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Four clowns stir up a strange stew of ideas about faith in this playful and highly physical comedy
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Stage — Chris Wiegand
‘Anyone ever been born before?” That’s a rare bid for relatable crowd work in this buzzy, bizarre hour by a bunch of cowled Los Angeles clowns-cum-monks , nominated for Edinburgh’s best comedy newcomer award . We witness the birth of one, umbilical cord held by the others, with a “goo goo ga ga – G’day!” greeting gurgled by D Marcucci as the mercurial newborn.
But everyone on stage seems to be discovering their body for the first time. John Norris is half-fascinated, half-frightened, on removing his robe’s hood, to realise he has a bushy moustache. Claire Woolner and Max Baumgarten are not just finding their voices but simply getting used to having a tongue in their mouths.
In a show co-directed by Norris and Corey Podell, this pack of monks nervously shuffles among us clutching each other as well as a bowl of water. A lanyard is torn from an audience member and thrown in with a satanic sizzle. They appear bound by a secret code that they may not quite remember. All fingers and thumbs with the bowl, their ritual devolves into a game of rock, paper, scissors with some tricksy lighting. When they dunk themselves, the bowl becomes a mystical portal for each monk’s interlinking vision.
Rather than plunge in, I spent the first few minutes sceptical, wary of self-indulgence as the quartet endlessly fretted. But with each passing chime that rings out, the show becomes a richly weird stew of ideas – about connection, alienation, the limits of language – expressed through masterly movement.
Related: Clown Show review – after 250 years, the American dream explodes over one anarchic night
The dynamic between each individual and the rest of the ensemble is carefully choreographed even outside routines such as a ball in a nonsense kingdom, a slow duet with an audience member soundtracked to Adele or the Bob Fosse-esque routine that meets Marcucci’s birth.
The foursome are testing faith too – not just in an irresistible repeated gag where they don’t fully understand how to do a trust fall. It’s one of those shows that retains the giddy spirit of an easy-to-imagine devising process. Twisted and twisty until a flurry of final reveals, this monkish mischief also leaves lots to contemplate.
At Assembly George Square Gardens, Edinburgh , until 30 August. Then at Soho theatre, London , 11-23 January
But everyone on stage seems to be discovering their body for the first time. John Norris is half-fascinated, half-frightened, on removing his robe’s hood, to realise he has a bushy moustache. Claire Woolner and Max Baumgarten are not just finding their voices but simply getting used to having a tongue in their mouths.
This report is published with credit to theguardian.com. Full available text from the wire is above. Read on theguardian.com →
Source: theguardian.com · Chris Wiegand. Published 29 Aug 2026, 01:01 pm.
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