London Clown Festival is returning for 2025, celebrating the art of clown and physical performance with an eclectic lineup of UK and international performers showcasing a selection of the finest clowns the city, and indeed the world has to offer.
Having cemented itself as an annual fixture of the London comedy scene and built a reputation as one of London’s most distinctive comedy festivals, it brings together the very best in contemporary clowning, offering audiences a taste of the wildly inventive, genre-defying performances that make this art form so captivating.
The 2025 festival programme sees another exciting, inspiring, and eclectic mix of performers who embody the principals of this timeless art form from countries all over the world, with the new addition of Physical Theatre that incorporates clowning techniques in development and performance.
Clowning, as celebrated at London Clown Festival, is a vibrant, boundary-pushing form of performance that embraces physical theatre, improvisation, and emotional honesty. It spans a wide spectrum of styles whose performers draw on a rich tradition of physical storytelling, embracing the chaos and vulnerability of live performance to create unforgettable moments of comedy and connection.
This year’s festival will take place at two of London’s most dynamic performance venues, Soho Theatre and Jacksons Lane, transforming these iconic spaces into playgrounds of physical comedy, absurdity, and creative chaos. Expect everything from side-splitting cabarets to avant-garde solo pieces, with each act pushing the boundaries of what clowning can be in the 21st century. It’s a celebration of the wild, the wonderful, and the downright ridiculous – where anything can happen, and probably will.
Leading the charge at this year’s festival are some of the most daring and innovative acts on the international clown circuit. Among them, The Weight of Shadow by Sasha Krohn – a physical theatre piece that blends mime, dance, and aerial work to capture a psychiatric patient’s emotional chaos over a single day. Described by Fringe Review as a “truly exceptional performance… both a tormenting and beautiful portrayal of the human condition,” the piece promises a haunting, visceral experience.
Equally unmissable is Red Bastard, the master of Bouffon, known for his unpredictable mix of raw conversation, comic traps, and high-stakes audience interaction. His show invites audiences into the world of this dangerous, seductive comedy-monster. He descends on London for the first time in 8 years to unleash his critically acclaimed juggernaut of a character.
Berlin’s dysfunctional art rock siblings return with Otto & Astrid: The Stages Tour, a blistering set of Europop anthems that crash together the chaotic energy of The B-52s, The Pixies, Kraftwerk, and early Ramones. Expect a lipstick-smeared sonic collision as they thunder through hits from (almost) all of their albums. And, Lachlan Werner: Wondertwunk offers a surreal circus of stunts, secrets, and minimal lip movement from the “hilarious, extraordinary ventriloquist” (The Guardian), promising a brilliantly unpredictable hour of comedy.
Also joining the line-up is Jessica Barton: Dirty Work, fresh from winning Best Newcomer at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Hailed as “a rising star and quadruple threat” (Australian Arts Review), Barton combines a spoonful of song, dance, clowning, and deep-cleaning to present a skanky and empowering debut.
Other highlights include The London Clown Festival Opening Cabaret, where you can see a mix of artists from across the festival and maybe choose shows you want to come back to see more of; A Night of Drama where The Director live-directs his company of clowns in a melodramatic period piece, as the audience shower them with bottomless banana peels*! Up to 70 peels* per show.*Peels provided; Naughty Cabaret, bringing the 2025 festival to a high energy close, this lesbian feminist cabaret will be packed with a line up from various genres – clown, circus, music, burlesque, character comedy and more.
London Clown Festival was founded in 2016 with the aim to share the joy and exhilaration of clown and physical performance with a wide breadth of audiences as possible and help to expand the image of clown in the public consciousness.
www.londonclownfest.co.uk
Full line up can be seen on the next page…
