Workshops
Sign-up for clown classes, character workshops, physical comedy intensives, ideation labs and bit builders led by Alice Gillette, one of the artists making Denver an “incubator for new work” in alt‑comedy.
I work with artists and everyone in-between to use clowning as a way to help put shapes to emotions, discover characters, and get more comfortable bouncing back from failure. My clown classes and devising workshops are centered on using play as a language to develop meaningful connections with the audience.
[For information on directing and devising, visit my directing page.]
“It’s always for the audience.”
“While some clown teachings rely on shock value, shaking the audience out of their day to day, most clowns in the Denver scene prefer a consenting audience.
‘There doesn’t have to be a splash zone at every show,’ Gillette said.”
-from an interview with Parker Yamasaki, The Colorado Sun
Contemporary clown & devising classes: training for the modern performer in Colorado 🤡
[Alice Gillette (left) pictured with fellow Denver clown teachers Kii Clark and Madly Regular. ]
Alice Gillette’s hands‑on clowning workshops are designed for:
beginners discovering their voice
stand‑ups wanting to create characters
improvisers eager to get weirder and…
clowns looking to deepen their devising practices.
I teach with a consent‑forward and joy-focused approach to building immersive comedy and physical theater.
My workshops help you create work that is authentic, vulnerable, and irresistible to audiences. You’ll learn how to bomb / fail / mess up and revel in it.
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You don’t need to use a lot of words. Together, we’ll use physicality and joy to find the irresistible parts of you and heightening them into the work you’re trying to make.
You’ll get to play. A lot of what we’ll do together is playful, joyful and curious. We’ll let our guards down in an environment that’s lowkey, safe and full of games.
You’ll get unstuck. If you’re feeling uninspired, I’ll guide you to the edge of discomfort and give you some tools to push past it. My past students have described working with me as “inspiration in a bottle”.
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I think of my classes as a creative practice because any physical skill, these tools require ongoing conditioning. The more you show up to the work, the more instinctive and sharp your performances become.
Come as you are, and let the work meet you where you're at.
Tools we don’t use in class: hate speech, real weapons, aggressive violence towards others, bodily fluids, nudity, real sex and real drugs.
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Let’s take our time.
My classes and workshops are designed to stretch your creativity. This can stretch any performer, regardless of how long they’ve been doing the work.
We’ll be isolating specific creative muscles and exploring a different type of play.
Together, our goal is to challenge existing habits, but to do so safely. I want you to prioritize taking care of your mind and body and to ensure you’re not harming other folks in the process. Don’t sacrifice these things for a workshop, performance or class.
As many teachers have said, this work can be therapeutic, but it’s not therapy.
Also, it’s totally normal to hit a wall or feel like you’re about to fail really hard. The moment you notice this, It’s a signal that you’ve got some new things to discover inside of you. It’s up to you to decide if you’re in a good spot to push past the discomfort to show the audience your most vulnerable self.
Sometimes, we’re not in a spot to do that, and that’s okay. I always want you to do what’s best for you in the moment. So, if you’re feeling like you’re pushing past your point of resilience, let me know and we’ll reset.
We don’t need to risk it all during a class or workshop. Your well-being and longevity as a performer (and human) will always come first. Take a breather, get some air, or sit this one out if you need to . You can always c’mon back whenever you’re ready. I’ll be here.
[Alice (left) pictured with former student Meg Cantwell at the Denver Fringe Festival.]
Alice Gillette teaches clown classes in Denver and Boulder, Colorado. Available for travel for teaching abroad and nationally in the United States upon request.
Upcoming classes
Alice is currently a Teaching Assistant (TA) for the following teachers in 2026:
◦ Kii Clark’s “Clown Eyes”
When and where: Tuesday nights, 7/14/26 through 8/18/2026 from 6:30pm-9:15pm at Rise Comedy in Denver, Colorado [Sign up]
◦ Melo Acevedo’s “A dose of clown for improvisers”
To learn about when Alice is teaching classes again, you can click the button below to get notified.
To find more clown classes, visit CLOWN cal:
Clown cal is a clown-run, up-to-date resource on the Colorado clown community.
You can find clown classes to sign-up for and learn about other great clowning teachings in Colorado like Nick Trotter, Kii Clark, Madly Regular, Melo Acevedo, Soleil Kohl, Meghan Frank, Buba Basishvili, Julianna Beckert many more.
** Alice Gillette doesn’t run or own CLOWN Cal. It’s managed by Blake Isaclown and Caroline Krantz **
Workshop: Devising with an outside eye (fka “How to be a genius”)
Instructors:
Alice Gillette & Bryan Richard Martin , the creative team behind Meat Show in Space and Bumpsy
Devise new material for the stage and get more reps working with directors who build you up.
Working with someone who isn’t you on a project as an “outside eye” can help you unlock a level of creativity all your own. This is a bit builder + ideation lab + supportive critique designed for artists who are feeling stuck or looking to deepen their work.
You’ll engage in structured games, writing prompts and conversations to get on your feet and devising to find unexpected paths to new work.
You’ll also sharpen your ability to give and receive kind, constructive, artist-to-artist feedback in a supportive community.
This workshop can be helpful to you if:
You're making something and feeling stuck.
You’re all out of ideas and wondering how to come up with new ones.
You worked with someone in the past on your art who was harsh, and you want someone to treat you with respect.
You want to get more comfortable working with directors and with getting feedback.
You’re trying to figure out how to collaborate better with others as a performing artist.
Join us turn your wildest ideas into a new bit alongside your fellow workshop attendees. Our goal is for you to try new things in front of others and practice receiving feedback from directors who are stoked on what you’re doing.
Previous students describe this workshop as “inspiration in a bottle” and “what I needed to hop back onto the saddle”.
[Alice and Bryan first facilitated this workshop in March 2025 and may offer it again in Winter 2026.]
Who are Alice Gillette and Bryan Richard Martin, and why are they doing a workshop together?
Alice Gillette and Bryan Richard Martin are the co-founders of the Freaky Weeky Clown and Alt-Comedy Festival at Denver’s Buntport Theater.
They met while studying Fine Arts at Frostburg State University. They’ve each had work of theirs praised, torn apart and ripped to shreds in loads of art critiques, reviews and comment threads over the years. As directors, they work with performing artists to help them dial that noise down to help make it easier for folks to build grounded and layered worlds onstage.
Most recently, they collaborated on a national run of Meat Show in Space where Bryan composed the live musical score and live directed the show while Alice performed as Meat Show.
Their process as teachers and directors mirrors the one they’ve used to devise work with each other. It relies on helping artists craft a live dialogue between movement and sound onstage using a shorthand they’ve developed at venues like The Elysian (Los Angeles), The People’s Building (Aurora, Co) and The Pig Iron Theatre Company (Philly).
Their individual and collaborative work has been covered by publications like NPR, Vice, Rolling Stone, The Colorado Sun and Denver Westword.
“When Gillette teaches clown classes, she tells her students that modern clowning is about getting in touch with childlike humor and wonder. .”
[Alice Gillette (right) with former students at the Denver Fringe Festival.]
‘When you study clown, you're relearning how to be that toddler who puts sunglasses on for the first time and wants to show everyone your cool sunglasses,’ Gillette says.
‘If you can just be that the whole time on stage, you're doing clown, that's it … And there's all those definitions of clown, but for me, that's like the physical embodiment. It's just like a kid in sunglasses.’”
-from an interview with Hazel Feldstein, Denverite
Join the waiting list
Alice Gillette’s Denver clown classes and devising workshops sell out fast.
If you don’t see any open classes, share your email address with me and I’ll let you know as soon as we post new classes and workshops.
