Church of Clown

Church of Clown A San Francisco home for the hilarious, the absurd, the clowns, the mimes, the physical theatre. Join us for classes, performances, & (fun) events.

08/19/2026

Mother Boswick - An Evening of Guidance & Poor Decisions
Aug 22 | Show 8PM

Mother Boswick is a 121-year-old advice-giving widow from the tiny hamlet of Squinch Hollow (nestled between Oregon, Texas, Nebraska, and New Hampshire, directly under the ozone hole), with 14 dead husbands and no filter. She tells tales of local characters and dispenses questionable wisdom and unique astrological advice.
Joining Mother Boswick are special guests: Oldman Boswick - an ancient exercise guru leading the audience through deep knee bends, windmills, and other fitness techniques best left to a previous century. Melton Spritzer - Vaudeville legend on extended hiatus, returning to the stage with a barrage of one-liners, observations, and complaints from a bygone era.
Come for the gossip. Stay because she’s hidden your shoes.

08/15/2026

2026 Fall classes | Sept 14-Nov 20/21

10 week classes
7-9pm
Mon - Clown 1 with Dan Griffiths
Tues - Clown 2 with Dan Griffiths
Wed - Clown 3 with Dan Griffiths
Thurs - Mime 1 with Jamin Jollo 

4 week classes
Saturdays
 Sept 19 - Oct 10 from 11 - 2
Improvisation for Clowns with Jonathan MacDonald

Saturdays
Oct 17 - 31 from 11 - 2
Physics of Play, Clowning with Summer Shapiro

6 week class
Sundays
Oct 4 - Nov 8 from 11 - 2
Mechanics of Acting with Jamin Jollo

08/14/2026

Out With It - Claire Saxe 
9/5 @ 8pm 
Rough House's OUT WITH IT, created and performed by Artistic Director Claire Saxe, tells a wild and lyrical tale of holding things in and letting things go.  In the languages of movement, clown, and found-object puppetry, OUT WITH IT unpacks a tale at once intimate and universal. In a whirlwind 55-minutes, a fastidious clown takes on the forces of chaos: they face off, they spar, they make a mess – and, somehow or other, they come to terms.

In Rough House’s signature “rough-theater" flavor, OUT WITH IT is fabricated from found and repurposed materials. Puppets come to life in a palette of shredded bedsheets, clothes-hanger-wire, and spruced-up cardboard.

08/12/2026

Mother Boswick - An Evening of Guidance & Poor Decisions
9/15 + 9/26
Doors 7:30 | Show 8PM

Mother Boswick is a 121-year-old advice-giving widow from the tiny hamlet of Squinch Hollow (nestled between Oregon, Texas, Nebraska, and New Hampshire, directly under the ozone hole), with 14 dead husbands and no filter. She tells tales of local characters and dispenses questionable wisdom and unique astrological advice.
Joining Mother Boswick are special guests: Oldman Boswick - an ancient exercise guru leading the audience through deep knee bends, windmills, and other fitness techniques best left to a previous century. Melton Spritzer - Vaudeville legend on extended hiatus, returning to the stage with a barrage of one-liners, observations, and complaints from a bygone era.
Come for the gossip. Stay because she’s hidden your shoes.

08/12/2026

An Evening with Bob Baker Marionette Theater
Sunday August 30
7 pm show / doors open @ 6:30pm

Join us for a special evening with Bob Baker Marionette Theater, featuring a live performance followed by a conversation exploring the Theater's remarkable history, creative process, and vision for the future. Bob Baker Marionette Theater has delighted audiences with creativity, joy, and imagination since 1963. 

While we're proudly rooted in Los Angeles, we're thrilled to bring a little of that magic north to the Bay Area for this intimate gathering at Church of Clown. Learn how a beloved local institution has grown into an internationally recognized home for puppetry and the allied arts while continuing to serve more than 145,000 people each year through immersive performances, educational programs, and cultural experiences.

Bob Baker Marionette Theater is the country’s most iconic nonprofit puppet theater and a Los Angeles Cultural-Historical Monument that has served its community with creativity, joy, and imagination since 1963. Their mission is to preserve, educate, and innovate at the intersection of puppetry and the allied arts. The Theater serves an intergenerational audience of over 145,000 people annually through its cultural and educational programs and impactful, immersive performances.

Clown Burlesque Extravaganza Cabaret Hosted by Jamin and Peggy9/12 | 8pm Don your glitter, eyeliner, and facepaint for a...
08/11/2026

Clown Burlesque Extravaganza Cabaret 
Hosted by Jamin and Peggy
9/12 | 8pm 
Don your glitter, eyeliner, and facepaint for an evening to remember- clowns teasing your deepest primal desires with belly-aching laughs and magnetic sensuality. Bon-appetit!
Shimmy, bump, and step those heels into Jamin and Peggy’s world of clowns stripping away their noses, collars, oversized shoes, and so much more.  Like you’ve never seen before- a showcase of masterful minds and beautiful bodies celebrating the eccentric and the sensual, all wrapped up in a bite-sized evening of dance, games, buffoonery, and playful musicality.

Oddities in Action - A Puppet WorkshopSunday, 9/6 | 11am - 2pmPuppet-lovers, clowns, movers, crafters – this workshop is...
08/08/2026

Oddities in Action - A Puppet Workshop
Sunday, 9/6 | 11am - 2pm

Puppet-lovers, clowns, movers, crafters – this workshop is for you!  Uncover the extraordinary potential of every day objects to be your best creative partners. Dig into the fundamentals of puppetry, stock up on some devising tools & come away with an original found-object puppet show! 
Suited for creatives of all levels of experience. 
Recommended for adults.

ABOUT THE WORKSHOP INSTRUCTOR 
Claire Saxe is a puppeteer, performer, theater maker and Artistic Director of Rough House Puppet Arts (Chicago.) She has directed and performed on regional stages, on festival platforms, in storefronts, and in DIY spaces across the U.S. and U.K.

ABOUT ROUGH HOUSE
Rough House Puppet Arts (Chicago) is on a mission to connect individuals and communities through puppetry-arts, celebrating the weird things that make us unique, and the weirder things that bring us together. Rough House’s work collides puppetry with physical theater, music, visual arts, and an insatiable taste for experimentation.

Out With It by Claire Saxe Saturday 9/5 | 8pm A wild and lyrical tale of holding things in and letting things go.  In th...
08/06/2026

Out With It by Claire Saxe 
Saturday 9/5 | 8pm 

A wild and lyrical tale of holding things in and letting things go.  In the languages of movement, clown, and found-object puppetry, OUT WITH IT unpacks a tale at once intimate and universal. In a whirlwind 55-minutes, a fastidious clown takes on the forces of chaos: they face off, they spar, they make a mess – and, somehow or other, they come to terms.

In Rough House’s signature “rough-theater" flavor, OUT WITH IT is fabricated from found and repurposed materials. Puppets come to life in a palette of shredded bedsheets, clothes-hanger-wire, and spruced-up cardboard.

Rough House Puppet Arts (Chicago) is on a mission to connect individuals and communities through puppetry-arts, celebrating the weird things that make us unique, and the weirder things that bring us together. Rough House’s work collides puppetry with physical theater, music, visual arts, and an insatiable taste for experimentation.
 
Claire Saxe (Creator/Performer) is a puppeteer, performer, and theater maker driven by work that stretches forms, genres and expectations. As an independent artist and Artistic Director of Rough House Puppet Arts her practice interweaves elements of puppetry and physical theater.  Other credits include We Missed the Train and Had to Wait in Steppenwolf Theater’s LookOut series (Creator & Performer), the U.S. tour of Théâtre de l’Entrouvert’s Anywhere (Director),House of the Exquisite Co**se (Co-Creator & Director), Invitation to a Beheading

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2400 Bayshore Boulevard
San Francisco, CA
94134

Telephone

+14159906336

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