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***Tyler and Jon are safe with the other Tini Tinou festival participants in Battambang far from the Phenom Penh. We are saddened to hear about the tragedy in Phenom Penh and thinking of those who are affected by the tragic event.***

The San Francisco Physical Comedy Troupe, PI,  will be sending two volunteers, Tyler Parks and Jon Deline,  to Cambodia to attend the Tini Tinou International Circus Festival from November 15th through December 12th. During the break in the festival Tyler and Jon will travel to areas around Phnom Penh and Battambang to perform for children!

12.10.10 Jon’s Journal

Home is where the heart is, as the famous expression goes. Implying that no matter where you are if your heart feels at rest in a place you are at home. At peace with all of your surroundings finding contentment with your life. This is what home can be for those who have everything taken care of. There are no worries about how you will sleep or what you will eat. So, for some, home is where you can find shelter and food, which, is not easy to come by.

Sunday, November 28th, Tyler and I had a show at a place called Homeland. An orphanage in Battambang that takes kids from the streets and gives them a place to live and a chance to go to school. Shelter for those who really need it. New opportunities to those who regale in the squalor of inadequacy. This is one of those amazing places in the world where you see the effectiveness of human kindness giving new hope and building the future. So For Tyler and myself this was an incredible opportunity to perform.

We got to Homeland late in the afternoon. The orange sun already fading into the crimson hue of the early evening. When we got to the orphanage we looked for the place that we were going to perform. Seeing no applicable stage we decided that it would be best to perform in the grass. Right underneath the shade from the buildings. There was a problem however. The cows that graze in the pasture though that this spot was a fine place to graze. That it was their spot and they weren’t going to move for anyone. In a short moment some of the students came rushing to the cows and shooed them away to the back of the pasture. The kids seemed so acclimated to the task showing that they had done this many times before. As we waited for the sound system to be set up, Tyler and I started playing with the students. Tyler showing them the wonders of the accordion while I was the newest theme park ride. I Grabbed two kids at a time and spun them around in circles. Lifting them up high into the air and giving them wingless flight to lighten their souls.

With the sound system ready it was time to start the show. Only half of the students were there that day, but the entire faculty of the school was there in full force to watch our show. The show was another paradigm of the wonders of laughter. Having everyone from staff to student smiling, laughing, and showing nothing but sincere joy. Giving us pure reassurance that we are doing something right in the world.

After our show we had an hour to wait for our tuktuk to pick us up from the school. So we wallowed in the serendipitous experience of playing, laughing, and giving. We played games, sang silly songs, and just ran around being silly. At one point I had 4 kids playing catch with me all at the same time. Forever in a constant stream of red flashy juggling clubs. At another moment I had five of the kids climbing up on me. Using me like their playground jungle gym.

Tyler was walking around taking lots of pictures and talking with the staff. Finding out that they don’t only run the orphanage but have a program for street kids in the city called “The Street is not my Home.” Which gives street children a chance to have a safe place to be and an opportunity to learn.

As our time wound down at homeland and the tuktuk driver reached the gates a small girl came up to me, smiling. In her hands she held a beautiful Cambodian scarf. I asked if it was for me and she politely nodded her head, holding the scarf with both of her hands. I gingerly took the scarf and packed it in my backpack not knowing what it was for. I thanked the girl and went off to ask one of the teachers what it was for. The teacher told me that it was a thank you present from the students for coming to do the show. She also told me that they make the scarves there as a means to help fund the orphanage. This new facet of what the scarf was made my heart flutter. I knew that there would be no other souvenir that I could buy or thing I could see in Cambodia that would mean as much to me. I always love hand made presents, and this one will be a constant reminder of all my experiences here in Cambodia. The good and the bad. The ones overflowing with joy and the ones sunken with melancholy. I am forever touched by the people of this place and hope that I can come back again to share new experiences. Create new stories. But most of all give unto this amazing community the gift of laughter and hope the smiles stay long after I’m gone.

A brief note from A New Day Cambodia:

12.7.2010 Jon’s Journal

We started our juggling workshop at 9 in the morning, many young faces wishing to see what these two American clowns were going to teach. The students came in and started picking up juggling balls. Not 3 balls but 5. Almost every single kid could juggle 5 balls and was working on new tricks. Their skill level was off the charts in comparison with most circus students in the US. Tyler started the class by everyone picking up 3 balls and juggling around the space. Our students seemed to be apt at the task. However, it seemed as if they had never done this before. The next exercise had a similar reaction. We played a game of combat juggling, where everyone has to continue juggling as they knock other peoples balls out of the way. The kids ate it up. None of them had ever experienced juggling like this before. It was the first time that a new kind of play was introduced to how you juggle. It was then that I realized that this is what we had to offer. More important than any juggling trick. The idea of playing with convention. Offering different perspectives to their expansive circus knowledge.We continued the juggling class introducing new tricks that they had never seen before. Like the walk around and stealing, both partner juggling tricks. When the class was over both Tyler and myself were dripping with sweat. We had never trained in an environment like this. Humid and 80 degrees at 10 in the morning. Continuing the day we took a short beak and headed to our next class, Clowning.

Both Tyler and myself were worried about the class. How were we going to convey the subtleties of clowning when no one can understand a word that I am saying? Before we started the class we made sure that we had a translator. The class started with simple games that needed no more than gesture. The room seemed very attentive on our every motion. Never giving up a glance to peruse the crowd that was gathering in the doorway. We continued the class struggling to convey the message of our exercises. Even though we had a translator, the subtle details of the work was lost to our students. Eventually, as we regained our composure, the class started to flow. We started to get into a grove with simple body work. Realizing that the only way to really convey the exercise was by showing. Taking advantage of the crude raw power of body language.

We finished our workshop with a bang. Causing laughter to erupt within the students. Teaching them something that they had never experienced before. Physical virtuosity. The concept that the body can communicate just as much, if not more, than words can. That is what we are here to teach, at least in clowning. You don’t need to speak to be funny. And often times when you don’t speak, you transcend cultural boundaries. Making more people laugh than you would otherwise. Getting closer to universal comedy and touching the human spirit.

Our day finished with teaching a partner acrobatics class, which was effortless to teach. Using all the lessons we had learned from our other workshops. Throughout the week we continued teaching the workshops and rehearsing our show. Continuously drenched in our own sweat. Exerting more energy in the heat than either of us would have liked too. Teaching new patterns in our juggling class. Showing the clowning basics, causing our students to make each other laugh. Throughout the week both the students and teachers grew enlightened to what clowning is. Throughout the week most of our partner acrobatics students left to perform elsewhere in Cambodia, cutting our class short. As we gave our workshops, a constant flow of people would come and go as they liked. Except for clowning. The students showed incredible motivation. There was no requirement to attend class but the students would show up every day with energy, creativity, and silliness.

With our constant attendance of our Clown workshops, I realized that that was what we really had to teach. To educate these children on forms of character, mime technique, and exaggerated silliness. Giving them new expression to fill their own dexterous performance. With our workshops now over it made me wonder if we made any difference at all here at PPS. But, with great pride, the other night we watched two of our clowning students perform a piece we taught them in our clowning workshop. Full in make up, acting extremely silly, they delighted the audience every time they were on stage. Our students received some of the biggest audience response of the night. I was touched. Watching 2 new clowns enter the world, knowing that we had some small part of their growth into clowning. Understanding that they have had it from the start, they just needed someone to lay down the foundation. We can leave here satisfied knowing that we started 2 clowns on their way to silly, stupid, and sublime. Helping us understand the heart of education: sharing your own lessons and watch as others take them, make them grow, and then show you something completely new. Forever caught in a spiral of human curiosity.

11.29.2010 A note from Tyler

A deaf child’s laughter melts my heart. Taught acrobatics and juggling to 40 deaf Cambodians this evening. Constantly amazed by the Cambodian Circus School. Whats even wilder is that they create a whole circus and have a group of blind students play all the music for them. wow.

11/22/2010 Jon’s Journal

There are not many moments in your life where you can say “I have been changed forever.” Knowing, because of that one simple moment, the path of life will never

be the same. Our show at A New Day Cambodia was one of those moments.

We woke up early for our show at A New Day Cambodia, planning for a long trip to the outskirts of Phenom Penh. Our Tuk-Tuk ride was definitely not a disappointment in that regard. Winding through the hundreds of dirt roads that made the city into a spider’s web of direction. Our Tuk-Tuk driver, Mali, had to make at least 4 U-turns because he realized that we were going the wrong direction. Eventually, after the longest Tuk-Tuk ride I have experienced, we made it to the school.

We walked in through a high gate and had to sign a security roster to record that we had come in the school and to make sure we were going to leave. The school had just recently opened a new set of facilities with a brand new playground filled with sand, a new dormitory for the girls, and some brand spanking new classrooms for the kids. For the second time in my life I caused a ruckus without doing anything other than walking through a doorway. Pointed fingers and shimmering eyes shone from across the play yard as we disrupted the boys class. Quickly, we were rushed into the closest building. We ran right next to the girls class and up the stairs, which was not left without an immediate respite to stare at the Clowns. At the top of the stairs we met some of the faculty and administration of the center and were quickly offered a tour of the premises. Mostly to rush us to the other building where there was no possibilities of disrupting the students.

Our tour guide showed us one of the dormitories. A small room no bigger than a bathroom in a fancy restaurant. There were 3 bunk-beds and a wall covered in shelves from the shoulders down. We were told that usually there are 12 to 18 children staying in a room like this. These kids were lucky, there were only 10 in that room. After our brief tour of the new building we were asked if we wanted to see the other facility, a short walk down the street. Our exodus of the girls school came to us with relative ease, still receiving inquisitive glances from the classrooms. We walked down the street receiving bubbly hello’s from every child we would come across. Some poking their heads out of windows or through doors to get a look. One was so brash that he decided that it would be a good idea to come up to me, head-but me, and run away full with laughter.

The tour of the Boys school was long and relaxed. Taking time to make sure we were shown every classroom, the kitchen, and even the upper terrace. On the terrace you could see far outside of Phenom Penh with a perfect view of the garbage dump. The place in which the majority of the parents worked to make their living. In our conversations with our tour guide we learned that the school actually paid the families of the students $10.00 a month to keep them in school because that’s how much they would be making if they worked on the street. We were also told that the school had a problem with loosing students once they became teenagers. They said “once they reach 13, 14, or 15 the girls can work in the factories and they can bring in $40.00 to $60.00 a month. And families see that as a better way for their children to be spending their time.” Often this was because a family member had a severe drinking problem and could use the extra money to sustain the habit.

We were lead back to the girls school because the classes had finished and we could start warming up our show. The only problem was that no matter where we went a group of children was waiting there watching every move we made. The kids were supposed to eat their lunch before the show. However, to them, the show had already started. It was very hard to warm up without getting a constant cacophony of questions. One of the girls brought her English textbook, that had a section on Doctor Clowns. She stared up at me and asked, “are you doctor clown? You have big rubber nose.” I told her, “no I’m not a doctor clown, but I am a clown.”

Our warm up was hindered but successful. We ended with spacing our partner acrobatics routine and by then every kid in the school had surrounded us, even though we were doing nothing but walking around and talking. We started our pre-show as some of the bigger boys grabbed benches to set in the sand as impromptu seats.

The show was a great success! The kids were engaging with us the entire time. Soaking in all of the new things they were experiencing. Asking questions when we would talk to them and pointing out their friends when I came to select my audience volunteers. The kids sat in awe as they watched our show, laughing when they though something was funny and going completely silent, wrapped in awe, when we performed our tricks. In fact we had to remind them that it was ok to applaud. Once they new that, the sounds of clapping hands never settled. We finished our show smiling, sweaty, and hot as a chili pepper. Looking out into the audience I saw nothing but the purest form of joy. Smiles that stretched across the faces of every kid as they applauded, hooped, and hollered for our show. The applause didn’t last very long. Every single kid jumped out of their seat and rushed to the stage. Smiling, bowing, and revealing the most sincere thank you’s to my ear.

We spent a good half an hour playing with the kids. Teaching them how to balance a club, lifting some kids into the air, because they didn’t believe that I was that strong. Showing them what beat boxing was for the first time in their lives, giving them a chance to wrap their mouths around the strange sounds coming out of Tyler’s mouth. But most importantly, giving them someone that they could really look up to. Someone who was kind, could make them laugh, and do amazing things. Before we left, a young girl came up to me, wide eyed and grinning. She said she had a question for me, “when are you coming back?” I had to pause for a moment. I knew that I wasn’t coming back. So I stared back into her dark eyes, smiled and said, “I’m not coming back.” The little girl lost her smile her eyes lost the newly lit fire from the dream she was seeing in her head. I couldn’t bear it and I told her, “but I will be performing in Phenom Penh in December and you can see me then.” The little girls world lit up again with fire brighter than the sun, happy to know that she would be able to see the clowns again. I was not so happy. I knew her family would never be able to afford to see the show. I gave the director of A New Day Cambodia one of the fliers for the Tini Tinou festival telling her that she should see if she can get discounted tickets for the school so they could see more circus. That being the end of our time we started packing up to go.

As we were leaving the director asked us if the children could write to us. Both Tyler and I gave an emphatic yes and started loading up the Tuk-Tuk. in the process of getting ready to drive off, a group of students came out of the school wishing us their final farewells. One of them was the little girl I met before, who asked me such a perplexing question. We said our goodbyes and got in the Tuk Tuk and started driving away. The little girl started chasing after us waving smiling and half crying, yelling, “goodbye, goodbye.” She ran as far as she could before she was ushered back into the school. I turned my head looked at Tyler and said “well, another job well done.” Tyler looked at me and said, “yep, I’m never going to be the same after that. That was a life-changing experience.” I knew full well that Tyler had hit the nail on the head. The last few hours of my life are something I will never forget. Especially that little girl wishing for only one more chance to see the clowns. One more chance to laugh with reckless abandon. One more time to see something completely different and brand new. One more time to see hope, love, and happiness in the form of a man wearing a red nose.

11/18/2010, Jon’s Journal

There are few opportunities in this life where you can see the inspiration of infinite possibilities manifest itself within another human being. Watch the glittering eyes of a hundred children squint in the sun because their face is wrought with laughter. Hear hundreds of thank you’s as you are swarmed by more children than you can count.

This is what Cambodia means to us, this is why we are here.

Tuesday we had our fist show at an international school in Phenom Penh. The children we so excited to see us. It was supposed to be a surprise that there were clowns. However the moment we entered the gates to the school, we stuck out like a sore thumb. So many little eyes turned our direction, not focusing on their studies but wanting to watch what the clowns were up to. We were quickly rushed upstairs into the air conditioned performance space where we warmed up our tricks. The children were lead in one class at a time amounting to over 120 children to watch our show. The show itself went off without a hitch only pausing to allow the raucous laughter to subside. After the show we had time for a quick question and answer session with the kids. We were asked about how we learned our skills, where we came from, and if we had any girlfriends. The kids were so wonderful and it was a pleasure to perform for them. The teachers said made their year.

Next on the list is doing a show for A New Day Cambodia, an organization that gives kids of disadvantaged families the opportunity to receive an education.

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