Hey look, we made a video all about The Mindful Play Sessions!

Me and my fella, Joe had a lot of fun making it. The first bit features me battling with my overenthusiastic hand gestures and the last bit is filmed from Joe's new drone.  

Joe waited 2 and a half months for his drone to arrive from China and this was it's maiden voyage. The first mission was... Read more >

Session One: Play is good for us! We know this! So how can we play more?

In preparation for The Mindful Play Sessions, I'm reading the official TED guide to public speaking. So far, it’s been really useful in helping me clarify my through-line for each session. 

In the chapter on through-lines, Chris Anderson poses several questions to help you get clear. Here are... Read more >

Devoted and Disgruntled (D&D)13 happened last weekend in the massive 3 storey high, glass-domed spaceship-like New Diorama Space in London town. Somewhere around 250 theatre makers at all stages of their careers came together for 2 and a half days to discuss what needed to be discussed about theatre and the performing arts, using Read more >

I’m going to be running a series of Mindful Play sessions in Bristol in February and March. To start my preparations, I’ve been pondering where the sessions first came from. Here’s the story that wants to be told today (ask me on another day and I'll tell you something else!).

I originally created The Mindful Play sessions in December 2014, as a way of reconnecting with my Read more >

Here at Holly Stoppit Towers, we’ve been busy cooking up a delicious feast of play to nurture you through the end of winter and buff you up all shiny for spring. 

If you need more play in your life, we’ve got just the thing!

1.) We’ll be running not one, not two but THREE Introduction To Clowning Weekends in Bristol!

2.) We’re bri... Read more >

Wowee! The new year has birthed a humdinger of a supermoon! I don't know about you, but I've been feeling the potent energies swirling about. Feels to me like the ideal conditions for letting go of the old and making space for the new! If you haven’t got down to writing your new years resolutions, don’t worry! This moon drenched 24 hours might be the best time to do it.

Here are some questions, designed to help y... Read more >

Wow, what a year! 

Holly Stoppit Workshops

2017 was the busiest year ever for Holly Stoppit Workshops and the first for not-so-new-now wonder-administrator / co-ordinator Beccy Golding. Thanks to Beccy’s canny mind, eagle eye and steady support, we’ve managed to promote and fill 16 different courses! That’s an incredible 159 people who came out to play with us... Read more >

Back in October, Beyond The Ridiculous, our company of fools, performed solo improvisation on the theme of risk, in a 3-night fool fest called Cliff Jumping For Beginners, as part of Circus City Festival.

Three fantastic artists, a brilliant photographer and 2 wonderful writers sat in the audience, responding to our playtime with images and words.

The photo at the top of... Read more >

Hello to all those who are following the progress of my Inner Critic Inquiry Course online and hello to all the newbies who are joining us today!

This blog will outline some of the theory underpinning the session as well as describing a couple of exercises for you to try at home. Hope you enjoy it!

Week 7 of The Inner Critic Inquiry: Boundaries.
<... Read more >

We did it! 

These 10 idiots have spent the last 10 Tuesday evenings in a freezing cold church hall, playing their little hearts out (just to keep warm).

The 10 Week Clown To Performance course leads participants through a gentle process of deepening their quality of connection with themselves and cultivating the bravery to share themselves with others and to let the world in.

They then each created a 5 mi... Read more >