showbusinessweekly.com: Clowning is a tradition found all over the globe. As week two of the NY Clown Theatre Festival continues, I had a conversation with two of the festival’s international performers to hear their unique perspectives on how they discovered clown and the differences they’ve encountered while performing for American as well as international audiences.
10 comments:
I really enjoyed this article. As a kid, I was absolutely TERRIFIED of clowns. At local fairs, I would cling to my parents at even the sight of a clown hundreds of yards away from me. I'm proud to say that, since then, I have gotten over my fear for clowns, and reading this article has really opened my eyes to what clowning really is as an art, instead of just a creepy, terrifying, commercial figure who makes animal balloons.
Reading about the two clowns' experiences was interesting for a bunch of reasons. I found it particularly compelling that the clowns' experiences change so drastically with each audience. Before, I never really viewed clowning as theatre. However, this articles really proves that it truly is. The clowning process is much like the theatrical process, for both actors and designers. The clowns describe how they find inspiration, let that inspiration grow, start putting together a project, and then perfecting the project. Coming into the School of Drama at Carnegie Mellon has really opened my eyes to all of the theatrical art forms that exist in our world, and I am inspired and in awe of how art forms such as clowning can be universal across seas.
This reminds me a lot of the clown-fest we hold annually. The clowns very much have their own personality, story, or conflict. Many of the stories are told in a comedic way. I think that having the ability to create a character, even one like a clown is great and it uses all of your storytelling skills and character development. These two clowns in the article seemed to really think about their clown and really think about their performance. It didn't sound like they had any artistic direction, they were their own writer, director, actor, costumer etc... They seem to know their character inside and out.
What surprised me the most was how planned out each and every show really was. When you think of that type of comedy, I at least, always think that there is a fair amount of improve going on. Thinking about it further, there probably has to be a bit more planning. Comedy is one of the most difficult things to pull off, especially nowadays. I commend these clowns and hope their shows go well.
Clownfest last year made me appreciate clowning in an entirely different way. Unfortunately, when you mention clowns in our culture, most people immediately just associate them with fear and horror movies. In reality, clowning is a highly skilled art that anyone can do but very, very few people can do well. This is self-evident when you watch clowning shows (ie. Clownfest). It is unfortunate that clowning is not taken very seriously in America; as you can see both of the clowns interviewed in this article are from Europe. We don’t often realize that clowning is not just humorous improve, but rather a highly rehearsed set of physical humor that changes slightly based on audience reactions. It would be interesting to go to the New York Clown Festival and see the hopefully vast difference between our sophomore class’s best attempt at clowning and professionals practicing their art.
The clown is such an important part of the theater. It exists in every culture, and strangely enough, showed up right around the same time in all of those cultures. Conspiracy theorists might argue the cause of this new character showing up simultaneously in culture across the world is evidence of benevolent Ancient Astronauts visiting our planet from across the solar system. (The movie Killer Klowns from Outer Space might differ.) Regardless, the clown reminds us all of the silly absurdities of life. I think it's appearance in almost all forms of live performance and theater is proof of this. We can identify with the clown, their experience is our experience. We laugh at their buffoonery because we can laugh at ourselves. When we slip on a banana peel we fall just like they do. Their hearts can break as much as ours. What makes live theater so powerful is empathy, we relate and feel for the characters on stage. It is no different with the clown. Both of these performers come from movement training centered around the human body - through changing our own traits and movements we can create new, yet very familiar characters. The clown's body is literally the same as ours. Some say the root word for clown is clod, a buffoon. Clod can also mean a lum of soil or dirt. Coincidence that there are multiple creation myths having created mankind from the soil? Or maybe Ancient Astronauts again.
It was interesting to read article about clown acting and also I was amazed by how people are so talented in all acting, comedy, and making idea. As I read this article, I realized that clown is not something that anyone can do. Rather, it requires serious effort of acting and training. Most importantly, they have to come up with fresh, unique, and universal idea that can impress audiences. I really enjoyed the section of the interview where they both said their parents were who encouraged them to see possibilities of becoming clown by doing activities together. I think it will be extra difficult for them since its their first debut in America and i understand there must be some kind of cultural difference. I really hope that these people make achievements on their goals and I was glad to read this article because I got to know a lot about clown.
Well, this event would certainly suck for people with clown phobias. After experiencing clownfest last year, I was interested in hearing the actors talk about how much time they spend on one topic, and the process they use in going about finding a clown that suits them. I feel like clowning is the socially acceptable grown up version of being that kid in elementary school who had too much energy never missed an opportunity to make a spectacle of himself. It was also interesting to read how different audiences perceive the art of clowning. I'd imagine that there's a cultural difference on how people accept clowning as a performance art and what expectations different cultures have when they see a show that includes clowns.
I have always been completely terrified of clowns; I hate how they are so obscured by fake makeup that they could be absolutely anyone (and movies with axe-murderer clowns don't exactly help the situation). I used to cross the street and walk around for a few blocks just to avoid the clowns on the street corners in my city. This article has helped to remind me that clowns are just people, just actors who like to interact with their audience. They have the same goal in entertainment as I do: to make people smile. Why should it matter if they paint their faces white instead of skin-colored? They are still an important and world-recognized part of the entertainment community with stories and adventures of their own. Next time I see a clown, I will stop to watch the show and think about what they had to do to get to make that show happen.
Unfortunately I have always just never thought to much about clowns or the art of clowning till recently. I think it is amazing the love and dedication people have to the art of clowning. These two particular clowns sound like that would be amazing to see on stage. Just like a well trained athlete, actor or painter these people take there art just as serious. I would love to see more of clowning so I could grow in my understanding of what it is. Clowning is so off my radar as any form of art I am always surprised to hear people who are still so dedicated to the art form. I am so glad people are continuing the the art form so that it will not go by the way side and disappear.
I have always found clowning to be such a fascinating part of the performing arts, so different from theater acting. With no fourth wall, clowns aren't trying to make the audience believe anything, they are simply creating pure entertainment which is a very interesting concept to me. I would love to go to this event and see what all these performers are bringing of their own to this art form, I'm sure it's a great display of creativity and new works.
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