Perhaps we see your soul through your body

November 1, 2023

Yesterday, in class, Gaulier did an exercise that I tend to think of as one of his “Philippe creates a Moment of Theatre”/”master puppeteer directing” exercises. This is a moment I’ve seen him create in class now many times. It usually goes like this… A student is on stage doing an exercise or a piece

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Broken people can help fix broken people

September 7, 2023

The other day, I was talking to my dad when I was having a moment of intense self-criticism about some basic life-admin thing I’d failed to do. He reflected back about the show I have just finished doing at the Edinburgh Fringe “Alex Owen-Hill Asks Himself ‘Is It ADHD?’” “You created such a loving environment

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The ups and downs of an Extended Fringe Run

August 20, 2023

As I write this, I’m in a coffee shop… which I have been spending a lot of time in them this past couple of weeks. It’s the 20th of August 2023 and we are 2/3 of the way through the Edinburgh Fringe. It’s the first year I’m doing a solo show (at 11:15pm each night)

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The Zen Master and the Clown: Return to Gaulier

June 1, 2023

A lot has happened since I last blogged about my journey here at Gaulier. So here are 3 Haiku’s to describe the journey to now: Made Bouffon breakthroughs Then broke my back while skiing Breaking momentum. An eight-week struggle Against struggling NHS Struggled being alone Now back at clown school Protected by a back brace

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On what makes a good teacher

May 13, 2023

I have a tendency to write FAR too much in my responses to messages on social media. Why write one sentence when a whole essay would do!? Anyway, I just replied to a teacher friend’s comment on Facebook asking about negative feedback from their students. And I found it useful to write, so I’ll share

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How being a skilled performer is like surfing (maybe)

March 4, 2023

I’ve had this metaphor bubbling away for a little while as I’ve been here studying at Gaulier. It relates performing to surfing the waves. It’s about that “leap of faith” you take when you’re on stage that can take your performance from mundane to spectacular. Is it a good metaphor? I don’t know yet. How

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