The Clown Process

At its heart, clowning runs on a simple feedback loop: do something, see how it lands, then either repeat, develop, or change tack. This is as much about curiosity as it is about comedy — you’re following impulses, listening to the audience, and building a shared game.

It’s the same process you see in kids:

• They do something silly and it gets a laugh.

• They look over, grinning, to see if you’re still watching.

• They do it again.

• If you laugh, they keep doing it, looking back to share the moment.

• If you stop laughing, they try something else.

Clowning is just the grown-up, more intentional version of this.

1. Do Something

Follow an impulse. Show the audience something new, or revisit something they’ve already enjoyed. This might be completely improvised or a pre-written bit. The key is offering it without judgement — you’re giving them something to respond to.

2. Check In

This is your Audience Sensitivity moment. Look to the audience for feedback: did they enjoy it? Did it flop?

This is a prime opportunity for Clocking, taking a Fixed Point, or showing Vulnerability if things didn’t land. You can show how you feel about what just happened, but the main goal is to gather feedback.

3a. If They Loved It — Repeat or Develop

You have two main options:

• Repeat: See Repetition. In clowning, you can repeat the exact same thing far more than you expect before it stops being funny.

• Develop: See Escalation and Game. Push the idea further, change the stakes, or heighten the absurdity.

Either way, after you act, go back to Step 2 and check in again.

3b. If They Didn’t Love It — Try Something Else

Don’t repeat or develop the flop. Ideally, your check-in has kept the audience onside, but now you go back to Step 1 and offer something new. This isn’t failure — it’s valuable data about what doesn’t work for this audience, bringing you closer to finding what does.

Notes on Timing

Choosing when to repeat and when to develop is an instinct that grows with experience. A good starting rule:

• Repeat as much as possible without escalation until you feel the laughs flatten.

• Then escalate.

With practice, you’ll start predicting when the audience has had just enough and will move into development smoothly.

Why We Do It

The clown process and clown exercises train you to:

• Have impulses

• Listen to what’s funny

• Acknowledge what works (and what doesn’t)

• Be vulnerable

• Recreate exactly what works

• Bring back past successes

• Vary ideas to keep them fresh

When performing, this means you can react in the moment, play with what’s working, and gradually build a library of reliable moves you can return to.