Join us for the
2024 CoHo Clown Festival
2024 CoHo Clown Festival
CoHo is thrilled to launch our third annual Clown Festival, celebrating physical comedy, movement arts, humor, and fringe performance! Our goal is to embrace the entire clown community and center CoHo as a home to clowns from all walks of life.
Before Philip Cuomo passed, he shared dreams with our team about his vision for the CoHo circus, imagining our little black box theater as a central hub for circus artists across the country to gather, create, and spread joy with their latest creative characters. Today, the idea for the circus has evolved into what has become the CoHo Clown Festival, a four-week celebration of all things funny.
CoHo is the place for clown, for physical comedy with an absurdist spin, for community and connection, for laughing and letting go. When our artists find joy, our community finds joy, and we can’t wait to share four weeks of playful whimsy with you.
The CoHo Clown Festival will take place from September 6 – October 6, 2024 at the CoHo Theater, located at 2257 NW Raleigh Street Performances will run Thursday – Sunday at 7:30 PM. Tickets to all ClownFest performances are Pay-What-You-Can. For those interested in seeing multiple shows during the run of the festival, a ClownFest FastPass grants you entry for one to every show on the 2024 roster. FastPasses are available on sliding-scale basis – Grab yours today!
ClownFest FastPass
Interested In Catching Everything The Festival Has To Offer?
We’ve Got A CoHo ClownFest FastPass For That!
Available on a sliding scale basis, FastPasses for the 2024 CoHo Clown Festival grants you access to every performance* during the festival run. Socialize with us during the pre-show happy hour in the lobby, dance it out with us during Philip’s Dance Ritual, quest with traveling rogues, delve into a whimsical world of illusion, explore the absurdity of bodily functions, get one of the first glimpses of the CoHo Clown Cohort’s latest work-in-progress, and clown around with some of the funniest folx around, all for one fixed price that compliments your budget.
OF NOTE: The ClownFest FastPass is good for every performance during the run of the festival.
The Clown Workshop on September 11th is not included in this promotion.
How it Works
- Step 1: Select your price point ($50, $75, $100, $150, $200) and book your FastPass.
- Step 2: Pick up your FastPass. We’ll have your physical FastPass waiting for you at the theater. See the Front of House Manager when you arrive to pick up your physical pass at your first show.
- Step 3: No need to book tickets! Simply show your FastPass to the Front of House Manager at the door and they’ll punch your card, then book your tickets on the spot.
- Step 4: Advanced booking available! Want to book ahead of time? Email us and we’ll get your tickets to the entire festival on the books.
- Step 5: Kick back and get goofy! You now have unlimited, insider access to the entirety of our 2024 CoHo Clown Festival.
2024 Festival Lineup
Full of whimsy and wonder, we have a wonky, wild, wonderful lineup ahead of us.
Check out what’s ClownFest 2024 has in store!
Opening Follies: Clown Dance Ritual
Hosted by Rachel Wells
September 6, 2024 @ 7:30 PM
Come one, come all to the CoHo Clown Festival Opening Follies. Join host Rachel Wells who will lead us in Philip Cuomo’s Clown Dance Ritual. Everyone is invited to participate in this joyful, high-intensity, celebratory, guided dance ritual. Bring your dancing shoes and playful spirit, no experience is required. Costume options will be provided.
LIVE DEVISE!
Presented by the CoHo Clown Cohort
September 7, 2024 @ 7:30 PM
The CoHo Clown Cohort is launching a new clown show and we need your help mining
for comedic gold. Live Devise allows audience members to peek inside the CoHo Clown Cohort rehearsal 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 will be an integral part in our creative process as we move forward with creating our show.
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.
Tutti-Frutti
Presented By Iveliz Martel
September 8, 2024 @ 7:30 PM
Join an apricot from Chile in cleverly plotting her escape from a packinghouse in pursuit of her ultimate dream: to shine as a soap opera superstar. Along her journey, this spirited apricot encounters the formidable presence of Paola Bracho, her idol and a beloved diva of Mexican telenovelas. Infused with humor and heart, this solo clown show explores the themes of migration, dreams, and the stumbles towards success.
Clown Workshop
Presented by Jusby the Clown
September 11, 2024 from 6:30 – 9:30 PM
Jusby The Clown will teach the art of Spooky Clown, Butoh and Laughter Yoga. Feel the fear and spook ’em anyway with Jusby the Clown. Using exercises from Butoh dance and Laughter Yoga, we will walk the subtle edge of the haunt clown. Jusby studied Butoh (Japanese post-modern dance) at the Evergreen State College with the late Doranne Crable and was a member and chief videographer of the troupe Kagami for several years. Butoh uses elements of the grotesque, taboo, and absurd in ways that echo the Bouffon clown.
OF NOTE: This workshop is for participants who are 18+.
Omong Kosong: Trickster Tales of Indonesia and Elsewhere
Presented by Jusby the Clown
September 12, 2024 @ 7:30 PM
“Omong Kosong” is a phrase that means nonsense (literally ‘Empty Chatter’), and Jusby brings to life several Indonesian fables in honor of his maternal ancestors, sharing two classic fables and two contemporary looks at childhood. He’ll be sure to include both traditional and avant-garde clown techniques. A modern comedic twist on lessons learned from Indonesian legends, Jusby deftly weaves tales of his ancestors into present-day quandaries.
The Identical Twins
Presented by The Identical Twins
September 13 & 14, 2024 @ 7:30 PM
Have you ever caught your reflection wink at you? Have friends and family sworn they saw you, moments before the “real” you walked through the door? Have you found yourself face to face with a stranger, wearing the same clothes, moving at the same time? Are any of us really unique? And if not, could we all share, somewhere in the universe… an Identical Twin? Two of these souls find themselves meeting at the strangest moments, throughout time and space, in many different bodies. They dance a never-ending pas de deux: sometimes at odds, sometimes in sync, offbeat, clashing, coming together. In this lifetime, the Identical Twins are found lost and afraid in an abandoned Sears at the Lloyd Center with no memory of where they came from. Their uncanny resemblance and otherworldly dance talent have wowed audiences the world over. Appearing in Portland in their first evening-length engagement, don’t walk, don’t run, WALTZ to CoHo to see Allie Menzimer and Jeff Desautels as The Identical Twins in their self-titled spectacular.
Funny Bones – Everyday Clown
Hosted By Sascha Blocker
September 15, 2024 @ 7:30 PM
In everyday life we are clowns, or at least we have moments where we enter the world of clown:
- The moment you were too nervous to dance with a crush
- The moment you awkwardly tried to chit-chat with a ghost
- The moment you had a near meltdown when your 5-year-old niece asked if she could have your 1980s barbie collection
Funny Bones is a live storytelling event inspired by these everyday moments. Storytellers will share a true story that highlights elements of clown in their everyday life. Come be delighted in these uniquely relatable stories.
Storytellers: Bui, Betsy Cross, Isaac Lamb, Frayn Masters, October Moore, Beth Summers, & Kayla Kelly.
PSA: Pelvic Service Announcement
Presented by Amy Veltman
September 19 & 21, 2024 @ 7:30 PM
When “know-it-all” NYC comedian Amy Veltman sought help for some pelvic floor issues, she quickly learned just how much she didn’t know about her body’s most basic functions. Why didn’t her OB/GYN dad ever tell her anything important? While in treatment, Amy discovered hilarious and humbling truths about herself that go much deeper than the pelvic floor. Veltman shares it all in this multimedia extravaganza featuring unforgettable characters, original songs, and just a little bit of Lysol. Join Amy for a delightful night of entertainment meant for every body.
Slutheby’s Live Auction
Presented by Libby
September 20, 2024 @ 7:30 PM
An exclusive live auction featuring original oil paintings by American Treasure Miss Piggy. Through the lens of her art, Slutheby’s auctioneer and Muppet Historian Laureate provides historical context and unveils salacious details of this iconic Muppet’s life. Through narrative, surreal, and erotic scenes, the depths of Miss Piggy’s private world comes to light, including her relationship with Kermit the Frog, their ever-evolving polycule, her issues with rage, and her healing journey. A hilarious romp that touches on what it really means to be a muppet, and maybe even what it means to be human.
OF NOTE: Adult content warning. This show is suggested for patrons ages 18+.
Anne Zander is MOTHER
Presented by Le Why Not Productions
September 22, 2024 @ 7:30 PM
Enter the afterbirth at Anne Zander is MOTHER, a postpartum comedy! From the mind that created the “painfully funny”* smash-hit JUICEBOX (Official Selection 2020 HBO’s Women in Comedy Festival), and the body that birthed twins 2 years ago, Zander’s second solo show is clown, character, truth and fantasy, all rolled into one woman, dancing to the beat of her own breast pumps.
Two Clowns and a Chair
Presented by Marty Honig & Ryan Gangwish
September 26, 2024 @ 7:30 PM
Two weary clown travelers enter upstage on opposite sides. They both walk straight down stage. At some point, they discover a single chair center stage. A place to sit down! But then they see each other and realize they will have to compete each other for the chair. This competition takes the form of 2 clowns in a battle and then evolves into a dance, hat juggling, and clowns physically battling. They chase each other off and then reappear to find a little girl has come up from the audience and now sits in the chair.
seaMAN
Presented by Amica Hunter & Bruce Ryan Costella
September 27 & 28, 2024 @ 7:30 PM
The spray of sea salt, the creak of the boards, a flash of lightning, and BOOM! Captain Sea MAN has arrived. seaMAN is a dynamic, revenge-fueled sea-venture featuring the horror-comedy hijinks of a weird old captain with an even weirder past. A nautical nightmare of text and physical comedy centered around the outrageous stories and vengeful fantasies of one salty sailor against the entire ocean. Whether it’s dodging storms, combating scurvy, fighting a seagull, or displeasing a mermaid, Sea MAN seems to find trouble wherever he goes. A sweet & salty theatrical concoction that is as stupid as it is smart.
Me, Myself, & Us
Presented by Stefano Iaboni
September 29, 2024 @ 7:30 PM
Can a kazoo launch you into a high-speed chase? Can sausages perform mind-bending magic tricks? Are martial arts really just fancy dance moves? Find out in the visual comedy extravaganza Me, Myself, and Us, a delightfully imperfect show where the author conjures genuine laughs with unpredictable antics instead of stale punchlines. Me, Myself, and Us is a riotous blend of improvisation, physical comedy, and unexpected audience shenanigans. Get ready for a wild ride!
Clowns Against Imperialism
Presented by Clownbloc
October 3, 2024 @ 7:30 PM
Clownbloc is back with a fully devised clown show against US-Led War. Join our heroes as they band together, learn the power of collective struggle, and take down our physical manifestation of US militarism! We need everyone to destroy this formidable enemy. Please join us and help us take down imperialism!
All Boats All Clowns
Presented by Julia Bray
October 4, 2024 @ 7:30 PM
All Boats, the beloved community variety show, has teamed up with CoHo’s Clownfest to bring you a robust, wacky, wild, and daring array of solo and duet performances from some of Portland’s most experimental clowns! Hosted by a mysterious guest clown, this night packed with a variety of wildly different clown acts is not to be missed!
Forever Frank
Presented by Emily June Newton
October 5 & 6, 2024 @ 7:30 PM
World-renowned! The Rat Pack’s 17th member! America’s ritzy, sophisticated songster and most entertaining entertainer, invites you, his most devoted fans, to this very special performance; a tour of talent throughout the ages, his greatest hits, his finest moves, his most exciting stories! But when an unexpected guest shows up, his very existence is thrown into question. Could this be FRANK’S final performance? A tour de force of heartfelt ridiculousness, FRANK will grab you by your shoulders and make you feel nostalgic for a star you never knew! This world premiere is brought to you by Australian comic Emily June Newton and director Deanna Fleysher (aka Butt Kapinski). Together, they are drawn to the intimate and the outrageous. Expect audience inclusion and comedy art at its finest. An event not to be missed.
CoHo needs your support
CoHo is a nonprofit theater that heavily relies on the generosity of our community to continue. If you support our mission, please give what you can!