Guided by our practitioners at Ugly Bucket, participants will explore games and exercises designed to reignite play and use clowning as a lens for self-exploration and expression.

We will ask participants to draw on authenticity, accept the unknown, celebrate vulnerability, and embrace the truths about themselves that clowning can uncover. In doing so, we will highlight the unique essence within each of us—something that transcends language, drawing in and captivating an audience. Participants will enhance presentness, mindfulness, instinct, and trust to create clowns that are more bold, exciting, and connect on a deeper level.

We will delve into all kinds of relationships—our relationship with ourselves, how clowns interact with each other, and, of course, the clown’s life source: their relationship with an audience. Together, we will practice techniques to not only harness audience connection but to play within it as well.

Beyond this, we invite you to embark on a transformative journey of self-discovery and personal growth. The Ugly Bucket style is one of grotesque physicality, intuitive movement, and liberation. In defying conventional standards, our clowns offer a gateway to self-acceptance and new horizons of expression. Collectively, we will think less, do more, and embrace failure as an integral part of the clowning process and life itself.

Over our time together, we will remind participants that when people are laughing, they are listening. We will think about how clowns, in their purity, can possess the audacity and boldness to tackle difficult conversations and confront social issues head-on through laughter. Beyond the retreat, we hope participants will understand clowning as a means to reflect ourselves and the world around us with unabashed honesty, and will consider how they can ignite action for positive change.

Ultimately, our clowning retreat offers a safe and liberating space for individuals to connect, cultivate joy, and harness the gifts of clown— both on and off the stage.