“Everybody Has A Stupidity To Sell, But There Are Few Who Want To Sell It.”

Today we swapped clown costumes. The exercise was to come out on stage and have fun to play your friend. Mock them. Play their games. And then leave again. Just a quick moment. 

~

It was great fun - everybody was free and we laughed a lot. Very funny to see people dressed in each others costumes (often ridiculous with opposing body shapes!) and to mimic signature moments their friend had had. It was very much like seeing a child dressed in their parent’s clothes pretending to be their parents. Saying their signature “It’s bed time” and “Go to your room” lines. Super cute.

I came out as Hannah’s Snow White and had a great time. Immediately people were in hysterics from just me in the costume (partly perhaps because it suited me). I came out to music and then stopped and said sorry in Hannah’s London accent and walked into the audience (as Hannah as done on a few occasions) to fix the music. “I’m really sorry!” I imitated her “Romeo Romeo” funny voice and even did her “Yesterday I was really bad” song and dance. I also did her confused/worried face which had people laughing away. It was a really great moment for me. I nailed it. Philippe later said “You sold her very well.”

At the end of this exercise he said that it shows that “everybody is in the position to sell...To sell the stupidity of their friends.” But he noted that we don’t have the same fun selling ourselves. “Many times you are better with your friends than with yourself.”

“Everybody has a stupidity to sell, but there are few who want to sell it.”

“Carry on being commercial and not being with your character.”

For me I felt freer as Hannah because I had something to play. Whereas without some reference I feel lost (although isn’t a movie star enough of a reference? Aren’t all these ‘make us believe you are X’ reference enough?). It makes sense of why I am better as an actor than as a clown though. “As an actor you sell yourself in another way.” i.e. Pretending you are someone else. However I’d like to sell my stupidity. I just feel like I don’t know what it is. Well, I know lots of stupid things about me as a person that I could sell. But me as a clown, I don’t know. Yet.

~

Afterwards we did an exercise in which we had to make the audience believe we are a business man. To do this we had to multiply VAT ('Value Added Tax') by 310 and divide by 17.

Simone and I tried together, but got stuck in one of Simone’s now signature games of shouting “Hi!” I tried to save us by doing a stick up and saying “give me your money” but we got gonged. 

~

On the train on the way home Nicko and Tessa were telling me some things that they’ve seen when I perform clown and gave me some pointers. Nicko was saying that I don’t stay long enough with something before I quit. And the audience see they I’ve decided it’s bad. I decide it’s bad before they get a chance to decide it’s bad. So I need to stay with things longer. Keep searching for someone who likes it for longer. And don’t decide for the audience. Tessa also noted how funny and naughty and silly I am on the train, and how I need to bring that on the stage. She’s absolutely right.

~

This Friday’s auto-course: a musician number. Pretend you know how to play an instrument. If you really do play, after twenty minutes of absolutely horrible efforts, you suddenly play very well at the end. You be a singer, play the harmonica, make bird sounds...whatever. And it can be solo (“if nobody wants to work with you”) or in a group.