"What You Do When It's An Emergency: It's Your Clown."

Philippe began class by reminding us that we need a name for our clowns (I'm thinking 'Genuine Mastercard') and a suitcase. 

"You have to dream a bit around the suitcase before you buy it."

~

Today's exercise was to make us believe you are a singer. You go to Monsieur Marcel at Café de la Poste for advice on how to do this, and he says "you have to warm your voice." 

So in groups of three we entered running around the circus to music, and when the music stopped one by one we tried to make the audience laugh by warming our voices in ridiculous ways. Always looking to the audience to see if we can spot the King of Sweden (who apparently has sexual problems).

~

When I had a go I had a big flop, but tried many things to try and get out of it, including doing some 'priest' thing saying we were all experiencing a wonderful silent moment. Philippe said I play too much as an actor. I challenged him saying we have to do something or else it's just me, (I said this just as me and it wasn't funny), and I said that he's asked us to find a funny accent...so where is the line? He asked me what kind of accent we like to do in Wellington. So I started talking in my hoary Māori accent. People started laughing (I'm nice and light with this - and it's unique for non-NZ audiences) and Philippe told me it's very good. I didn't react the way he wanted me to and he yelled "why aren't you happy?" (I should have smiled like a proud idiot) but I said I can smile at what he says but I'm not happy because I'm not actually feeling happiness. So it wouldn't be real. 

He then got Miluka to come onstage and kiss my ear again. Just having her stand behind me with the anticipation of what was to come got pleasure pulsing through me. My face goes red and I start looking like a goofy idiot with a big smile and my neck curled to the left. My face opens (my soul too, perhaps) and I feel pleasure. And the audience loves me like this.

"[It's like the] beautiful pleasure of a child who receives a kiss from their mum."

I understand that right now I'm playing too much, and that this pleasure that I have when I get kissed is what I need to have every time I come on stage and with everything I do and say...but I don't know how to do that. Yet. I think it's an extremely difficult thing to repeat without actually having someone there to kiss you. You lack the physical stimulus! And I think part of the reason the audience laughs is because of the image they see. But still, I guess you just have to have an immense pleasure from being on the stage.

~

You can't be desperate. You have to be happy.

When you smile we have to think you're happy. Not sad. Or ashamed. It's really difficult.

Always be serious as your clown when doing an exercise. It's time for work!

Never do normal movements. It always has to be a bit strange. e.g. Try something very small.

Exactly what the audience should be thinking: "So idiot...He thinks he is funny."

~

"It's the main job of a clown…You have to make us believe…It's not to do…It's to make us believe."

"You have to do something with a flop. You can't stay in this corridor."

"What you do when it's an emergency: It's your clown."

"You have to change - and the more you change the more we see your spirit, and the more we love you."

"If you show the face when someone kisses you, we love you."

"You have to do something idiot but with a dream of a contract in New York."

~

At the end of class Philippe spoke about the different between performing clown and theatre. He said that although your clown is in a way a character (even though it is very close to yourself - "You - but something ridiculous from you") it's not a character in the sense that you hide behind it. "It's something fresh...teenager...child."

"You don't play this character like you play a character in theatre. It's different."

~

Today was really frustrating. For me, but for most of us I think. Nobody had a particularly good day (except for Mark who was absolutely brilliant as a dribbling and blinking old fool with a totally idiotic face and super slow reactions). But we must carry on! Keep on getting to know the flop...

~

Oh! And Happy Halloween!

"You Just Have To Try Every Day. Sometimes Something Comes, Sometimes Nothing Comes."

Thomas taught Clown today and Philippe took his Garage day as Thomas is performing at a festival later in the week.

~

We began with the 'Yes/No Clapping game.' Different props are laid out on the stage. Somebody goes outside the room so they can't see/hear. And the audience decides on something the person outside the room has to do with the props. For example, lie facedown on a yoga mat and hold a coat hanger between your teeth. Then the person outside the room comes inside and has to try and discover what they have to do with the props. They know they are getting closer by the claps of the audience - the closer they are, the harder the clapping.

It's abou audience connection and the pleasure of playing. But it was pretty boring to watch. Thomas even admitted "my exercise was a flop!"

~

We then did a casting audition: "Whatever I ask you - pretend you can do it."

"When I ask you to do something you can also find ways not to do it – to cheat."

There were some funny moments, but it was a slow day today.

"Maybe we find something, maybe not. It's not every day that we find."

"You just have to try every day. Sometimes something comes, sometimes nothing comes."

“Bad Or Good Doesn’t Mean Anything. It’s [The] Laugh [That Counts].”

We continued with the auto-course showings from Friday today.

~

Jonathan and Connor did something small and nothing happened. “What is funny?”

“We don’t think you are happy when you enter.”

One of Philippe’s problems was that they were playing the same thing. “We need contrast in a clown couple.” Opposites.

~

Jonathan also showed a solo number he’d been working on in which he came on stage with a ‘body’ in a bag and lay a sheet over it, trying to get us to not look at him by saying “Close your eyes! I’m not here!” and then tried to convince us he was the police.

Philippe said we don’t understand what he’s doing and that he was acting too much. We need to see his idiot, and we see this when Jonathan smiles, without any character on top.

~

Miwa did a solo number in which she came out like Bridgitte Bardot and said “What a beautiful day!” several times. It was “awful”. Not funny at all. Philippe then got her to say “Philippe it doesn’t work” every time what she did didn’t receive a laugh. At first nothing changed because she was being too normal, but when she started to yell “Philippe it doesn’t work!!!” we started to see her idiot and it was funny.

~

Simone and I performed our number which we’d worked on in bursts last week. Our interpretation of the play about the woman drowning in a lake in Gibraltar included us pretending to swim whilst holding a blue yoga mat in front of us, and then Simone playing a lifeguard and me playing a drowning woman. 

We got some laughs (not riotous, but consistent) and I had a nice game talking as if I had water in my mouth. I was also working on doing something, and then breaking out of it and smiling to the audience, and generally practicing looking/listening the audience as well as my scene partner. So it was a good step for me. After a while Philippe banged his drum (to the “ohhhs” of some people) and he said there’s no conflict between us. We were basically doing the same thing. I asked if we can be friends on stage, and he said yes but it’s not so good for a number. It works for a passage though - which we tried, crossing from one side of the stage to the other whilst pretending to swim with very small gestures. Philippe said it could be funny if Monsieur Loyal had said “No blue mats!” to these two idiots, and every time they cross the stage they naughtily use the blue mat anyway, thinking they are hilarious.

At one point he asked us whose idea it was to use the mat, and we both blamed each other as a joke, but weren’t really sure what to do. Philippe said “you don’t feel bad [and] we want to see you feeling bad.” From this an idiot may appear. I find this a bit confusing when he says clowns must not feel ashamed, but I guess they are different things. You can feel bad but happy at the same time I suppose. However not in Germany, (as Philippe says).

~

Yung Yung and Michael did a number together, but they were playing the problem too much. “You don’t pretend there is a problem. We see the problem.” They looked good together as a couple though. Super small and super tall. Philippe said it would be funny if Yung Yung directs (badly) and Michael doesn’t have a clue what to do.

Yung Yung's costume is Minnie Mouse and Michael's is a basketball player.

When Philippe told them to leave the stage Yung Yung made a little hissy-fit of frustration privately to herself just as she left the stage, and we all laughed. She was ridiculous and cute. 

“When you are like this we love you. When you act we hate you.”

“It’s a problem of clown. People act - and they are awful when they act.”

Philippe said as an audience we are laughing at something private from Yung Yung, but she doesn’t want us to laugh at that. But as a clown you have to be happy to sell something ridiculous and vulnerable about yourself.

~

“Your clown is a character, but he is a character from your teenager [...something very close to yourself]...something ridiculous here [in your soul].” This is why Philippe tries to embarrass us whilst we are on stage (such as asking about a lover). It’s to get us to show our ridiculous vulnerability.

“If you feel a bit ashamed because you are idiot you are not a clown.”

“You don’t believe you are good - you believe you are special.”

“Bad or good doesn’t mean anything. It’s [the] laugh [that counts].”

~

At the end of class a few people had a go at an exercise in which you had to try to make us believe there was something fantastic behind the curtain.

“You do whatever you want. You have to be funny.”

Nobody was particularly funny!

~

Auto-course for next week:

You go to Café de la Poste in Belleville to speak to Monsieur Marcel. You tell him you want to do a play by Monsieur William Shakespeare. You can’t remember the name of the play, but it’s the story of a black general. Monsieur Marcel says “If you want to play Othello...you need a handkerchief!”

“Have fun with advice given to an idiot from another idiot.”

"Nobody Laughed...So It's Not A Clown Number."

Auto-course showing today. Simone and I are showing on Monday so I had a bit of an easy day! But many people were full of nerves!

~

Philippe started the class by reminding us to enter to the clown/circus music and circle around the stage running. When the music stops, look at the audience (and your partner as well) and then "something has to start...otherwise you enter in a big deep hole and can't get out easily."

~

Philippe also introduced the idea of Monsieur Loyale - the director of the circus. His job is to present the acts and build up the anticipation for what's coming next. "He gives a lot of sauce...The more the number is ridiculous the more he speaks of their genius." To play him you have to have a good costume, you have to smile ("be commercial") and "you have to be charming, charming, charming!"

Nicko had a go, and so did I. It's not easy. You have to be a great host. And if a number is bad you have to come on stage and kill the act before the audience leaves! It's fun to talk up the act though!

~

Mark and Michaela started. Their idea was to have trouble introducing their show - correcting each other and having personal problems. But it wasn't funny at all. We saw their idea loud and clear but not their idiocy or humanity at all. "Three minutes we don't laugh...you have to change...you have to do something to save the show."

"You don't look at each other...the more the show is bad the more you have to be together."

~

Rosemary, Katie, Tessa and Liz presented something abstract related to a girl drowning (the autocourse was supposed to be based on a play about a woman who drowned in Gibraltar) but we didn't laugh again. Philippe said what they did was very complicated. "It's much easier than that."

"A clown has something to surprise us. Always."

~

Miluka and Sophie did something abstract with buckets on their head.

"Nobody laughed...so it's not a clown number."

Philippe then said "we want to see the problem of the bucket on the head" and he got Sophie to put her bucket on her head (go figure) and wander around the room banging into things and falling over. (This reminded me of my scene in Vaudeville, and made me think I could have gone a lot further with it physically! Falling over, banging into walls. I could have really milked it!) That was very funny! 

And with Miluka standing in the middle of the room trying to do the show, with Sophie with a bucket on her head, it worked and we laughed. They were a nice pair two. "You could work [together]...these two bodies have something good."

~

Boris presented a number by himself in which he swung a banana on a string around his neck whilst trying to read something from a book to us. It was kind of funny when the banana hit his book so he could never actually read anything, but it didn't quite work.

Philippe said that clowns don't play with the prop of their costume. i.e. Boris in his King Kong costume shouldn't play with a banana or Jane (a doll on his shoulder). They are part of his costume, not toys. He said he Boris could swing a toy airplane around his neck and it would be okay. But then later he contradicted himself saying "BUT if you love it [the prop] you can play with it." 

He also said to Boris "you can't do two things at the same time"  - as Boris had started the game of having troubles with hair getting in his eyes whilst doing the banana gag.

~

Hannah presented a number in which she danced around the music and said "in Gibraltar" after certain lines. But there was an unintentional mistake with the music (Michiko then continued to make mistakes intentionally). It's fun to watch a clown try and deal with a problem - in this situation the wrong music - whilst trying to keep the show look like it's been rehearsed this way. The clown shouldn't go into the audience to fix it either. Always stay in the light. Hannah was great later on too when Philippe got her to yell optimistically. "One day...when the music will come...I will be a genius!" This optimism is a great loveable idiotic quality.

~

Steph and Nicko presented something that flopped immediately, but Nicko saved it a bit by yelling "this show is funny!" optimistically. They weren't playing major and minor though - Steph tried to get in Nicko's game - to which Philippe said: "If your friend is good let him [continue]...if he's bad then it's your time to save the show."

~

Kat and Paula presented a number, starting with Kat coming out and eating a banana and then dying. She was kind of funny - she had good audience connection and we liked her - but when Paula entered it fell apart quickly. Philippe wanted to see the couple together though, so let them come out again and just play. What came from it was a fantastic improvisation. We absolutely loved them. Philippe said to Kat "your game timing and your humour is fantastic" and said "it's beautifully idiot" about their scene. "A bit private...I'm not sure it's a show...but we love them."

He named them Beauty and the Beast.

"It's difficult to find someone with who you could play...It's very difficult."

~

Philippe ended the class by saying "A clown doesn't change...he's always the same...Buster Keaton...Charlie Chaplin...The situations change but not the clown."

"If You Say Things You Have To Look At Us, Otherwise It Doesn't Work."

Clown with Tom Tom today. We began with a warm up of Musical Chairs which ended up going for most of the class. If you don't get a chair when the music stops, you can try and save your life by making the audience laugh. Unfortunately I was the second person to not get to a chair in time, so there wasn't much of an audience to play to (as the rest of the class were on stage - although they were the audience as well). But I was still bad. Pushed. Too heavy. No looking to the audience.

A few people were really great though:

• Jonathan did more of the crazy sexy dancing he did yesterday (where we absolutely loved him) and, along with an annoying but likable loud foreign voice, he saved his life.

• Kat was awesome playing this kind of sad, slightly depressed and awkward persona tell us cooking instructions. She had fantastic audience contact. She looked at us, played with us (winking here and gesturing there - always checking whether we liked what she did), and was very light and sensitive. Very very funny!

• Michael was also great as an idiot not so far from himself, with stupid gestures (like making a positive 'plus sign' with his arms), and generally being happy to be a fool.

~

We also did a quick fun exercise in which five of us sat on chairs (in a V formation) as if in a classroom, and Tom Tom was the teacher. The teacher 'left' the classroom for a little while, and in that time we had to have fun to say bad words.

"Try not to play the character of children."

"We love the pleasure - not the words."

"If you say things you have to look at us, otherwise it doesn't work."

I had a great time saying naughty words (but not that vulgar - it's more fun to make up new silly sounding words like 'muffaluffagus'.

'Muffaluffagus'. Not to be mistaken with Snuffaluffagus.

I used a soft voice (with a 'hoary māori accent), starting really gentle and looking at different people in the audience with pleasure in my eyes/face like I'd just said something really really naughty. I was light,  and I had fun. People liked me too. Tom Tom said I was better like this - when I'm not aggressive. So that was a nice shift from the feeling of crappiness I had yesterday. As Amanda reminded me on the phone today, isn't the whole idea just to not care whether you're good or bad, and always have fun? Yes, it is.

~

A bit of a strange atmosphere in class today. Just a few moments where we weren't so together and supportive as a group. But we'll learn. We're still a very new group. And there was undoubtedly a bit of misbehaving because we had Tom Tom the 'substitute teacher' whilst Philippe was away...

"You Do Something Idiot And You Are Happy: It's The Secret Of Clown."

We began with a Grimace competition today. Pull a face, and then say some text with the face. 

Philippe selected a few clowns that were funny (because they were ridiculous) and that had pleasure. He then got them to repeat their grimace with text, and then he'd stop them, and congratulate them. "Wow! It's amazing! Really! Excellent! you are a great artist." It had the effect of bringing a sense of happiness and pride to the clown, which was totally adorable. It was bizarre seeing Philippe be so nice too!

"You do something idiot and you are happy: It's the secret of clown."

~

Afterwards, we did an exercise to "know our sensitivity". Like Tom-Tom's exercise last week: In groups of five. If you feel we love you you walk to us. If not, you walk backwards.

"You have to be a bit naughty." We loved Sophie immediately as she slid her feet along the floor like an idiot who thinks we don't know she's cheating.

Nobody laughed at Rosemary did. Ever."If she accepts to be bad and stays along the curtain she will progress."

When I got up I was really bad. I got some laughs and stepped forwards a few times, but I wasn't loved. I was playing a bit nervous and unsure which didn't help. And I didn't propose enough. I let others who were loved have all the time with the audience and I stood in the background. Also, when I did do things, they were one off random things like saying "You're a wizard Harry" and "What's wrong with me?" But they were pushed and there was no game. I couldn't continue with them. Whereas people that were good were simple, subtle, and playful. They had a little game - like Connor making bird calls and then acting as if he'd just heard a bird, or Boris continuing to get hair from his King Kong costume in his eyes - that they could just keep playing with. Philippe said "he doubts" and that I "didn't get the point." The first time I've been really really bad so far. It feels awful. Embarrassing. Especially in front of lots of new people. But it's what I have to go through to learn!

"You can do whatever you want to save the show...If you doubt it's a catastrophe."

~

"We have to see something naïve...If you imitate and you know too much you are not naïve."

"You need to have a tactic. It's good to play with your tactic." Try something. Push it a bit more. Try again. Push even more. Discover how far you can go with something (I imagine it's endless if you did it with sensitivity).

"We want to see your game and not your idea."

"Never you suggest your friend is bad. You have to admire your friend."

A clown says to another clown, "What should I do for Romeo & Juliet?" His friend tells him he needs a balcony, and before he can say anything else the first clown knows what to do. The whole show he is building a balcony. "Always it's advice given by an idiot to another idiot who understands differently."

"A clown doesn't succeed...or he succeeds by chance."

"It's always good: An idiot who starts by concentrating."

"It's a poetic world, Clown. It's a beautiful poetic world."

~

We need to decide on a name for our clown. Philippe suggested looking up names of race horses. He spoke about a group of clowns he knew of who decided to take the name of the train station in Paris: Montparnasse Bienvene. They figured the name is already famous, so if they had the same name they would become famous much faster!

"Everybody In The Audience Needs To Have The Feeling: I Am Friends With The Clown."

We continued with the same exercise as yesterday. Two clowns entering on stage together and being with their family (the audience). Trying to make us laugh and love them.

~

A major lesson today was speaking LOUD.

"First, you need to speak loud. Otherwise you stay with your character...If you don't speak loud you stay with yourself." Speaking loudly leads to extreme gestures... Many things.

"When you are normal you're not clown. You have to find something special." Having/picking a 'friend' in the audience is important. It's nice. And you can do a little sign/wink/wave to them. Something private and strange. Small. Don't play little characters. It's bigger.

Sometimes if someone in the audience had a burst of energy – like Yun Yun screaming she is not Chinese – Philippe gets them up on stage as a clown. We need energy. Impulse. Speak louder! Even shouting!

~

Another major lesson was getting the audience to love you, and to feel involved.

"The love of the audience is the most important thing we can see for clown."

"Everybody in the audience needs to have the feeling: I am friends with the clown."

Philippe led one pair of clowns to enter - look to the audience - look to partner – repeat that – and then do a little shout to the audience. "Hey!" Like this, we feel involved.

It's interesting: We start to see the clown after a performance has ended. Often when the actor is being killed. We see a real human idiot. Vulnerability and sensitivity. But when they play we see nothing.

~

"You have to feel ridiculous… And you have to try to put away many ridiculous things."

"If you play 1mm too much we don't love you. We love you if you're smiling like a teenager. But if you play too much as an actor we do not love you. That is the big problem of clown."

"Look at us and do something to try to make us laugh. Always."

"Don't play the pleasure."

When you are told you're bad you can protest. It can lead to something funny.

It's good to change your voice. Not to speak with your normal voice. To have a problem. To speak loud. To have an accent.

"We think she does something to make us laugh?"

"You have to make us believe it's not a mistake. It's written in the play!" Don't show any shame or shock. Everything is going to plan...

"You need to smile three seconds after doing something. Not immediately."

"If your thing is not funny but you have a fantastic pleasure to do it, we will love you." So you can do anything as long as you have great pleasure.

"The Best Friend Of A Clown Is His Costume."

Everybody came in costumes today! Very exciting! 

First thing we did in class was in groups of five stand on stage with our backs to the audience, and when Philippe beat his drum we had to turn to the audience as if we had arrived at a dress up party in costume but weren't feeling completely sure/confident about it, and walk forwards.

Philippe then asked what costumes people had and checked whether their costume really looked like what they'd been assigned. Many did (Jonathan's Goofy was amazing!), some weren't very clear (Sophie's costume didn't look anything like Madame King Kong but she can keep it - it's funny to have a clown who thinks she looks like Madame King Kong when really she has no idea), and other's weren't anything.

Philippe said my Tintin outfit is exactly the costume. Now all I need is a dog that looks like Milou/Snowy. I said to him I thought about buying a 15€ robotic dog that sings and walks - or maybe one of the flipping ones - but thought it could be a bad gag. But he said I should do it: "If it's a bad gag but the actor has great pleasure then it can work." And the potential of all the ridiculous problems I could have with a little dog that keeps walking all over the place could be fantastic!

"The best friend of a clown is his costume." Take care of it!

"The clown doesn't have to have a clue about the costume."

~

We then did an exercise in which two clowns came on stage and spoke to each other - trying to subtly get them to say they like your costume. We had to do this as if the audience were their family and they wanted to show them that they were all grown up now ("Look dad! Now I am a woman!").

It wasn't very clear for a long time, but it turned out Philippe meant just the pleasure to say Oooh! Aahh! and to pretend: Did I see you somewhere?

"The pleasure to be with the family is the engine of this number."

Pretty much everybody bombed in this exercise, including Mark and I. But Philippe helped out a bit - to show what he means by the clown being full of pleasure whilst being with his family.

He got me to repeat a line I had said in our first try, which was "Ça fait longtemps Marky Mark!" This time with an accent, and as if I heard it once but don't really know what it means. Say the text - smile - and look to the audience. It didn't work because I didn't have pleasure. So he asked me who I'd like to kiss me. I chose Miluka, who stood on a chair behind me and nibbled and kisses my ear as I repeated the same line of text. This time I was smiling and laughing and blushing and full of pleasure. 110%. Everybody was laughing when I said the text and even when I didn't. And I was completely with the audience. And everything I did and said was for them.

Philippe said like this we see my eyes and we see me. Whereas as a character we don't see my eyes. And clown is not a character. It's not acting. It's just me, full of pleasure. "That is the most difficult point." So much pleasure that you fall on the floor you are so happy.

Philippe spoke about when we are kissed we show our beautiful pleasure which reveals the child within.

~

Sophie was fantastic today as a defensive idiot: "I'm not a monster!"

"Who says he was looking at me?" - Always look to the audience. Really look. Don't pretend look.

"You gave to write in your head… When we love you and when we laugh."

"You are bad… But you have to pretend there is no problem."

"I am bad… I am ridiculous… Don't worry… You know me… they are going to love me!"

"You play too fast… We don't have time to look at you… We don't have time to see your pleasure… The timing with us has to be much more important."

"You have to feel – ah! – now they love me, and – ooh la! – now they don't love me."

~

We also got our first Auto-course of the term: Make a clown number inspired by Jacques Deval and the play he wrote in 1923 about a woman in lake Gibraltar.

Nobody had any idea what he was talking about...which is good. It doesn't matter. It's better for clown to not know.

"The clown says no problem! ... Difficult...but...possible!

"What are you going to do with this stupid idea? ... If you are fantastically generous we love you. If you play too much, if you push too much, if you want too much to be clown, we kick you away."

"Every Time You Enter On Stage Your Costume Is Important. It's Your Costume! For Art! For The Stage!"

Today Philippe gave us all a brand new shiny red nose.

We started with a simple exercise in which one actor (who's in major) passes the ball to another actor (with a moment of complicité - look at your partner with a spark in your eye to say "it's your turn my friend") and then the actor with the ball turns to the audience to show their face and says "Yes!!"

"We need to see your pleasure."

We did this in groups of seven, dancing to music. When the ball is passed the music stops and it's the actor's time to make us love them. It's clear that the actor's pleasure is more important than what they do.

~

Then we did an exercise in which actors stand with their backs to the audience, and when Philippe bangs his drum the actors have to immediately turn around and try to scare the audience, and then show that they are happy to have scared us. We did this in groups of three and after each actor had gone Philippe assigned each one of us a costume for our clown.

"I say the costume, not the character."

"Many clowns don't know what a costume is. A friend says: 'With your body it would be good if you take the costume of boxing.' [And so he takes it]."

"You don't play the character. You don't know anything about the character."

It's like a five year old at a dress up party. You don't really know what a boxer is like. But you go for it anyway. 

"Every time you enter on stage your costume is important. It's your costume! For art! For the stage!"

"If you don't take care of your costume you're going to lose the idiot in his costume." (This means wash and iron it regularly - don't treat it like Pajamas)

"You have a trick...You do something idiot and you're sure everyone is convinced you're the character."

E.g. The clown's costume is Mae West. She knows that Mae West says something famous with the words "Are you happy to see me...", but she's forgotten the rest. Still, she uses that line to try to convince the audience she really is Mae West.

I was assigned Tintin...which I was 100% expecting.

~

We all had a go at entering on stage and circling around the stage to music. Soft on your feet! Smile to the audience (frown to Philippe). It helps to enter with the feeling of a bad student - often Philippe would tell you you're really bad and tell you to leave, and then to enter with that sensitive feeling. "With the feeling of the bad you try to find a walk."

"You have to try to enter in a strange way."

"It's really subtle when you enter – because you have to be loved immediately when you turn round the circus."

"Everybody has a special walk as a clown… In relationship to your body."

To help actors find a silly walk Philippe shouted orders: Bend your legs!... Jump!... Long strides!... Faster!...Move your shoulders like you're strong! Always something ridiculous.

...

 Then when the music stops the show has begun. You do something and we have to say "Ah! Fantastic!"

I went first, running very fast with long leaping strides whilst smiling to the audience. When the music stopped I pretended to search for Milou (the name of Tintin's dog in French). Philippe said what I did wasn't as good what the audience dreamed would come after my walk. So they were disappointed. I tried again, this time saying (in a kind of cute voice) "Je suis Tintin...Je suis en adventure!" and then I did a few adventure poses. Then I said "Attention! Il y a une grande dangerous!" I got some laughs, but Philippe stopped me saying "you know too much." i.e. My clown can't know that many details about Tintin! But the line "Je suis en adventure!" (which doesn't mean anything in French) and my silly poses were in a good direction. "Not extremely bad".

~

Mark was very funny pretending to be a boxer. He did a few fast punches in the air, and then naturally coughed (he has a permanent bad cough). It was hilarious! Poom! Poom! Poom! ... Cough! Cough! Cough!

"Every stupid thing you do, you think… Not bad… Something is coming"

"Conflict is funny. It's good to know how you solve the problem."

 e.g. Katie having to run around the circus forever because the music never stopped.

A clown says to his friend: "I have a contract to be pornographic...What can I do?" His friend tells him to say "take me". That's all he knows.

"With one idea you can do so many beautiful things. With two ideas you are already a wanker."

Philippe said that clowns don't apologise or doubt. They know the stage is their place. "I am an idiot BUT I am a star in my speciality."

"It's a great quality of a clown. He is so idiot…But I laugh."

"We have to say… My god… So idiot... And the guy… He is happy… And we love him."

"You need to have something naïve."

"You have to have an accent."

"You need a name."

~

And here is a list of the costumes we were given today:

Liz (England): Baby

Mark (England): Boxer (with socks instead of real boxing gloves, a fake black eye, and bicycle helmet for head gear)

Nicko (Australia): Dracula

Tessa (Australia): Tomboy

Kat (England): Biker Girl (with pimples)

Guy (NZ): Tintin

Jonathan (England): Goofy

Katy (Ireland): Punk

Steph (Canada): Mae West

Michael (England): Basketball Player ("You have to show your legs"...he's very tall)

Michaela (Germany/Austria): Neanderthal Woman

Hannah (England): Snow White

Miluka (Spain): Spanish Primary School Teacher during Franco time

Paula (Brazil): Virgin Mary

Sophie (England): Madame King Kong

Yun Yun (Taiwan): Minnie Mouse

Connor (Canada): Chief Boy Scout

Boris (France): King Kong

Miwa (Japan): Bridgitte Bardot

Simone (Italy): Chief of Mafia (with impeccable costume)

Rosemary (Canada): Alpinist / Hiker

I suppose Philippe's method for choosing is based on the way the actor looks and the shape of their body. He chooses something to highlight the ridiculousness of each individual actor.

Philippe said nobody is changing their costumes. If we're not happy, he doesn't care. And if we have personal pain because we've been given the costume of a Police Officer, and a Police Officer killed our father, then we have to prove it. In other words, we're stuck with what we've got!

"We Have To Figure Out What Works And What Doesn't Work With You"

Today we had movement with Spanish Susanna and then Clown with Thomas.

The aim of today: "Trying to be as ridiculous as possible."

The exercise: Two actors go up on stage and take turns to do something to make the audience laugh. If we laugh, the actor steps forwards. If we don't laugh, the actor step backwards.

~

"Explore different things...Take the time to explore and risk different things." 

"Do something, then see if we like it. Don't stay with it." i.e. Don't keep doing the thing forever. Do it, then drop it. Make it clear it's just something stupid you did to make us laugh.

"If a laugh comes it means something might work. If not, it doesn't."

"We have to figure out what works and what doesn't work with you."

"You have to check if we like it or not...try not to be too logical."

"If you get a laugh you have to think why."

"The clown is very naïve...don't be too intelligent...he says yes to everything but he doesn't know anything." If you are too intelligent it goes towards Stand-Up.

~

When you're up it can be hard to think of new things to do - you've got to just keep following impulses and trying new stuff. Thomas gave lots of good suggestions/challenges to help out:

Play with your eyes, lips, teeth, neck...

Sing through you nose... 

Sing the Greek National Anthem...

Speak Czech, Russian, French...

Be fire... Be an asparagus...

Show us your mathematics skills... karaoke skills...

Show us your best dance move... your best magic trick...

Show us your thinking face... your gangster face.

~

When I got up I was quite nervous but quickly started having fun. I got quite a few laughs from different things I did. But there were plenty of flops too! But if you don't care about whether what you do is bad or not it's much more freeing (hold on to this Guy). It helps to be extremely happy with everything you do! Ready to play. And it's always good to do totally stupid silly things.

I need to be aware not to be too intelligent as my clown as there were one or two moments today where I was very quick and got a good laugh, but it wasn't from the naïvety of the clown - it was my comic actor wit. So I have to avoid this trap.

I found rhythm was important in making the audience laugh. It's good to find a strange rhythm for the clown. Something surprising.

Thomas gave me the advice to "try many different things with my voice" because I'm strong there. And whilst on stage he said "you're better when you're small". That makes sense because when I'm small I'm more subtle and more light. I think cuteness comes from being small too, and that seems to me to be a big thing for clowns. They're adorable.

"You Have To Be Friends"

Today we did an exercise in which two clowns come out together on stage.  The theme: "Today is less rainy than yesterday" (he clearly just made this up on the spot - it doesn't matter what the theme is - just be funny). Essentially, "If we love you, you stay." 

There could also be an emergency clown backstage to call if the two clowns on stage were in trouble.

"The pleasure of the idiot who wants to say something."  - Like Tarzan and saving Jane.

"We have to see the great pleasure of the idiot who is going to save something."

"'I save the show! You will see what you will see!' With this pleasure he's allowed to go to a flop." 

~

For me, the major lesson of the day is that clowns have to be best mates, and the audience has to see that immediately.

"You have to be friends. When you enter you are friends. Always as two clowns, always you're friends – two friends who try to make a show."

"We need to have two friends... Laurel and Hardy - for sure they are good friends"

We need to see two good friends instantly! "Ca ching!...Like 8 year olds." 

"In a couple of clowns, nobody is mean. They respect...You are bad? You are bad. Oh well."

"He has to do something and you have to admire him." = Admire your partner.

~

Philippe also emphasised the fact that everything the clown does is not for real, it's just for fun to make us laugh.

"Everything is a joke."

"Everything has to be a trick. A trick to be loved by the audience." You can pretend to be sad, or pessimistic, or whatever, as long as it is a trick to make us laugh.

"Everything is possible if it's a trick to be loved by the audience."

~

"Always you do something and after you are happy. You're happy with what you do." Like a child.

"You need to find the ridiculous part of your body"

"You have to play with us. We don't laugh – you have to do something."

"When a clown enters he wants to succeed but he knows it is not a piece of cake. [He thinks] I have to be good as an artist with the audience."(Don't do too much.)

"Every stupid thing you do, you think 'Mmm...Nobel Prize is coming'" (Look for the King of Sweden.)

"Pretend everything is written in the script."

"A clown is not an idiot...he is okay to present himself as an idiot to make us laugh."

"We have to think you love us." (The audience)

"If we laugh, we love you."

~

I got up once as an emergency clown. I came out with a viking hat on and a bat in my hand and spoke Japanese to Miwa briefly telling how to correctly speak English. Then I left. People laughed, but only because my mask fell off during my 10 seconds on stage. Philippe said I was lucky because my mask fell off, but I wasn't any good. I didn't show my eyes. I didn't look at the audience.

I also got up at the end of the class and played with Simone. We did the obligatory walk in a circle at the beginning and when the music stopped Simone went straight into being in major without us getting a chance to look at each other and decide how to play together (something Philippe had been pushing throughout class), so we started again. "We don't think they are good friends." We tried again, but were really bad. Not funny at all. I played cool, like everything was under control, like I was super happy with what Simone had done, and whenever I did something after I finished I played like I had just fixed everything. Philippe started ridiculing us quietly to the audience whilst we kept trying, and then finally banged his drum. He said we were the worst clowns of the day. He also said it could be a good number with two really bad clowns, but what we did was not a good number.

~

Philippe said the purpose of the music which is played when we enter is for the clowns to walk around the circus (show ourselves), and then when the music stops the clowns stop walking and think "Ah! It's time to be actor! Idiot!"

~

We also were encouraged to take turns as a pair of clowns. You go then I'll go. Major / Minor. Your turn / my turn. And the clown in minor shouldn't do anything. I asked if it was okay to upstage your fellow clown for fun, and Philippe said no for clowns. They are best friends. Full support is required.

~

Many of us (including me) are falling into the trap of mistaking clown for mime. i.e. Many numbers have no talking. But text is good, especially with a ridiculous voice.

~

Tomorrow Philippe is having his 'Garage Day' (he did this in my first year) so we'll have a different teacher for movement and Thomas will take Clown. Cool! Thomas is a great teacher, and it's always nice to have a different perspective (and rest from Philippe).