Clowns to watch out for!
If you wanna try out a clown show, here are some of Tom's favourites!
Here are some of my favourite Clowns, and some info about their shows. Try giving a Clown show a watch, and see what you think!
Julia Masli
Julia Masli is an award winning clown from Estonia, based in London.
Her show Choosh, about a migrant’s struggles in the USA, was the first clown show I’ve seen. She had buckets of charm and a bag of intelligently used props. Her story was clear, imaginatively presented, and hilarious. The whole room was giggling from start to finish, and I left the theatre amazed at how a concept that seemed so simple could have such an otherworldly grip on its audience.
Julia’s second show that I saw, Ha Ha Ha Ha, involved her asking the audience what problems they had, and then trying to solve them during the show.
Yuck Circus
YUCK is a West Australian production company keen on championing the female voice across live performance. I went to see their show YUCK Circus, which managed to fuse high flying acrobatics and impressive stunts with grotesque parodies of hyper masculinity and sensitive issues women face today. The show was spellbinding, using the physicality of clown, circus and acrobatics to exploring gender and sexuality.
Ugly Bucket Theatre
This Liverpool based Theatre Company combine clown with physicality, music and personal testimony. Their shows are honest, using clown to bring joy, lightness and laughter to human struggles. I went to see their show Good Grief, and it had me crying with its gags, as well as with the touching humanity of its personal testimony.
Performer’s Playground
If you’re interested in Clown and want to learn more, this group are based in Manchester and offer short and longer term courses that will teach you some important building blocks for Clown.
The Bonjour Group
A new Cabaret Group formed by Ex-Philippe Gaulier Clown School students. I’ve seen some of their individual bits of performance and they been unique, honest, and hilarious! They are hosting Cabarets in London that you should keep an eye out for!
Andy Duncan
I met Andy at Ecole Philippe Gaulier and he is a truly, very funny man. Watching him, felt like I immediately wanted to jump into the surreal and bizarre world of his ideas. Gut wrenchingly funny, time flies whenever I watch Andy perform, and I’m alaways left wanting more!
Mel McGlensey - Motorboat
Mel is sharp, witty, and has infectious, exuberant energy both as a performer and human! Her show Motorboat involves her taking the shape of a human motorboat that needs the audience to help fix her. The show is outrageous and laugh out loud funny, so keep an eye out for it!
Veronica Osorio - Medicine Woman
Veronica is a fierce and hilarious performer, and her show Medicine Woman combines healing and medicines with clown, games and audience interaction. Look our for her!
Party Ghost
Performers Olivia Porter and Jarred Dewey combine dark slapstick with circus spectacle, ghoulish, riotous black comedy and plenty of play. This show explored grief and the morbid in a mesmerising and outrageous way. The show created a world I was truly lost in, and a little bit spellbound by.
Watching more Clown on stage always gives me ideas, and I am spellbound by the generosity of performers to open their hearts and minds on stage, and to share that with others! Thank you to all of the above for bringing your joy to the world!