I'm on the phone with Wayne Wilson, a performer with Cirque du Soleil's VOLTA, and he seems a bit frustrated. Wilson is a clown. While performing with Cirque du Soleil, Quebec's billion dollar global circus show, puts the performer at the top of his field, his chosen profession comes with a lot of baggage."I always quote the word when I say 'clowning,'" Wilson tells me. "There is a big stigma around the word. I'll say it the right circles and I won't in others. In the States I say clown and people think of axe murders and rapists."
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During his run on VOLTA Wilson will beguile thousands of paying customers each night. Under the tent they'll delight in his antics as he anchors the show with pitch perfect humour and exquisite timing. But outside of Cirque's context being a clown is looked down upon. It's hard for people to accept being a clown as a real job, even when being a clown is legitimately your job. For Wilson it's easier to compare his work to comedians like Steve Carell or Stephen Colbert than try and fight against the preconceptions surrounding his profession. Even before the rampant run of murder clowns last year or the remake of It that recently hit theatres people had a general dislike for the performers. Which raises the question: why anyone would devote their life to the craft? Getting good at clown takes a lot of time and effort. Why people would put so much of themselves into something that so many people are actively afraid of?
Recently I had the chance to speak with Wilson and others about why they chose to pursue clown training, what that training actually looks like, and how people make a living by playing the fool.
Adam Lazarus, Bouffon Clown
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When the class turned to Bouffon—the counter mask of clown where the goal is to make fun of the audience and expose hypocrisy in humanity—I was on fire. Bouffon opened me up and gave me voice to yell and sing and mock all the things I think are crazy about the world, people, systems, relationships, religion, class, race, gender, everything. The bouffon don't take sides. Everything is on the plate to be mocked. And so I did. During that initial school Bouffon only lasted three days. After I heard that Philippe was doing a four-month intensive in only Bouffon, so I signed up. I got rid of my apartment, sold my car, moved to Japan to make the money to go to France to study with Philippe.In France, the first 1.5 hours of each day were physical training. Kind of circus training–back flips, falls, handstands, some singing. The rest of the day was taught by Philippe and it consisted of him saying: who's got an idea? Students would go on the stage, present an idea, it would succeed or fail, that's it. This happened every day for four months. The best of the four months was put into a show that ran every night for a week.Bouffon is the fine art of satire. How do we get away with telling people that they're assholes, have them laugh and then later realize that they were the brunt of the joke? I get people's hang ups: There is good clown and there is A LOT of bad clown. Good clown, with or without nose, is comedy that makes you weep with laughter.
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Shanda Bezic, clown/actress
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Justin Miller, aka Pearle Harbour
worst of themselves and make them laugh at what idiots they are. Watching this character on stage kind of changed my life. Even if I didn't quite know what the thing was yet I knew I needed to do it. I was 19. Later I learned that the holy trinity of Buffon is charm, parody, and affliction. The invented history of the style is that it stems from the hunchbacks, dwarfs, gays, and outcasts who were outlawed from society. The majority of the time these characters were shunned from day-to-day life, but occasionally they'd be invited back into polite company to put on a show, with the caveat that if the show was bad they'd be brutally murdered. The Bouffon would put on their little piece outlining the worst of society. The performance would make fun of the masses to their face, but would be so charming that people couldn't help but laugh. Later when the masses returned home they would recognize their awfulness and hang themselves with their neckties. That was the ultimate sign of a good Bouffon performance. Necktie hanging. In Bouffon no one is off limits: all aspects of humanity are available to everyone.After seeing Karen perform I wrote her and asked the best way to do what she does. Eventually I was pointed to The Clown Farm on Manitoulin Island where I trained under the guidance of John Turner, one half of iconic Canadian horror clown duo Mump and Smoot. It was all revelatory. Before I began introducing myself as I drag queen I used to introduce myself as a clown but immediately would say not like that. A lot of clowns are bad because they're not actually being in the moment. Unlike Mimes, who are fucking liars and will tell you something is there when it's not there, real clowns are honest. Everyone has a clown in them. Training is something I'd suggest to anyone, regardless of if they're a comedian or actor. It can teach you about the vastness of your own humanity and the power we are all capable of as listeners, performers, and humans.
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Amy Lee, aka Jasp the clown
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Wayne Wilson, Clown with VOLTA by Cirque du Soleil
Graham Isador is a fool but not a clown. Follow him on Twitter.