Clowning

Play with what you’re doing

Clowning begins with something very simple: you play with what’s already there – whatever you’re aware of. You don’t need a character or a funny idea; the reality of what you’re doing in the moment is enough.

You don’t need to be a clown to clown. What matters is noticing your own actions clearly enough so that you can repeat them, transform them, develop them. The more you know what you’re doing, the more freedom you have to play with it.

That’s the core of clowning: awareness, play and the courage to explore what appears — honestly and physically.

This page gathers articles and reflections on clowning as a physical, playful and creative practice.

Articles in this category

This section currently features reflections connected to my work with Ira Seidenstein, with more clowning articles to come.

  • A clown character in a bow tie and suspenders sitting at a long wooden table, holding a pipe, with a sign marked ‘C₃’ in front.
    The path to freedom in clowning
    by Caspar Schjelbred
    On how creating simple clown acts became the key to artistic freedom, and how years of training at Ira Seidenstein’s Quantum Clown Residency revealed the deeper foundations of clowning.
  • Two black-and-white close-ups of a man in different expressive moments, looking thoughtful in one image and surprised in the other.
    Meeting my mentor
    by Caspar Schjelbred
    How meeting Ira Seidenstein became the turning point in my artistic life — a meeting that revealed my creative self through clowning, presence and real work.
  • A diptych showing a close-up portrait of a man resting his hand near his mouth, alongside a black-and-white stage photo of two performers doing a slapstick ladder routine.
    A true clown master
    by Caspar Schjelbred
    Why I consider Ira Seidenstein a true clown master – not for control or mystique, but for the clarity, craft and freedom he passes on to his students.