Angels can Fly - A Modern Clown User Guide
Angels can Fly includes a mix of fiction which follows the adventures of ten clown characters, personal clown anecdotes from clowns from around the world, a total of 50 practical clown exercises, and some theory on the nature of modern clown. The book is available on order through bookshops and online stores in New Zealand, Australia, America and England.
On this page you will find excerpts from the book. Check back often for new excerpts from Angels can Fly.
And while you are here, why not check out Alan Clay's short clown film,
, staring Annette Devick from Canada and Mark Hudson from Australia which was shot in New Zealand in October 2006.
And also the new comming of age romantic comedy, Courting Chaos, shot in Los Angeles in 2013, in which a Beverly Hills girl falls for a Venice Beach street clown named Chaos and she must overcome her inhibitions and become a clown herself for the relationship to survive.
Chapter 42. Anecdote: Hey ClownDaniel Oldaker, Australia
Whilst training at CircoArts in Christchurch, New Zealand, a realisation occurred that I didn't want people just to be amazed by my skills but laugh and have wisdom arise from the various performances I created. At that point I decided to explore the art of clowning.
Training with various mentors in clowning and undertaking meditation retreats around the world I've now come to the conclusion that mediation and clowning are quite similar. During meditation I'm training the mind to continually be aware of the moment. In clowning when I'm creating at my best, I'm totally in the moment, not thinking of the past or the future, just receiving the impulses from the moment.
The idea of being a clown appealed personally to me more due to the fact that I knew I wasn't going to be that much of a technically skilled circus-based performer. Still presenting physical circus based skills, but the routines have the possibility to have so much more depth.
Showing truth in particular moments, surprise, joy, sadness.Parody life.A kitten or cat playing with a mouse.
Small child about to catch a ball while it rolls along the ground toward them and then when the ball rolls between their legs they try to go through their own legs to get it. Clowning?
Creating a skit where I hide behind a corner with two straws like fangs in my mouth, go to scare a person, but they walk past just after I scare them. I'm still committed to the scare and then do a weak kind of scare. Laughter occurs, is this clowning?
Getting excited about completing a task and then all of a sudden something stands in our way.
Playing a game with friends at the beach one day, that initially involved one person saying the name of a person and going around the circle saying other names faster and faster. We changed the game so we had to say a French name and then eventually creating conversations between us.
A group of boys walked by and decided to say hello, feeling quite in the moment we decided to create conversation using our newly created mix of French/Polish/Italian language. They said words like "hi where do you come from" and I replied "touan freas beaticker tona" or something like that.
When one of them thought they knew we were talking in Italian he says one, two, three in Italian, I look at my friends and then look back at the boy with a bewildered glance. At that moment both boys felt so raw and helpless not knowing what else to say or how to communicate and decided to walk off. When they were out of sight we all creased over and laughed, laughed, laughed and laughed again. Possibly a clowning moment.
Presenting the truth in moments. Wisdom can sometimes arise after a particular clowning moment not only for the audience but for the performer as well.
When someone falls in the street and they look up and see people watching them and then they laugh at the situation, could that be clowning?
A performer can pretend to slip on a step and the laughter will occur as the performer looks up at the audience and acknowledges the moment, realisation and wisdom arise, and in turn expression is created from that particular situation.
Hey clown, can you break down those social taboos because we need to laugh about them?
Daniel Oldaker
Daniel Oldaker was born in Ballarat, Australia, and is currently based in Melbourne. He began performing professionally at the tender age of 18 as part of a double act, winning first prize on Red Faces, Australia's premier TV variety show. Daniel then spent two years perfecting his abundant physical skills at CircoArts Circus School, Christchurch, New Zealand.
After graduation Daniel was immediately thrust into the limelight once more, appearing in both the 1999 and 2000 Melbourne International Comedy Festivals. At this time Daniel's attention widened to writing his own material and producing shows for both the Australian and international marketplaces. From 2001 to 2004 Daniel produced a weekly variety night in Melbourne, 'Acts of Absurdity', showcasing his talents as comic and MC, and providing a platform for other artists to develop new material.
Daniel now divides his time between the international street-theatre circuits of Europe, Asia and North America, and cabaret, stage and corporate performances in Australia and New Zealand. His innovative use of everyday ephemera and innate sense of physical comedy have made him a hit on both sides of the globe, including the recent Edinburgh Fringe. His energy and originality are unsurpassed.
Daniel has achieved perhaps the highest accolade an artist can expect: he is a 'performer’s performer', not only enormously entertaining for the public but also a true inspiration to his peers. In each performance Daniel takes the audience on an unforgettable journey: from the unique, vaudeville-inspired, Bell Boy, to his delightfully absurd cabaret piece The Last Straw and the hilarious melon-smashing exploits of Live Flavor. His latest work, Oldaker Antics premieres in November 2005, in Melbourne.
Find more information on Daniel's work at: http://www.danieloldaker.com
Angels can Fly is available on order through bookshops and online stores in New Zealand, Australia, America and England. Order your copy today. Find it on Amazon by following this link: http://tinyurl.com/9nrwj
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Last updated 01 November 2013
