Friday, November 13, 2020
Antiauthoritarian Clowning
HowlRound Theatre Commons: The clown says “yipee!” We train and warm up so that our bodies and hearts and minds are dilated and delighted—even in the face of armored riot police or corporate security. This is exhausting after a few hours.
The clown is loving. We do not disrupt the actions of others with a different aesthetic. When we come upon a candlelight vigil or a die-in, we slowly and silently back away and go play with others.
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9 comments:
I absolutely love the clown army. This form of activism is, by its nature, non-aggressive and whimsical. The real opposition to anger is whimsy, hate is love. Jesters and clowns are the only ones who get to mock those in power while doing their job. It is also wonderful that these people are able to organize and seed the ideas to different areas and ideologies. I particularly loved the clown going around as Odin asking for high-fives from the racists.
There is also some part of me that hopes the people who are being protested have Coulrophobia just so they can be terrified by a person who's looking for a WMD through short grass.
No shame, I love clown work. I think it can be done so well. In undergrad, I took an Acting in Comedy class, and we studied clown throughout. I also have had the pleasure of seeing a few clown shows at Dell’Arte International and having quite a few in depth conversations about clown with a professor from that program. While studying clown and attending a workshop about it, a quote stuck with me that perfectly encapsulates what it is to clown. “Laughter is necessary in a cruel world.” We talked a lot about how clowning can be used in these really difficult situations to not only bring levity, but to shine the truth on what the world is. Fun fact about me, I did once have the opportunity to be on a clown tour that would travel to Mexico and perform for children in impoverished communities. The clown is honest to itself. The clown exposes truth, even if unintentionally. The clown makes the serious ridiculous and revels in that chaos.
I’ve got mixed feelings about these antiauthoritarian clowns. I’m not a big fan of clowns to begin with – they sort of freak me out and the sometimes the clown personas I’ve seen come off more as offensive to disability rather than a funny exaggeration - and perhaps that's just my lack of understanding of the art of the greenness of our actors, but it can make me really uncomfortable. However, I think there is something to be said about how these troupes of clowns utilizing that uncomfort to throw bigots off their game is kind of genius. I think that these clowns using their white privilege to cause distraction and protect the bodies of those more vulnerable is clever. However, I worry that the downside to the clowns showing up for the people is that they lessen the seriousness of the movement – or lessen how seriously the movement is perceived.
I love these clowns. They are a great example of performance activism, and are able to achieve very real accomplishments such as protecting groups from bigotry. The clowns actually show up, march, protect, inform- they do all of the things activists need to be doing right now. In today's world, too many people simply post to social media, and call it a day. However, change only comes from action. I do worry for the safety of the clowns, especially in the police state of America, where protesters are being gassed and shot. I wish this article would've touched on what the clowns are doing for Black Lives Matter, and what that involvement looks like. The image of a clown can carry many different connotations. They can be scary, yet kind. A clown also represents foolishness, and is an interesting way to combat the craziness of our political system. I think the symbolism is perfect for what we are dealing with everyday.
In the context of theatrical work, I for one often forget the profession of clowns. They occupy what would seem like a niche corner of the performance industry but at the same time can encapsulate all of it. The industry also instills in them, apparently, the ability to become activists of a kind most people would not think of. If I saw a clown at the protest I attended in June, I have no doubt that I would have to do a double take. However, after reading this article, I see now that there is such a beautiful way of approaching activism that can only truly be captured by a clown. To bring an ironic and satirical view of protests against police brutality straight to the mouths of the media presents them with a unique opportunity to catch the eyes of readers and watchers across the world in a way that no other type of organizer can. Maybe there is a lesson to be learned from this essay that the common person can take away from this. If so, I cannot see it. I say just let the clowns be clowns and let them do what they do best.
From the start the title caught my eye; since when do you ever see something called “Antiauthoritarian Clowning”? A good number of years ago when I was around maybe 10-12, I used to do circus related things and got taught some things in clowning and how, despite being somewhat ridiculous, they’re also artists and storytellers. It’s a pretty creative way of taking the current power and protest it by making a mockery of it, kind of acting like a mirror reflecting the insanity of the government back at it. Seeing this clown army in person when you’re not expecting it must definitely stop you in your tracks a bit or be a little off putting to the police. I also think it’s kind of cool that these clowns put themselves between the police and the protesters. But like it also says in the article, there is a possibility of it harming, rather than helping a movement by making it seem much less serious than it actually is. I know that some bigoted idiots could look at the fact that clowns are protesting too and take that as an argument for why that side is irrational or that they’re not protesting for anything real. I just hope that these clowns can continue what they’re doing effectively without doing any damage to a cause.
I have observed that it is fun to be a clown. I have not observed that it is fun to be clowned at. I am glad that they state sensitivity to their surroundings as a tenet; I find myself tensing up while reading this article. I am not afraid of clowns, but I feel afraid of these people. I find that curious. I am also glad that they are aware of their whiteness, and that their tactics may be dangerous and ineffective in the United States. I am unsure, overall, whether or not what they are doing is good. Clowns, by nature, celebrate themselves and what they do—but I, as an avid consumer of news and social justice media, have not heard anything about the relative success of clown tactics. I think they are lucky that the people they have faced have been confused rather than angered; it just takes one person with one unexpected reaction to get someone hurt.
I have never wanted to be a clown more. This article and this movement perfectly encapsulates the correct use of satire and whimsy in the face of tyranny and authoritarian police-states. I believe they have created such a unique yet perfect response to the absurdly obvious problems facing us today. My absolute favorite quote from the story, which actually reflects how I often convey political ideologies, reads, "“The clown claimed…” followed by a radical critique of international debt policy," the context of which being mainstream media covering the group of clowns and attempting to dismiss them, only to be met with serious and harsh critiques of society. We are not living in unprecedented times, we are living in the culmination of decades of a system working to its fullest potential to disadvantage minority groups, and put more money in the pockets of the rich. All of these clown techniques are drawn from classical clowning techniques that have been used for centuries, because these techniques still work, these clowns in costumes are still making fun of the exact same clowns in charge.
Usually, I am really not one for clowns in any form. However, I love a good antiauthoritarian situation. This is an incredible form of performance activism. While I don’t always get the method of clowning, the reality is they put so much into their craft and they are excellent storytellers, so they are very fit to engage in performance activism. I think it is even more powerful that they are taking their art to the streets and performing in between protesters and the police. I think it is really important that they take in to account how serious these events are. Those who do not see clowning as anything other than a true performance craft, but take it as a joke that happens at parties, could see this as making light of such a good situation. I think this is really difficult when it comes to the way media portrays them.
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