New Clown, an Art for the Contemporary Stage

Clowns Help Us See How We Relate to Each Other...
photo by Alli Ross

Historically, clowns serve a broad social purpose: keeping the people honest and keeping the people laughing about it! Clowns can be innocent and wondrous seers of the world afresh or they can be knowing jesters who expose the vanities and misdeeds of others with humor - making tricky truth easier to swallow!

Tee-hee-hee!
photo by Liam Breck

The jester also is rumored to be the only member of the court allowed to criticize the king, keeping him in jovial check. Indigenous peoples worldwide, such as Native Americans, have valued clowns as important, guiding members of their communities. Seen in this light, clowns can help us keep our personal actions in a group perspective, serving to unite us in empathy and fun while helping us stay connected and accountable to each other. Clowns are an antidote for isolation and a channel for love.

From the big top into parties, the clown's role in American culture has evolved. Americans today often associate clowns primarily with children and skills like balloon animals, face painting, and juggling. These are fun arts that require dedication to do well and which people of all ages enjoy. Concurrently, there is a burgeoning theater movement called New Clown, which seeks to reclaim clown's wider range for adult audiences and bring a more dramatic experience to families. The rising clown theater movement is arriving at a perfect time in our world. We need a laugh, or a hundred laughs, and we need to remember each other in what we do.

Comedy Super Hero
photo by Liam Breck

Clowning is a form of physical theater... what's that? It's a performance style that marries movement, theater, and visual art, as in commedia d'ell arte, vaudeville, and dance theater. Blue Man Group is a well known international example, as is Pig Iron in Philadephia.



Clowns may come to a party you're attending or with the next traveling circus show. Look for clowns on stage in your city or town. You may see poignant and funny new work that asks us to peek out from behind our ordinary habits and seek the best in each other.