Improv Weekend: Clowning for Improvisors

A Saturday and Sunday playing around with more movement-based improv. This is an excellent introduction to physical theatre and an important addition to your performing and comedy skillset.

What Is Clowning?

Clowning is a form of physical theatre that emphasises playfulness, exploration and following your creative impulses. The form often involves making bold choices, whether scripted or improvised. Improv is a big part of clowning too, as clowns will react honestly to the world around them and embrace failures as they go.

What you’ll be doing in this Clowning Workshop

In this workshop, we’ll explore physical comedy and clown techniques to maintain contact with the audience, build complicity with fellow improvisers, and establish strong stage presence. We’ll also discover how to find a game in every scene. These elements aren’t alternatives to storytelling—they are the foundation upon which great stories are built.

We’ll delve into using breath and space to create a solid stage presence, and explore various muscle tensions to instantly develop different characters or states of the same character. Additionally, we’ll learn how to support fellow improvisers by giving them strong impulses through voice and body language.

We will also embrace the “flop.” What is a flop? It’s when we’re on stage and nothing seems to be working—a performer’s nightmare, or perhaps the best opportunity to create something beautiful with our audience and fellow improvisers. For clowns and their audience, a flop is the beginning of a journey. Can we apply the same philosophy to improvisation?

What you’ll get out of the Workshop

You’ll gain a better understanding of stage presence, learn about connecting playfully with your audience, and hopefully inspire you to utilise more physicality in your improv.

Teacher: Simone Tani

Simone Tani graduated at Ecole Philippe Gaulier in Paris where he studied Theatre, Clown and Bouffon. Recently founded the award winning company “Teatro Pomodoro” and performed at
Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2014, Camden Fringe 2015, Physical Fest 2016 and 2017, Brighton Fringe 2017 and 2018.

Earlier, he studied improvisation with Keith Johnstone, Shawn Kinley and Dennis Cahill at Loose Moose theater in Calgary, clown and physical comedy at Second City Theater in Chicago and in London with Mark Bell, John Wright and Peta Lily (Dark clown), trance and full masks with Steve Jarand (Calgary), commedia dell’arte with Carlo Boso and Onda D’Urto Teatro in Rome, mask making and wood carving in with Anom Ida Bagus in Bali.

He’s one of the founder members of the improvisation company i Bugiardini in Rome (Winner of sellout award at Edinburgh Fringe 2017) and performs and teaches improvisation, trance masks, clown and bouffon. His workshops have been selected also by Finland International Improvisation Festival, New Zealand Impro Festival and several other international festivals. Simone also worked as a lecturer for Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, University of Chester, Malaya University in Kuala Lumpur and National Taiwan University of Arts.

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Payment Terms

We can be flexible with payment and so if you’d rather not pay in full now, you can pay a deposit to lock in your place and pay the rest later. Payment must be completed before or on the day the first session starts.