Serious Challenges of Creating the Silliest Show: Why “Clown Show”, an Unscripted, Unblocked, and Unspoken Play Made One Peculiar Podcast

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By: Ellen Shipman

Seven out of the nine cast members form an improvised band! Photo Features Noah Bridgers, Allison Dewberry, Claire Rheinecker, Cianna Williams, Sloane Kennedy, Lillian Jordan, and Harper Jacobs.

Here's the link to my Podcast on this Furman Original Show!

https://soundcloud.com/ellen-shipman-903127906/clown-show-podcst_mixdown

To find my subject matter, I brainstormed what topics could fulfill 3 criteria.

y podcast topic had to be:

a) adjacent to something I was passionate about

b) relevant to a social issue that bothers me

c) possessing multiple sensory elements that could enrich the audio and add texture to a soundscape.

It just so happened that earlier that day, when walking into work at my costume job, my boss presented me with a unique challenge: Fashion a tiny orange tailcoat for a puppet. After explaining the puppet's role as ringmaster in "clownshow", the costume designer, Margaret Caterisano, told me this show was unlike any she'd ever been a part of, because it had no script, no concrete blocking, and no dialouge.

She explained that this was to enforce a sense of childlike wonder, and take the necessity of perverse shock value out of the theatrical experience. Safe to say, I was intruigued by the groundbreaking lack of strcuture in "Clown Show", impressed with it's depth, and inspired to incorporate the many elements of circus sound this show implies to my podcast.

From there, I decided I would interview the person responsible for this Podcast's existence, Margaret Caterisano, and the real wizard behind "Clown Show", stage manager, Sophie Shumpert. Then I fashioned a map of possible directions this podcast could go, fashioned a list of questions for each interviewee that I felt would give me a wide understanding of the process, conducted my interviews, and sat in on a dress rehearsal to gather "NAT sound" to incorporate into the final product.

After transcribing the interviews, I picked a direction, combed through and chose sound bytes that would best support my point. 8 hours of splicing audio together and feeling like a massive poser the entire time, I had a rough finished product.

I learned 3 things throughout this process:

1) When editing audio, bring snacks and tissues. Also- account for 2 hours more than you think you'll need. because you WILL need it.

2) Adobe Stock has 1000's of royalty free music, sound effects, ect.- and Furman paid for 181 downloads for each of them. No new account necessary.

3) People all look at the world in different ways, and therefore they are pivotal to listen to.

The only time/place I used AI throughout this process was to transcribe my original interviews. This was particulary funny when there's an entire scene that just consists of the word "meep". Watching AI try to transcribe a word over and over again that doesnt exist in the english lnguage was oddly entertaining. My favorite transcription was: "We big meat. We simply meat. meat."

Truly the 7th wonder of the world.

Going forward, I have learned to ask simple questions if you want complex answers, Don't do any heavy lifting for your interview subject unless they are giving you NOTHING. Give them space to summarize, make points, and form opinions of their own- something they can only do If you ask good questions and then STAY QUIET. Some of the best stuff is borne from 5 seconds of extra silence. During this experience I also learned to ask for help when I need it, because my 3 trips to the audio lab saved me a lot of time and headache.

Of course, every expereince I have in Digital Storytelling is meant to prepare me for the future. The Podcast project taught me project management, since I was filmiing audio for this directly after shooting my second session for my photo essay at the swamp rabbit. Since then, I have had to apply the same skills while filming my PSA, Mini Documentary, and horror short film (all of which can be found through my page!). It taught me how to navigate Adobe Audition, transcribe audio, and how to ask for help from your superiors, skills I know I will use going forward as someone who hopes to produce content one day. It also made me more comfortable requesting interviews with people, and further cemented a lesson I am continually learning: I am allowed to take up space. I look forward to conducting more interviews for future projects, listening to diverse points of view, and bringing to light things people beleive that have the power to unite us.

If you can, go see clown show at Furman Theatre Wednesday September 24th to Sunday September 28th at the Playhouse!