Future Dreams Brainstorming
Sep 17 2018
It's that time of year again, the time when I quietly haul up and reflect on my past year and dream about my year to come. As someone who needs to be constantly learning, challenged, stretched and inspired, my career has taken many unusual twists and turns. Many of which have been intentional!
I have a regular reflection practice which I'd like to share with you below. I've refined it a bit since I last described it Read more >
Holly on radio 2!
Sep 11 2018
Yesterday, I got a call from one of Chris Evan's researchers. Earlier, during his breakfast show on radio 2, Chris had been pondering the origins of the gesture where you put your thumb to your nose and wiggle your fingers. "Well", thought the researcher, "who better to ask than a clown teacher?"
So here I am appearing as Chris Evans' mystery guest talkin... Read more >
Assembling Your Inner Cast Video
Sep 07 2018
Meet some of the characters that appeared during Assembling Your Inner Cast in August 2018.
Read more >
fools explore the human condition
Aug 21 2018
This is the only picture I have of the last two weeks at Fools School. Strawberries and Borage, from the final banquet of the second of two week-long fooling courses I've just run back to back in Bristol. One of the fools pointed out that strawberries are the only fruit to carry their seeds on the outside. Another fool told us that borage traditionally represents courage. I think this beautifully describes what's been happening at fools school for the... Read more >
Clown In Residence at Bristol Museum
Aug 02 2018
I'm delighted to announce that I will be the official Clown in Residence at Bristol Museum, this autumn.
As part of Circus 250 - celebrating 250 years since the very first circus ring was pitched up in London, Bristol Museum & Art Gallery will be hosting Clowns: The eggs-hibition.
The exhibition will include lots of the Clown Eggs from the Clown Egg Register...
Read more >
Autumn Workshops 2018
Aug 02 2018
We're super-proud to announce the Holly Stoppit Workshops Autumn Programme 2018!
Ta-da! Due to its massive demand earlier this year, we've scheduled in an Introduction To Clowning every month from September til Christmas.
Ta-da! We're delighted to be running the ever popular 8-week Inner Critic Inquiry course again this season.
Ta-da! Due to demand, we're going to run the new Assembling Your Inner Cast Advanced Fools training again in October.
Ta-da! We've added a new 6-week Fools to Performance course, culminating in a double bill of shows at the Bristol Improv Theatre!
Ta-da! Holly will be donning her red nose as Clown In Residence at Bristol Museum!
Read more >
10 Top Tips For Creative Process
Jul 20 2018
Today is my last day of writing retreat. For the last two weeks, I've put myself in beautiful places to work on my book. For the first week, I rented an apartment on my own in the lovely seaside town of Ilfracombe in Devon and for the second week, I shared a cottage in rural Crean in Cornwall with an actual real writer and a musician.
Writing retreat was a blissful, nightmarish, straightforward, impossible, inevitable, wonderful rollercoaster and... Read more >
Dominique Fester - Guest Blog
Jul 13 2018
Hey! I'd like to introduce you to my colleague, friend and student Dominique Fester.
Dominique came to my Introduction To Clowning weekend many moons ago and progressed onto the 10-week clown to performance course, before attending the Fooling summer school and eventually joining Beyond The Ridiculous, my company of fools.
Impressed by her plethora of skills and experience, I've been supporting Dominique to set up and run her own physical theatre courses in Bristol. I've watched t... Read more >
The Fine Line between Comedy and Trauma
Jul 10 2018
Have you seen Hannah Gadsby's 'Nanette' on Netflix yet? If you haven't, what are you waiting for? Cancel your plans and set up your telly-box right now! If you haven't got Netflix, get it or hassle a friend who has. I know, it's hot and you've got things to do, but this is one of the bravest, most powerful comedy shows you'll see. Take it from me, I've seen a few!
At the top of her hour-long... Read more >
Feedback for Intro to Clown Weekend
Jul 04 2018
Wahhhhhhhhhh! Just finished the last Introduction to Clowning Weekend of the season!
In a futile attempt to try and keep up with demand, we've run the intro workshop 5 times already this year, meaning 60 new baby clowns are now roaming free.
They came to us from near and far, some travelled all the way down from the cold, cold, north of England, some along the coast from C... Read more >
