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CloTwhenIFnetsetrinvaatlioofnIanldia
Randy Christensen
In November of 2024, I was honored to be a part of interactions with various WCA members over the
the International Clown Festival in India. Over
25 clowns performed throughout India
from mid-October to Christmas
time in theaters, malls, hospitals
and events. I was part of a 17
member troupe performing in
a large comedy theater show
in four different cities. I
performed in eighteen of
the one hundred shows
across India plus visited
a children’s hospital in
Chennai and conducted a
clown ministry program
for a Catholic school in
Mumbai.
Martin D’Souza, the
producer, director and host of
the International Clown Festival
(ICF) began this endeavor ten years
ago. Martin is also the former Vice
President for the World Clown Association
and WCA Clown of the Year recipient (2016). He
shared with me that it was life-changing and vision world-wide and the principles of clown comedy may
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impacting as he spent time at the UW-LaCrosse Clown
Camp with Richard Snowberg and also during his
last 20 years. He began to dream bigger and
bigger of what a clown festival could
look like here in his home country
of India. Through the years, a
number of notable WCA clowns
have joined his team from
Canada, Japan, Malaysia,
Singapore and the USA.
The festival has grown
each year and now brings
laughter to thousands
of cheering people on a
weekly basis.
The theater show
experience was a “once in a
lifetime” experience for me.
The laughter was unending.
Children of all ages, from infants
to grandparents, giggled, cheered,
clapped and roared throughout the
show. Working with these talented clowns
from other countries reaffirmed that laughter is