----------------------------------- Two Clowns in a Closet - Episode 01 https://circusfreaks.org/podcast Recorded on 2022-01-17 ----------------------------------- *door closes* Russ: I regret that I do not have a squeakier door. I think that really- Avalon: There's no squeak to the, the movement. R: *grunting* Ok, whew. A: All right. Here, have some blanket. R: Thank you, Thank you, and welcome all to the first ever episode of Two Clowns In a Closet. I assure you there are two of us here, and we're in a closet. A: Yes. R: Yes, and it's very very cold, and it is very very small and we're very excited to read some questions. A: Yes, who should go first? R: Well, I was gonna explain the questions first. A: Oh, well, our friends sent us questions. *both laugh* A: We asked the internet for questions, and they said "We have questions for you." R: But I was gonna *flips through cards* I had a whole thing, it's gone now. You read the first question because it's gone. A: Ok, ok. R: It's gone. A: I'll go. R: Alright. A: I'll go. R: Wait, before you go, A: *affirmative noise* R: I want you to know that you have a lovely speaking voice, I'm so excited for everyone to get to hear it. A: Thank you R: All right A: So do you R: Thank you. One more thing! I really liked the way you sound-checked earlier. It made me laugh. A: Well, thank you, I appreciate that. Of course, now you're referencing things that our audience will never hear. R: I hope not, there was some very untoward commentary during those sound checks. A: Well, you know- R: Ok, you ready? A: Yes. R: Ok A: Yes I am. R: I don't want to interrupt you. I want you to get right after it. A: Ok, I will get right after it, right now- R: Start reading the questions A: Ok R: All right. A: Who are you- R: Wait! A: What are you making me wait for? R: I wasn't listening- A: That's not the question- R: I had such a- A: You wanted me to start, you said start. R: It's true, but I wanted to be prepared to take in what you had to say. A: I'm sitting here, with a pile of questions. R: Yes. A: It's time for us to begin. Are you prepared to receive the questions? R: Yes. Will you be starting now? A: Yes. R: I'm excited, go first- A: So our first- R: Go ahead A: -question- R: didn't mean it A: -On our first card- R: Real quick! I am really sorry, I noticed that I tend to interrupt a lot and I just wanted to apologize for that before we went any further. A: Noooo, really? I hadn't noticed. R: You're sarcastic, has anyone ever told you that? A: Yes. R: Ok. A: I prefer the term facetious. R: Facetious. Have you ever considered the term "contrary"? (pause) A: Not particularly. R: Are you being contrary? (pause) A: Perhaps. R: Ooo-hoo! Perhaps. A: *laughs* R: And now, without further adieu. Friends, our first question. A: Our first question is: Who are you, and how did you get into my closet? R: Ok, now obviously that's for me because it's my closet we're recording in. So I will start again, let me get out my reading glasses 'cause I can't- A: Well if it's for you, then you should answer the question. R: No, it's "WHO ARE YOU AND HOW DID YOU GET INTO MY CLOSET?" See, some of it is about theatrical emphasis. A: I think you're making a lot of assumptions. R: Ok you're right, I don't know who wrote that. I don't- I don't know who wrote it. I don't know why they wrote it. But I'm gonna go, Ok I'll try again. "Who are you, and how did you get into what has clearly been established as my closet?" A: Well, my name is Avalon Woodard. I am a member of the Circus Freaks. I am part of this brand new podcast "Two Clowns in a Closet". So I am here, in your closet, sitting on a cushion, with a blanket on because it's too cold, and talking to you about whatever questions people have asked us. I think it's also relevant however to ask you- R: Well, here A: -who you are- R: Well, here. Read the question, and put a little, put a little mustard on it. I'm ready. I can take it. A: WHO ARE YOU, AND HOW DID YOU GET INTO MY CLOSET? R: I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I was just sittin' here! *both laugh* R: It was good- A: He couldn't take it. R: I couldn't take it, I was weak. My name is Russ, I am the director of the Circus Freaks, founder of the company. Allegedly I am a clown and clown teacher. A: Allegedly. R: Well the facts are also true, but they have been alleged. A: Well, there you go. R: There you have it, and I am also sitting here in this closet because some of my very dear friends on the internet suggested that we do a podcast. A: Yes R: I thought this was ridiculous. I said "What are we gonna do? Lock two clowns in a closet and not let them come out till they answer questions?" and everyone stopped and said "Yes, that's precisely what you should do" And here we are. A: Yes, we've we've put a microphone in a closet and now we're here. R: We've done it. So, we've we've lucked out by stacking the deck and cheating and lying and previewing all the questions and have given ourselves a wonderful introduction. A: Yes. R: So, shall we plow forward? A: I believe we shall, yes. R: Alright, let's plow forward. Next question. That one's knocked out, done. A: All right. R: Thank you for the question that set up the entire podcast. A: This next question, is perhaps the shortest question we received. R: I'd like to point out that I really appreciated that you hand copied these so we don't- because we are very easily distractable people. A: Yes! No, if we'd have been in here with a screen- R: We'd be- A: -and a microphone. R: We'd be done. A: This would be over, it would be, it'd be done. R: But we have index cards, that have been handwritten in beautiful ink, by you, because my handwriting looks like my grandmother's wish that I would be a doctor. A: And mine looks like I'm someone who is pretentiously using a fountain pen. R: You're earnestly using a fountain pen. I find that upsetting. What was the question? We're supposed to answer the question. A: So the question is: "Why?" R: Why what? A: There was no further explanation, it was just- R: Well hang on- A: I mean, look at this, it's just, just- R and A: Why? R: Well, why then? Why? A: You've already said Why - R: we were, yeah we can't use the podcast as a- A: -we were doing the podcast. R: yeah, why. I mean .. Why in a closet? A: For sound quality. R: Is that why? I just thought it'd be funny to lock us up somewhere, I didn't realize that'd be a- A: No, podcasts all over the world are done in closets because there's a lot of fabric hanging and it dampens the sound and ends up making this very smooth tone with a lot - without a lot of echo and reverb. R: I just got a mental image of so many celebrities sitting amongst their sweaters earnestly recording podcasts and I got very happy. A: Oh, it's definitely true, for many of them. R: That's fantastic, That's fantastic. So that's your why in the closet. I should do a why. A: You should do a why. R: Why. How 'bout "Why this closet?" A: That's a very good question. R: Oooh, why this- A: That's a good one, why this one? R: Well, your closet was colder. A: My closet is colder and smaller. R: The other closets are stuffed full of crap. A: True, so much circus R: Crap. A: Crap. R: Which is a techni- I'm sorry. I should break this down. Crap is an industry term meaning a lot of miscellaneous things. For example: "Get this crap out of here, we're trying to work" It's a common theater- A: Oh yeah, R: Yeah, it's a common theater phrase. A: I've heard that referring to us- R: yeah! A: On more than one occasion. R: "You're crap, get out!" Yeah, we hear that a lot. But, this closet was was far enough away from the world and also I, once getting in here. Realizing that it is my costume closet, and that I am currently surrounded by about ten years of my of of my characters and my performances. There are hats from shows I've done, and many many many pairs of shoes. It's equally intimidating and it's also it's kind of reassuring, all at the same time. Which is an upsetting mix for a place I call home. A: There are a lot of stripes in here. R: So many. I didn't realize I wore this many stripes, you're right. A: Oh yeah, your clown is very prone to stripes. R: That's true, that's true. Well shall we do- shall I read the next question, since you read that one? A: Yeah, that sounds- R: Ok, alright alright A: That makes sense. R: Moving on, I think that was a good question, it's very open. A: Yes. R: Oooh, this is a good one. "What is the history and point of the clown make-up, and also red noses?" I think we can both- A: Yeah, we can speak to this. R: Well, what's interesting about this is that when I perform, I don't wear make up. A: Yeah, you don't wear any make up. I do. R: You do, and so you should- Why don't we split it? You take, you take one part- A: Ok, I'll take the make up, you take the noses. R: Ok. And I think it's worth pointing out; I don't wear make up, not because I have a hang up about make up, but when I was in clown school, there was a section of course, everyday where we were working on developing a character make up. At least a starting point. A: *affirmative noise* R: And every day I would sit there and I would put some on and they would come by and they would tell me "Too much!" I was like "ok" and I would take some of it off and they would go "Take some off!" and this went on for about a week. And I was so frustrated, that one day about, I don't know, about a week into this I was so frustrated that I was just sitting in the chair. Everyone was frantically doing their make up and I just did nothing. I just sat in the chair. And one of the instructors walked up to me, who is a dear friend and a very well known clown, walked up to me and said "Hey, that's looking good!" and I said " I'm not wearing anything." And they went "A-ah, A-ah, A-ah!" and they walked away. And they never explained why that was good for me or why they were- what it was about. But ever since then, every time I've tried to wear make up, it doesn't work. So, I don't wear make up. But you do. A: I do. R: And you should talk about, what is the m- what is it? The History and Point. A: The history and point of the clown make up. R: Yes. A: And, this. I'm going to give the history as it has been told to me. I will admit I have not thoroughly fact-checked this. R: I would like to point out that we are two clowns locked in a closet without an internet connection. I don't think anyone's gonna really bust us on getting our facts right. A: Yeah, we have not done- R: Just, just roll like you know stuff. A: Ok R: Roll like you know stuff. A: Ok. So the history of make up in -pertaining to clowns. Largely it comes down to, clowns perform, in many cases, from a significant distance. If you've got particularly circus clowns in a large tent show, you are very far away from your audience, and in order to be seen and in order to have expressions be seen you really really have to heighten the lines on your face. Which isn't really any different then how make up is used for everything ever. You're highlighting whatever features of your face that you want to be seen and minimizing any features of your face that you don't want to be seen. So you follow the lines of your face so that things like smiles, frowns, confusion, are all very easy to read from a very far distance. Because, being aware that that's where the stereotypical clown make up comes from, you have to be really careful if you are working in smaller spaces, to tone it down. Because I very rarely have what people would consider a full make up on, but I do take elements of the classic full clown make up, and I tone it down so that it is not, honestly, threatening or frightening because grease paint can be a lot. If it's on heavy and you're up too close, it's not meant to be seen that way. So I have a fairly toned down look for most of my work, unless I'm working at a distance and I know that I'm going to be working at a distance. Then I'll tone it back up. R: Well that's fantastic. A: Yeah. R: I think that was a great answer. A: Yeah, you bet. We've got noses! R: Oh, noses! Right, right, right. A: Noses, is is gonna be your, your part of this. R: So my, my make up experience as I said, was pretty short because I tried and tried and tried and it just never, it never sat on my fac-It always looked like it was floating on my face, and the thing you said about you highlight what's there? A: *affirmative noise* R: I think because I have dark eyebrows and an expressive face, all I was ever doing was covering up what was there and I think that's what really that was about and that gives me an interesting segue. So, in addition to clown, one of the passions I have in theater is mask. And, and very recently, right before the reasons we were locked inside, this terrible time, we got to go study some mask theater real earnestly, really in depth and it really woke me up to it and I started doing a lot of research and I think it's funny because I come at a lot of things backwards. I come at them the hardest way possible. I decide, you know, to just pick the wrong end of something and run at it. And I started working- A: This sounds very clown. R: It sounds very clown, it is, it is. But I decided to go and study clown first and then finding out if you look at like the physical theater schools like Jacques Lecoq and other things like that, you're gonna find that the mask starts off as the full neutral mask, then becomes the character, then becomes the half-mask like Commedia or trance mask and then eventually shrinks down until the only thing you have is the clown nose, which is the mask that reveals the most and most of what clown is really about is revealing humanity. A: yeah R: And so, I ended up, at first I used a glue on nose and I hated that, I just, the glue went up my nose and it was awful. And I got to talking to a fantastic mask maker by the name of Stanley Sherman, and Stanley both makes masks and teaches masks and I was emailing back and forth with him and calling him occasionally and he teaches clown nose and mask making and something like- He has a class on how to make a clown nose. If you're in New York I urge you, track down Stanley Sherman, go and do this. But we were talking, and one time I was at a show, and due to a long series of events, I ended up backstage before a show with a new prop which was a Kazumpet, which is a kazoo with a trumpet bell on it, and I photographed it- A: It's so pretty R: It is pretty, I photographed it, I put it online as a joke, and he messaged me and he said "I love it, I want one" and I said "Would you trade me a nose for it?" and I was like, completely convinced he would be like "yeah, right, I'm not gonna do that." and he said "yeah" And I was like "whaaaat?" A: Art trade! R: And so we did a circus clown art trade and he sent me - I had to have my face life-cast and he made me this beautifully made nose. I also simultaneously made one on my own and what I find is I wear the one- I started out wearing his quite a bit. I know wear the one I made on my own quite a bit more, but I love the nose he made, and I wear- A: You wear both R: Yeah, I wear 'em pretty interchangeably. So, so from my my hist- that's my personal history of nose. Is that I do wear a hand-made nose, made very traditionally, and I'm very interested in mask making and then, what I think about the philosophy of it, what I think about the history - A: The history at large- R: The greater history- A: The greater history R: And the point! That's the word. If I had just looked down at the paper, "What is the point, you idiot?" I would have said to myself. The point is this: On one hand it's this mask that reveals everything, but also I have found if I'm at a festival or an event and I'm wearing a red nose, it's like a big sign. It says "Hey! I'm ready to play" and if I'm ready to play people say "Yes! I will play with you" and if they're not interested they say "No thank you" and they wander off and it's this amazing clear symbol of that pure innocent idiotic idea and it has never failed, it, very quickly, people just run towards you and even if they're not interested in being very deeply involved, they'll give you that moment and go "ok, what have you got?". A: yeah R: They'll gi- They step back and it's magic, they become an audience. And so, I think one of the points of the clown nose, is it signals passers-by that you are requesting an audience. A: *affirmative noise* R: I think that's that's the word I would use. It's an invitation, and that's and that's how I would characterize that. So, I say it's both the symbol and we train with it, A: *affirmative noise* R: And it's also this this sort of like warning light to other people "Caution: Profes- A: Caution: Clown! R: yeah, professionally stupid person. The other thing I'll say is when you look at the traditions of mask, it takes on a few more layers because that is sort of where the sleeping clown lives. A: yes R: And then you wake them up and they go play and then you put them back to sleep where they won't hurt anybody on your day off and I think that's that's fantastic, so it has that- A: Yeah, I love that. I love that thought process about it. R: That's something I believe in, more than I admit. So, I think that answers this question- A: yeah R: -pretty soundly. Thank you for a for a lovely question, I think that one was really nice. That one helped. So, moving on. Do you want to read one? A: Yeah, I think- R: Alright A: I think it's my turn- R: Ok A: - I think? R: here you go. A: Ok, oh goodness, this is a big one. R: Oh, do you want me to read it? A: No, I got it. R: Are there words you don't know? You made it sound like it was a big- I'm worried. A: No its just, it's just a, there's a lot to this question, that's all. R: A lot of words? Go, just sound it out A: I've got, I've, I've got it! I've got it. R: *laughing* You've got this. I believe in you! A: I've got this. R: I believe in you. A: I'm glad. R: I'm pretty sure you're real. A: I should hope I am. R: You're just as real as I am. A: I know you're real, you hold me in the air- R: Thank you. A: And I don't die. R: And you're welcome. A: So, the question here. R: Oh right, we were answering questions, I forgot, I got so comfortable. A: There's a question. The question is: "How do you 'keep the plates spinning' so to speak, in the current climate? Tell about training, pandemic, people, reaching out, and being stuck 'in'" they also commented "That might be a whole episode there!" R: Ok, so- A: It can't be a whole episode, we've already answered other people's questions. R: I just wanna stop and thank my friends for understanding that we're not very good at this and that they provided like circus metaphors for us to cling to and suggestions on how to achieve our goals. A: It's beautiful! R: "It could be an episode" is oh, oh thanks, I really appreciate that. A: No, I do. I do really appreciate that. R: I'm I'm being very earnest A: yes R: The question is also a biggie A: So, shall we talk about R: I think I wanna kind of go backwards through this A: Backwards through this, the being- R: The reason- A: -being being- R: -for context- A: -stuck in first? R: yeah I think for context it's important, maybe we'll we'll go back and forth but A: Ok, yeah R: We, it was the March of 2020, so we're coming up on a very difficult anniversary A: yup R: We were, on course to have a pretty phenomenal year. A very busy, doing the work that we love doing. A: yeah R: And we were at an event and we kinda knew it was gonna be the last one for what we thought, like everyone, would be be a little bit. A: yup R: And it was, I think the desire for that to be a good one. Something I'm so grateful for is that the last event was so good that I felt like "ok, if things have to stop for a minute, that's, that's a good way to stop. That'll keep me going." And having no idea how much that was true. A: Yeah, we had a wonderful last event R: Yeah A: That was really, people were great- R: And I think they were feeling it to- A: -we had fun, yeah R: They, everyone was feeling it because it hadn't gotten to where we are yet. At which point, about a week later we started getting the inevitable phone calls which were events being, just disappearing. We watched our entire year completely disappear. Everything that we had built up, everything we had worked towards, just stopped. And, and I'm not saying anything the world doesn't know and I don't want to dwell on that part, but I think it's it's interesting, whereas a lot of people, I don't know what people's impressions are, but we stopped full stop and kinda went "well, we'll wait for a moment" and that just kinda stretched on, till- We are still officially not taking - we're doing online projects, we're doing video projects, we're recording audio for you, but we're not out in the world because we know it's not safe and even less for us, for our audiences. The idea that we would endanger an audience is a very- I mean, I can't work that way, A: yeah R: It's an upsetting idea, and so the context of all of this which I think is a very cool question. A: yeah R: I wanna start by saying, please understand that where we're coming from is that our, our circus troupe, our our clown theater troupe went "alright", u- unilaterally, unanimously, with great love "we have to stop" and "we have to hold it out" and in fact, we went - I had a friend of mine contact us, our friends from Wild Rumpus Circus- A: Yeah! R: And they asked us to film - about a month or two into all of this - they asked us to film a little parade. And it was, what they were gonna do is they were gonna, they usually did a youth parade and that obviously needed to be canceled. And they, wanted to get clips of all of their clown and circus friends little, you know, crosses across the screen- A: yeah R: And they were going to edit all of that together and do a parade with music. So we contrived an idea and we went "Ok, we can get dressed and we can run out back. No one will know. It's an alleyway. We'll run out there, we'll do our thing, and then we'll send them the video and it'll be great." And we did and it was great fun. In the less than an hour we were there, we drew a rather significant crowd, for an alley. A: Yeah, it wasn't a small number of people who showed up, somehow, seriously. R: They all materialized. And at that moment we knew. Our greatest superpower is bringing people together and making them feel good, and it was the wrongest of time for that. A: yup R: And so that kind of, I think that's the clarifier, whenever, whenever I think "Well what happens if we go do something" like, you know, people will ask us "well can you do something a little bit distant" and we go "the parade" and we know and- A: And it's like "We would love to, but-" R: I wish we had a nice, a more grim term. I go "But the parade! No.. the parade!" A: "The Parade!" R: So, that's, that was our entrance in and we had to, we had to make some decisions on how we were going to spend our suddenly copious free time. A: Well, and we had been hosting a gym. R: I was teaching. A: You were teaching, R: yeah. A: So we had both classes and sort of an open skills space, play space, where we were training. R: Right, we were part of a circus residency program and in exchange for my teaching clown theater classes, we had access to the facilities to train circus skills, which had become something of an interest to us. A: Yeah R: And so, suddenly, without that, we were either going to stop training completely, which is very tempting when you realize you are not young, and your body is sore, and you're crammed in a closet, *laughs* but also- A: Oh no, oh no, is this going to endanger everything? R: No, the first whinge of the night, it's fine. But also, yeah, we said "ok, normally we have a crowd of people watch us and cheer us on-" A: And who we have to be there to unlock the door for, and lock the door after they leave so- R: So we might as well- A: So we have to be there- R: So we might as well, we might as well train. A: yeah, we're like "we have to train" R: And so, yeah, we decided, it was your idea. A: Yeah, I think it was my idea. So I knew that without- So we didn't know how long this was gonna go right like 'cause- R: yeah, don't worry about that A: Nobody knew. But I knew that without the designated time - R: The schedule A: The schedule, and not just the schedule, but the expectation that we would be there. The having made a promise that we would be there. Without that, I knew enough about myself to know that it was very very difficult for me to practice on a regular basis, because every I've ever said "Oh yeah, no, I'll practice tomorrow at some point-" R: It doesn't happen. A: It doesn't happen! R: More importantly, I also happen to know that you are a praise hungry ego-maniac, as, as I am, as- A: As most performers are. R: Right, and so the threat of an audience. And I remember that first night, nobody showed up. A: We haven't explained what we did yet. R: Well, I'm gonna loop back to it. A: Ok R: Time has no meaning, so I, I'm allowed to loop around! A: That's fine, that's fine. R: Alright. So we turned on a video chat, see I did, and nobody showed up that first night- A: No R: -but the threat that someone might enter the room, we didn't know anybody, made us really good at our job and we knew "Ooh! If we do this, we'll actually do our job, we'll actually maintain what we're working towards" and that became, the very next time, somebody showed up. A: Yup, someone showed up the second time. R: And then people started joining us, and that became what we now host online three nights a week, which is circusInPlace. And, getting into the greater, the mission-y-ness of it, beyond our own workout, what we created was a really simple space. We created a space, we said "Hey, come watch us if you want. Hang out with us if you want. If you've got projects you're doin, doin that." I am not trying to record a commercial here, that's not my goal. But the goal is just to make a space where people felt comfortable. With the simplest of rules; if somebody asks you to change the subject- A: Change the subject. R: Full Stop. Yeah, and that, and that was all it took. A: And check with people before getting grim R: Yeah, yeah. Yeah leave the real world out, and let's just have a nice time. And that was kinda the edict, and it became such a lovely space and we built a little, I would say, a little community- A: yeah, definitely R: Has, has emerged out of that, and they are, they are the people I am probably closest- I spen- I certainly spend the most time with them. A: definitely! R: And so- A: Outside of those of us in this apartment. R: Right, and so we had this video chat and that became this thing we were doing to pass the time. We knew it was fun, and then it finally happened. Somebody in the middle of the night showed up and was having a really terrible night, and they were like "Hey, I'm having a rough time, can I just be here" and we said "Absolutely" and we started talking to them, even though their camera was off, their mic was off, and we just, we kept them company. We just, like we're doing right now, we just - A: yeah, were just there in the room R: -assumed they're in the room A: yeah R: And at the end of the night they said that they had been under a quarantine and that was being lifted and we helped them get through the last night of that and we knew, we knew there was this value in this mission of just providing presence for people. A place for people if they wanted to be- A: where there were other people. R: Yeah, as simple as that. There's no greater mission. And then it allowed us to also focus on our goal to see what we could do about upping our game, our training regimen. Which raised this interesting question, which was "If we didn't have to, you know, swim home"- A: Yeah, if we didn't have to save something for the swim back. R: Because at the end of, when we were at the residency program, we would have to go in, open the place, prep the place, teach the class, do our work, clean up, go home, well there was about fou- A: And then unpack R: And then unpack A: and put everything away. R: And then fall- and then shower and fall asleep. And then the question came; What if those- four of those hours, that were travel and doing and set up and clean up, were more training. What if you could focus, and if you fell on the floor, because the pain or the hard job you were trying to do- A: Or yeah, your muscles were now exhausted. R: Yeah, I mean, not injuriously, but if you, if you pushed your limits a little far and you fell down and you just had to weep and that was ok. What would it be like? And the answer is.. A: We got a lot further a lot faster than I ever expected. R: It became, yeah, it became, it became this- The answer was we became much better at our job then we were while we were doing it, and we were already pretty good, I dare say. A: Yeah I feel like that's, that's accurate R: So, that was what was happening with the bulk of our time, with regards to like, What did we do instead of public events? A: yup R: And what would we do with our time. Additionally, behind the scenes stuff, we are currently- I mentioned masks, one of my pass- one of your passions as well- A: Yeah, we've been working on those together R: We're working on a collection of masks, theater masks, and the goal of those is to both be able to potentially perform with them and to teach workshops with them. So we're building them and right now we're finishing them and putting them into a box and not spending a lot of time with them, so they're fresh to us when we can go into that theater process. So that's a much, that's a very long term one. A: That's a very long term one, and we were, we were planning on doing that already, we'd started- R: BUT THEN WE SUDDENLY HAD FREE TIME! A: Yeah, we'd started actually working on, on making some masks and we'd already made some face forms and done some of the basic prep stuff- R: yeah A: And we had made a couple of masks on the table already that we were working on, when everything started to shut down, and there was this moment- R: When we knew A: When we realized that they were going to shut down the craft stores. R: *laughs* A: and so the very last day we could, we just flew to the craft store and ran through it and grabbed everything we needed and got like- R: We're still working from those supplies A: yeah, because- R: A year later A: Because we like, bought out all of the paper mache paste, and all, like, twice the amount of paint we would ever need, and just- R: And that's kept us very busy. A: Yeah, it's worked, it's worked very well. R: Additionally, I'm gonna be very open, we are very quietly writing a show. A: Yup R: That is a slow, and I have to say this to anyone who gets excited, that is a painfully slow process that we've been at, we had the seed of an idea appear to us over the summer and we sort of wrote the outline and we got very deeply into it and we started getting very excited about it and then we hit those pain points that happen in any creative process and since we have the time we said "Ok, we'll slow down on it" but we have- A: Stopped, did some research, did some more, coming back R: And now we're- yeah, yeah, yeah. And I'm, I'm excited, because it means on the far side of all of this, in addition to new skills, and in addition to new props, and in addition to this, we're actually working towards a greater creative idea. So there is, in the future gonna be a show that I'm quite excited about. I don't wanna say too much. But I wanna say that we're working on it- A: Yeah, yeah R: Because, this is actually the first time I've mentioned it to anyone outside of the people involved in the project. A: yup R: I have not said it to anyone, so I'm very excited about that. So, yeah, wow, that was like a confession. A: Yeah- R: behind the scenes A: Secret, secret- R: So what- So A: Lets see what all they have, let's see " training, pandemic, people- R: People A: -reaching out, and being stuck in" R: You know what my favorite thing to do? I give everybody this piece of advice. It's worth mentioning, that before we got trapped in the house, I had already made the decision to leave a lot of mainstream social media. It wasn't good for my mental health. I'm still detoxifying from that and it's been several years. I recommend- I'm not gonna tell ya to go digitally vegan, but I will tell ya that it helped me a lot to rethink how I spend my time on the internet. One of the things I did, was I took my address book and I went through it randomly, and I would just send a few emails, a few texts, just "Hey, how'ya doin?" and I think that shocked enough people into giving me real conversations that I hadn't had in years. Just because I think people are like "what do you mean? How-" you know, "what, What do you mean, not what's up in a text, but, but like an actual letter, What do you mean?" and then I noticed other people were doing this too. I have other friends who are, you know, some of them are writing letters, my handwriting's atrocious, but they're doing that and I really found that I reconnected to some people that I'd sort of lost touch with and that that was really nice. Not, you know, not a lot, but a few that mattered. A: Yeah, I've, I've definitely done some of the same 'cause I lost- I didn't completely lose touch with too many people when I cut out a significant amount of mainstream social media from my life as well but I have been making more of a conscious effort to keep in touch with people, and I think other people are doing a lot of that as well, R: Sure A: We also started to get into some silliness, which has been great fun- R: We? A: Of sticker exchanges R: Silliness? Oh the stickers. Ok, A: Stickers! R: Fist commercial of the night because it's free. I'm gonna do it. A: *laughs* R: If you go to our website, you will see a page that says "Stickers" and if you go there, it's not for sale, we give free stickers to anyone who asks and we came up with the idea to do this because we have a little glyph that we're fond of and we thought "Oh, we'll print some stickers of these" and it turned out to be such a fun thing to send them around and see people would send us an envelope of stickers, we started doing sticker trades. A: Yeah, because we'd been doing a couple of sticker trades before that, with some of the- R: But these were ours! A: Yes, and then we made some, it was amazing! R: And it changed everything. So it, now I'm very deeply invested, not because I want to put my stickers on things but I love the idea that like I'm giving something and someone's giving me something and then sometimes when I make a pack of stickers I throw extras in there because "ooh!" and I know who sent me every sticker because I keep the en- notes and envelopes and I'm like "Oooh!" and it's just, it's fun stupid silliness- A: yeah R: and I think there's not enough of that in the world. I don't think there's enough playfulness and this is a thing I could go very far on. You have to find ways- the plate I spin hardest is looking for ways to play with no benefit other than the play itself and this was one of those ways that I could share that. I think what I've been looking for, with the video chats, with the stickers, with everything, is ways to share that idea. Just something playful, because we need it so badly. A: yeah. I think we might have covered everything R: I think we might have. A: That definitely classifies on the reaching out- R: Reaching out A: -and being stuck in R: Oh, also we asked people to give us questions. That was reaching out. A: We did! And they did. R: They did. We will probably by no means get through all of them before we run out of gas. I feel good for a few more. A: Yeah, I think, I think I'm good for a couple more R: And then we'll, you know, maybe we'll do, another, A: but R: Another round. A: yeah, yeah. Because I'd like to get through everybody's but, but I don't think that's happening- R: No A: happening today. R: ok. A: What, what, what's our next one? whadda we got? R: Our next one? We needed the- It was time! It was time to move on. A: yes A: Thank you for the lovely question, here's another one coming to you: "What kind of clowning is a closet most suited to? What did you always wanted to do in a closet, as a clown?" A: Wow, R: It's a- A: Things I did not expect to get. R: You know what I love about these, is that there's a part of me that's the little funny bastard and the funny bastard wants to say sarcastic silly things about how there's not enough space to have fun 'cause that's a wordy way to say things A: yeah R: And I have to get those out of the way sometimes in my brain. Do you have this? A: Oh definitely A: So what's your sarcastic one? What kind of clowning do you wanna do in a closet? R: I don't actually have a sarcastic one of this, because of the level to which I don't know, because I don't want to be in a closet, I want to come out of one. R: *laughs* Well- A: No, but listen- R: -feel free to come out of the closet, I mean, the microphone's running, it's your dime. A: People already know who I am, I'm not worried about it. R: I didn't think you were, I was like "Secrets? What secrets do you have?" A: I don't have any secrets. R: But, what would- A: What would you do- R: Address the question. A: Yes, the question. "What sort of clowning is best- is a closet best suited for- R: "Most suited to" A: "Most suited to" R: "And what did you always wanted to do in a closet as a clown?" A: Well, I definitely don't have an always wanted to. R: Ok, so best suited to. What do you think it's best suited to? A: I feel like that answer is prop gags? R: *laughs* A: Prop comedy, because you can just keep pulling things. I think that a closet is particularly good hammerspace. R: Ok, you have- that's a, that's an industry term you're going to be forced to define. A: Ok, that's valid. I don't actually know where "hammerspace" comes from, as a term but it is the concept of, it's actually very much a- R: You've never watched any, any animation?- A: It's an animation concept, yeah, it's a concept from animation where you just, you move your hand offscreen, and now you come back and you have a giant rubber mallet in your hand. R: Hence, hammer space. A: Thus, hammerspace! R: Look at you! Defining Terms! A: I'm soo good at this. R: So, so - A: So,- R: Hammerspace- A: the idea of just being able to reach in- R: to this infinitely filled room A: and come back out with whatever is comedically suited for the moment. That seems like that would be fun. Doors are fun for that kind of thing. R: Ooh! Doors are magic. I had, when I was training, at one point I was told to slow down and I was told to slow down right before, because I was going really fast, we were exploring a room, and I took a really long time to walk through a door and I realized, the door is this magical- You know, we always- we forget what we were doing when we walk through a doorway. A: Oh yeah. R: But doors are magic. The ways you walk through them, they're these, I do not want to say the word "liminal spaces" but they totally are. I don't wanna say that. But I wanna say say that they're really magical, 'cause they transform, even from this closet to the next room, we are in a unique space now, so there's magic there. So yeah, I would want to play with that. The other thing I think about, I mentioned earlier that I'm surrounded by my characters. Being able to play dress up with all of these costume pieces. There are suits, there are pajamas, there are over- A: There are vests, there are jackets- R: And shirts and shoes! I could become so many people! Ones I already know, there's a fairly large list of people I know in this room but then there are also, who might I, if I was trapped in here, come up with? And that could be really interesting. I think one of the things I love about masks is the same way is like, I don't know who I'm gonna come up with. I wanna be thrown in a situation where I don't know. And so that is the immediate appeal, is I would start looking around at all of these things and maybe not necessarily from a prop comedy place but from a really earnest place of going "oh, well if this and this go together does that make something new or does it not and is that something fine?" The other thing I think about is there's this wonderful quote. I was teaching at a theater festival, you were assisting me. I was at a theater festival a while back and I met up, I'm gonna say hello to a friend, I met up with another theater teacher and clown teacher named Ben Sota and Ben's amazing. A: Yeah, Ben's great. R: Ben runs a wonderful program, and we were talking, he ended up taking my workshop, and he had so many nice things to say, but one of the things he said to me- We were walking around and there was this massive, sprawling, it was an activity room, ballroom- A: It was a big room. R: Just giant, like an aircraft hanger of a space! And they went "This is your classroom" and I was like "wow" and he said to me, He says "The clown expands to fill the space provided" And it seemed like such an invitation, and we played so big in that room when we did, and I realized when I'm in an intimate little theater, we talked about the make up earlier. You scale it back. A: Yup. R: When I'm in a gigantic space I become loud and large and my- and you're putting your energy out there on these big levels to try to fill them. A: Yeah R: To try to make something where there is nothing and I love that idea, and I think about here, in this tiny little room with nothing but this, this microphone that is sort of an avatar for so many friends A: Yes R: That it's very intimate, and I love that. That that can happen. That we can shrink everything down small. So one of the types of clowning I think I might be doing a little bit right now, is really trying to make that space. To make- Again, I wanna make a nice place for people to be. A: Yeah, That makes sense R: So I think that's one of those things, and yeah, I wanna put on silly shoes and run around like an idiot. I'm not gonna lie, I love both. A: Both are very good. R: Yeah, so, clowns in closets question answered! I think we sink that one successfully. A: Yes I believe so. My turn. R: Oh it is your turn, I'm sorry. A: It's all good. R: Cards for you. A: Alright, what have we got? "What is the best new gag clowning has come up with in the past 10 years?" R: 10 years? A: 10 years. R: 10 years? A: The past decade. R: Nothing! There's nothing new! A: No, there's nothing new. R: Oh, oh, I love this! This is such a great question because I just got done reading a book of theater and clown and comedy skits from the twenties, and before that I'd read a book of stuff from like the 1800s and it contained A(in sync): The Same Things R(in sync): The Same Jokes A: Yeah. R: One of my teachers used to joke, he would do a joke and he would turn around, he says "You know, Aristotle wrote that" or "Socrates wrote that" and we'd all go "Oh yes, yes, Socrates." And we knew what he was saying. None of this material was new. None of it's new because the best material, the material that really works, is universal. A: It's universal, but it's also unique. R: ooh, what a trap. A: Because, one of the things that I've been told many times from many teachers, is some variant of the idea of "Don't copy, steal" R: Make it yours. A: Which is to, to take an idea and do your version of it. R: Sure A: And your version of it is unlikely to be, like, I say make it unique. I mean make it honest and true to you, because you can't- it's not going to be unique. R: Can you give me an example from your own body of work? A: From my own body of work, can I give you an example? (pause) R: I preface this and say I know you're, you're a baby at this work. A: Yeah, I don't have a whole lot that I have- R: But what you have is good! A: I like what I have. R: So give me an example of something you st- you made yours. A: That I made mine. R: Even the tiniest moment, as small as a closet if you will. A: I'm trying to think of something that I know for a fact I have seen somewhere else that I have done. *laughter* A: 'cause I know some of yours. R: Well don't, no you can't use mine. A: But I'm trying to think of some of mine. R: Yeah, this is you. A: Let's see. (pause) R: That one! Just say it. We'll figure it out. A: Well, for one thing. One of- one of mine is, is I do a cover song. So- R: You have a clown cover song. A: Yes, I do a diabolo, or diabolo (changed pronunciation to diablo), piece while singing the song "When I'm gone" which is originally from "Pitch Perfect". R: I know the act, you stole that. A: And, yeah, so that one. I go back and forth on feeling like whether or not I stole it. The song no question, there's no question that the lyrics and the tune to the song- R: Oh yeah, you're a thief. A: -literally belong to somebody else. R: You're a terrible person, go on. A: But the clapping and cup game, R: Sure A: Is one that pre-existed the song, and is one that I played in my childhood. R: You're very- I've seen you do it, you taught it to me. A: And I- R: I'm bad at it, you're very good at it. A: And we did a like increase the speed as time goes on and I can do it pretty fast. R: Shockingly fast A: Because I was a child who was obsessive, so I learned how to do it, very fast, but so when I first heard the song, I learned it very quickly because I already knew how to do that cup rhythm. R: Sure A: And then, I had an interaction with some kids who came up, actually to one of the early versions of our gym, where we had cordoned off an area for people to practice circus skills and- R: The public could come and watch A: The public could come and watch, and these kids came right up to the barrier R: They were so well behaved. I remember lots of kids would do it. We would put up a, like a rope barrier on the stanchions A: yeah! R: And they would sit with their toes- if you measured a line down from that rope, their toes would be on the line A: On the line, no question R: But they would always be- 'cause they knew they would be told to go if they weren't there. So they always behaved and they were so great A: So they were very respectful and they were adorable and I started talking with some of these kids and one of the things I love to do is encourage children to enjoy the things that they like doing and the things that they're good at doing and so I asked them whether there was, what they liked to do, what things they liked to do and one- and in the way groups of children will, one of them was volunteered. She didn't volunteer, she was volunteered as 'a person who could sing', and while that made her initially uncomfortable I was, I tried to be very chill about it and not pressure her into anything but I said "You know, maybe we could sing something together, if you would like to that." and she agreed and so we tried to figure out something that we would both know, and I realized that this song was very popular, but we were at a circus gym, essentially, and there wasn't any cups around. R: No cups! A: Because there was plenty of water bottles, but no cups and I realized that a diabolo is essentially two bowls, they're back to back so it has a flat, cup like surface and so I grabbed a diabolo that I had and brought it over to where the kids were and I said "tell me if you know this one" and I started playing the rhythm and she said that she did and then we both sang the song together which was a ton of fun and then I realized that, after that moment, which was a beautiful moment in and of itself. I realized that with a loop pedal and a microphone, I could set that up using that tool and then spin diabolo and do my tricks and do some of the quote un-quote "skill work" and sing the song and do a performance of it. R: All at the same time. A: And so I built that. R: And there's a version of that in our videos that I love because it- there's one thing that I really enjoyed from the story -and we've gone back and forth about this A: Yes R: We had a performer with us for a while who was a percussionist amongst many other skills A: Yup R: And I said, why don't you do it together. And there's video of you and that performer doing that with a live drummer with a microphone and- A: That was good fun R: It was so good. I like the live performance, the loop pedal, it's hilarious to watch you figure it all out, but the going back to the seed that you stole, which was from your own experience, of a playful moment with a child and to recapture that, and the think you did on stage in front of so many people is so exciting to me. So that's probably remains my favorite, my favorite version of that performance because- A: It's sharing- R: It has that, It has that A: And I love that, and that's a lot of fun. But, so that is taking somebody else's work and- R: Making it your own A: bringing myself to it and changing it to be representative of who I am and what I do. R: That's beautiful. A: And I think that you'll find - the thing you will find, over and over again, is everybody, everybody steals from everybody else. R: So- A: Everybody does. R: So, one of my favorite stories, and people who have followed us on, on the internet have seen probably small allusions to this. There's been an ongoing saga in my life about the world's oldest joke. And I'm actually terrible at telling jokes. It's not a thing I'm good at. Being one, arguably I'm better at, but I think, I just don't, I don't have that timing, that really clever, sharp- A: Yeah, the pacing is all wrong when you try to tell a joke. R: Thank you for beating me to death on this, I was doing it myself, I didn't need your help *laughs* But- A: It happens to be true,what can I say? R: It does, I was being very earnest. Here's the thing, the oldest joke known recorded is actually from proverbs of ancient Sumer, it's on an ancient tablet, it is thousands of years old, and it's a fart joke, and one of my long standing goals is to get a photo- I have the cuneiform, I have references in books, but a photograph of the original tablet, because I wanna put it over my desk as a reminder that no lon- no matter how long we've been doing this job, no matter how hard it gets, no matter how many things change in the world, it's not that complicated a job. A: Fart jokes are funny. R: Fart jokes are funny and what's interesting about it is it's universal. We all have this, but there's something else about fart jokes. When I first started in this work I found them vulgar and disgusting. That's true. A: In fairness, they are vulgar disgusting. R: Yes, but there's this weird unpacking that happens. So you have to go "Why are you so ew about it?" and on one hand maybe am I just, you know, I have mentors that love these kinds of jokes, am I just trying to be the opposite of them? Am I deciding I'm better than that? I was trying to figure it out and I was talking to a lot of people about this while working my way through it and a lot of parents told me that at about age seven, their kids decided one day, out of nowhere, farts were hilarious. About that age, I mean, it may, it varies a little, but it seemed to be pretty consistent and I started doing some research, and I was doing research on trauma processing and trauma processing it landed, and I realized, when you're a baby, keeping control of all the things that make noises down there is like really traumatic serious stuff that you cry about. A: Yes. R: And after a certain point, you get control over it, but there's a lot of nerves. There's a lot of worry, and some number of years later, finally, you can laugh about it, and it's a release of something other than that and other than that ten- It's a release of that tension, and once I understood that, I, it clicked for me, I had had a couple bouts of terrible food poisoning just a few years before I started studying clown and I was having a lot of very serious stomach problems for the year before I got into this work and in the course of figuring it out, I realized about the time I started thinking they were hilarious and meaningful and funny was about that same window of time. And so I guess I'm a child, is part of this, but also, everyone's looking for new, new, new. I'm not saying old is good and new is bad, I'm saying they are very human, simple, fundamental truths. One of my teachers was very fond of saying "You know, we're born hungry and sadly we'll die hungry, but it feels so good to fill up in between." It's the simplest idea of humanity. It's that, and that's the stuff that I think works. And I think looking for the new joke, or the clever joke, is valid. I mean, that's, that's comedy, we're always trying to write something new, but in the end the stuff that really works if you break it down; slipping on a banana peel, that's schadenfreude. Fallin' down a well, it's really funny if it happens to somebody else. That's tragic and I don't like that kind of humor particularly, but I understand the mechanics of it, and I can find a way to apply it, in a way that isn't punching down, that isn't punching at people, and then it becomes really lovely to see what comes out of that because it has such a broad impact. I do a lot of work, especially the beginning of my performing career, I did a lot of work silently, as a mime and so you're working, and there were people who didn't speak the language I spoke and you learn, oh there are very human things that transcend language and those are the things that really excite me because they're fundamentally the most human and so that's what I think as far as what technology of joke, what new thing, remembering that is the new thing. Being reminded of that is the new thing. Being reminded we're human. Doubly so in a world where we are so progressively more and more disconnected from each other. I say, let's reconnect and laugh about the fact that we're human, the fact that we're all here. How great is that? I love that. Yeah. A: Yeah. R: Yeah, question answered. A: Yeah, I think that answers the question. Your turn. R: Alright, My turn. A: Whadda we got? R: Oh, are you ready? A: Yes. R: "Have you considered frogs?" (pause) A: Yes. R: Good. Would you like to expound at all? No? Just yes, you've considered them and? A: I have considered them. R: And? A: They are amphibious. R: Therefore? This is a toughy because it doesn't really have much to do with us. A: True. They're amphibious. R: They're amphibious. Ok, well you can, well you should ask me the same question. A: Yes, so "Have you considered frogs?" R: I have! A: And? R: And beyond their amphibious nature, I am a human muppet, and therefore I love the Muppets and I love all of the Muppets and I love Jim Henson and I'm silly that way and I like old Muppets the best and their was- And I love that Jim Henson never gave this type of speech but at one point Kermit the Frog gave a TED talk. And Kermit- A: Kermit the Frog gave a TED talk?- R: Kermit the Frog, you didn't know this? Kermit the Frog gave a TED talk. I'll put it on your watching list. A: Ok- R: Educate- A: I need to see this R: Yeah, we'll have to track this down but Kermit the Frog gave a TED talk and in this TED talk is discussed the conspiracy of craziness where we're willing to listen to a talking frog. A: Ok, what does Kermit have to say about that? R: Not important. You've missed the gag! You've missed the magic of it all! You're already in the game saying "Yes, I agree, I'm listening. What does the talking frog have to say?" You've missed the fact that the frog is a piece of felt on the hand of a puppeteer and that, to me, was the magic of this statement. The conspiracy of craziness is, like the clown nose, "oh, I see it! I know that means I'm the audience. Yes I would like to play that game. What is the game gonna be about? What is the story gonna be? What is the play gonna be?" I love that. I love that we are, we're in a world where we can agree to use our imagination. It's the entrance point to imagination. When it wakes up and it goes "Oh yeah!" and you're already three steps down the road because you've already accepted- Children will do this, like they're, they'll suspend their disbelief completely, until you do something incongruous with that, and then when we see that we hate that. When you burst that bubble of internal consistency? They will come for you. A: That is true R: They will- So will smart adults, thankfully, remind us when we've missed something important. So, I love that idea. So have I considered frogs? Yes, philosophically speaking, I have. A: Good R: Yeah, yeah A: I think frogs should be considered. R: Frogs should be A: And Kermit especially so. R: I revere Kermit. I have a statue of a golden Kermit in my room. Just on the other side of this door. True story. A: I saw it coming in here- R: You saw it coming in A: You do- R: I do A: You do have a golden Kermit. R: I do. It was a gift from someone who cared about me very deeply and they went on a long adventure to find it and when it arrived it was so great and it has been staring at me ever since and I had it because it made me laugh and years later, years later I have this conversation with you and I saw it on the way in and it's the only reason why, a meditative philosophical frog, when I get this silly little question, the only reason it comes to mind is because of that. So I'm very grateful, both for the question, and for the silly little thing that lets our minds work that way, that lets us play. The conspiracy of craziness. I'm not such a big fan of that term "crazy"- A: No, no that's- R: Because clown has a lot of- we run right up against the edge of a lot of, a lot of -ism. A: Yes R: And I'm not- I'm never wanting to punch down and I always, I always tell people I say "If you, if you need to punch at something, punch at me. It's better than punching down." I'd rather take the hit. But, we do. And I think ultimately it's because are afraid of, of otherness of any kind and so, they mock it. They hope it's dumb. And from what I have experienced, most other, is anything but. A: Well, and, and on, on that, I mean and even there you used, you used an ablest phrase. R: Did I? A: Yes R: I tried not to. A: Well "dumb" is one. R: It's true, you're right. You're right and I am sorry. A: And we run into a lot of that because- R: The highest complement in this work, I'll be sitting, I sat in a workshop with like top performers from around the world and the teacher laughed and said "That's really stupid" A: Yup R: And stood up applauding, and we were told that was really stupid, and it was a good thing. I did get one perspective on that I really liked, as long as we're in this murky area. A: Yeah R: One of my fantastic teachers, she is the father of my clown in many ways. She said to me, so many, so many useful things, but she said to me that the word "silly" comes from the word "Sælig" which means sacred. And there's something really special about the power of a little silliness, and I love that. I love the idea that we can remember that and I have to temper it because I do, I do care very deeply about wanting to, to do better. I have seen some, I've seen examples of people who are entertainers who don't treat people well, who don't think about their actions, and I'm not trashing on anyone in particular. That's not my goal, but I wanna be mindful, I wanna care and so I'm always looking for it. I also have to know that ultimately we're a bunch of idiots in baggy pants making fart jokes calling ourselves "idiots". At some point we're gonna get it wrong. A: Well yes, R: At which point you say you're sorry. A: And, and particularly when it comes to, to using terms like "stupid" and "idiot" and, and all that. The clown is, and I mean this in tempo, is slow. R: yes A: The clown moves slowly, the clown thinks slowly, the clown thinks in a different pattern than to is what- than what is expected. R: That's their magic A: That's what they do, and that is a lot of what is often the same thing that has historically gotten many of those same labels. There's a reason we're using them, and it is never to be disrespectful to anyone. R: I, I hope it goes down in history that we got to have that conversation, you got to say those things 'cause I asked you earlier "have you considered frogs?" and you got to that. 'Cause I coul- all I have at this point are quotes from people smarter than me. You just, you said it. It's said. It's said. You know what? It's said. It's said. A: All right. Do you think we're done? R: I think we should take a break, and we'll come back for some more questions. A: If nothing else I need some tea. R: We need tea 'cause it's still very cold here. Thank you for listening. This has been two clowns in a closet, who are about to be released, on, on best behavior, to come back and record *sound of flipping cards* many more questions. You can find us on the internet at circusfreaks.org where you probably found this file to listen to. If you're interested in our sticker project or you have a question you want us to answer, or you wanna maybe show up at at our virtual, our gym, our circus in place event. Shoot us a, shoot us a message through the website. And you can- A: Or through email R: Or through email, well I assumed the email, that would lead to that. A: There is a contact us part of the website- R: You are so good, I don't know why I even try, you're so good at it. A: There's a whole bunch of different ways you can get in touch with us. R: There are also colouring pages, we're burying the lead. A: It's true, there are colouring pages. R: And videos of you doing the thing and the singing and everything which are fantastic. A: And there are videos of you doing things which are great. R: Which are questionable and great. A: They are great. R: They are questionable and great. I agree with you. Thank you so much for coming, we'll see you next time. A: Bye! R: I'm gonna open the door (sounds of attempted door opening) A: Did we actually get locked in here? R: I think we actually may have gotten locked in the closet. All right, one more try. 1, 2, 3 ahhh (banging noise) A: Are you ok? R: I'm fine! R: *grunts* A: Are you sure? You're sure you're fine? R: Yup!