Dear Clowns,

Perhaps you have heard about my ongoing class, Performance As A Creative Art.

I want you in my class. I have 4 or 5 actors in the class, and I want 4 or 5 clowns.

Here is the thing.

I have spent the last 32 years torn between acting and clowning at times thinking there is no difference and at times thinking there are no two art forms more loathsome to each other.

I have brought Meatloaf to Ibsen, I have directed actors and clowns in the same show. The results? Both hellishly miserable and joyfully celebratory.

I don't know if there is a difference but I do know they have a lot to offer to each other. I know that both should be a force of nature, I know that both are full of contradiction, and I know that all that really matters is that something is really happening and that something must be taking the performer on a journey of discovery because even an audience of 3-year-olds can smell a fake from the word hello.

The class combines three elements, The Breathe, The Clown, and The Commedia Del’Arte.

THE BREATH
To inhale and exhale, to inspire, then express. The act of seeking a free breath with all your heart is all you need to discover the spirit, soul, and deepest emotion of your character. That is what is really happening.

THE COMMEDIA DEL’ARTE
Understanding and implementing the purely physical archetypes of the Commedia Del’Arte create an immediate expectation in the audience. Breaking expectations is comedy, fulfilling them is tragedy. The two masks.

THE CLOWN
We all know the power of the fool.

People ask me, "Who is your favorite clown?"

Me: "Living?"

People: "Yes, living."

Me: "Christopher Walken."

People: "Walken? He’s not a clown!"

Me: "Sure he is. How else do you think he gets away with all that evil, bad guy shit? At heart, he is a fool!"

So bring a your technique, bring all your wonderful skills bring all your oldest, tiredest bits, bring the fucking magic coloring book for all I care and we will discover a way to shock the hell out of yourself and reveal the world to your audience.

A performance class based on the breath, the clown, and the Commedia Dell'arte. What do these three elements have in common? They are the basis for my performance class that is anti-dogmatic, emotional and intimate, external and skin deep, and full of consistent contradiction.

Whether you are struggling with Long Day's Journey Into Night or having trouble blowing that roll of toilet paper over your head, it is all a joyful act, and this class is for you!

First class free.