Send in the Clowns

I started a clowning class two months ago, and because this is such an eminently bloggable topic, I kept putting off writing about it. Today, was the last class. My feelings about clowning have waxed and waned, ever since a friend asked if I wanted to accompany her to the class. My initial reaction was a strong No, but on further reflection I decided to take the plunge. My reasons were to learn to get out of my head, become less self-conscious and to become more comfortable with silliness. I remember family stories about my infectious laughter when I was a child, and I was curious to see if that part still lived inside of me. My initial enthusiasm was stoked by the novelty of it, and how people’s eyes would light up with curiosity and admiration when I told them I was doing a clowning class. It’s a cool thing to do, and trust me to come up with the language to make it sound cooler when explaining it to someone else. A friend also recommended a book about laughter which had a section on clowning, and I lapped it all up. But, as the last class progressed I began to find it increasingly tedious. I didn’t like my clown and didn’t particularly enjoy clowning. Until today. Our class was interrupted by a group of elder clowns in costume, who were more advanced students of the instructor. And, boy were they good. They all had very different characters, and such great characters they were. They performed for us as a group, and then we performed for them individually, and then we paired up with them and performed as a duo. This is not going to be my last post about clowning, but for now I am going to end this post by saying that their delightful interlude has inspired me to carry on clowning.