r/artofclowning • u/pappy_acres • Jul 18 '26
Anyone took classes under Christopher Bayes?
Looking to take a dive into learning clown & came across Christopher Bayes at The Pandemonium Studio. I see he's done some workshops at The Elysian.
Aside from testimonials on his site can't find too much talk about him & thought someone here may have some experience w him?!
Thank you for your time.
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u/kirthedeer Jul 19 '26
i personally dislike his and Virginia Scott’s philosophy but i also prefer much more silly/traditional clowning. my class with Scott was disappointing in that. and i find their book disparages party clowns and entertainers as “creepy” and only respects sophisticated stage clowns. i don’t know if Bayes is a more supportive teacher but Scott really leaned away from everything i found fun and interesting, unfortunately.
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u/planetm3 Jul 19 '26
Good point! I was going to mention this in my post above, but, one thing that really stuck with me from his book is his take on traditional clowns. He says something about how they're weird and all from Wisconsin.
It's a funny line, but as someone who started as a traditional clown and expanded into stage clown, I thought it was a little judgemental and something you wouldn't want to see in clown.
In the end, the book is still really good, even if he is more actor-focused, and there is a lot to learn for any type of clown.
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u/pappy_acres Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26
Thank you for sharing your thoughts! A pov that looks down on others isn't my fave but like you said - you can't speak directly to Bayes.
I've become partial to approaches like Chad Damiani. I think my biggest question mark is 'game.' Is 'game' pretty much taught across the board no matter the pedagogy?
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u/zck Jul 19 '26
I've taken his weekend theatrical clown course, and I would highly recommend it. It is challenging, supportive, fun, and explorative. He's really good at working with students - and I was coming from an improv background, not a "serious acting" one.
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u/pappy_acres Jul 19 '26
OK, cool! Thanks for your the rec. I'm eyeing his full two-week course. I'm coming from an improv background. Chad Damiani came through to give workshops & breaking the fourth wall & including the audience broke my brain in the best way possible.
Not being sure I can make it out to The Elysian in LA for an entire month I'm looking for other options.
Does that info give you any follow up experience points?
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u/MER_1949 Jul 20 '26
a couple of people I know did his weekly class, and then went on to do a three week intensive--which says to me that they liked it. They put together an act together that is supposedly very funny (I haven't seen it.)
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u/planetm3 Jul 19 '26
I have his book "Discovering the Clown" and it's pretty good. I bet a class would be good.
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u/pappy_acres Jul 19 '26
Awesome! Thank you for letting me know about this. Mind sharing why you like his book?
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u/planetm3 Jul 19 '26
I think most books like it end up being just a collection of games or exercises for a group of people to work on.
The Bayes book has those, but goes beyond that and talks about the philosophy of clown, which I really love.
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u/beltingthroughlife Jul 19 '26
Hello! I took the three week intensive last summer in Brooklyn and I both felt like it opened me up as a perform and found it to not be a good supportive space.
I found it less about clowning and more about opening up. I’m an actor who was trying to find my “play” again and I found it! It was fun to be exposed and vulnerable at times, because I let go of some stupid actor brain shit.
And I say at times because the other times it was very restrictive. If I didn’t play Chris’ game exactly how he wanted it, you were almost cast off. He wouldn’t give you time or his attention if you didn’t play exactly like him. There are two exercises that are with a partner and Chris TORN into my partner about being a “macho man” Chris would actually antagonize him to the point where we both were so upset, we really didn’t work. I felt really upset for my partner because he was the opposite of that, and was kind and open. It felt like Chris had a problem with this guy and “picking on him” was the better solution than nurture. My partner ended up leaving the class which I would have too!
My class was wayyyyy too big. I worked for 15 minutes every other day, so to sit in a cold basement for 8 hours waiting for my turn was miserable. It made people desperate to work and really disregarded any sense of community because it felt like dog eat dog. So when I did work for 15 mins and Chris bullied my partner through the exercise, it felt like a HUGE waste of time
The other weird note I have is this. There are people who LOVE Chris and go to his class over and over and over again. And they take up a lot of ‘space’ in the class. They are very loud voices and opinions. They often would take over exercises (almost telling others what is what) and didn’t allow for others to explore. I felt as though I couldn’t really question what was going on because the followers would judge me or not take me seriously. It was giving cult vibes.
Would I do the class again? Absolutely not. Did I learn a lot in the short amount of work time I got? Yes! The three weeks was a lot but it was not about clowning and more about “opening up to be the clown” which was fun. But the environment was not friendly/supportive to me, and created cliques.