ALL LEVELS - No experience necessary
Saturday & Sunday: 1-5pm with a short break (8 hours over two days)
SLIDING SCALE $120-200// $160 Suggested
Includes a ticket to Anne Zander is MOTHER on October 25th at Wild Man!
(Check your confirmation email for PROMO CODE)
“Anne’s teaching gives me access to a grounded, primal, less judgmental version of myself. I’ve learned the importance of simplicity, failure, connection with the audience, and connection with myself in a way that’s changed my experience of performing (and life?) in a really fun and meaningful way.”
— Haley Klarfeld: standup comic, improviser, clown
Learn the fundamentals of physical comedy from “master of physical comedy” Anne Zander. Drawing on clowning, vocal exploration, comedy archetypes and more, this weekend intensive will help you develop deeper body awareness, lean into vulnerability, and build new (literal!) comedy muscles to entertain and amaze.
You will learn to make an instant and continuous connection to the audience, discover your own unconscious physicality and learn to build on or shed it as needed. From precision exercises like takes and isolations to physical improvisations to building character from the outside in, you can bring the lessons of this class to your everyday as well as stage performances.
Stand ups love this class! Improvisers love this class! Political science professors love this class! All levels are very welcome, no performance experience necessary.
This is a physical class! We will be moving our bodies and working up a sweat, so wear what feels good to move in, and bring water. We will be working barefoot. If your access needs or preferences prevent this, please wear grippy socks or clean shoes you can move in.
“I'm grateful for how hard you push us and especially how you can be demanding and supportive and harsh and loving and serious and lighthearted all at the same time -- your ability to hold balance in all things is super impressive to me, and I love you for it.”
—Jack Miller, Assistant Professor of Political Science
Whether you want to bring more physicality to your everyday life or add new strings to your comedy bow, Anne Zander’s supportive teaching style and professional experience will push you to make new discoveries, build the confidence to create boldly, and unleash your inner clown!
ABOUT YOUR TEACHER:
Anne Zander (she/her/hers) is a “completely ridiculous… completely vulnerable” actor, clown, solo-character creator and physical comedy teacher with an MA in devised, physical theater (Theatre Lab) from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. She studied clowning there and beyond with her award-winning teacher, Peta Lily.
Her “painfully funny” debut solo show — JUICEBOX — took Portland by storm in 2019 and was Official Selection 2020 at Chicago Sketchfest, Dallas Comedy Festival and HBO’s Women in Comedy Festival (Boston). The pandemic brought forth the digital works Do A Character and her longer, fertility-themed Fertile Ground show, Prolific.
Her second solo show, Anne Zander is MOTHER, debuted at CoHo ClownFest 2023 and was an audience favorite at Fertile Ground 2024. Called “raw and primal and surprising and side-splittingly funny” by BroadwayWorld, this show is headed on a Pacific Northwest tour in Fall 2024.
Anne performs regularly at comedy venues across Portland and is also the mother to twin toddlers, who made multiple stage appearances in utero but have yet to bring their own clown antics to the greater public.
Mission Statement:
Le Why Not Productions embraces the intersection of the grotesque and the beautiful, the vulnerable and the powerful, the fringe and the familiar. Our mission is to dissolve barriers between audience and performers, shine laughter into the dark corners of the human experience, and create a space where these contrasts collide and harmonize through the art of comedy.
About:
Le Why Not specializes in live clown-character shows, where the absence of the fourth wall creates a unique, living audience experience. Our core principles - vulnerability, connection, precision and presence - are the cornerstones of our performances and classes, inviting our audiences and students to move from waves of laughter to profound recognition and back again.
Named after a quirky bar in a small French town with a dark but irreverent atmosphere, our company is inspired by the blending of cultures, the joy of crossing linguistic and artistic boundaries, and the ‘Why not?’ spirit that ignites playful complicity and laughter.
In addition to our live theater productions, we also offer classes in clowning and physical comedy. More than just a space to learn an art form, these classes will challenge your habits and inhibitions, push you to take risks, and create a space for self-discovery, play, discipline and liberation.
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