Morro and Jasp/Heather and Amy Interview

1) Tell us about your show in the festival and why you're doing it? 

Heather Marie Annis: Morro and Jasp GONE WILD is the sixth original, full-length show created by the UNIT Production team.  After exploring puberty last year, we were eager to try to keep up with Morro and Jasp as they grow older.  The sisters are now off on the adventure of a lifetime, headed for Spring Break, and into uncharted territory.

Amy Lee: The clown community here in Toronto has given us such wonderful opportunities to workshop our new material in the past, and have given us such honest and positive feedback.  We actually had our first ever adult clown experience at Lunacy Cabaret in 2008 (after 3 years of TYA) and are so excited to bring a new side of Morro and Jasp to the Toronto Festival of Clowns. Since the festival let us first experiment in the grown-up genre we are now working in, it just seems like the right fit.     

2) Is your number clown, bouffon, character or something else entirely? 

A: Morro and Jasp were developed using the methodology of Pochinko clown, with our own little twists and tweaks.

H: We were trained by the amazing and magical Pete Jarvis, aka Silver Elvis.  We did about two years with him.  I guess he’s kind of our clown father.


3) What is your best clown experience? Either as a performer or a spectator?

H: We went to see American clown Poofy du Vey in Burden of Poof while we were having a rough time at the London Fringe a few years back.  The simplicity of her show blew us away and when she kissed a man in the audience at the end of the show, it was so beautiful and hilarious and real that it made us re-evaluated what a we thought a clown show should or has the potential to be.  After that, we worked hard to change our recipe for creating shows. I think it paid off. 

A: Overall, our best experiences as performers are any time an audience member brings something entirely new to the show.  We recently had a run of Morro and Jasp do Puberty in Montreal and an audience member who we pulled up onstage to give one of our patented clown make-overs to turned the scene around on us and convinced us that in order to move forward, we had to put make up on each other first.  It was hilarious for the audience since they knew we had to think on our feet and totally hilarious for us.  It was like we were all really at a party where, you know, anything goes.

5) Your worst? 

A: We were doing a school show years ago and Jasp’s costume somehow got left behind in the mix.  The outfit was essential for the show, so we had to stall for time as someone raced back to get it.  So Morro told the kids all about her bossy big sister, so by the time Jasp got on stage, the kids had made up their minds that she was the bad guy and spent the entire 45 minute show attempting to boo her offstage. Thanks, Morro.

H: We were a few shows into a run at the Halifax Fringe, where we were performing one of our TYA show (ever though there was no kids venue there at the time) and were performing in a dance space (even though we were not a dance show) and – surprise, surprise – only one person showed up for the audience. The sole audience member agreed with our stage manager that it would be best if they came back and attend a show where there were perhaps a few more people and they so they left. Upon their departure Morro, who was geared up and ready to perform, burst out into tears and proceeded to draw a picture of what the audience was suppose to look like to make herself feel better. Thanks, Jasp.

A:  What?

H:  Nothing.

6) Are there any public figures you consider to be clowns?  Why?

H: Stephen Colbert... but that’s too easy.

A: George W. Bush... but that’s too obvious.

H:  Maybe Ellen Degeneres?  She’s so open and available and always uses herself as the butt of her own jokes. She comments on societies flaws in that way.   

7) Tell us a joke.

A: Why did the monkey fall out of the tree?

H:  Because it was dead.

A:  Why did the second monkey fall out of the tree?

H:  Because it was stapled to the first monkey.

A:  Why did the third monkey fall out of the tree?

H:  Peer pressure! 

8)  Anything else...? 

A: In fear of sounding like we are kissing some serious clown ass, this festival is one of the only places where it’s not a hindrance or bad thing to be a clown or overtly theatrical. In fact, it seems to be the very opposite.

H: We are done with clown segregation and ‘othering’ – we are people too damnit! We work just as hard as all those other ‘serious’ theatre peoples, so why can’t we all just get along.  Thank you Toronto Clown Festival. Thank you!