No clowning around: underground shows provide low-cost laughs

This 6-part series explores Canada’s shadow markets – from cash-only home repairs and community “gift exchanges” to ticket reselling and underground entertainment. Through diverse perspectives, our journalists examine why Canadians participate in these alternative systems, the benefits they provide, and the challenges they create, while authorities balance enforcement with education.

By KORALEE NICKARZ

Searching for more interesting things to do in ‘No Fun City’ than paying for overpriced cocktails at the latest hip watering hole? Producer and performer Priscilla Costa has the answer: the GutterClown Cabaret.

“Folks that work jobs during the day, they are looking for some kooky fun times,” said Costa, who has been putting on her underground show at Lana Lou’s in the Downtown Eastside since 2023.

But Costa, also a trained actor and clown, said that many people who would enjoy seeing a cabaret-style variety show don’t buy tickets because they’re afraid of clowns.

“They think it’s going to be Stephen King’s It,” Costa said, adding that her definition of ‘GutterClown’ is essentially just clowning for adults. But prejudice against clowning exists, she said, because people often see it as silly and unintellectual. But it has a long and storied history all the way back to Egypt around 2400 BC.

Costa has been performing clown characters, including an abrasively hilarious male character named Frank, for over two decades. She has also established herself as a powerful and nurturing instructor in the Vancouver clown community thanks to her many years of training under some of Canada’s most influential teachers.

She studied Richard Pochinko Technique with the late Ian Wallace, Clown du Bouffon with Massimo Agostinelli, and comedy with Studio 58 graduate Gina Bastone, a beloved Vancouver performer who toured with Cirque du Soleil as a clown and passed away in 2021.

Many Vancouver clown performers have also trained with David MacMurray Smith of Fantastic Space Enterprises, as Costa did. And that has created a “big clown community in Vancouver” according to multidisciplinary artist Jessica Gabriel, who has also performed at Costa’s cabaret.

Gabriel, the founder of independent shadow theatre company Mind of a Snail Puppet Co., said the GutterClown Cabaret “is a place to throw up a wacky idea in front of an open audience that will have no judgement.”.

Gabriel added that, although she’s never seen anyone “bomb” at the cabaret, “it’s so important for artists of all levels to have an open stage to explore and flail upon.”

Costa works hard to curate each show by hiring performers at different stages of their creative process. She also makes sure that her shows are not stacked with cis, white, male performers.

Costa said she chased artist Tahina Awan for eight months before Awan appeared in the January cabaret, co-hosting with Costa as her character Baba Babiji.

Awan, an accomplished actor and clown, also teaches at Vancouver Film School. She said that, as a theatre creator, independent shows like the GutterClown Cabaret have immense value as a “no-holds barred” environment in which she can experiment with new material.

“On a really obvious level, you can hear if your stuff is working or not,” she said.

In addition to established performers like Gabriel and Awan, Costa is also willing to take a chance on those who are early in their career as long as they understand what is expected of them when they are being paid to get up in front of an audience.

“Not a lot of folks that have done clown training and want to perform are ready to perform,“ said Costa, who also teaches a workshop that culminates in what is often her student’s first public clown performance in a safe environment.

Like Costa and Awan, many performers appearing in independent shows like the GutterClown Cabaret also work in Vancouver’s film and television industry. And appearing in underground productions creates not only value for them, but for their managers and agents.

According to talent agent Candace Fulton, of Vancouver agency Kirk Talent, performers who seek out opportunities like the GutterClown Cabaret are essentially enhancing what Fulton can do for them, as opposed to someone who is just waiting by the phone for an audition.

“All the experience is good experience. So, there’s no negative there,” said Fulton, adding that if she sees a particularly “charismatic” performer at an underground show, she’ll approach them to talk about possible representation.

Mainstream theatre entertainment in Vancouver often means paying $60 or more for a seat, watching the recycling of decades-old “classic theatre”, or a cast that doesn’t accurately reflect the diversity of Vancouver’s creative community. Costa continually sells out all 85 seats for $25 a ticket and she sees the goal as moving into a larger, more mainstream venue.

“I am noticing that there’s folks that are becoming regulars – super fans – which is really nice,” said Costa, adding that she hears from “twenty to thirty” people after each show that couldn’t make it for myriad reasons, including not being able to get a ticket.

“The goal is just to keep growing, make it better,” Costa said. And she is genuinely determined to reach a larger audience but only when the time comes.

“I’ll hold off on something and hold off on something until it’s right,” said Costa.

Judging by her ongoing success, that time may come sooner than later. But for now, the GutterClown Cabaret remains at Lana Lou’s, with the next show scheduled for May 15. For information and tickets email savagecreampuff@gmail.com.

Multidisciplinary artist Jessica Gabriel says the GutterClown Cabaret is “a place to get gutsy, to make a mess, to risk failure.” Photo courtsey of Patrick Powers