Biography
Who is this guy?
Jack Stark is a full time professional idiot – one of the most recognised clowns on the UK cabaret, vaudeville and burlesque circuit over the last twenty years.
Cabaret work
Over the years thousands have enjoyed his tried and tested routines, which draw upon his training and experience in a variety of skill-sets, including mime, physical theatre, puppetry, illusion, escapology and more. His work is equally at home on large stages (e.g. The Kings Theatre Portsmouth, The Royal and Derngate Theatre Northampton, Epstein Theatre Liverpool, Nalen Hall Stockholm, Scala London) as well as more intimate venues (e.g. Royal Vauxhall Tavern, Madam Jojos, Stafford Playhouse, The Electric Theatre, Sheffield Spiegeltent). Whether it’s his lovable clown character trying to make sense of the world, his stunning butterfly and snow blizzards, his historical vaudeville performances or his quirky puppet-based burlesque, he has built a portfolio of routines to suit the wide-ranging variety of situations encountered in this industry.
Theatrical work
In a theatrical context he has performed in a number of plays and musicals, including at the Southwark Playhouse, Chelsea Theatre, Etcetera Theatre and at the UK’s art festivals.
His own solo clown show The Weatherman successfully toured on and off during 2013 – 2015, achieving critical acclaim and five and four star reviews. On the back of this success, four other clown shows were born: “Sheets”, “The Man Who Knows Everything”, “Et Moi” and “Jack Stark: Tea, Bee, Sea”.
In the summer of 2021 he toured UK holiday parks in a comedy farce called “Actors Needed”.
Family friendly work
Despite his origins in adult-focused night club and cabaret work, Jack delights in creating for young audiences. He has performed in numerous family friendly festivals and has had a family-friendly show commissioned for Micro Theatre Festival in Glastonbury and was commissioned to design and perform an interactive, educational ‘escape room’ style show for children at Ingestre Hall.
Circus
In 2023, Jack toured with a UK circus as a clown and a ringmaster, performing in 199 shows in over 100 different towns.
Performing to mostly sold out tents, he entertained over 90,000 audience members in this tour. He decided to take a rest from circus after the tour to pursue other projects but has been booked in to rejoin a circus in late 2024.
Training and Experience
Jack has reached his current position after a lifetime of performing, including taking theatre shows to festivals in Russia and Edinburgh in his early twenties, touring as a singer in Denmark and Germany as a child, and performing in the Royal Albert Hall at the Proms when just 11.
Since then he has trained with physical theatre practitioner Desmond Jones, clown Angela de Castro and at Ecole Philippe Gaulier, as well as workshops at numerous other institutions including the Little Angel Puppet Theatre and the National Centre for Circus Arts.
Supporting the industry
Between 2019 and 2023, Jack spent four years elected to the Variety and Circus Entertainers Committee of Equity, the performers union helping to support working standards for artists.
Jack has worked to promote the art of clowning through teaching his own workshops assisting on longer clown workshops at The Why Not Institute – a clowning institute for theatrical and character clowns in collaboration with world-renowned clown and teacher Angela de Castro. He has taught workshops or classes for various institutions, including The Roundhouse and a semester for Rose Bruford.
His current research focuses on the ability of clowning to cross barriers such as language and disabilities, and in late 2016, he traveled to Asia with Epic Arts to create a new clown show for an inclusive arts group, including deaf and disabled artists. He also sits on the advisory board for We Are Epic, a Leicester-based arts charity.
Insurance
As a member of Equity, Jack Stark has Public Liability Insurance to the sum of £10,000,000. He has fortunately never had to use this because he is a sensible clown and performs adequate risk assessments for all shows.
