While the weather promises rain, the Manchester ClownFest promises nothing but smiles and laughter to brighten up your drizzly day.
For the first time in our long, rich and varied history Manchester has experienced its very first Clown Festival. Positioned in Exchange Square, the festival’s 100-seat Omnitorium is home to a host of local and award-winning performers. Many of which have travelled from London’s ClownFest and are soon to be hitting the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. ClownFest is Manchester’s only celebration of the wacky, the weird and the wonderful.
You may think that ClownFest is a strange concept. However, the foundation of the festivities is anything but. Just as the Charlie Chaplin quote that forms the heart of the festival reads: ‘I remain just one thing, and one thing only, and that is a clown. It places me on a far higher plane than any politician.’
Clown Fest offers a weekend packed full of fun and giggles with a little bit of something for everyone. Taking place both inside the Omnitorium and outside for the street theatre shows, the ClownFest weekend celebrations are fit for all the family.
From Maynard Flip Flap to Billy Button’s Awesome Kazoo Workshop, there is plenty of audience involvement for the little ones. The Storytellers, adorned in white lab coats, big red bow ties and wacky wigs, are both extravagant and unsurprisingly hilarious. On a quest to ‘crack the formula for the perfect story’, The Storytellers do exactly what their namesakes suggest. Audience participation, stage props, silly voices and endless imagination are used to bring stories to life.
Watch out for today’s shows ranging from Honky Bonk Theatre Captain Cauliflower and Marvin the Mischievous Moose. Also hitting the stage is Little Wonder, Cyril the Squirrel and Waggledance, a swarm of friendly bees on a hunt for a new home in the streets of Manchester.
A message from yesterday’s celebrations became clear: you don’t have to wear a red nose and big shoes to be a clown. By 4pm the children’s entertainment ends and fun for adults begins. Bob Slayer took to the stage and his unscripted clowning was the light-hearted comedy that is universally welcomed.
Lucy Hopkin’s performance is unlike anything you could ever imagine. Part electro-ritual and part theremin-experiment, Hopkin’s performs a spiritual quest that results in endless laughter. From the mime of passing a baby to other audience members to ‘finding the meaning’ of a passing dog outside, her outtake on the spiritual wonders of the world are comedic to say the least.
The headline show for Friday night’s festivities was ‘The Bestest Cabaret in the North West’. Comprising of eight different acts. The audience saw Nana Funk wow the crowds not only with her voice but with her scandalous politically-orientated rendition of ‘I Dreamed a Dream’.
The mime of Das Schwimmer’s act was uplifting and extremely original. A large piece of blue fabric, held at either end by two members of the audience, comprised the water. His synchronised swimming mime that followed was nothing short of hilarious.
As the night went on, the adult humour became glaringly obvious. ‘Emily Tapioca & The Art of Disapointment’ (misspelling intentional) even saw its performer strip down to the nude, using only his ukulele to hide his erm…modesty.
Finally, ‘A Ship of Fools’ closed the show with their hour-long set. Their clowning performance of Santa and his elf was the darker form of comedy the day saw, and yet still produced laughter from the crowd. Despite being in the month of July, the entire audience joined in verse for the Christmas carols that ended the laugh-out-loud show.
Tonight, the festival will see the likes of Roisin and Chiara, The Establishment and Red B*stard take centre stage.
In spite of the dull weather, the vibrancy and life of the audience was almost palpable. We Mancunians have proved that not even drizzle can dampen our spirits.
