IT IS A LAUGHING MATTER
My Brother is a Clown…Literally
An Awk-ward situation
My brother has always been a funny one. Charming and able to make people laugh. He also knows a lot about clowns. Studied them in university in fact.
Then he became one.
A tragic clown called Awk, inspiring laughs and even ‘awws.’ He dances, he falls about, he even sings. Let me tell you about how I met him…
A skeleton, a clown, and his brother walk into a pub…
After my brother visited me in my flat, my friends who were also my close neighbors at the time went with me to see him at the show in Leeds, the city close to the one I lived in most of my life, Wakefield.
It was the first time I saw him live other than through the windows on Facebook.
We went to a small darkened pub that for some reason had a prop skeleton as part of its décor-at least I hoped it was a prop.
It was an alternate comedy night, to which I enjoyed and more importantly survived an evening where not only did a woman scream in my face but a man tried to drink my forehead through a straw. Say what you like, but it was memorable.
Then it was time for Awk to perform.
An impish, awkward clown prancing about on stage, interactive with the audience like a skittish child craving affection. Funny, and as my friend said later, ‘cute’
Then at the end, he got out his ukulele and sang a song that drained the hope and happiness from the room (And I mean that in a good way)
Awk-ward? more like Awe-inspiring.
Pass the tissues. No, I’m not crying, I’ve just got a snotty nose, honest.
Awk-ward event at the Arthouse
So my sibling was soon to perform in my brotherly presence again, at an event in my hometown for a mental health charity called ‘Catch a Falling Star’ in a building called the Arthouse.
He danced with the audience, a hat stand, and made an airplane out of some old books.
Awe-some!
An Awk-ward interview
So thank you for agreeing to do this interview, Alex. So we begin at question one, Which I think is appropriate for a beginning.
So, clowning. What made you decide to do it?
Clowning's super deep and like super, super depressing, and I thought I’m into that
Well, that’s a very good question, Mr. Grieve. So at university, there were three modules we could pick for our year-long module the second year. None appealed to me, but with clowning, we got to make a show at the end of it. Like most people, I thought clowning was; put on a red nose, do some juggling, fall over a bit. I wasn’t into it. Then I saw a Slava snow show. I was like, WOW, clowning's super deep and like super, super depressing, and I thought I’m into that.
And then I worked in theatre for about five years and I didn’t really make theatre and I thought about what was important to me and what I wanted to work and I saw a lot of theatres that were kind of without heart. And I wanted to put some heart in. I felt at the time there was a lot of loneliness, especially at the Edinburgh fringe, and I thought I would work that in and say it’s OK to be lonely and went on from there.
Well, that's a deep reason, a good reason for anyone to want to a clown. So the second question, tell us about Awk; what kind of clown are they?
So Awk is a lonely clown, who doesn’t talk, they sing and singing is universal. Technically, he’s a type of Augustine-type clown. But Awk’s just there because he wants to be loved.
But doesn't necessarily understand or know that they have that love in front of them. Clowns are kind of naïve in that sense and discovering the world as they go along. They have objectives but don’t understand them sometimes.
Well sounds like you’ve got a deep understanding of clowning, and Awk. Can you please tell us how Awk interacts with the audience?
So I think there are three key things you need in a clown show. The first one is the world he lives in. All work no play the first show, set in an office. The second thing is our for need empathy, the clown needs to be the audience's connection to themselves, its the uncanny nature of the clown that allows them to does it, it comes from the circus, you have got the high wiring and the clowns are used to breach that gap.
Awk starts on a fail
And the last thing is a bit of magic, theatre magic, that allows the audience to forget they are in a theatre and believe a jacket in a coat stand may be a person. Someone once told me Awk is the nicest and gentlest audience interaction they’ve ever heard. You should know if you go see a clown show somethings probably going to happen to you. It’s about giving the audience room to play and feeding them that.
The first thing I will do is fall over. Awk starts on a fail. Awk will get an audience member to tie a tie on Awk. It should be something everything should be able to do, not too intimidating. And then you build from there. Because no one wants to feel uncomfortable. Awk makes himself feel uncomfortable, but Awk makes everyone else feel like it's a nice warm place to be, and that's what I want the play to be.
Would you say the act has grown as you’ve gone on?
Yeah, like most people the first time you get up and do something you have no idea what you are doing. The first time Awk performed it was in front of a family of 4, (not my lowest number, probably the average laughs) after years of performing you got a lot more comfortable with it. I have really bad stage fright. Awk takes that away, and Awk not saying anything helps with that.
It’s more important to be interested then interesting
The solo show was originally 20 minutes long. I rushed everything, now it runs about an hour with something really being added. You just learn things. The whole musical thing was never really a thing but was added when doing cabaret.
You just get more comfortable with playing with people. Someone once said to me ‘it's more important to be interested than interesting’ So clowns are so curious about everything. That’s what makes them endearing and there have times when I’ve gone on a 15-minute tirade. The more you perform, the freer you become.
Can you say what you have learned about being a clown? Not just about the act and about clowns, but dare I say it, even about life?
I don’t know… There's been a lot of difficulties…. in my Edinburgh show…. and you work really hard…no one shows, one person audiences.
Then one show I thought I nailed it, I had a class who didn’t speak English who were on their phones and I took them and handed them to the technician. I wasn't in the best spirits going into Edinburgh.
There is a redemptive force of theatre in the world
But then I had one show and there was one lady at the back, and I run over and I came up and shook her hand and brought her forward and I put this jacket (like Awk’s only friend) and I pick up the coat hand and waved at the audience. And she picked it up and waved it back. It was like the loveliest moment. And things like that, I’ve got this cynical view of theatre…
With how do make theatre if you can’t make money out of it? It’s moments like that where you think there is a redemptive force of theatre in the world, where whether it's one person or a thousand. Making theatre is hard, but there is that redemptive thing, and theatre matters.
Didn’t really answer the question but… err… (laughs)
You know what Alex, I think you did answer in a way. It worked on different layers, not just into the act but what you’ve gone through. So my penultimate question, what are your inspirations or influences for Awk?
Slava is definitely up there. I got to see it a few years ago. Clowning is not supposed to be depressing, but in one show he pulls up a rope and it turns out to be a noose. Actually, that whole show is about life and death and rebirth. Chaplin. A lot of stuff from Chaplin. More just the outlook of his work. You look at ‘The Great Dictator’ and that final speech.
Kneehigh is a wonderful, dark, brilliant theatre company. Everything they make is full of wonder and magic. Magpie is the best word. All people that create work are thieves, but wonderfully Brechtian. God, I’ve got a theatre degree. And just dark, uplifting, brilliant, everyone should watch everything the Kneehigh does, they are the best.
Now for the last question, I have a problem, as I’d like to ask Awk, but I know he doesn’t talk, but I assume you know what he’d like to communicate at this point?
(silence…followed by music on a piano)
Well played
Other things and what’s he up to now
Awk has done footage for an interactive game and continues to do shows, online and in the flesh.
Here are some links to his pages:
