Clowning for Beginners

Do you ever wish you did less overthinking, or that you could be more playful? This is what Clowning does. You won’t be in make up or a silly costume but you will be exploring a different version of you. Clown practitioner Jon Davidson describes Clowning as a verb: ‘To Clown’. It’s a doing word that lets you explore and discover a more playful version of yourself.

On ‘Clowning for Beginners’, there’s no need to have explored clowning before - all you need is a sense of curiosity. You will be exploring clowning techniques in a fun and practical way, and you might even discover your own personal clown along the way.

Course Content

This three-day course is designed to offer you a broad introduction to clowning, with space for you to play and explore. Over the three days you will:

Find ways to explore play and failure onstage
Learn more about your unique clown
Develop complicity with the audience and others
Work on a number of exercises to allow for the more clown side of yourself to emerge

Course Dates

No upcoming dates.

Booking Information

Our courses are available on a first come, first served basis in order of payment.

To secure a place, please take the following steps:

Read through our Terms and Conditions before booking
Click on ‘Book your place’ above. Please make sure you are booking for the correct course and option (i.e. Mon/Wed or Tue/Thu if more than one option is available)
Click ‘Select’ and follow the steps through to the completion of booking
If your preferred dates are sold out, you can click ‘Join Waiting List’ and we will let you know if a place becomes available

This course is perfect for anyone over the age of 18 with an interest in clowning.

You don’t need any previous experience, just curiosity and enthusiasm.

You may be considering acting for the very first time
You may do creative things already and want to add another string to your bow
You may be keen to boost your confidence for work or social situations
You may want to meet a group of new people

Days	Various. This course is delivered over 3 days.
Times	All times listed are either GMT or GMT +1 (depending on the time of year). If you’re joining from overseas, please use a timezone convertor before booking to establish what the local time will be for you.
Age	The minimum age is 18 on the first day of the course. There is no upper age limit.
Max. class size	20 students
Course Delivery	All of the Summer Short Courses take place onsite at our Swiss Cottage campus in London.
International students	We welcome International Students to our courses, however please ensure you are on the correct visa. As our Summer Short Courses are classed as part-time, non-accredited short courses they are not eligible for a Tier 4 Student Visa however you may be eligible for a Short Term Study Visa.
Language requirements	Applicants must be confident speaking and reading English to a conversational level (IELTS score of 7.0 or equivalent). You may be expected to read texts/scripts that have advanced vocabulary.
Attendance	Due to the structure and the collaborative nature of the courses, full attendance is requested.
Refunds	We are able to offer a full refund up until 14 days before the course begins. After this, the course will become fully non-refundable.
Cancellations	Central reserves the right to cancel this course if we do not meet the minimum number of participants. In this instance, a full refund will be made to you. We are unable to refund any other costs you may have incurred.

Course Tutor

Alex Bell

Alex in an Actor Trainer and Coach with a specialist interest in how clowning and play can be effective in actor training.
In 2019 he delivered a TEDx talk titled 'Why clowning is the most important thing ever (in actor training)'