Four Clowns 2018
Mike Funt
Dear Clowns,
I hope you are all enjoying your holiday season. This year has been very interesting for me, and many of the things I have been able to do as a performer, a teacher, and a person have given me some great inspiration and ideas about the future of Four Clowns. Starting in 2018 Four Clowns will be offering many new opportunities for performing as well as outreach. I apologize that this will be a long email, but please read it through, and I am sure you will find something that you want to be a part of in the new year.
I wanted to bring some of the various types of clown that I have explored over the last few years under one banner. So beginning this year Four Clowns will be: Performance Clown, Class Clown, Relief Clown, and Hospital Clown.
Performance Clown is basically what we have already been doing since we started, theatrical productions with clown at the core. We will be doing fewer productions so that resources and attention can be allocated well without burnout. Also, we will be returning to the model that we had a few years ago. We won't have a "season" per ce, but we will seek opportunities as they come. If you have an idea, pitch it to me, and we will try to find a way to make it happen. One project I definitely think we will do this year is the Commedia Othello in partnership with The Shakespeare Center, but there will be room for another fully realized project or two. In an effort to drawn new blood and new attention, these productions will be open to company members first, but we will also reach beyond our company as well. This is a practice that has worked very well for us in the past. I will also be looking for more travel opportunities to festivals and conferences for our shows. And, although this never really got off the ground before, we will be having some street clowning opportunities. This seemed like an idea that many of you were interested in, and I am happy to facilitate it.
Class Clown refers to the various workshop and teaching opportunities that we do. My "Circus in the Classroom Program" and "Sacred Clown" are examples. However, we've also done workshop as CSULB and others. Our partnership with The Clown School would go into this category. And if any of you have workshops or areas of expertise that you would like to teach, we can discuss those as well.
Relief Clown will be new for us. Four Clowns will begin doing relief and humanitarian aid projects along the lines of Clowns Without Borders. Basically, we will going in to areas of extreme poverty, places affected by natural disaster, or places where the political or social climate gives people little opportunity for laughter and play. I already have a project lined up for next summer to Zimbabwe and I have another project to Tanzania in the works. These projects will be funded, however, the performers will not be paid. Meaning, you will donate your time, but you will not have to pay for airfare or lodging or food. Please note: Not everyone will get to go on these projects. It takes a very particular style of performer and a very particular temperament to be able to handle the harsh, stressful, and sometimes dangerous conditions. Participating in street clowning opportunities is a great training ground for these projects.
And last is Hospital Clown. Our own Zach Steele is quite an expert in this area and is advising me on the best course of action, but I am to bring our clown into children's hospitals, nursing homes, and VAs. These will be paid opportunities ($100/performer/day). Once again, you will need to be trained in this particular style of clown to participate in these projects.
One thing that we need for all of these projects is funding, so starting in January, I will be launching a crowdfunding campaign to raise a nest egg for our projects. I hope that you will all do your part in sharing and supporting this campaign. It will only result in more opportunities for us all.
Additionally, I have secured a fiscal sponsor for us through the organization Play Matters!, which is a committee of the Southern California Advocates for Every Young Child. I taught a workshop for them in October, and they were immediately huge fans of our work and these projects moving forward. Therefore, we can now accept tax-deductible donations and grants through them, which will be a big help to our fundraising as well.
Also, I have a major donor, who is quite a fan of Four Clowns. He attended a workshop that Julia and I taught in Atlanta a few years ago. In the current political climate, he is looking for worthwhile organizations to support, and he has already contacted me and wants Four Clowns to be one of those organizations.
I am VERY excited about these new projects, and I think it will open a lot of new doors for all of us. As I've said to David Bridel, Zach, Jeremy, and anyone I have told about these new ventures, I have NEVER been more excited about anything I've been working on. Taking what we do with clown and using it to make people's lives better is really thrilling to me.
I would love to hear your thoughts. If there is something in particular that is of interest to you please let me know, and I will make sure to keep you posted. I also have, if you are interested, the presentation I made to the big wigs at Play Matters! to get them to be our fiscal sponsors. If you want t read it, I will send it to you. It just goes into more detail and gives a little more background on the projects we'll be doing moving forward.
I also plan to have a revamped website up soon to reflect our new focus.
Thanks everyone! Happy Holidays and look for more in January!