Leading from the Clown
workshop with Ralf Wetzel & Robyn Hambrook

Join us for an exploration into how clown wisdom can instruct modern leadership & collaboration at work.

This work is taking the clown seriously as an important instructor of modern leadership and collaboration."

The red-nose clown has long been a source of hope, healing, and human connection. In theatres and hospitals, in refugee camps and even political protests, the clown’s power comes from embodying imperfection, innocence, emotional truth, and a fearless openness to connection. This workshop brings that same spirit into a different setting: the world of organisations; corporations, teams, and meetings - where many of us spend most of our lives. 

What's it all about?

The classic notion of leadership, as a lonely person on the top of a hierarchy, knowing it all and being able to instruct everyone, comes under more and more pressure in times of rapid disruption and multiple crises. Modern leadership requires the ability to share responsibility by connecting people (authentic connection), look at challenges with fresh eyes (naivety), find new opportunities in doing things differently (staying in the mistake) and speak from the heart (emotional truth). If we step away from the superficial idea that a clown has to be funny, we quickly find a lot of room for clown competence in modern leadership development. And this clown competence is what we will explore in this clown research session.

What's going to happen?

At the heart of the workshop are two realms of research. Firstly, we will find and explore the idea of ‘clown state’, the mental and emotional state from which a clown operates. Presence, receptiveness, openness, curiosity, innocence, vulnerability and naivety. Once we’ve found this state, we will secondly walk into typical corporate situations, deliberately staying and remaining in this state as long as possible. This will by definition alter the way those typical situations unfold, with the most unexpected twists and turns.
To produce and to play with this unexpectedness, to research it in the best clown way, is what this workshop is all about. Accordingly, this workshop is not about being funny, or to laugh more in corporate environments, and it is far away from the abysses of team-buildings. This work is taking the clown seriously as an important instructor of modern leadership and collaboration. As this is work-in-progress, participants are invited to explore this realm together with the facilitators. There are no fixed answers, this is deeply explorative and very open work by nature. But what else is the clown doing anyway?

How it works

Leading from the Clown
Friday 26 June 2026
10.30am - 5.30pm

Venue:
The Spark Space
138a Church Road, Redfield
Bristol BS5 9HH

Investment:
1-day workshop (6 hours)
FULL  £350 / MID £250 / LOW £150

FULL: Ideal for businesses and large companies able to invest in leadership development.
MID: Designed for charities, educational institutions, public services and smaller organisations.
LOW: Concessionary rate for individuals funding themselves and community groups.

Further discounts for past participants and Bristol Clown School regulars returning to deepen their practice. Get in touch to enquire.

Prerequisites:
None. An open mind and curiosity welcome.

Booking: 
Email [email protected] to book a place

If you’re not sure if your level of experience would support you to join this workshop, please email us and we will be happy to help identify if the workshop is right for you.

Who's this for?

This workshop is for leaders, collaborators, entrepreneurs, facilitators, and anyone curious about bringing a more human, authentic, and resilient presence into their professional life. It is suitable for all levels of experience with clowning or performance. All exercises will be explorative and tailored to the group.

What other's have said?

★  "What a wonderful workshop to prompt some deep reflection and different thinking about how I approach myself, my leadership and the groups I work with. And all through finding my clown, some play and lots of human connection."
Becky Lythgoe, Head of Insights and Engagement

★  "A wonderfully creative, fun and also challenging workshop that focused on the first dimension of 'clown state' - to be with what is, let it affect you and give it back. I learnt that there's no need to perform - just to explore, that crowds can be friendly and resourcing and that taking my time and settling my own nervous system first is not just important in my 1-2-1 work but powerful in a group setting too."
Previous Participant

★ "Best 3 hours of the month - playful, profound, world-of-work transforming"
Lucy Morris, Coach & Principal Consultant for Organisational Development

About the facilitators

Ralf Wetzel is currently Professor of Organization and Applied Arts at Vlerick Business School in Belgium. He’s a renowned business educator, with more than 14 years of experience in developing leaders and entrepreneurs impactful in complex environments. He has been developing a teaching approach massively influenced by performing art forms like improvisation theatre, red-nose-clown and theatre mask work. Also, he’s an independent theatre performer, improvisation theatre actor, red-nose-clown, mask actor and theatre producer. His clown journey began with John Turner (CA) and gained depth by his long-lasting work with Lee Delong (F). Further important teachers have been Peta Lily (UK), Patch Adams (US) and Avner Eisenberg (US).

Robyn Hambrook is a Bristol-based director, educator and performer. She holds an MA in Circus Directing and is a leading voice in using clowning and physical theatre as tools for social and pedagogical innovation. Her teaching approach is driven by creating collaborative research spaces that push the limits of the artform to generate new methodologies. Her educational practice spans corporate, community and tertiary settings, including the Bristol School of Acting, University of Bristol , UWE and Circomedia. She set up the Bristol Clown School in 2023. Some of her recent boundary-pushing collaborations include the Nomadic Rebel Clown Academy (activist clown training) and the Clown Congress (an annual gathering of clowns and academics exploring the role of the clown in the current era). Her own artistic foundation was forged through intensive study with a long line of pioneering teachers including Holly Stoppit, Giovanni Fusetti, Peta Lily and John Wright.