LIVE DEVISE!
LIVE DEVISE!
Hosted By the CoHo Clown Cohort
Oct. 2nd: 6 PM Social Hour, 7 PM Live Devise
The CoHo Clown Cohort is launching a new clown show and we need your help mining for comedic gold. Join us for LIVE DEVISE, a performance that allows audience members to peek into the CoHo Clown Cohort process of using story, themes, and signature clown techniques to generate performance content.
The evening will incorporate structured improvisation, suggestions from the audience, and devised “in the moment” bits. The audience’s feedback, laughter, and applause will be an integral part in our creative process as we LIVE DEVISE for you. Whether you have been following the Cohort since 2017 or this is your first introduction, come delight in comedic hijinks while contributing to the creation of a new CoHo Clown Cohort performance.
About the CoHo Clown Cohort
“The difference between a great comic performer and a clown is that a clown doesn’t know he’s a clown. I think there’s a way in which, when society is in turmoil and we’re yelling and not listening to one another, theater is a place to feel the sting and yet find the balm to soothe it somehow. And I think clown work does that particularly well. The idea, the goal, is to find some profound truth, with a lot of glee, a lot of magic, and a center that’s deeply connected to the human spirit.”
-Philip Cuomo
Supported by a Creative Heights grant from the Oregon Community Foundation, the CoHo Clown Cohort was created by Philip Cuomo to cultivate an experimental ensemble of clown performers and contextualize clowning in the modern theatre landscape. Since its inception in 2017, the Clown CoHort has relied on the CoHo Creative Pipeline to generate content and develop its unique style. These days, the CoHo Clown Cohort serves as the funny bone of CoHo Productions. Hosting free monthly clown meetups, performing on the Mainstage, and presenting a series of clowning workshops throughout the year, come on down to CoHo to see the Clown Cohort in all their spectacular, ridiculous glory.
Meet the Clowns
Sascha Lynn Blocker (Facilitator) is a performer, director, and creator of original work. She earned an MFA in Lecoq Based Actor Created Theater from the London International School of Performing Arts (LISPA) in conjunction with Naropa University. Local credits include: Hand2Mouth, CoHo, Imago, Third Rail, Post 5, Liminal Performance Group, and the Portland Actors Conservatory.
Sascha was an associate artist for Drammy award-winning theater company Push Leg and is currently a member of the CoHo Clown Cohort. Sascha also works as an adjunct faculty member and teaches classes in Communication Studies and Theater. Theater teaching includes movement, improvisation, devising theater, and clowning.
Emily June Newton (Facilitator) is an international multi-skilled comedic performer specializing in the areas of clown, physical comedy and character creation. Originating from Australia, she now resides in Portland, Oregon. Emily has performed both nationally and internationally with companies including Terrapin Puppet Theater (AUS), Oregon Children’s Theater (OR, USA), The Children’s Art Theater of China (Shanghai, CHN) and Dell’Arte International (CA, USA).
Emily also writes, performs and tours solo interactive comedic works throughout the USA including Frank: to be Frank and For the love of down under: an evening with Australia. Emily holds a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Ensemble-Based Physical Theater from Dell’Arte International (CA, USA), and is a member of the Coho Clown Cohort (CoHo Productions PDX).
Amica Hunter (they/them) is a multidisciplinary artist and performer who has been devising, performing, and producing clown shows since 2012. They are a graduate of the San Francisco Circus Center’s Clown Conservatory Program under director Joe Dieffenbacher. Amica is a co-founder of the multi-award winning physical comedy duo, A Little Bit Off, which has created and toured shows around the US, Canada, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. A Little Bit Off’s physical comedy show Bella Culpa was a part of CoHo’s Summerfest series in 2016, and in 2019, Amica got to work with Philip Cuomo as part of the CoHo Clown Cohort in Witch Hunt. What an honor to work with such a fun, generous, and clever man. Amica is thrilled to be back at CoHo doing what they love with these loving, brilliant, and inspiring clowns.
Jeff Desautels is a founding member of the award-winning clown troupe, Box of Clowns, with whom he has performed all over the world. Benefiting from pushing themselves past expected limits physically and mentally, and through ruthless play, and fierce editing, Box of Clowns aims to create visceral, emotional, and provocative experiences for their audiences.
Locally, Jeff has performed in Portland with CoHo Clown Cohort Theatre, Tears of Joy Theater, Sir Cupcake’s Queer Circus, and Fou Fou Ha. He also performs frequently as the drag queen persona, Mysteria.
Kristen Schier is a teacher at the University of the Arts as well as a performer, instructor and Improv Producer at the Philly Improv Theater. She is also the Artistic Director of The Philly N Crowd, which performs weekly improv shows at The Actor’s Center. She has taught improv for Delaware Theater Company, Drexel University, and The Actor’s Center. Kristen has a B.F.A. in Theater Arts from the University of the Arts and has been working in Philly as a professional actor, improviser and teacher for several years. As an actor she has worked with Commonwealth Classic Theater Company, Shakespeare in Clark Park, and Ego Po. She has appeared in many productions including the originally created Art of War, which received a Barrymore Nomination for Outstanding Ensemble. Kristen has also studied clowning intensively with Virginia Scott and Giovanni Fusetti. She has studied improv at The Second City, the Annoyance Theater in Chicago and the Magnet Theater in NYC.
Beth Summers is a graduate of The Actors Conservatory (formerly Portland Actors Conservatory) where she studied physical theater and clown under Philip Cuomo. Locally, she has worked with Action/Adventure Theatre, Lakewood Theatre, Shaking the Tree Theatre, Post5 Theatre Company, Anonymous Theatre Company, Hillsboro Artists’ Regional Theatre, Integrity Productions and FUSE Theatre Ensemble. Beth was one of the original devisers and performers in Push Leg’s The Intimacy Project. She has also performed original and devised work at Scratch PDX, ForemanFest, and Fertile Ground.
Summer Olsson is a performer, writer, director, and designer. Her career has included touring devised theatre through Europe, being one-half of the clowns in Duo Doppio, and playing kids’ shows across the PNW with a trash puppet rock band. Her most recent role was as Second Second Assistant Director on the Guillermo Del Toro stop motion film Pinocchio. Summer is a graduate of Dell’ Arte International Physical Theater School.