u/Chance_Bed_8212

I've been clowning for over 10 years, and performing regularly/professionally for 7... but I've never made a full hour show!

And I know it's not the be-all-end-all. And I don't want to make it for the sake of it... But it is something I've wanted to do since I very first started clowning (before, even!)

BUT I get the feeling no one takes a clown seriously (ha) until we have! Someone who's venue I've been performing in for years tried to sell me on a clown 101 day course like... bruh! I've also make multiple devised theatre shows in a group... and yet it just feels to so many that I won't exist until I've done the one woman show?

SO! Any thoughts of if/how to do this? I have a very vague theme I want to look at - and I want to keep myself out of Theatre Brain and stop looking for a story...

I directed a small tour for a small theatre company a few years ago. I saw one of the actors linked his spotlight on instagram recently so had a nosey look!

He has credited another one of the actors in the show as the director of the show, not me.

I am in the process of getting my website together, and will obviously have the show on there, and it's on my CV - but is it at all likely someone can come across his spotlight profile and see this if I'm going for a job - eg afaik spotlight profiles aren't googlable, but is this true?

I am fairly sure he did this on purpose after I left the company to help boost the other person (we each directed one show, and performed in others) who was a nightmare to work with (and encouraged me to lie on my CV lmao) but yeah unless it's likely to actually present an issue further down the line I'll leave it. Anyone got any thoughts? Thanks!

I've worked and taken to shows to various venues in the UK around 50-150 seaters, and all of them have had 'general cover' lights already rigged and ready to go. Sometimes that's all they have, sometimes you can rig more if you want something specific, sometimes it's a simple desk, others very complex.

I've just finished a show in a venue that has no tech staff, and no prerigged lights - so any company has to bring someone who can fully rig the lights.

Is this common in small venues?

And what might the reason for this be?

Surely they'd get far more small companies bringing work if they just needed to bring someone who can run the lights, and get tech done in the day before the show, not need over a full day just to put up the lights before even turning them on? (Which does explain why they seem to have lots of gaps in their diary that other similar venues easily fill will say a well known standup or local poetry night etc etc....)

This will be a bit of a ramble - but I'm interested to hear your thoughts!

I had two chat with two clowns that I wanted to share.

The first was, we were talking about ideas around gatekeeping and inclusivity, and he brought up a martial art he does. (I can't remember the specificities so I'm using wrong terminology, but that's not the point..!)

He said that he has trained in the UK, and made his way in a few years up to rank 5/10 - he then went to the country of origin, and found he was far less skilled that people at 5/10 there, and many people spend YEARS on a rank before moving up.

His point was that in the UK hobbyists want the gratification of gaining ranks, so the standards (and rigor of training) have been lowered.

Obviously clowning is not as formalised as ranks, but we ended up discussing the way that some people immediately leap to marketing themselves as a clown (even teaching!) having done one beginners course.

The second was about teaching! I was performing alongside someone who mentioned being excited to run their first class. I said I don't feel ready for teaching myself, and I asked how long they'd been clowning: "oh, I went to my first class a few months ago - how about you?". I replied with "a decade".

I then later see these classes advertised online - but not calling it clown (maybe play? i cant remember exactly).

I later found out that someone I know has been studying, performing and teaching for many many years found out about this guy, and basically said "you don't know enough to be calling your classes 'clowning'" which thankfully they respected,

Anyway, I have no firm conclusions (and of course could gladly while away hours discussing if XYZ specific thing 'is clown') BUT I wondered about your thoughts on all this.

One thing I will say is - I think gatekeeping of some form is important, as well as being proactive with inclusion to engage beginners and help them train up. I think some people see gatekeeping and inclusion as mutually excusive but I don't agree!

Shoulda made an image to entice.. BUT! Which part of clowning do you make around?

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Eg seems party clowns are a lot more common on here than I meet in real life, and I come out of the European theatre tradition, moving into the stuff nearer alternative comedy.

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And then I know many clowns using it for wellbeing and sometimes spirituality, and lots using it as a tool for activism, drawing on their time in street performing.

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Which style pedagogy did you learn with?

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Tell me about it!!

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(Sorry I tried to repost this earlier but the other clowns sub deleted it? Not sure why - pls let me know if there's something wrong happy to change it)

I shoulda made an image to entice.. BUT! Which part of clowning do you make around?

​

Eg seems party clowns are a lot more common on here than I meet in real life, and I come out of the European theatre tradition, moving into the stuff nearer alternative comedy.

​

And then I know many clowns using it for wellbeing and sometimes spirituality, and lots using it as a tool for activism, drawing on their time in street performing.

​

Which style pedagogy did you learn with?

​

Tell me about it!!

Have any clown teachers given you any particular ideas you've never heard anywhere else?

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Peta Lily gave me the concept of 'casting the net' over the audience before you start performing (and any time after!) which I try to keep in mind and has really helped me starting off on the right foot.

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Joe Dieffenbacher also expressed really well an idea that as a clown it's fine to be a horrible bastard, as long as you're enjoying being a horrible bastard for the audience, or to be miserable, or throw a tantrum or whatever other negative emotion.

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I've been performing in clowning/alt-comedy for a few years, but am wanting more stage time for trying new stuff and there's very little specifically for clowns near me (tbh I think this is true everywhere bar London) .. how amenable do you think open mics would be to clowning? How much alt comedy do you tend to see at these sorts of nights?

Im just very tired of terrible internships or other un(der)paid theatre 'opportunities' that are just taking the piss. I'm UK based but I'm sure this is a world-over issue.

I got asked to do a creative role for free that I was excited to do, turns up they also wanted to me to do hours of producing alongside which I was not aware of until I was in day one of the show.

I also found another internship that markets itself as a creative role internship, but really what it is is doing a year's worth of part-time unpaid admin roles, that are otherwise well paid in other theatres, in exchange for you getting to do that creative role in one show, and there is no training related to the creative role that they are calling it an internship for... 😭😭😭

I'm just very very tired of all this. Anyone else seeing this sort of thing?