ABOUT

37.jpg

The Clown School was formed in 2007 by David Bridel and Orlando Pabotoy; classes are currently taught by David and Mike Funt, with many special guest teachers, including world renowned clown figures Shannan Calcutt, Eric Davis, Michelle Matlock, Lila Monti, Victor Quezada-Perez, Jan Henderson, Caroline Dream, Raquel Gendry, and Misha Usov. (See here for The Hollywood Reporter’s piece on top clown school’s in Los Angeles.) We offer the highest quality of live and virtual clown training to clowns, actors, performers, comedians, and participants from all walks of life, including doctors, teachers, healers, film-makers, and students, and we explore multiple facets of the clown archetype and the clown family with limitless curiosity and wonder, also broadening our vision to include other elements of physical theater and the study of texts. We have successfully “graduated” legions of new clowns, including many members of the multi-award-winning company Four Clowns, and many clown teachers through our classes and Online Certificate Programs. We’ve won widespread acclaim for our classes, described as “truly spectacular and unforgettable” in LA Stage. While our home is Los Angeles, we’ve traveled to China, Australia, Turkey, and Brazil to spread the gospel of clowning. We’ve partnered with world-renowned artists to enrich the theatrical culture of Los Angeles, including clown and theatre masters Philippe Gaulier, Aitor Basauri, Norman Taylor, Stefan Haves, Matt Walker, and Paola Coletto, and we have supported multiple local artists in their creative endeavors, including the award-winning Elan Theatre Ensemble.

 

The mission of renowned Los-Angeles based The Clown School is to bring creativity, authenticity and beauty into the world through the study of clowning and the physical theater arts, and to promote extraordinary theatrical classes and events. Our classes, productions, outreach, international partnerships and special events are all dedicated to a celebration of the expressive potential of live theater. We anchor our work in the discipline of clown because we believe that clowning embraces and celebrates the totality of human experience and offers unparalleled freedom in art. We love to play.

We think of the clown as a natural part of your life, but one that has often been overlooked or pushed down, relegated to your dreams, where your love of authenticity and your attraction to both light and darkness continue to seek expression. We want your clown to burst out of you, to give license to your spontaneous, fearless, and playful self. We’re sure that your clown is creative and generous and always alive.

Our methods are ancient and modern at once. We pay tribute to everything from indigenous clown rituals to the commedia dell’arte to the great era of the silent film comedians to the clown’s modern-day renaissance on stage, in film, and at the circus. The clown is an iconic figure, and it lives inside your body: silly, profound, and eternally mischievous.

Let go of your fears. Have some fun. Come and play with us.

  • Our unique series of classes (Level 1: Beginner, Level 2: Intermediate, Level 3: Advanced) has been designed to inspire actors, performers, improvisers, comics, and anyone who dares to let go and go deep!

  • We offer remarkable Specialty Classes that cannot be found anywhere else.

  • Our Online class offerings have enabled us to expand in multiple directions, capturing topics as wide as Devising Theatre, Shakespeare, Movement, the plays of Ibsen and Chekhov, and more. Our one-on-one Certificate Programs have been extremely popular and successful.

  • Exercises and improvisations are carefully constructed to build skills and techniques that are applicable to many differing performance venues and disciplines, including stage, on-camera, comedy, improv, circus – and of course, life.

  • Students receive individual attention and targeted challenges.

  • Classes are disciplined, rigorous, and great fun.

The LA Stage writes: “A truly spectacular and unforgettable class.”

In the tradition of all clowns, we seek to liberate the creative spirit from the doldrums of everyday life, to make the sacred profane and the profane sacred. Come and make a beautiful mess!

The Clown School is a proud member of Clowns of America International and the American Alliance of Circus Artists.