Open Clown Laboratories

From time to time The Clown Institute proposes periods of research called Intensive Open Clown Laboratories. This is an opportunity to build a shared language and pedagogy together and participate in the research and training activities du jour.
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The Open Clown Laboratories are designed for both experienced and professional artists and clowns, however clown curious beginners are welcome to submit their interest. We welcome all genres of artists (painters, sculptors, architects, designers, musicians, actors, dancers, puppeteers, directors, dramaturges, writers etc.).

Each Lab has a particular theme or question. Check out our past weekend intensive open labs. 

1.The Freedom of the Fool: Experiments in Clowning (2023)

What happens when all the masks of intelligence, responsibility & social modesty you've spent years developing are removed?
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The 4-part lab dived intensively into the light and shadow parts of participants' clown bodies, hearts, voices, and their possibilities of expression.

Participants felt and shared their clown's inner world, finding the balance between true presence and receptivity to external impulses. The lab brought to light the simple clown persona of each participant, embodying a playful idiot with limited regard for authority.

Participants worked on wielding stillness and focus like sharp knives, giving attention to their intuition and emotional temperature. The lab accessed the inner madness of each participant, searching for their sparkly, grotesque, and eccentric bodies and voices.

​Imaginations and hearts were connected with the deeply surreal and bizarre, unraveling a profound humanity during the process.​

2. Therapeutic Clowns: Healing with Humour (2022)

The workshop on Therapeutic Clowning took place, providing insights into the profession and its benefits. Therapeutic Clowning is an arts-based practice commonly found in healthcare settings, where clowns engage with children, adults, or elders. The goal is to reduce stress, restore a sense of control and dignity, and honour the individuality of each person, irrespective of their physical or cognitive limitations. While Therapeutic Clowns differ in purpose from those performing in circuses or theatres, they share qualities such as curiosity, presence, and playfulness in their work.

During the workshop, participants had the opportunity to acquire practical skills and engage in various exercises aimed at incorporating laughter into their respective fields. Over the course of the weekend, the workshop delved deeply into the potential applications of clowning techniques in health, wellbeing, and person-centered care.

Throughout the two days, participants were guided through simple theatre exercises that encouraged their playful selves to emerge. They also engaged in role-playing and simulations, exploring interactive and sensitive person-to-person entertainment with adults, children, elders, staff, families, and caregivers. The workshop emphasised the power of the clown archetype in offering lightness, release, play, connection, and a fresh perspective on the world. Additionally, participants learned techniques of empathy through various clowning observation games and had the opportunity to play with costumes and objects related to the trade.

3. Humanitarian Clowning: Humour is a very powerfool weapon (2021)

Putting humour into humanity! Welcome to creative & absurd experiments for empowered clown play in direct action towards social justice and healing.

Throughout the two-day workshop, participants delved into various aspects of clowning. They explored the integration of clowning as a medium of intervention and healing, utilising fun and laughter. The clown's logic was revealed as a tool to expose existing problems, highlight truths, present alternatives, and showcase non-violent and legal solutions.

​The workshop also examined the role of "rebel" clowns in direct action, exploring their participation in political protests and anti-authoritarian movements. Participants discovered the dynamics of a clown chorus or gang, recognising the strength and impact of collective performance. The power of song, music, parades, dance, and banners were explored as additional elements of the clown's toolkit.

Throughout the workshop, participants had the opportunity to play with costumes and makeup, experiencing the transformative nature of these elements in the realm of clowning. The overall vision of the workshop was to create a safe space for positive change, fostering restored connections among participants and contributing to the development of resilient, healthier, and socially cohesive communities. The workshop offered a unique exploration into the world of clowning, allowing participants to engage in meaningful experiences that resonate with them long after the workshop's conclusion.

4. Virtual Clown Lab (2020)

The four-day online clown lab offered participants the opportunity to authentically connect, laugh, and play with virtual audiences. The workshop aimed to bridge the gap for those who were isolated, incarcerated, separated, or sick, utilising clowning as an art form. In a world where performances have moved to online platforms like Zoom, the workshop explored the exciting possibilities of engaging with an online audience and creating meaningful connections.

Throughout the workshop, participants delved into various areas of discovery. They celebrated and worked with their clown's natural being state, staying present and actively listening and responding to each nuance, niggle, desperation, desire, wound, and dream it offered. Play was created from these elements, fostering a dynamic relationship with the virtual audience.

Participants also explored the best conditions for laughter in a virtual space, drawing inspiration from the constraints, limitations, and opportunities of this environment. Their imaginations and bodies were stretched as they searched for dramatic and comic spatial possibilities and dynamics that corresponded to the virtual realm.

The workshop encouraged participants to transform personal tragedies and narratives into works of absurd poetic clown performance specifically tailored for the online environment. The search for a rhythmic consequence of strong images took precedence, stimulating the audience's imagination rather than their reason.
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By the end of the workshop, participants had developed a playful and dynamic approach to engaging with virtual audiences, embracing the unique challenges and opportunities of the online medium. The skills and insights gained during the workshop empowered participants to continue producing meaningful performances and connections, reaching new audiences through screens.

This workshop was subsidised for 9 artists in 2020 and made possible by Create NSW who helped fund the pilot initiative as a response to COVID-19.  

5. The Poetry of Nonsense: Clowning Lab (2019)

A 4-part weekend workshop series aimed at exploring the poetry of the clown, via dynamic phenomena, both visible and abstract.
The elements, objects and materials, colours, and music will serve as inspiration for clown discovery. Inspired by the Jacques Lecoq pedagogy.
Clowning is an adventure, so together we’ll embrace the uncertainty and enjoy the journey - searching for the beauty and poetry of your clown. 

Part 1. Clowning & Presence 

What is the essence of your clown), Uncover clowning through silence and stillness + find the pleasure of discovery.

The notion of presence and cultivating the inner voice as a clown actor was explored in this workshop, where participants were encouraged to be ready to receive, feel, and share with the world. They encountered the stage and practiced the state of being fully alive and present in all aspects—emotionally, physically, and mentally. Throughout the workshop, participants nourished self-awareness while fueling their imagination and creativity.
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Over the course of two days, the following areas were explored:

• A sense of openness, allowing participants to make offers and receive them.
• The establishment of "complicité," fostering connectedness and a shared understanding among participants.
• Finding pleasure in discovery and approaching each situation with a fresh perspective, as if encountering it for the first time.
• Discovering one's fixed point, focusing on breath, and appreciating the silences that occur between sounds and actions.
• Engaging in a mini field trip, observing and listening to the natural rhythms of life.

Part 2. Clowning & the Body 

Physical approaches to finding and creating a clownesque body via everyday phenomena like materials, objects and nature.

Participants engaged their bodies in a state of play and action during the workshop, aiming to expand their awareness of their physical presence and its playful possibilities. The workshop involved cracking open the body like a beautiful little rosebud in search of the clown state, exploring the realms from the poetic to the grotesque. Participants worked towards a state of readiness, attuned to rhythm, space, and breath.
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Over the course of two days, the following areas were explored:

• Introduction to the petit mask, the red nose, as participants delved into the poetic body both as a mask and as a powerful tool for creative expression.
• Discovering physical dramatic tensions and learning how to imbue them with clown-like qualities.
• Using phenomena such as elements, objects, and animals as a foundation for creating the clown's unique physicality.

Part 3. Clowning & Music 

Exploring live sound and different musical works to create moments of conflict and comedy for the clown actor.

Participants immersed themselves in play and wonder as they explored the comic-poetic potential of music and sound in the workshop. Together, they discovered how live sound and different musical works could create moments of conflict and comedy for the clown.
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The participants had the opportunity to work in duos, trios, and as a group ensemble, engaging in playful improvisation with voice and instruments. They supported one another, encouraging funnier and riskier choices that led to an expansion of ridiculous possibilities.
Over the course of two days, the following areas were explored:

• Finding the clown's thinking and movement through the whimsical nature of music.
• Collaborating in duos and trios to create harmonious and disharmonious interactions.
• Creating soundscapes and atmospheric compositions to enhance clown performances.
• Utilising the body, imagination, space, and rhythm to discover their musical clown persona.

Part 4. Clowning & Melodrama 

An investigation into finding a theatrical language to transform personal human tragedies and narratives into works of poetic clown performance for the stage.

The workshop embarked on a journey to uncover what participants wished to awaken in others. Clowning, known as the language of the heart, held the power to remind people of their shared humanity. Throughout the workshop, a genuine intimacy between the participants and their audience was explored, rooted in truth, energy, and the emotions of the heart. Themes of separation, love, sickness, loneliness, and more were played with, delving into how clowns navigate tragic situations.
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Over the course of two days, the following areas were explored:

• Creating vivid life moments and evocative images that simultaneously provoked both humor and pathos.
• Discovering the dramatic and empathetic space within the realm of clowning.
• Playfully subverting tragedy to find moments of comedy.
• Unearthing the clown logic within human tragedies, allowing vulnerability to surface.

6. Bouffon: Le Beautifool Grotesque (2018)

Plunge into the madness of mockery with the highly visual parade of the fantastic and grotesque. Here's your chance to vomit glitter on all that is disturbing in the world

In this rigorous physical lab, participants were guided through a series of games and ambitious improvisations, igniting their sense of play and providing a solid foundation for satirizing the "madness du jour." The workshop aimed to connect participants' imaginations and hearts with the surreal and bizarre, unraveling profound aspects of humanity.

​Throughout the workshop, participants discovered the following main areas:

• Mockery & Mimicry: Exploring the game and the sheer pleasure of pushing it to its limits.
• Bouffon Territories: Delving into the realms of the grotesque, the fantastic, and the mysterious.
• Bouffonesque Body: Creating grotesque bodies and forming connections with objects and materials.
• Power & Madness: Uncovering the threshold of parody and exploring the anarchic relationship between performer and audience.
• Performance: Engaging with iconic texts and collaboratively devising short bouffon pieces as an ensemble.