Today we’d like to introduce you to Chase Brantley
Hi Chase, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I saw the musical Annie when I was 6 years old and knew at that moment that I wanted to be a tap-dancing orphan girl. The rest is history, I’ve spent my life as a performer and theatrical creative. I hopped between every imaginable style of performance. My training began with dance, any time of dance that you can imagine. Then during those 15 years of learning dance, I jumped into musical theater, then acting, then classical Shakespearean acting, and finally modern clowning. And, for the last 12 years of my life, clowning has become my unwavering passion as a performer, director, and teacher. It stands as the pinnacle of comedy. There is nothing harder, simpler, and funnier than good clowning. But, because we have such few examples of good clowns in America, it’s often written off as the worst form of comedy, relegated to children’s parties and horror films.
I’m not here as a clown evangelist. The main rule of clowning is that if it’s not funny, get off the stage. So I care less about convincing audiences that they must learn about clowning. I do however care about the freedom that I learned from clowning, and I am addicted to the sensitivity and stupidity of the art. Can you make an entire room laugh just by entering the space? When you let go of cleverness, intelligence, and preparation, is your spirit enough to make people fall in love with you? That’s the magic of clown.
I have plenty of other passions and aspects of my life. I have things that I can do to pay my rent and people whom I love. I photograph life for therapy. But, all of those things pale in comparison to my pursuit of clown. And, I’ve been fortunate enough to study and work with some of the greatest clowns alive. I have a graduate degree from the famed French clown school, Ecole Philippe Gaulier. I studied under Gaulier for over two years. I’ve toured the world performing: France, Switzerland, UK, and across the US. I’ve won three awards at fringes for my clowning and directed off-broadway. And I teach clowning in Atlanta and Athens weekly. It’s a gift that I’m happy to give to the world.
Currently, I’m preparing to tour my current clown show, DON TOBERMAN PING-PONG CHAMP, across Australia and the UK. Find you’d like to support this journey, you can find my crowdfunding website at Indiegogo if you search “Don Toberman” or if you go to this link:
https://igg.me/at/dontoberman/x/38071869#/
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
In clowning, obstacles are an essential part of the magic. Without them, there is nothing that can go wrong. There is nothing funny or unexpected. Sure, I’ve had plenty of obstacles and challenges: money troubles, self-doubt, failure, constant failure, not being funny, boredom, sickness, recovery, foreign languages, and heartbreak. But, from the perspective of a performer, they’re usually the funniest or most human part. So, yes, I have obstacles and often look for ways to use obstacles in my life. Without them, I’d be less funny and people would be asking me to leave the stage.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I imagine I answered this in the segment above. But, I’m most proud of my growth as a performer and as a teacher. Clown has so many parts, but I’m particularly inspired by its focus on sensitivity, presence, and pleasure. Most people (even most comedians) struggle with comedy because we’re often the funniest or most beautiful in ways that we don’t like to be seen. It’s often when we make mistakes or when we contradict ourselves or when we fail that we are both the funniest and the most beautiful. It’s these moments that people try to hide. I love helping students celebrate those parts of themselves, and I love exploring that part of myself.
I specialize in this: helping others discover when they are most loved by an audience. We can often note this with laughter, but it also arises in many forms. If you want to be seen truly by an audience and discover how to charm, provoke, or play with an audience, then I can help.
If people are interested in learning clown, I teach a weekly clown class on Mondays from 7:00pm-9:30pm at the Dynamic El Dorado, a comedy theater in Atlanta at 572 Edgewood Ave SE. Drop by anytime (even halfway through the course). You can find out more information about the class on their website: https://www.dynamiceldorado.com/classes
What matters most to you?
I often tell my wife, if I can’t play I don’t feel safe. So while many specific things matter in my life, I’d say the most important is the pleasure of goofing around. I don’t follow this mantra to an extreme. There are times in life when being an idiot is neither helpful nor compassionate. But, still, it matters to me more than anything else.
Pricing:
- Private Clown Coaching: $125 per hour
- Classes: $250 for 8 weeks
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.chasebrantley.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moonlight_theater_company/
Image Credits
Anna Forrester
Kalen Jesse Photography
