Clowning

Clowning is a form of physical comedy where you play a character who is open, curious and hopeless at hiding how they feel. It uses play, slapstick, silly walks and improvisation to find the funny in everyday moments. Theatre clowning is less about scary make-up and more about being present, playful and happy to fail in front of an audience.

The red nose is often called the smallest mask in the world. Pop it on and you give yourself permission to be completely ridiculous.

The whiteface clown is the elegant, bossy one, with a painted white face and the air of being in charge. Usually of everyone else's chaos.

The auguste is the clumsy troublemaker with the big red nose, baggy clothes and a gift for getting everything wrong. A lot of the laughs land here.

The character clown is built around a type, like the down-on-their-luck tramp or the pompous official, and plays it with total commitment.

Modern clowning also borrows from older traditions, such as the stock characters of Italian commedia dell'arte and the slapstick of silent film comedy.

Expect to move. Your Activity Leader warms everyone up with games that shake off the self-consciousness, then builds towards simple improvisations in pairs and small groups. You'll play with status, big reactions, silly walks and the art of the flop: failing gloriously and letting the audience see every second of it. It's physical, fast and very silly. Nobody gets it wrong, because getting it wrong is sort of the point.

Good news: you don't need to be funny. Clowning isn't about telling jokes or being the loudest person in the room. It's about noticing, reacting and saying yes to whatever happens next. Plenty of people who'd never go near a stage find it surprisingly freeing, and the laughs tend to come from somewhere real. Fair warning, you may leave with a new silly walk you can't switch off.

Comfy clothes you can move, crouch and roll around in, plus trainers or other flat shoes. Leave anything precious behind, just in case the floor becomes part of the act.

You might also like Mime, Theatrical Combat and Burlesque.

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