Presence is Mandatory

Wrapping up Austin, Texas' Inaugural Clown Class

Tossing and turning
my back sore from the bed
my skin scratching the sheets
(cheap sheets)

Another restless night
I'm exhuasted–often–these days
Though I am also more awake

Aware

Thinking of things and
happy for that

Enjoying talking to people
Genuinely curious about how they live
What they are up to

Being able to get more done
Just a little bit more but
it's more &
that matters

I am excited about the class I am teaching;
proud of my little clown students
They've come so far!

Yesterday we had our last class of eight
Austin's first ever consistent clown class
That feels pretty huge in the new
"live comedy capital" of the USA
some say
globe

"It's so cool to see how everyone's clown has...
come out. Their unique way of being funny and
having fun."

"Once I found what I had fun doing up there,
the audience liked it. It was working."

"This has been great for my improv and stand-up, too.
It blurs into everything."

Goals
met

I couldn't be more pleased

Often I felt stumbling through a fog of
dissassociation to
get there to
get to class to
get to presence to
give them what they needed to
trust the process

They were confused
an inevitable phase of life and of
clowning

(trying to make things more complicated than they are)
Trying to be clever or
in control of the experience
(Keep It Simple Stupid)

I had to button it up
not give too many answers

Allow them to discover what they need
for their play
for their rebelry
for their revelry

Allow them to potentially
hate it
hate me
not get it

There needed to be my own risk
while I taught them, too, to risk

I needed to risk failing
as a teacher and
keep at it
with patience
just like I ask them to

It worked
they're ready for
their class show tonight

They're ready to take on strangers and
friends and
family and
most importantly
themselves

Well, the ones who made
most of the classes
will

The others will stumble

That juxtaposition
will only embolden the committed
to see how these tools
work

Life is sweet
Clowning is stupid
Presence is mandatory

Students in a warm-up exercise at The Fallout Theater

A hui ho,

Julia