Church of Clown Holds Inaugural FLOP Festival

Church of Clown announces the inaugural FLOP Festival, created by Dan Griffiths, from September 15th to November 5. This (mostly) family-friendly festival features eight original productions from a cast of Bay Area performers.

New to the San Francisco theater scene, Church of Clown opened its doors on April Fool’s Day 2023. The non-profit is a community supported organization whose purpose is: to embolden humanity through community, teach resiliency through humor, find humility through service and nurture inspiration through joy.

“I’ve had the honor of meeting and sharing my work with clowns and communities around the globe.” said founder Dan Griffiths. “With the launch of Church of Clown and FLOP Festival in San Francisco, I’ve found a home for my work and a way to help others to share their talents, gifts, and magic.”

In a time when many Bay Area theaters have been forced to close, Church of Clown offers a light away from the doom loop news. Griffiths rented a space in his Visitacion Valley neighborhood that had been vacant for fifteen years and converted it into the theater. Over the past five months, the venue has offered adult classes in mime, clown and improvisation alongside circus classes for youth. Theater goers have been treated to a host of performances from both local and international clown performers.

“The uncertainty of performance spaces in the Bay Area is old news unfortunately.” said FLOP Festival performer, Dana Merwin. “Having a festival and theater devoted to an often misunderstood artform that provokes thought and laughter is wonderful news.”

Productions selected for the festival focus on a variety of topics ranging from mental health and grief to following your dreams and exploring gastronomical fantasies.
 

• Box Life, written and performed by Matilda Fatur, Nikolas Stocker & Nikolas Strubbe

• Candy Vision, performed by Sierra Camille and Lucy Juggles, directed by Dan Griffiths

• Everybody, Somebody, Nobody, written and performed by Michele Menard

• Gastro Absurdo, written and performed by Dan Griffiths

• Just Be Happy, written and performed by Kendra Ferguson, directed by Dan Griffiths

• Pierrotik, written and performed by Eric Wilcox

• Rich & Famous, written and performed by Wendi Wynazz, directed by Deanna Fleysher

• The Skinny Show, written and performed by Dana Merwin

For a complete description of productions, click here.

The Church of Clown, located at 2400 Bayshore Blvd, will host the festival. Tickets are available for purchase online at http://www.churchofclown.org or in person at the Church of Clown box office an hour before showtimes.

For more information, visit http://www.churchofclown.org or email Church of Clown at churchofclown@gmail.com