PHYSICAL COMEDY

Tuesdays, January 26 through March 2

Instructors: Mark Jaster and Sabrina Mandell
Prior Experience: Not required

Explore the physical techniques that support comic performance, with exercises in stillness, reaction, mimetic gesture, physical characterization, status, clown and much more. Mark draws on his training with Etienne Decroux and Marcel Marceau. Sabrina draws on her training in the LeCoq pedagogy with Dody DiSanto with concentration in the realm of the theatrical clown. Their complementary approaches combine to address both nuts-and-bolts technical skills and more elusive issues of honesty, presence, and accessibility.

Mark Jaster and Sabrina Mandell, STC Teaching Artists
Last Seen In: BAROCOCO at Baltimore Theatre Project. BAROCOCO was part of the 2018 Curated Series at Fringe and was voted Best Comedy of the Festival.

What Their Students Say:

• “Sabrina and Mark are awesome! Love’em! Technical, experiential, deep. I could do this every week.”
• “Class was great fun and a great introduction into the world of clowning.”

Recognition: Winner of FIVE Helen Hayes Awards including Outstanding Ensemble and Outstanding Lead Actor
Website: www.happenstancetheater.com
From the Syllabus:
Week One: Stillness, Observation, Exaggeration, Flying with Nothing, Balance of Form and Content
Week Two: Beginning Theatrical Clown, get messy and have fun, tap your resources
Week Three: Bold physical choices, The Flop, Finding the Game, Improvising
Week Four: Clarity and Specificity in Physical Expression, Using the Structure to Connect
Week Five: Structure work continued, Comic Violence/Slapstick
Week Six: Status play, Escalation, Synthesis: Form, Content and Construction