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AE19A9414 (c) Andy Hollingworth Archive
AE19A9414 (c) Andy Hollingworth Archive

Welcome visitor!

Please come in and take off your shoes.

We are:

Julia Masli & Viggo Venn

Award-winning contemporary clown duo from Estonia and Norway.

We make deeply ridiculous clown theatre that celebrates the beauty of human imperfection. The connection with our audience and their joy are at the core of our practice. Our work is radically non-intellectual, aiming to make as many bellies hurt from laughter as possible.

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About Viggo Venn (NOR):

Winner of “Best Comedy” at the Brighton Fringe 2016, Time Out Edinburgh Fringe Award 2018 and Norwegian Championship of Theatresports. 

His clown solo show ‘Pepito’ was nominated for Best Comedy at Fringe World in Perth. Viggo played Just for Laughs Festival, Glastonbury Festival, Soho Theatre, Comedy Central Stage, Sydney Comedy Festival, Second City Chicaco, UCB, Melbourne International Comedy Festival, and more. He recently toured the play “Brothers & Sisters” with NIE, which was nominated for The Hedda Award in Norway. 

About Julia Masli (EST):
 
Winner of the Malcolm Hardee Award for Comic Originality at Edinburgh Fringe 2019. Most recently, her show Legs had an extended run at Soho Theatre.
Julia's show Anna Karenina Na Na with The Pushkinettes was nominated for an Off West End Theatre Award for best production at Voila Europe Fest. She toured internationally with NIE "We Come from Far Far Away" - a show that won the Hedda Award in Norway. 
Currently Julia is working as a clown with Race Horse (Finnish contemporary circus company) on their new show.

Our collaboration began during the pandemic. As our tours were cancelled, we started playing together.

AE19A9090 (c) Andy Hollingworth Archive

We put on the costumes of Harlequin and Pierrot, and went out to the streets of London to bring the fun back to the local people, in the tradition of Commedia del Arte (safely). These moments of connection were filmed and became the heart of our digital show "We Missed You".

A theatrical film about the impact of the pandemic through the eyes of clowns. Harlequin and Pierrot guide us on the journey of loss and hope.

"profound and heartfelt" ★★★★★ Blizzard Comedy

"an absolute blast" ★★★★ A Younger Theatre

"laughter and joy transcend the screen." THE STAGE

The film is based on real-life interviews with a child, a mother, a grandmother, a professor of sicknesses of trees, a friend far away and a Londoner. 

"We Missed You" premiered digitally as part of Voila Europe Festival 2020. It was then presented at Camden People's Theatre's Sprint Digital Festival and at Assembly's curated digital programme in Edinburgh Fringe 2021. 

 

The show received support from Performing Arts Hub Norway, funded by Arts Council Norway.

We were commissioned by New International Encounter to make a short film. We filmed it in Estonia, close to Julia's family home. Watch it below: 

A bonus video from us to the special ones who made it this far! In celebration of Slavic culture and our beloved tradition of squatting...

Thank you for coming in.

 

Don't forget your shoes!

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