Clowning #5 - Clown and Music

“How can I  be a musician and a clown at the same time? Without spoiling the music?”

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A workshop aimed at those who want to explore the relationship between clown and music. This will be of interest to those with either clowning or musical skills, or both. We will look at the coincidences between the two art forms, and how each can inspire and inform the other, as well as various ways of constructing a musical clown number.

 

How can you be both a stupid, incompetent clown and at the same time create music which has impact, without simply being ‘bad’ at it?

 

There are numerous ways to clown even while being a virtuoso (you don’t have to be a virtuoso!), where the music presents itself in surprising and unthinkable ways.

 

We will explore according to participants’ interests, including:

 

• The ridiculous musician

• Ridiculous music

• Ridiculous instruments

• The ridiculous musical performance

 

Jon Davison has been playing music since the age of four, long before discovering the vocation of clowning. His favoured instruments are the accordion and an iron-framed piano built for a 5-year-old. his main styles are British/Irish/American and East European Folk, as well as Music Hall and Classical. He has created a range of musical clown numbers and shows, and was a founder member of several bands (folk band “Wholesome Fish”, Balkan group “Orkestina”, the clown-klezmer group “Hop!”, and the “Gran Circ Petit” Balkan-Klezmer-Circus). He has directed and accompanied numerous clowns and circus artists. He is currently accordionist with the ceilidh duo, Rhythm of the Floor.

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