Massimo “Max” Cavallini is an Italian clown and fool, living in the Netherlands. He invited me to talk about how the Fool meets the Clown, ahead of his new two day workshop called "The Fool through the eyes of a Clown.” 

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As part of the Why Not Cafe's new series of clown conversations, I got to have a lovely chat with two of my favourite teachers, clown maestro Angela de Castro and master fool Franki Anderson. This blog contains the recording of the chat as well as charting the conversation; paraphrasing some bits, quoting other bits and offering a bit of bonus extra background on some of the topics covered, which included; how we met, how we've influenced each other's work, how our students are our greatest teachers, pivotal moments of our teaching evolution, the difference between clowning and fooling, the importance of safety in clowning and fooling workshops, how some teachers methods are good for people who have emotional armour and others are good for hyper sensitive people and what we're up to next.

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Yesterday, I had the pleasure of interviewing my wonderfool fooling teacher, Franki Anderson for Clown Power Live.

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Another rainy morning in Bristol, what better to do than head out to Cafe Number 12 in Easton for eggs and chat with internationally acclaimed improviser, Joanne Tremarco.

I voice-recorded us chatting for 1 hour and 17 minutes and the following blog is an edited version of our conversation. It's the 5th in a series of blogs entitled “When Holly Met...”, capturing conversations with clowns and clown teachers, Joanne is the first fool / fooling teacher I've interviewed. 

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Last week, a recent Intro To Clown student sent me a questionnaire. She's doing a research project about the use of positive feedback in creative learning environments. I happened to have a very long train journey - all the way from Glasgow to Bristol, would you believe? I thought – what better way to pass the time than to joyfully grapple with the subject of positive feedback. I'd like to share some of what I wrote with you, dear reader. I hope it's useful.

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What a treat! I’ve just spent a week with my original Fooling teacher and mentor, Franki Anderson; playing, swimming, writing, laughing, eating, wondering and wandering in Franki’s Cornish Fools Paradise. I feel refreshed, revitalised and ready for my next round of summer schools. Bring on Advanced Fools School!

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Wow, I've just had 2 days of gentle nurturing, mind-expanding and soul validating, connecting back with the original source, Franki Anderson.

16 years ago, Franki first introduced me to ‘Fooling,’ an incredible risky and connected solo improvisation form / life-style choice which has influenced my work and life ever since. Her three month course, ‘The Fools Journey,’ enriched the soil in which my teaching and facilitation skills still grow.

All the way... Read more >