To be a Clown

[Applause] Oh ah to be a clown hasn't almost every person at some point of their life held this ambition even secretly on this warm summer's morning at Ottawa 28 young people from all across North America are working to fulfill just this ambition to become clowns Wehling demands precision an acute self-awareness and most of all the desire to make people laugh and who are these people actors dancers a psychologist and two high school students under the direction of 27 year old Richard pachinko they will spend eight weeks here for then travel to the East Coast to apprentice in a small prevalent circus and who knows but one of these people might become this generations may win for Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton there's a European style of clowny which is where the character the personality of the clown is more important than the situation and that's what makes people laugh there's the American Way which we'll be working with in the circus where the gag is important and the punctuation in the gag and make people laugh then there's the Indian philosophy the North American Indian philosophy which is a way of living all that's clowning and I think what we're going to try to do or what we're trying to do is see put all that together and see if there's if all those different realities in different worlds can mix and work for us today a new generation for our generation the Indian and European philosophies of County provide the foundation for our work you know really we're all come und because in essence I think we all like to play into laughs sometimes however we take ourselves much too seriously and lose that perspective so what we're doing in the workshop is learning how to develop that cloud and by performing for you reminding you that you are one too the way we do it is by using what we call calm Oh [Music] I have to carry on through this gag this clown turn a conversation with you and that's how maybe somewhere something clicks inside you and you go home and you'll just be doing one little activity and suddenly those mistakes that you make all the time and you think that's the cloud that isn't between all of us I don't know if you choose to develop your cloud it's a very delicate business you first have to learn to be yourself when you're performing that's right you see I don't really consider myself a teacher more of a guide because you know yourself better than anybody I can only help you to bring that self out exercises and learning the skills of tightrope walking and juggling are not just for the circus they help you focus tune up your body and develop your concentration because each person in the workshop is so very different my homework each night is to create individual exercises they can use to expand their awareness of themselves really of the clown being a good clown is finding the joy inside yourself and really sharing it with other people is that making people laugh and entertaining it color exercise is our basic part of discovering your cloud what we do is take a color say orange and feel it in our body move with it what's really great is that as you go through the spectrum some colors feel more like home to you and this is how a clown finds the colors for a costume it's the same thing with your clown face in all the schools of clowning the ways of finding your clown makeup are the most highly guarded secrets of the trade the Indian and European way use masks to help us find that face of course we are wear masks it's just the face we present to others in any situation but for a performing clown you're first must become aware of what your masks are then actually make them wear them and learn to perform them we use a series of six if you work it out right you almost have your whole life experience in these six masks wherever you are by making these masks and wearing them in an expression that we call passing through them putting them all together into one figure the seventh one becomes the clown face you know makeup has got to be able to express all those infinite facets of your personality in an amusing way I see you okay everybody let's get together for a minute you've already had a month now as a crowd and it's just starting to come together for most of you now in two weeks we'll be joining the circus why don't we get out of the rehearsal hall and see how you work with an audience it's almost noon time you have an opportunity in the next two hours to make somebody's lunch better ah that's all okay that if you have that underneath as your reason for going out there to make somebody laugh entertain them first okay present yourself get me interested entertain me then take me into your world don't go get'em off wherever you are and we'll just be with you [Music] people are afraid to show emotions you know we we cut out so many things just just in order to survive but I think you've got electromotive you really going to survive [Music] what is wrong [Applause] [Music] you [Music] you the first thing I want to do is be able to express my own emotions honestly and hopefully if you're doing that I'll be able to pull out the emotions of other people what I'm experiencing now I want little kids you know younger children to experience it so that they can go through life with this sort of a you know awareness with openness and acceptance of certain of themselves an appreciation of yourself and other people like to see people feeling things a lot more than they are in today's world I think the people the dark building up right now feeling out having at them I suppose they're really not killing enough sadness either they really know that it is that kind of month [Music] [Music] Robert Robert Robert Robert [Laughter] sorry father me [Music] I want each of you I still want to work on exploring your character masks further do that you've got two hours to take that time with whatever you want to do and expertise of your character okay this will be the last time before we're on the road with the circus that you'll have a chance to explore all the masks [Music] yes I like that I'm going to fully realize the full dimensions that's involved it in expression you know and a clown does the car knows it but you have to discover your time like like as Richard says it's in each one of us and he's finding it next but I want to find it I want to be so aware of my own clown that that I can help others fund be not in it in a savior sense suggestion that maybe practical sense a child cannot be a cloud because he is innocent but what makes the clown is after the experience of living too refined that innocence I'd be able to do it share it with other people but instead ability to laugh at yourself - that's the hardest part of it learning to be a clown because it's hard [Music] [Music] [Music] all right go it Hey altogether for that somebody told me in it and that in the village there are certain people that were considered the Indian clowns no real clowns like a chaplain or keaghlan only appear when a culture or society is going through a traumatic time so whenever the structure in the tribe would become too much and too rigid these clowns would totally destroy it in that one night just to give people another perspective and then you go back to living normally but you laughed about everything that you you're trapped is for a moment [Music] and - safer and you're not gonna yeah yeah you Oh stay right there ah yeah what I don't you realize right here are rising Oh [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music]