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. 

Dearest Clowns, fools, idiots and plonkers,

It's probably no surprise for you to hear that we have taken the decision to cancel most of our courses until the end of April. Unfortunately, the nature of our work involves bringing room-fulls of people together and inviting them to explore intimate connection, laughing, touching, sharing breath. It’s just too risky with the virus on the rampage.

Here’s a run down of what’s off and what’s ON… 

In these turbulent times, to keep myself grounded, I've been retreating to my meditation cushion. It greets me with open arms and holds me while I tune in to where I'm at, let go of whatever's been building up and draw in courage, curiosity and compassion. 

I'd like to share a loving kindness meditation that came to me the other morning. It brought me comfort and ease and helped me feel connected to the human race. I hope it'll do the same for you.

Holly Stoppit and the fools of Beyond The Ridiculous return to The Wardrobe Theatre for a 3-night celebration of the human condition!

“Both incredibly funny and incredibly moving.” The Huffington Post

Announcing the Holly Stoppit 2020 Summer School programme!

We're delighted to be offering three weeks of learning, laughing, connection and community throughout August.

Holly Stoppit Workshops' poet-in-residence has struck again! 

Beccy Golding, my wonder-administrator, workshop co-ordinator and poet-in-residence has captured the essence of our most recent dreaming day in a poem.

Join us as we wend our way through a day of exploring our roles, dreams and fantasies for our ever expanding clowning and fooling empire!

Have you ever found yourself in a supermarket, standing stock still, staring at the carrots, unable to figure out whether you need carrots? What would you use them for anyway? What's the point in carrots? Or food in general? Or standing up? In fact, what's the point of anything that isn't lying quietly in the soft, muffled sanctuary of your bed? Would anyone notice if you were to crawl into the carrots and have a little nap?

Welcome to the Land of Burn Out!

It brings me great pleasure to present a guest blog from performer / writer and long-term collaborator, Helen Duff. Helen has been applying some of the techniques she learned in my performance workshops to her writing, with fascinating results... Over to you, Helen!

Wowee! 2019 was a year of accelerated growth! From telly, to TED, to talking gigs, via idiot incubation, clown consultancy and taking time off! Here's a look back through 2019.

I'm delighted to share with you this guest blog from Holly Stoppit Workshops new poet in residence, Beccy Golding.