Red Nose Revolution: Clowning as a Path to Liberation
What if joy is radical? What if failure is creative? What if the smallest mask reveals the deepest truth?
In this episode of The Grace Space, I'm joined by artist, clown, teacher, and explorer of consciousness Annie Newton (also known as Gurmukh Nam) for a conversation that opens sideways rather than resolves neatly.
Annie is a creator in the truest sense — a theatre-maker, kundalini yoga teacher, and clown who understands truth through the body, play, and presence. In this rich and deeply human exchange, Annie shares how clowning becomes a spiritual practice: a way of staying with failure, inhabiting vulnerability, and discovering joy where we least expect it.
Together, we explore:
- Why the red nose is “the smallest mask in the world”
- How staying with the problem opens creativity and freedom
- Why humor and joy are radical acts in a controlled world
- Clowning as preparation for death — and for living fully
- What Annie discovered during seven days in total darkness
- How intention transforms fear into liberation
This is a conversation about authenticity, embodiment, and remembering how to be human — not by becoming more polished, but by becoming more real.
If you’ve been craving sincerity, laughter, depth, and permission to drop the mask, this episode is an invitation.
Read the blog post associated with this episode
Gurmukh Annie is a long-limbed clown, puppeteer, and Kundalini Yoga teacher, born in Toronto (Canada) yet somehow washed up in the French Alps.
A graduate of the very serious Jacques Lecoq International Theatre School (Paris,France) and an even more serious theatre conservatory in Toronto (George Brown Theatre School), she now creates delightfully absurd and slightly dark theatre/clown performances. She teaches theatre, voice/speech, kundalini yoga, and the art of clowning to humans of all ages — adults, beginners, experts, skeptics, the overly serious… and even those who swear they’re “not funny.”
She is the co-founder of the Franco-Norwegian company Théâtre Amok and the co-creator of the show THE VOID, nominated at the Stockholm Fringe Festival (Best Emerging Artist, Best Comedy Show). She is currently working on her new, equally absurd, puppet show, Seggs Ed with Lilith...
She offers private coaching, online and in-person clown classes/retreats, vocal workshops, and yoga retreats. If you are interested in working with her or would like to organize a retreat, please get in touch.
Contact: [email protected]
Website: www.theatreamok.com
Insta: @annielockerbienewton_gurmukh
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/gurmukhnam
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