would have a much better time at these two events. Joey is a sweet and fun, silent clown with an insatiable appetite for joy and food. For the parade, he packed the following:

That's 10 pounds of popcorn.

The parade started in Union Square at 5:30pm. Dozens of clowns gathered in the park, handing out red noses and candy, playing music and dancing, and gathering quite a large crowd of spectators of all ages. Joey stubbornly handed out small cups of popcorn to any children who were brave enough to ask, hoarding the majority of it for himself. By my estimations he got through 1-2 pounds on his own before the night was over.

Then it was time to attack the underground. All clowns charged into the subway and on to the already crowded subway. The patrons looked on in curiosity, laughter and horror as their daily commutes were suddenly over-run with the silly and sometimes scary personas of a mob of red-nosed oddballs. Luckily, our subway reign was limited to 4 stops as we all abandoned ship at Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg.

We hiked the remainder of the way to the Brick, lovingly escorted by two cop cars, who tried to stay professional as they too were tormented by the parade folk. No one is immune to a clown's desire to play, not even those who are there to assist said clowns. Upon arriving at the Brick, the clowns were greeted to a surprise in the form of a fantastic drum squad. Their energy was infectious and helped give the tiring clowns (some carrying ten pounds of edibles) the extra boost they needed to get through the next big event of the day. . . The PIE FIGHT.

Joey played hard, Joey played fast and by the end, Joey played in his underwear. Throwing pies in other clowns faces is the Bacchanalian equivalent to a good wine-drunk, and there was plenty of vino to go around. This is one instance where pictures definitely speak volumes louder than words. A wonderful start to what is going to be a wonderful festival.

Clown Filled Day

What a day to be a clown. I had the entire morning/afternoon altered because of car issues, and then got to run my clown jam and do some volunteer work for the New York Clown Festival.

First, the jam. We had a blast playing with my theme of the day: BALLS! As the various students/audience/attendees (Still can't define what I'm doing, and that's ok) walked into the space, I broke down juggling using a multi step process. By the end, many of them could keep three balls in the air for at least a few tosses. I always imagined using basic juggling as a warm-up exercise, and seeing 6 people wildly play, laugh and chase balls across the room has made it my new favorite warm-up.

We followed that with a simple ball toss group ice breaker which built to keeping 6 balls in the air amongst 7 people.  Again, plenty of fun. And we closed up by allowing everyone to individually hop up, and perform a "juggling routine" where the goal was to juggle until we failed and then share our failures with the audience. It was my most extensive proctoring session, and I can truly say it was a great time. I hope it keeps growing. (Shameless plug - Every Thursday at 6pm at the People's Improv Theater)

Right after that, it was off to the Brick Theater in Williamsburg to help set up for New York's biggest pie fight. If you haven't heard yet, the New York Clown Festival starts tomorrow (September 5th), and I will be volunteering.

The festival starts off with a grand public parade for clowns.  We are meeting at Union Square at 5:30pm (all are welcome), and traveling en masse to Williamsburg, where the Pie Fight will be held. My silent clown Joey will be attending with Kim's (my fiance's) clown Nina Deliah. They are bringing lots of popcorn to enjoy all of the festivities.

Then, for the next month, I will be reviewing/blogging shows right here.  I highly recommend that everyone sees a show or two.  Here's the website:

http://www.bricktheater.com/

I will be seeing the following shows:

9/7 @ 5:30pm - Ein Tod 

9/7 @ 7pm - Giovanni

9/7 @ 8:30pm - Poofy du Vey

9/9 @ 7pm - La Cita

9/9 @ 8:30pm - An Evening with Aitor

9/11 @ 10:30pm - Clown Cabaret

9/12 @ 7pm - Jeff and Buttons

9/18 @ 8:30pm - Pompo and Pio

9/18 @ 10:30pm - Clown Cabaret

9/19 @ 8:30pm - A Few of My Favorite Things

9/21 @ 7pm - Locked Up

9/21 @ 8:30pm - Tiny Dangerous Popcorn

9/25 @ 8:30pm - Big Shoes, Short Tales

9/25 @ 10:30pm - Clown Cabaret
9/26 @ 8:30pm - Amy G Entershamement

9/26 @ 10:30pm - Life After Death

9/27 @ 7pm - Grandma
9/27 @ 8:30pm - Vindelvoss Family Circus

See you there!

No Make-Up - A Clown Jam

Every Thursday at 6pm at the People's ImprovTheater.

123 East 24th Street (b/w Park and Lexington)

Want to showcase a piece? Just e-mailNoMakeupClownJam@gmail.com

Beginner Clown Blog

Are you a clown?

I don't remember the first time I was asked that question, but I remember the first time that I answered "Yes!"

I was asked by a clerk in a costume store, while buying my first red nose in preparation for a 3 week vacation. The first leg of the trip would put me in Montreal for a 10 day silent meditation retreat. After that, I would travel to Maine for a week-long clown intensive at the Celebration Barn Theatre, taught by Aitor Basauri.

If I had any difficulty labeling myself as a clown before the trip, I was fully confident in my new title after. Upon my arrival home, I joined my first clown troupe (EverybodyNose NYC) and have eagerly sought out every clown-based opportunity available. Performing in shows, walking the streets in nose, taking and teaching classes, proctoring a weekly jam.

I don't know where I am on my lifelong journey into this art form, and I'm glad for that. What kind of clown would I be if I had a carefully tailored plan?

And now, in addition to my study and practice, my jams and shows, I am starting this blog. To serve as a resource for both myself and others. Here, I will store my research, reviews, insights, confusions, announcements and anything else that jumps into my clown mind. It will serve as my written meditation on clown. 

And we'll see where this path of the journey leads.