Brighton Fringe 2025
Shaolin Clown
Tom Corradini

Genre: Clown, One Person Show
Venue: Laughing Horse at The Walrus
Festival: Brighton Fringe
Low Down
A mesmerising physical and visual comedy show with Tom Corrandini’s excellent clown skills on show. A Shaolin Monk relives his childish and clownish soul in this clown performance based on the book “Shaolin, you don’t have to fight to win” by Bernhard Moestl. The performance is a unique infusion of Shaolin Martial arts and clowning.
Review
The skill of the performer was apparent from the start of this performance of Tom Corradini’s Shaolin Clown. Though it started with a still, silent pose, the energy and stage presence the performer had resulted in a mesmerising and hypnotic experience. Throughout it, he moved with razor-like precision and purpose, building tension when required, then bringing it back down and injecting moments of comedy. The depiction of water and birds was incredibly sensitive, and the moments of silence created a sense of tranquillity and safety.
The use of a children’s toy added to the performance. It brought a sense of nostalgia to it, but the use of audience participation added humour.
That sense of nostalgia was further explored in a scene with bubbles. This whimsical game and exploration of the body led to much pleasure and comic effect.
A highlight of the show was the scene around food. It engaged multiple senses – smell, sight, sound. It also allowed us to engage directly with the performer, as if we had formed a “secret language”. This concept of the body being a “secret language” was one of the themes of the performance – we do not need language; through communicating with our bodies, we can all comprehend each other.
The performance left a clear imprint on the audience while being non-verbal. Perhaps then, when the messages were so clear and poignant, the spoken section was not required.
The pacing of the piece was very effective – it was fast, snappy, slowed down when necessary, which added to the overall success of the show and ensured the audience were captivated throughout.
The combination of a highly skilled performer with significant stage presence resulted in well-rounded, engaging performance from start ti finish. It evoked an strong emotional response from the audience – I’m not sure there was a dry eye in the audience when the toy went away, and we were all left wanting more at the end. It’s a must-see performance, which is deserving of a much larger audience.