I met Andrew Cain from Play Connect for a chat on Zoom.

Andrew is a Brighton-based improvisation teacher and therapist who specialises in helping people into play and connection. He wanted to find out about what I do and how I do it.

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Ahead of the Clowning Out Of Chaos Conference this weekend, The Online Clown Academy caught up with Holly Stoppit to tell us a little more about the Open Space event on Sunday evening (UK time)

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Ahead of the Clowning Out Of Chaos Conference (21-23 May), I offered a wee workshop exploring meditations for chaotic times via Facebook Live.

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Introducing the panelists for our discussion on Clowning + Chaos which will take place during the Clowning Out Of Chaos Conference on 22nd May 2021. 

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Hey you! Would you like to know a little more about the style of meditation, play and reflection that happen on the upcoming Mindful Play Inquiry Online course (starting 3rd June)? Here's a little window into the inner workings of Mindful Play!

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The following blog is written by Beyond The Ridiculous company member, Dominique Fester.

A Ship of Fools - Looking back on Fool’s Play 2021

At the beginning of March 2021 the fools of Beyond The Ridiculous forayed into delivering ‘Fool’s Play’. The course was designed to scoop up fools who had done Holly’s five day training and were hungry for more. What could the fools of Beyond the Ridiculous (Holly’s Professional Fooling Company) share from their own experiences with those relatively new to the fooling path?

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Ahead of The Online Clown Academy's Clowning Out Of Chaos Conference (21-23 May), I offered a wee workshop exploring chaos through clowning via Facebook Live.

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Trigger warning: miscarriage, grief, swearing

Clear blue sky, warm sun, cool breeze and a cacophony of birdsong. I'm sitting on the balcony of my tiny Holly-sized converted garage apartment on the south coast of Cornwall in the midday sun (I might regret this decision later when I'm lobster red). I rode three trains, a bus and a ferry to get here, to walk and breathe and BE for a week. As I gaze out at the frenzy of blossom, the cornucopia of plump rhododendrons and the swarms of frantic dancing bees, I think, “Oh Fuck Off!”

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The Online Clown Academy proudly presents their second online conference: 

Clowning Out Of Chaos.

As we start to emerge, blinking, into this new post-coronavirus world, we’re asking:

- How can we clown with chaos?

- How can clowning help us move beyond chaos and create the world we want to live in

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In the circus I grew up in, we hardly ever used red noses. Our shows were character-driven theatrical performances which integrated circus skills into the narrative. On leaving the circus in my 20's, I carried on performing non-nosed stealth clowning on streets and stages for another decade. I resisted the title of clown, referring to myself instead as a 'character comedienne'. I'd only ever worn a red nose when I was safe behind the closed doors of a clown workshop.

Then in 2009 / 2010, I got a job touring with The Honk Project, a non-verbal, ensemble, red nosed, musical-theatre show. Spending extended periods of time wearing a red nose and not speaking English seemed to give me permission to drop deeper into the state of clown, to trust my clown's logic and let her make the choices

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