Professional clowns reveal how serious the business of clowning is today

Much like superheroes in plain clothes in the movies Charles lsquoSleepyrsquo Lauder Edmund lsquoCaptain Dazzlersquo Kong and Daigo lsquoTopporsquo Mizutani wear an element of their alterego as they monkey around at the House of Happiness in MarolCaptain Dazzlersquos socks are in broad blackandyellow stripes Topporsquos right leg ends in an oversized shoe and when Sleepy removes his straw boater a violently vivid violet mohawk unfurls Upon closer inspection Jeffrey lsquoBunglesrsquo Potts looks like Johnny Bravo in his 50smdasha retired US marine right to the haircut Flubber Gigi and Rone all wear Tshirts from various clown academies and schoolsThey are part of the ensemble performing at the International Clown Festival at NCPA Nariman Point and St Andrews Bandra later this month and right now rehearsals are underway They are all contemporaries to Indiarsquos only certified professional clown Martin lsquoFlubberrsquo DrsquoSouza who is also the producer of the show Hashimoto was teacher to most of those present here and shares an act with her former student RoneProfessional clowns Captain Dazzle Sleepy Toppo Gigi and Ronersquos agenda is to remind us to play PicAnurag AhireThere is something deeper at play heremdashnot just slapstick falls for laughter There is skillmdashSleepy who is from Canada juggles three bowling pins while balancing on a plank placed on a roller Toppo from Japan in a blownup fat suit does a onearm lateral stand Gigi and Rone also from Japan juggle in tandem Potts shows the precise way to uncoil a magical prop As they improvise and finetune their sequence without discussing it out loud they are careful not to overshadow or take away from each other Each one gets equal time on stage to raise guffaws There seems to be no set lsquoleaderrsquoldquoWe are not clowns when in costumerdquo says DrsquoSouza ldquoWe ARE clownsrdquo ldquoClowning is both very simple and complexrdquo helps Kong when we ask what the essence of clowning the performative art form is ldquoItrsquos play our natural state as childrenrdquo offers Lauder whorsquos from Canada and really does look like Sleepy the Dwarf ldquoIsnrsquot it funny we lose this capacity for fun as adultsrdquo steps in Kong from Singapore just as synchronised as their act ldquowhen actually we should get better at it Itrsquos interactive playmdashwe are playing with each other and with the audiencehelliprdquo ldquoA clown also shows you different perspective to a situationrdquo adds Gigi ldquoLike Charles Chaplin he took very negative subjects but drew humour from them by throwing a different light We try to do the samemdashyou may not agree with the perspective but itrsquos another one This is important for people to get alongmdashto see things from the otherrsquos point of view For everyone to play togetherhelliprdquoWhat they are trying so hard to do is to get their audiencemdashespecially the very important adultsmdashto grant themselves permission to laugh ldquoBack at homerdquo says Potts an American and the creative director ldquothere can be some really tough crowdsmdashWall Street bankers saymdashwho are too serious to laugh They think itrsquos immature or unimportant Itrsquos hard to get them to give themselves permission to let loose But thatrsquos not the case in India I have toured here before and the audience here always wants morerdquoldquoJapanrsquos people very shyrdquo says Mizutani ldquoThey think people will judge if they laughhelliprdquo ldquoThatrsquos why I only work with tourists and childrenrdquo itrsquos Kong again ldquoI pass the other jobs to my friends and they do the same for merdquoDrsquoSouza has ensured that the act is suited to Indian audience ldquoI personally donrsquot like laughing at someone or putting someone downmdashthatrsquos not humour thatrsquos humiliation So no jokes on communities or gender or nationalitieshelliprdquo ldquoAnd toilet humourrdquo reminds Kong ldquoYes there is an act showing a dog peeinghellipI donrsquot like all that or sexual innuendo Even the act about the fatsuitsmdashI am round and you know round is a perfect shaperdquoAnd the Hobo clown a beloved character worldwide made most famous by Charlie Chaplin ldquoBut we found it doesnrsquot do well in India because it is based on homelessnessrdquo says DrsquoSouza Understandably given the omnipresence of poverty ldquoWe donrsquot want people to feel guilty for laughing at someone elsersquos misfortunerdquo he says For instance Lauder afraid whether they would left him perform given the current political tensions with his home country Canada ldquoI told him of course they wouldrdquo stresses DrsquoSouza ldquoWhat we are doing has nothing to do with that issuerdquo ldquoWe are here to make people forget what is happening outside the four walls of the hallrdquo says KongSo what does a clown do to laugh when shersquos sad ldquoYou know what Jeff doesrdquo says Kong again clearly the gregarious one Rone and Toppo are limited by language Everyone laughs seeing how Potts is built like a tank ldquoI used to go to gymrdquo Kong continues ldquobut see what delicious Indian food has donerdquo He pinches a ring of flesh around his waist Most of them agree they divert their minds or connect with people they love Lauder turns to playing with his children DrsquoSouza cooks or heads to the ocean Kong performs for hospitalised children and Hashimoto turns to music and theatre and the performing arts ldquoBut even when I am listening to musicrdquo she says ldquoI am thinking about clowningmdashhow can I use this in an acthelliprdquoLike he said they are all clowns