Category: Clowning

Artistic, Clowning, Feature, Interviews and Analysis, Theatre, Training/Learning

Make ‘Em Laugh: Political Theatre and Comedy as Activism with Bim Mason

In the last three years his Bigheads have become a popular sight at protests up and down the country. Now their creator Bim Mason is training others in his unique brand of performance activism.   Bim’s history of art, performance and directing stretches back over five decades, from joining circus group Kaboodle in 1978, to co-founding Bristol’s own circus school Circomedia in 1994, to publishing his … Continue reading Make ‘Em Laugh: Political Theatre and Comedy as Activism with Bim Mason

James Ward2 Comments
Image shows the word "Between clowning + activism: a trickster laboratory 6-12 september" on the left hand side; an image of CIRCA in action on the right. The image shows a group of clowns standing next to a troupe of armed police.
Clowning, Culture Jam, Interviews and Analysis, news, Top Story, Training/Learning

Send in the Clowns: rediscovering the clown army ahead of COP26

Police at the G8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, in 2005 were prepared for protesters. What they got was 200 clowns.  The Clandestine Insurgent Rebel Clown Army (CIRCA), and the disruption, humour and creativity it brought to Gleneagles, has since gone down in the annals of both protest and performance.  Now, 15 years after CIRCA faded as an active protest group, Bristol-based activist, performer and director … Continue reading Send in the Clowns: rediscovering the clown army ahead of COP26

James Ward1 Comment
A gaggle of clowns at the Extinction Rebellion Summer Uprising Bristol 2019
Clowning, Feature, Interviews and Analysis, Theatre, Training/Learning

Interview: Robyn Hambrook on Clowning and Activism

When you hear the word “clown”, the first thing to come to mind is maybe a circus, or a children’s birthday party, or perhaps even a villain in a horror film. But, as Robyn Hambrook, a performer, director and clown, explains, there’s more to clowning than unicycles and balloon animals, with clowns historically playing an important social, political, and cultural role by speaking truth to … Continue reading Interview: Robyn Hambrook on Clowning and Activism

James Ward2 Comments