On 20th June, Beyond The Ridiculous performed our first ever online Fooling (solo improvisation) performance on Zoom. We were supported by The Wardrobe Theatre in Bristol to explore how our work might translate to a digital platform. It was a massive experiment for an ensemble of solo improvisers who usually perform live on stage.This blog charts the process of developing and performing the show and includes a newly commissioned poem from poet in residence, Bee Golding.

For the last 3 ½ months, I've been offering one-to-one online Creative Consultancy for theatre practitioners, facilitators, therapists and academics. Together we've celebrated triumphs, grieved losses, delved into shadows, tapped into dream-spaces, planned projects and asked “Why ever not?” 

The one-to-one consultancy spawned a solo show peer-support group and a group creative dreaming day. This blog is a chance for me to reflect back on these projects and let you know what I've been up to, dear reader.

After 14 weeks of continuous output spanning the whole of lockdown, Clown Workouts are proud to announce we're taking a little break! Here's a look back through the different phases of our constantly surprising, ever evolving, lockdown clowning project.

This blog is a record of all the Facebook Lives I made for Clown Workouts. I really enjoyed the process of trying to figure out how to integrate theory, practice and audience interaction. I hope they are useful to you too.

Hello dear readers, please welcome back to the stage, guest blogger, Holly Stoppit Workshops Radministrator and Poet in Residence, Bee Golding! 

I asked Bee to write about her experience of being part of the Fools Play group, earlier this year and here's what she wrote:

How are your joy levels these days? Can you handle a bit more joy? Look no further! In this week's Midweek Musings, I will be pondering on the theme of joy and how we can get more of it, via discussion of three short videos from our extensive Clown Workout archive; Welcoming Joy, Exploring Taste and Laughter Yoga.

It's a choose-your-own adventure; you can read this blog, or you can press play on the videos and participate in three mini workshops on the theme of joy, or you can do a bit of both. Happy happy joy joy!

The Wardrobe Theatre present Beyond The Ridiculous in:

Voices of Lockdown, Live and Unleashed

- A live, improvised, online celebration of the human condition!

How are you faring in these strange new times? Perhaps you are easing into your new normal, discovering new skills, talents and facets? Perhaps you're raging against a system that makes questionable choices on your behalf, feeling powerless? Perhaps you're mourning your familiar routines, or the plans and dreams that once shaped your choices, your identity?

I met Argentinian Clown and therapist, Mery Miguez on a clown course a few years ago. She took the opportunity of lockdown to look me up and invite me onto her 'Mery Miguez in Conversation Show', to chat about clowning and how it can support us in everyday life.

How have you been feeling in your lockdown bubble? Anxious? Sad? Lonely? Calm? Peaceful? Joyful? Or perhaps you've been feeling numb and unable to connect to your emotions at all? Perhaps like me, you've been experiencing all of these states, moment to moment?