A Clown Writes About Vegas
Sometimes, when everything goes wrong, you’re in the right space
Hello, clowns!
I just finished my last big clown job of the year — a racing-themed clown show called Lights Out that took place during Formula One week in Vegas.
If you don’t watch or haven’t seen the Netflix show Drive to Survive, F1 is the largest racing circuit in the world. They spend billions putting on events in places like Barcelona, Monaco, Budapest and Singapore. This race took place on Vegas Boulevard – which meant shutting down much of the city for an entire week.
Our journey to create this show started in a much quieter setting. The desert town of Nipton, California. Nipton used to be a train stop and only has a few buildings with electricity and running water. The circus company Spiegelworld bought the town, in the hopes of turning it into a resort down the road. We were the first new show to be developed there. For two weeks, we created bits and cardboard sets in an abandoned schoolhouse. We put up the show twice in an old tavern for Spiegelworld employees who were bussed in from Vegas.
Vegas turned out to be more complicated. We’d been booked for four nights, but ended up only doing one midnight show. We thought we’d be in a DIY black box space that resembled the tavern in Nipton. Fifty people sitting on plastic folding chairs. Instead, they moved us to the OPM theater at the Cosmopolitan. Not only does the OPM theater seat 300 people, it’s designed for performance in the round with state-of-the-art tech and a hydraulic stage.
We had very little time to rewrite and reblock Lights Out – and only ten minutes to test new choreography the night of the show (OPM ran right before us). Our cardboard set pieces fell from the walls. Props broke. The smoke machines comically overproduced – leaving us and the first few rows in a fog. I accidentally spilled a VIPs drink because their table was too close to the stage, then lost my voice trying to project over the blaring music (only two of us had headset mics).
It was probably my most clown experience of the year. A total disaster. But that’s the beauty of this work. Failures are just unforeseen opportunities. We laughed, scrambled and created new bits based on the flops. We stayed connected to the audience — inviting them to laugh at our misfortune and enjoy the chaos.
A lot of people accepted the offer; others watched with total dismay.
It was very clear that F1 fans came expecting a different show. They’d spent big money to come to the races — which are associated with speed, style and a certain level of sophistication. Our show was criminally dumb. But the more the naysayers squirmed, the louder our supporters howled.
There’s something so satisfying about an audience at war with itself. It’s like a good pro wrestling match with the fans split down the middle. That kind of tension is stressful when you’re behind a fourth wall. Clowns can make it part of the game. We rewarded our supporters and playfully taunted our detractors. The show felt like a mild act of rebellion. We were bringing disorder to a professional stage — for a crowd of rich VIPs who value polish and precision.
In the end, we received a lot of praise, while many exhausted patrons rushed for the door. The best compliments came from circus folks who attended after a long night of doing their own shows. I have so much respect for acrobats, jugglers and contortionists. Their ability to do the impossible twice a night, five days a week, seems superhuman. It’s nice to know they respect our ability to live in chaos.
As far as the people who disliked the show, that’s also part of clown. When you only have one night to shine, you cannot play it safe. If you do, you’re just trying to survive the experience. The risk is what fuels the fun.
If you can’t get everyone to love you, at least give them a show that’s worth remembering.
OTHER CLOWN BUSINESS!
LISTEN TO STAND UP AND CLOWN (THE PODCAST) I just posted a great interview with veteran improviser Andel Sudik. There’s a great archive of old interviews with people who use clown elements in their work – along with solo pods where I discuss my philosophies surrounding the work.
APPLE PODCASTS: shorturl.at/DFKR5
SPOTIFY: shorturl.at/HPQ18
STAND UP AND CLOWN (THE SHOW) takes place last Mondays at 930pm at The Elysian Theater. The next show is November 27th. We’ve got an amazing lineup that includes Eddie Pepitone, Alice Wetterlund and Hannah Pilkes.
11/27: https://shorturl.at/gJOR4
ALSO CHECK OUT MY LINKTREE: https://linktr.ee/chad.damiani
AND FOLLOW ME @THECHADDAMIANI ON IG!