Bouffon: Dare to Mock

with Aitor Basauri

August 25 – August 31

Bouffon workshop students 2023

This workshop is currently sold out. You can join the waitlist for this workshop and we will be in touch when/if a spot opens up.

A love of the grotesque, the forbidden, bad taste, irony, parody, and all things deformed: These are the toys and tools of the Bouffon, the outcast who lives to provoke the audience without losing their love.

In contrast to the Clown, the Bouffon dares to mock the audience while simultaneously staying alive—a balancing act that requires supreme sensitivity and intelligence. The stakes could not be higher: If they lose the love of the audience, the Bouffon will be killed!

In this workshop, you will play games and exercises that will help you discover where your own personal Bouffon lives—a place of danger and daring.

Please note that this workshop invites you, through playful performance, to critique power in its many forms. You should be willing to dive into and embody material that may be considered difficult, as the workshop aims to bring historically marginalized voices and bodies, as well as subjects considered to be taboo or risqué, to the forefront.

Cost

Workshop with standard double-occupancy room with early bird discount: $900
The early bird discount (10%) expires on April 2.

Workshop with single-occupancy room: $1,500
There is no early bird discount for single-occupancy rooms.

Note: A $400 deposit is required when you register for a double occupancy room. A $750 deposit is required for a single occupancy room. The remainder of your balance will be due upon your arrival at Celebration Barn.

Registration

You will use Humanitix to fill out your application and submit your deposit.

  • Head to Humanitix and select your reservation type.
  • Fill out the application questions.
  • Complete your purchase.

After completing your purchase, a member of our team will be in touch to confirm your registration within 5-7 business days.

Note: A $400 deposit is required to reserve your space for a double occupancy room in a workshop. A $750 deposit is required to reserve your space in a single occupancy room. The remainder of your balance will be paid upon your arrival at Celebration Barn. See our General Info Page and Student Life for more information about the workshops and learn more about

  • Housing
  • Travel
  • Refund and cancellation policy
  • What to bring

Aitor Basauri

Aitor Basaui is joint artistic director, performer, and co-founder of Spymonkey. He is a performer, director, and one of the most eagerly sought-after teachers in the world for clown and physical comedy, a visiting tutor at the École Philippe Gaulier in Paris and Cirque du Soleil’s Cirque du Monde Foundation in Las Vegas. He teaches clown around the world in London, Berlin, Barcelona, Zurich, New York, Los Angeles, Colombia, and Mexico.

Photo: Rosie Powell

About Spymonkey

Since their inception in 1998 Spymonkey has created some of the most outstandingly original comedy theater, including Stiff, Cooped, Moby Dick, Oedipussy, and The Complete Deaths.

 Television and stage appearances have seen them work alongside Sacha Baron Cohen, Naomi Campbell, Miranda Hart, Sandi Toksvig, Ronnie Corbett, Fiona Shaw, and Nick Frost.

Widely acknowledged as world leaders in the fields of clown and physical comedy, they are sought out as teachers, consultants, and directors for their insight and experience in creating brilliant, original, and singular work by organizations such as the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre.

Their expanding program of professional masterclasses and workshops regularly sell out in New York, Los Angeles, Berlin, and London.