No one could have known that Jango was to become, one day, one of the greatest clowns in the world.
However, one faithful day, the young CEO of a flourishing landscaping company discovered ‘The Fourth Way’, a book by philosopher P.B. Ouspensky. And that changed his life.
When he was done with the book, he sold his business and went on a quest to master the ‘Art of the Clown’.
Jango’s theory regarding the ‘Art of the Clown’ goes as follows
« The clown, whether we’re defining it as a form of art or a way of life, is as old as the smile. However, the professional status of the clown is no laughing matter. »
« To be a clown is to understand a form of art based on giving. It means using both the body and the heart, it means drawing from both the subtle and the obscene.
Being a clown is an attempt to release the tension created by the social situations that surround us every day and to think about these situations in the hope of generating understanding and awareness. The clown helps one understand these social situations and points out the things that need to be changed.
Being a clown means delivering information using humor in the hope that others will ultimately understand their mistakes and their successes. »
« Don’t make the mistake of thinking that a clown is sad by nature.
Being a clown means finding a certain freedom, breaking the status quo, escaping it and dancing with your soul. At the same time, having this freedom means that you have to learn and start understanding things. It means you have to discover through internal and external observation. The outer self must become a model of the absurd and the inner self must turn into a temple of reason.
A clown is the mirror in which we see ourselves, a mirror which keeps us in touch with what’s happening in the world. This is where the facade of sadness derives from. You see, the news aren’t always good, but the work of the clown is to make you laugh anyway in order to push you towards changing things.
The true question is this: if you think of a clown as a sad person and if you understand that said clown is a reflection of the times we live in, where is the pathos, really? »
« Now, when I speak of a ‘clown’, I’m speaking of clowns in their purest form, not the “whored out” version of them.
During recent years, the clown has become mostly desensitized. It has lost its sensuality due to a shift towards bigger and bigger stages and due to the vulgarization of circuses.
By analyzing the works of great clowns such as Popov, Jacobs, Grock, Coco and Kelly, we understand that their power of concentration and energy, their ability to control the pathos and ridiculous alike have allowed them to deliver more eloquence than any MGM musical comedy and more social criticism than any political party or organization.
Sometimes, even the smallest mentioning of a topic during a clown’s show might spark more thinking than 60 minutes of worldwide news coverage. »
« The most basic commodities of a clown – the smile and the frown – can be found everywhere. They know no boundaries. And still, no university, school or institution can manage to crack their secrets.
A clown has to make the soul laugh. »
« Becoming a professional clown takes years of learning, of self-development and a touch of madness. Being a clown is not an easy job and few get to do it well. There are some – well, hundreds – who have an ultimate comprehension of comedy. Yet still, they limit their understanding of success based on the concepts of the Western world rather than focusing on self-development and changing the world. »
« A clown is a giver. A clown has to give everything anywhere and anytime. A clown receives only while giving and the gift he receives for his work is priceless: the smile!»
« The process of being a clown starts through internal reflection: in order to help others, you must first be able to help yourself. You have no right to mirror the strengths and weaknesses of others without knowing your own first. We must first be able to laugh at ourselves in order to understand ourselves. »
« We are born clowns, all of us. We’re born clowns in the purest sense of the word. A clown innocent, curious, naive. It is the essence of youth. During our childhood, we are full of imagination and fantasy, and these characteristics are often influenced by our family and our social environment. »
« During our youth, we held freedom in our hands and played with it. But it was taken away from us as we grew up. As we move on through life, we crave it more and more. We wish to have it back and share it with others. »
« If you stop learning, humor will slowly slip away from you. A clown is a news teller and telling the news means understanding the news. One has to learn to observe. Comedy should seep right out of these events that surround us, as we are, in ourselves, comedy. »
« When you laugh, you use the body’s natural ability to relax. Laughing is a means of releasing tension, a way for our nervous system to eliminate the anxiety accumulated throughout the day. »
« Causing one to laugh is the foundation of being a clown. Getting one to think deeper about the issues in question is both our dream and our mission. A clown has the capacity to create awareness and this capacity is priceless. When you have all of these characteristics, when you are able to create this type of simulation, then you have truly become a clown.
We all have a clown deep inside us. Our mission is to help him find freedom.
We are hungry for laughter, all of us. We seek it every day: in the books we read, in the movies we watch, in the concerts we attend, in the plays we experience, in the music we listen to and in our very own being. »
« In laughter, we are all equal. We are all funny at times, to the delight of those around us. In these moments, the clown inside us begins making its way towards freedom and, with each person we make laugh, he comes closer and closer to finding it and passing it along.
A smile is universal. Everyone can understand it. As such, a clown is a universal character.
Never underestimate the power of a smile. Laughter changes lives. »
Jango Edwards