Introduction to Bouffon: A One-Day Intensive in Satire, Mockery, and Farce!

How do we make political work without playing to our own echo chambers?

How do we engage with topics that are 'taboo' or that make us scared to touch?

How do we give and get permission to become freaks, ghouls, and satirical goblins?

Dive into the world of satire and mockery with this one-day Bouffon workshop! We will work with finding play through children's games, group devising, flocking, the perspective of the Bouffon, creating grotesque characters, and more. This class will be taught by Soleil Kohl, a local Boulder Clown, Bouffon, and physical theatre artist and teacher.

This workshop is intended for theatre practitioners with some experience in clown, physical theatre, or related performing arts. If you are new to physical theatre, please reach out via our email boulderclownclub@gmail.com to talk about if this workshop is right for you.

A description of the Bouffon from Giovanni Fussetti:
"The essence of the Bouffon is in the dynamic of MOCKING. The MOCKER is a specific role, existing in all human societies. Bouffons represent elements of their society in an amplified, distorted or exaggerated way, thereby provoking laughter and outrage. Their Mockery doesn’t have an agenda in itself, because the Bouffons don’t have opinions, and they don’t protect any side from their mocking. They just mock everything and everybody. Their purpose is to have fun playing at being humans and therefore they use everything they find, with ferocious ecstasy and jubilation. This is their power: they see and play with everything, they feed on human dynamics in order to play with it. Bouffons never touch on individual or private themes, instead they take on big collective dynamics and roles – involving the social complexity and the very essence of society and culture."

What to bring:

• Water bottle, snack, and notepad (if you'd like to take notes)
• Please wear dark colors with no logos, preferably black, but dark blue or grey is also okay.

Schedule:

• The workshop will last between 12 and 4pm. You must be present for the entire time.
• We will have multiple opportunities to get water, and have a 15-minute snack/bathroom break at 2:00pm.

Cost: PAY WHAT YOU CAN! (suggested $60)

• The world is deserving of mockery, more now than ever! This workshop is being offered at a fully pay-what-you-may model to make it as inclusive as possible. You can pay nothing no questions asked, or anywhere from $1 to $60 if you have the means.
• All payments go towards space rental, advertising, and paying our teachers.

To register, email boulderclownclub@gmail.com or click "Attend" on this event to reserve your spot. Payment is accepted through Venmo, PayPal, or cash.