The Cheeky Podcast

The incredible Neven Connolly: Clown, Dancer and Creative shares about his background and current projects! 

Timestamps 

0.00m Introductions
 1.36m Where Nevens journey began, Theatre and Dance Classes 
 6.22m Studying Dance full time @ Urban Dance centre / Phly Crew 
 8.25m Cirque du Soleil at Sea
 10.24m What does a Comedy Dance show look like? 
 15.16m Frequency of being onstage as an understudy 
 16.29 The Cirque at Sea Characters 
 21.47 COVID and everything since 
 26.35 Blanc de Blanc UNCORKED & Taking on pre Existing roles  
 34.48m The Empire Strips Back
 42.48m Lassu Cosmic Cabaret – The Creation 
 55.38m Kårera – Voyage of Wonder 
 1.05.48m Performing Highlights and Lowlights 
 1.14.20m Reflecting on Networking at its importance 
 1.18.57 Creative Inspirations 
 1.22.58 Bucket List Performing Goals 
 1.25.38 Final Thoughts 
 1.27.40 Joke of the Day 

Ciara Thornburn is an International Circus / Clown / Character artist who first appeared 4.5 years ago on the Cheeky Podcast. Tune in to hear all the incredible new stories and performance experiences that have unravelled in this time between 2020 and 2025. 

TIMESTAMPS and Things Discussed:  

0.00 Introductions 

2.43m Refreshing the timeline – Covid / The Thesis / Circus Rio 

Being Employee Vs Creating your own work

7.04m What Ian’s been up to? 

Mentioning Neven Connolly, Jessie Grant, Mitchel Woodcock 

The creation of LASSU                            

Discussing act creation, where to put the difficult tricks in an act. 

15.22m What's Ciara doing in Perth?   

Council Gigs , What’s a council gig?   

17.27m Starting Street Performing 

Japanese Awaji Festival 

Creating different ways of Displaying your skills 

25.32m About Camp Culture, the amazing children’s show 

28.13m How did Working for Virgin Voyages come about?  

34.57m Cruise ship lifestyle 

Talking wages / evaluating your worth 

Acknowledging the grind – Do the work! 

44.01m What would you still like to do? Career bucket list 

48m - About Purple Rabbit , how it came about 

Tangent – Talking about Rico and Vivi

53.07m All about Palazzo! 

58.20m Future Plans! – GOP ?? 

The Crazy Audition journey 

Plans to go visit and meet the director falling through 

Visa problems  

1.05hr Joys of creating a new character ! 

Creation vs taking over something  existing 

Getting into a position to choose 

1.11hr Cruise Ship realities 

Sharing Rooms and accommodation on tour 

Differences working on cruise lines 

1.16hr Routine and comfort on tour 

1.18.46 How is Ciara different now from then? 

1.23.56 Joke of the Day / Conclusion 

The Cheeky Podcast welcomes a special International guest direct from New York City, Jesse Highley! Jesse is performing a Christmas season with the Big Apple Circus with their brand new show Hometown Playground. 

Here, Jesse shares his story including his journey and insights into Clowning,  touring with Ringling Bros and Barnum and Baileys Circus, The Human Fountains in Las Vegas as well as performing with Magic Mike Live?!

Enjoy!

Timestamps: 
0.00 Introductions 

0.47 About Hometown Playground 

1.54 Jessie Highley! - Early Life and seeing the Circus as a child

5.07 First Clowning Classes / Teenage Years / Theatre Studies 

8.48 Dreams of Clown College Crushed 

10.37 First Professional Gig - Prince Charming at Walt Disney World 

12.40 Moving Back into Comedy / Discussing Typecasting 

18.18 Clowning in Big Apple Circus - Hometown Playground

19.47 All about  Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus

30.06 Clowning specifics with the Greatest Show on Earth 

35.39 Performance Characteristics of Classic American Circus Clowns 

38.40 Tangent - Travelling Australia / Disney Live as Buzz Lightyear 

40.26 Comparing Australian / South American and American Clowning 

43.24 What is Clowning ? Jesse Highley's interpretation 

51.24 Discussing Audience Participation 

57.55 Tapping into our inner Child 

1.00.00 Biggest Performance Highlight 

1.04.35 Least Favourite Career Highlight 

1.07.34 A dream come true with the Big Apple Circus 

1.09.16 The Human Fountains and Americas got talent Superstars LIVE 

1.13.11 The Origins of The Human Fountains and Creative Process 

1.17.23 Magic Mike LIVE 

1.25.34 Finding time for Creative Projects - iLuminate LAS VEGAS

1.35.30 Other opportunities in the Comedy industry 

1.39.48 Future Career Aspirations and Dreams / Leaving a Legacy 

Links of Mentioned Things / Places / Shows   

Jesses Instagram
https://x.com/jessehighley

The Human Fountains:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDMqFa7y980&ab_channel=JesseHighley

The Big Apple Circus
https://bigapplecircus.com/

iLuminate
https://thestrat.com/entertainment/featured/iluminate

Infamous
https://www.infamous.net.au/

In this fresh episode of 'The Cheeky Podcast' , host Ian Richardson shares his journey performing the 'Bell Hop' clown role in Infamous the Show, marking the first-ever handover of the character since its creation in 2017.

Ian takes us behind the scenes, recounting the lead-up to his premiere and his first two months on stage. He dives into his creative process, tackling expectations, and embracing the highs and lows of trial and error while crafting a fresh take on a dearly beloved character. 

Sit back, relax, and enjoy!

*Recorded on the 30th of June 2024*


TIMESTAMPS:
0.00 Introductions
1m 15sec  About 'Infamous'
2m 18sec 'What made you want to do the role?
5m 27sec 'Did someone fill the Handbalancing Role?
8min 40 sec "What was the Process of learning the Clown Role?
11min 43sec What was the process for Creating a new 'Spotlight' Act
14min 34sec Back to Learning the rest of it
19.52m How much do you get to improvise each show?
26.11m Did all the acts have the same amout of colaboration during their creation?
28.40m What type of clown is the character? 
30.46m Whats your favourite part of the show?
34.40m Anything else to say?
39.30m Joke of the Day
41.25m End



Mentioned People / Places / Things

Jessie Grant's Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/jessie_grant92/

Viva Melbourne:
https://vivamelbourne.com.au/

Infamous the Show:
https://www.infamous.net.au/

Cameron Taylor:
https://camerontaylors.com/

WE'RE BACK! 

The Podcast all about Clowning and Comedy has returned for All New Episodes after a two year hiatus, starting with an interview with our very own host Tomas Correia and his partner Lesh Kelso. 

These two describe and reflect about their show 'A Space Between' that they created, and performed this year in the the Adelaide Fringe Festival. 

Sit back, relax, and enjoy! 

Timestamps:

0.00 Introduction 

01.09 Tell us about the Show! 

08.36 How did you structure creative development?

14.48 What Circus is in the show? 

24.03 What are your favourite moments in the show?

31.58 What Comedic Devices are in the Show? 

41.00 How did you find the Business side of things? 

49.50 What is something you would do differently next time? 

59.35 What was your favourite thing about the entire experience ? 

1.04 Outro & Joke of the Day 

Dive into a mismatched narrative of a caveman who struggles to light a fire... 

Clowns Create is a new  series where Tom and Ian exercise their funny brains and imagine a Clown Act from scratch using nothing but quick wit and accumulated knowledge from the Cheeky Podcast series. 

These episodes are aimed to inspire and entertain listeners for their own creative projects, while we come up with both terrible and hilarious ideas. 

Timestamps 
0.19m Intro 
1.28m The Action Triangle
2.41m Things we try to Include 
3.35m The Brainstorming Begins 
9.04m Discovering Motivations and Problems to solve 
22.48.m Outro
24.00m Joke of the Day 

Answering the age old question of Bouffon, Tom and Ian get into how, where and why Bouffon came to be.
Bouffon is a style of performance in which the aim is to provoke emotion (usually laughter in the uncomfortable) in order to gain clarity or resonance in a particular subject - the more taboo, raucous, or edgy the better.

If you're interested in researching more about Bouffon then feel free to have a look through our sources below! Let us know if we missed something interesting.

TIMESTAMPS
0.00 Intro
1.18 Initial Notes
2.09 Quotes
5.30 What is Bouffon?
7.32 Myth of Bouffon
11.15 Good Art
12.33 Visuals of Bouffon
14.24 Modern Bouffon Origin
18.33 Stock Characters
19.11 Nate
20.26 Outro
21.20 Joke of the Day

SHOWNOTES & SOURCES
Jacques Lecoq
Phillipe Gaulier
Giovanni Fusetti
Bouffon Examples
Nate

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouffon
washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/05/AR2011010505738.html
https://www.aqueoushumour.com/about/bouffons/
https://batterseaartscentreblog.com/2020/02/13/bouffon-for-beginners/
https://learningthroughtheatre.co.uk/blog/what-is-the-origin-of-bouffon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulcinella
https://www.lifeinitaly.com/lifestyle/holidays/carnival/pulcinella/
https://www.petalily.com/blog-dark-clown-clown-plus/bouffon-satire-dark-clown
https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/doi/10.4324/9781315745251.ch18
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feast_of_Fools 

The next installment of the Clowns Create series has landed! Using nothing but quick wit and creativity, Tom and Ian brainstorm an entire live performance Clown Routine completely from scratch. 

Clowns Create episodes were made to exercise our creative muscles and apply some of the clowning techniques we have learned about while at NICA and producing the Cheeky Podcast. 


TIMESTAMPS
0.00m Intro
1.32m Act Triangle
4.04m Brainstorming Begins
18.09m Remembering Audience Interaction !
23.48mRecap
26.52m Outro
28.25mJoke of the Day

Around the World Daft Punk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKYPYj2XX80

Classic Bugs Bunny Skit with Lightning
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJI_gygXsfs

Today we take a look at the most famous MIME in the world! Said to have single handedly revived the art of mime during the 20th century, there is most certainly more than meets the eye here!

After rescuing many children during WWII as a part of the French Resistance, he turned to performance, where his shows would touch hearts and minds. Even becoming friends with Michael Jackson and becoming an inspiration for the moonwalk!

TIMESTAMPS
0.00 Intro
1.24 Opening Notes
3.04 Birth and Youth
9.03 School and Beginning of Career
15.27 Stock Acts
22.03 Side Track
22.48 Outro
23.30 Joke Of The Day

SHOWNOTES
Marcel Marceau Miming
The Mask Act
Shitfaced Shakespeare
Laughfactory.com

SOURCES
https://www.mime.info/encyclopedia/marceau.html
https://www.mime.info/encyclopedia/marceau-bio.html
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0545131/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm
https://theculturetrip.com/europe/france/paris/articles/marcel-marceau-frances-most-memorable-mime/
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Marcel-Marceau
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcel_Marceau
https://artsandculture.google.com/entity/marcel-marceau/m017_65?hl=en
https://www.history.com/news/marcel-marceau-wwii-french-resistance-georges-loinger

What is Mime?! Baby don't hurt me...Don't hurt me... No More!

In this episode of the Cheeky Podcast Tom and Ian attempt to make sense of the performance genre of Mime. What is Mime? And how is it similar and different to Clowning? Find out this and more as we try to piece together the mystery of Mime.

TIMESTAMPS:

0.00m Introduction
3.55m What is Mime?
8.53m Can Mimes use Props ?
13.39m Is mime a category of Clown ?
17.38m History of Modern Mime
22.55m Trivia & Fun Facts 
24.55m Outro
26.15m Joke of the Day


Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mime_artist
https://www.wonderopolis.org/wonder/what-is-a-mime
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporeal_mime
http://www.differencebetween.net/miscellaneous/difference-between-mime-and-clown/
https://www.theatreinparis.com/blog/a-history-of-mime-the-most-oh-so-french-of-art-forms
http://worldmime.org/en/about-mime/mime-and-pantomime.html
http://www.peareylalbhawan.com/blog/2017/08/24/mime-as-a-performance-art/
http://worldmime.org/en/about-mime/mime-and-pantomime/104-mime-and-pantomime/291-le-mime.html

Pop Culture references !

Video 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyqelMwAza4&ab_channel=TheOfficialPok%C3%A9monYouTubechannel

Video 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jwasv_AImtI&ab_channel=Movieclips