Philosophy for Effective Clowning

Recently, Steve Kissell lhas compiled a wonderful book called "The Big Book of Clowns." It features many well-known clown folks from across the United States. I'm honored to be a part of it. The book shares the history, experiences and thoughts of these different clown artists. Steve asked for a statement of each one's clown philosophy. Here are a number of the key concepts that I shared. I thought you may want to "chew on these" for a while.

1. Clowns exist to have a relationship with an audience.

2. Clowns genuinely are an expression of the soul of a person, not a plastic “mask” put on to cover who the person is, but a release of thoughts, emotions and authentic character in a comedic style.

3. Clowns play and encourage playfulness.

4. Clowns always communicate better physically than they do verbally.

5. Clowns allow people to release emotion. That release often will be laughter, but at times it may be a tear. (Consider Red Skelton’s performances.)

6. Clowns are comedic and do funny things because of funny reasoning.

7. Clown costuming is the wardrobe that displays clues showing how the clown thinks.

8. Clowns don’t just give away things, they give a memory—an experience.

If you are interested in getting one of these books you can email me about it, or contact Steve at kisselltalks@cs.com