San Francisco clown teachers are seeing a surge of people attending recreational clown classes, determined to learn the latest tips and tricks for embodying the age-old, red-nosed jokester.
The interest is spurred by a desire to form community during turbulent times, according to Sara Toby Moore, an award-winning clown and instructor for Circus Center in San Francisco.
Moore says some people join the classes for camaraderie, while others want to build their skill set as an actor or tap into their humor. No matter what the reason, Moore says it’s important for everyone to enjoy the clowning process.
“We’re really under the weight of dangerous policies and people are feeling scared. When you come together in a room with the purpose of creating laughter, it’s amazing,” says Moore, who is currently appearing in a “human cartoon” show called “The Mechanix” at Z Below through Sept. 6.
San Francisco is home to three prominent programs: Church of Clown, The Clown School of San Francisco and Circus Center. All offer classes for beginners on how to dress, act and perform as a clown, for fees ranging from $79 for a “new student six-pack” at Circus Center to $675 for the 10-session “Clown: Self Expression and Sacred Humor” taught by Dan Griffiths, founder of Church of Clown.
“More people are coming to clown classes because they are fighting against the isolation of modern reality,” Griffiths says. “They want to be connected.”
Griffiths says Church of Clown’s year-round classes and workshops are filling up with people fascinated with the craft. In his course starting Sept. 15, students learn how to authentically connect with audiences and engage in physical comedy and prop play.
In Moore’s class, “Human Cartoon: Core Clowning for All Levels,” beginning Sept. 6, participants explore gags, routines, sketches and skits inspired by European and American style clowning.
Meanwhile, the Clown School of San Francisco’s $250 two-day workshop for newbies on Oct. 25-26 guides people through how to create their own clown persona based on their unique movements, voice, habits and feelings.
Christina Lewis, director of the Clown School of SF, who also has seen more people interested in studio classes, teaches students how to get in touch with their deepest emotions. It’s a necessary experience for becoming a clown, Lewis says, and is psychologically freeing for participants.
The Clown School also offers a group-oriented Clown Play Class beginning Sept. 8.
While clowns often are hired to cheer patients in hospitals and clinics or are sent to provide optimism in crisis zones or refugee camps with their wacky physical comedy, they also can be source of fear for others who get spooked by their eerie aesthetic and unpredictable behavior.
Mainstream media, including Stephen King’s popular “It,” portray the entertainers in a demonic-like way. A 2016 poll conducted by Vox Media and Morning Consult found that 42% of Americans are afraid of clowns. Nearly one in three voters aged 18-29 admitted to having at least a minor fear of them.
Clowns often get a bad rep, Griffiths says, but there is so much more to the craft of clowning than people realize.
“It’s a sacred archetype,” Griffiths said. “It’s meant to be respected and meant to be feared. But it’s also meant to be funny.”
Lewis says of clowning: “It’s a place to be free and chaotic and extreme. It doesn’t have to be rational and reasonable or make sense.”
Clowning is also a space where people go back to the very “primal space of human connection.” Lewis says such experiences are important these days, especially in Silicon Valley, where many people are engrossed in their phones and laptops.
Lewis, like many local clown instructors, has taught people of all ages. Lately, she’s seen her class demographic skew toward people in their 20s, when before the attendees were older adults. Clowning unites people, Lewis says, despite their various life experiences and age gaps,
“You have this huge range, but being a clown evens the playing field,” Lewis says. “With the red nose, everyone can be together.”
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