The class will cover things like developing your clown, stage presence, audience connection, following the laugh and following your pleasure as a performer.

At the end your instructor will also go over places where you can submit clown performances and give people a chance at the end to exchange info if people wanna submit acts together etc.

About your Instructor
Alyse is a classically trained clown who creates out of an insistent sense of curiosity and existential pondering, inspired by a deep desire to merge otherworldly cosmic clown etherealities with our everyday human failures. Their collaborative theater making and community engagement informs their socially conscious art practice. As a performer they have worked with Pig Iron Theater Company, Theater Unspeakable, the Tank Theater and Fringe Arts. Their work spans clown, devised theater, original songs, plays, poetry, and improvisational comedy, often incorporating elements of the surreal and absurd. Through vivid imagery, discomfort, and vulnerability, Alyse invites audiences into layered worlds that challenge, provoke, ask rather than answer. They have an MFA in devised performance practice and are currently the collective futures fellow with Davinci Arts Alliance and the BIPOC artist in residence at Mascher Space.

About the Swear Jar Jamboree
The Swear Jar Jamboree is Philadelphia's indie comedy + improv playground, four days at The Proscenium Theatre at the Drake (with additional workshop space at Plays & Players Theatre) running July 9–12, 2026.

We curate every show, act, workshop, and event ourselves and aim to bring together people from all over the US and across multiple comedy varieties. Throughout the festival you'll get main stage shows, community jams, and festival pass holders will get access to additional optional gatherings including an open mic.

Festival Passes & Bundles  (💸use with code JARNOLD20 for 20% off until June 1st)

Visit our Shows page for more information.

💙 The Proscenium Theatre is an accessible venue! 💙
🩵 Plays and Players requires use of stairs for access to the venue🩵

SUPPORT THE FEST!
Become a Friend of Swear Jar! Choose any level as an add on at check out and get your name displayed on a special thank you display at the venue. These selections are completely optional when purchasing a ticket to the festival. Proceeds from Friends of Swear Jar go directly to keeping the festival running.

Name-a-Chair to Support Jamboree! 🪑💬 For $20, you can leave a message on an actual chair in the theater. Name it. Dedicate it. Write an ad for your podcast on it! Want to leave a compliment or share a fun fact? The possibilities are endless and entirely ridiculous, which is exactly the point. All Name-A-Chair proceeds go directly to keeping the festival running. Let us know if we're able to share your chair on our social media!

Looking to Support Jamboree in Other Ways? Also check out our page on FracturedAtlas for more ways to give to the show. Want to get involved with the show? Go here to sign up as a Jamboree Volunteer.