Professor Eff’s Clown Drop-In

Curious about your inner Idiot? Suspicious you may have a secret predilection for stupidity? Come explore your propensity for the absurd through a guided tour of the ridiculous led by Clown Master Professor Eff.

This pay-what-you-can workshop series seeks to introduce Professor Eff’s structured chaos and slightly punk informed take on one of humanities greatest shared ancestors: the Clown. They will live forever, and everywhere to throw mud in the eye of reality.

While allowing impulse and play to inform our comedic explorations, Professor Eff also highlights the importance of structure, craft and a deeper consideration of the humour we develop. Let’s get smart about being Stupid. Professor Eff is sorry if all these big words are upsetting but he is a Professor and they do tend to be pedantic.

For any and all experience levels.

Professor Eff is a manifestation of Jesse Buck a 35 year veteran of the stage, 25 of those years as a Professional Clown. A prolific DIY theatre artist, he has created dozens of productions. He has won awards and toured the world with his own work as well as spending five years with Cirque du Soliel over four productions. He is a student of Philippe Gaulier and multiple international artists from a broad range of disciplines. It is this diversity of training and abundance of experience that makes Professor Eff’s Class unique, and as much an intellectual journey as a physical one.

PWYC suggested $20

RIFF REPS: A Practice In Contemporary Clowning

One performer. One audience. One goal: make us laugh.

This class is about getting on your feet and doing the thing.

No red nose required. The mask is already there—it’s you. Your instincts, timing, habits, impulses, charm, awkwardness, confidence, doubt. All of it.

Clown isn’t about jokes or punchlines. It’s about being real in front of people, listening to the audience, and responding honestly in the moment. Sometimes that response gets a big laugh. Sometimes it doesn’t. Both are useful.

In this drop-in, Chase throws you into games and improvs that force you to play, riff, and adjust in real time. When something works, we slow down and look at why. When it doesn’t, you learn how to change course instead of pushing harder.

You’ll practice chasing the laugh—and just as importantly, learning what to do when it doesn’t come.

What’s Your Funny?

Everyone has something that makes them uniquely funny. The audience will tell you.

The work is standing in front of them, trying things, missing, missing again—and then landing something that only you could land.

Whether you’re brand new to clown or already performing, this class gives you real reps in front of an audience, with live direction from Chase Jeffels to help you identify what’s working and do more of it.

Who This Is For

This drop-in is for people who want to:

• Try a new approach to comedy, performing, and writing

• Add specificity and individuality to their improv

• Be more spontaneous on stage or on camera

• Build confidence by doing, not overthinking

• Discover what actually works for them

• Get more comfortable failing in front of people

Class Details

Time: 6:30 – 9:00 PM
Length: 2.5 hours
Fee: $30 + HST = $33.90

I’ve had to turn people away at the door. Registration helps make sure everyone gets time in the room.

Max capacity: 14 participants

To secure your spot, register and send an e-transfer to:
jeffels.chase@gmail.com
Include your name and the date of the drop-in in the transfer notes.

About Chase: 

Chase Jeffels is an actor, comedian, and teacher whose work bridges clown, improv, and the art of playful failure. He is a graduate of École Jacques Lecoq and the Laboratoire d'Étude du Mouvement (Laboratory of Movement Study) in Paris, France, and trained under renowned clown master Philippe Gaulier (teacher of Sacha Baron Cohen, Helena Bonham Carter, and Emma Thompson). Gaulier once said of Chase’s work (imagine it in a thick French accent):

“I do not like very much Canada, but I like what you do.”

Chase has also studied with a host of notable teachers in clown, bouffon, and idiot work, including Aitor Basauri, John Gilkey, Chad Damiani, Kevin Krieger, Deanna Fleysher, Jaime Mears, Ken Hall, Isaac Kessler, and Gordon Neill. He is a graduate of the George Brown Theatre School classical conservatory program.

As a performer, Chase’s work spans film, television, and theatre. He is a member of the improv and sketch collective $20 Sandwich, where he performs UCB-style longform improv infused with his own clown sensibility — bringing a spirit of risk, play, and discovery to structured comedic form.

He is also one half of West 2 West, a duo known for their innovative blend of clown sketch and clown improv, merging physical comedy, audience connection, and absurd play.

In his solo work, Chase continues to push the boundaries of comedy through Goofing — a punk-inspired mix of clown, riffing, and improvisation that explores connection, risk, and laughter through failure. His work merges improv, sketch, and clown to create performances that are as vulnerable as they are hilarious, uniting mainstream comedy with the spirit of live play.

"[]" - Roger Ebert, the Chicago Sun-Times

"Never has chaos looked so good." - Morgan Joy, “Peggy’s Place,” “the Sweet and Sultry Burlesque”

"(a) Toronto icon." - Adam Mohammand, the Flop Shop

“[She has an] innate sense of balance” Joseph Swanek, Guelph School of Art

“Stunning” - Randall Willis, “So, What’s Your Story?”

What is(n’t) it about? (While) definitely her, it could very well be (about) Jennything.

Developed initially as an experiment in taking the explicit instructions in the band Pulp’s lyrics verbatim, self-expl(or/an)atory (incid/ev)ent(ertainment) ([industr/historian]ian) Jenna Shows once again takes to the Sweet Action stage for an evening of music, mystery, and mayhem. Incorporating audience feedback from its previous presentation Jenna invites you to find out just how differently she can perform (some of) the same songs (and dances). 

In its first iteration as the solo show that she has been working on (mostly virtually through her Instagram persona @jennythingshows) for almost eight years solid, Jenna invited Sweet Action owner and proprietor, and multi-award winning clown (father) Gordon Neill to “live-direct” this ongoing work-in-progress. In October she passed the reins to Cirque du Soleil alum Jesse Buck (aka: Professor Eff). In December, Ken Hall.

(Witness) the walking jukebox musical and shame(ful)/less) Anglophiliac Jenna Show(s) (and tells?) clown-based solo improv [that] playfully delves into the intricacies of late-diagnosed neurodivergence. Through elaborate musical numbers (gone awry), Leqoc-inspired neutral mask (meditations in motion), (rambling) monologues that expose her (lack of) executive functioning, Jenna invites the audience into her playful world of chaotic awkwardness all in the service of basic human presence.

Come join in the pro(c/gr)ess: maybe you’ll want to direct her (one day) too/and see how it unfolds right before, and because of your very eyes.

A trad wife by trad(e) in her leisure (time/dreams) you may find her at home ironing her underwear.

DISCLAIMER: this show *may* (or may) [not] (end up) be(ing) a comedy, (but you will) laugh.

Do you have a story or several roiling inside you, aching to be unleashed on the world? Do you watch the chest-burster scene in Alien and think “Yeah, I get that”?

Want to share your thoughts but terrified that you’ll suck at it? Already writing, but want to explore deeper characters, more evocative description, and more intense action? Interested in translating your performance arts to the page?

OUT OF OUR MINDS (& onto the page) is the perfect workshop to get those creative storytelling juices flowing. Over 5 Saturdays, we’ll play with improv games and prompted writing exercises to help you make writing spontaneous and freewheeling. Thinking is overthinking, so we’re going to remove the pressure to get it right by simply playing with whatever comes. No preparation. No homework. No inhibitions.

Just be ready to be silly and open. Oh, and bring something to write with (e.g., pen & paper, phone, iPad, stone tablet & chisel, semaphore flags).

TO REGISTER: Early-bird pricing of $150 (+ HST) ends December 20 when prices rise to $200 (+HST). Please send an e-transfer to createdbyrcw@gmail.com to reserve your place. Spaces are limited.

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR:

Randall C Willis is an award-winning screen and comedy writer and filmmaker and regularly performs in Toronto’s spoken-word storytelling community. He is also a seasoned science and medicine writer, but hey, nobody’s perfect.

A perpetual student of the storytelling arts, Randall has 25+ years of training in improv, stand up, puppetry, sketch comedy, and monologues. If Randall has a motto, it’s “You have permission to suck”, which fits nicely with his fully improvised life.

If you could make the world that you imagine in your head appear at your hands, what stories could you tell? In this introduction to Mime we'll play with movement quality (drawn from Laban's Effort qualities) as a way into Mime based illusion work. Handling the hands, how to walk away without leaving, and yes - even the inevitable 'invisible box'.

This workshop provides extra tools to help you tell any kind of story clearly, to land the laughs and the sads. 

Bio

Trevor Copp is an internationally celebrated Canadian Mime, evolving from street performances to major theatrical productions. Trained at the Marcel Marceau School in Paris and qualified for Cirque du Soleil, Trevor integrates his profound mime skills with his extensive background in acting, dance, and storytelling. His performances, ranging from the whimsical to the profound, have captivated over 40,000 children and adults alike in 12 countries, including work with professional orchestras such as the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.

Trevor Copp founded Tottering Biped Theatre (TBT) in 2009, known for its commitment to original, issue-driven, and intensely physical theatrical works. He was also a resident artist with Theatre & Company, MT Space Theatre, and Motus O Dance Theatre, creating work that toured to Theatre Passe Muraille, Grand Theatre, Firehall Theatre and Theatre Aquarius TA2 seasons; the IMPACT, Magnetic North, Rutas, Prismatic, Undercurrents, In the Soil, Springworks, and Canoe Festivals; National tours, and tours of the Middle East, Northern Africa, Eastern and Western Europe. As a former American Style Latin Dance Champion, he guided 2 sets of Canadian duos to World Amateur Salsa Championships. He also co-developed the revolutionary 'Liquid Lead' dance style—a gender-neutral approach to partner dance that showcased to a global audience of over 800,000 views on TED.com. Trevor has taught/coached physical Theatre for The Shaw Festival, CanStage/Studio 180, and 6 University/College Theatre Departments. Trevor's full practise is captured at trevorcopp.com 

'Searching for Marceau' finds a budding young Mime trying to make sense of his two fathers: the real one raising him and the far away Marcel Marceau. The imaginary and the real battle in this theatre/mime piece reinvents Marcel Marceau’s Mime tradition for the 21st Century.

This piece has toured to Ottawa's Undercurrent Festival, Kitchener's Registry Theatre, the LIVELab at McMaster University, the Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts, Red Deer Alberta's Prime Stock Theatre, the Royal Botanical Gardens, and the Toronto Fringe Festival where it received 5 Ns from NOW Magazine, 3/4 stars from the Toronto Star, and the 'Cutting Edge' Award. 

REVIEWS

"Copp is a captivating performer, as skilled in verbally conveying heartfelt emotion and landing deadpan laugh lines as in conjuring all kinds of objects, animals and experiences through his precise physicality" (3 of 4 stars)
                                                                             - Karen Fricker, The Toronto Star

"In this unconventional and enthralling solo show about Copp’s love of mime, we’re treated to a talented performer who digs into his past to unpack how he thought outside the mime box to elevate his art." (5 of 5 N's)
                                                                           - David Silverberg, Toronto NOW Magazine

“A master of contemporary theatre….there is a sensitivity to the performance, an indefinable sense of risk taking that signals the true artist.”
                                                                            - Gary Smith, The Hamilton Spectator

“...inspirational cross-training for the soul… there is a deep seated need for this kind of physical art that people don’t even realize they have anymore. In the age of Netflix and downloads, return to the campfires of our primitive ancestors and feel how theatre first stirred our souls. And as a bonus, feel the incomparable magic of the man in the box bit done by someone who studied at the Marcel Marceau School in Paris and clearly knows what he’s doing.”
- Diane Lachapelle, Apt. 613 Blog

“He moves with beautiful fluency…simply too creative for words. Highly skilled….a fresh fusion between acting and modern dance.”
                                                                                       - View magazine

"In one hour, Copp goes from teaching us the alphabet of mime to writing poetry with it. As the lights dim on the final piece, there is a weighted silence in the theatre; then, the small audience erupts."                                                                                              - DART Critics

𝐏𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞: 𝐌𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 & 𝐄𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
Embody the richness and complexity at the heart of your story.

Mondays, 6 – 9PM | Feb 2nd – March 16th, 2026 (no class Family Day, Feb 16th)

Showcase Show, Monday March 23rd, 7PM

$𝟯𝟯𝟵 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗝𝗮𝗻 𝟭𝘀𝘁, then $395 (Includes HST)

All Classes at Sweet Action Theatre Company (180 Shaw St.)

BUY CLASS HERE: https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/XCZJWTE6NQY4S
Visit https://www.jamesgangl.com/pagetostage for class synopsis and for future classes.

If you are the kind of person who appreciates the art of the creative jam, the ideas and support of the hive-mind, or just to have an opportunity to say your idea out loud in a group, this program is for you. 

The PWL is a formally informal opportunity for SAT community members to come together, share independent creative projects and receive feedback from their peers. 

We will ensure that each artist gets a chance to share a creative project, be it a 5 minute bit or the premise to a one-hour show and receive curiosities, ideas and support from other artists in the room. 

As a collective of semi/professional writers and performers we want to encourage community members to share expertise, strategies and writing activities that have been pivotal in their creative career. 

This is a pilot project so we will go with the flow of the group and evolve to suit the needs of our beautiful SAT community. 

Because we want to see more, more, more performing and production at Sweet Action Theatre, this is a FREE community program.

See you there. xo

-Morgan joY

Clown Forward Comedy

Funny Bone is where Toronto’s funniest variety acts share a stage, creating a ridiculously absurd and wonderfully hilarious cabaret. Clowns, stand-up comedians, storytellers, and more each have five minutes to wow you with their shenanigans.

Tickets are $10 online. Admission may also be purchased at the door.

This month’s lineup:

Sarah Bransfield
Jesse Buck
Chris Bugg
Kayla Burtch
Chase Jeffels
Amy Lester
Talia Rockland
Anthony Sardinha
Nash Stamenkovic
Randall Willis

Stick around after the show for Open Stage, the free open-mic for all types of comedy acts!

Want to perform on a future Funny Bone show? Visit iclown.ca to register your interest.

Open Stage Night is Here!

Free, no tickets.

Join us for an evening of laughter, creativity, and surprise at the Open Stage Night! It’s like an open mic for comics, just instead of a microphone we’re opening up the entire stage for ridiculousness to occur. Whether you're a seasoned performer or a curious newcomer, this is your chance to step into the spotlight and share your silliest, most whimsical acts. From playful antics to heartwarming stories, clown, bouffon, improv, and all other performance artists, we want to see what you're working on!

Up to 10 minutes of stage time for each performer. List will be posted at 9:00 pm, show starts at 9:15pm.

Not just for performers! Come out to watch the show, see some fresh acts, and laugh at the hilarity that will ensue. Ridiculousness is almost guaranteed to occur!

Do you have a story or several roiling inside you, aching to be unleashed on the world? Do you watch the chest-burster scene in Alien and think “Yeah, I get that”?

Want to share your thoughts but terrified that you’ll suck at it? Already writing, but want to explore deeper characters, more evocative description, and more intense action? Interested in translating your performance arts to the page?

OUT OF OUR MINDS (& onto the page) is the perfect workshop to get those creative storytelling juices flowing. Over 5 Saturdays, we’ll play with improv games and prompted writing exercises to help you make writing spontaneous and freewheeling. Thinking is overthinking, so we’re going to remove the pressure to get it right by simply playing with whatever comes. No preparation. No homework. No inhibitions.

Just be ready to be silly and open. Oh, and bring something to write with (e.g., pen & paper, phone, iPad, stone tablet & chisel, semaphore flags).

TO REGISTER: Early-bird pricing of $150 (+ HST) ends December 20 when prices rise to $200 (+HST). Please send an e-transfer to createdbyrcw@gmail.com to reserve your place. Spaces are limited.

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR:

Randall C Willis is an award-winning screen and comedy writer and filmmaker and regularly performs in Toronto’s spoken-word storytelling community. He is also a seasoned science and medicine writer, but hey, nobody’s perfect.

A perpetual student of the storytelling arts, Randall has 25+ years of training in improv, stand up, puppetry, sketch comedy, and monologues. If Randall has a motto, it’s “You have permission to suck”, which fits nicely with his fully improvised life.

Can't get him to go to therapy? Bring him to the show! No preaching. No judgement. Just raw, funny, heart filled stories

Heal Him! Valentine's Day Edition:

Need him to heal before Valentine’s Day? We can’t promise that (unfortunately, we're therapists, not genies). But we can promise magic. How can we be so bold as to make a promise? Cause we did it once and we're doing it again!

There is a ferocious longing for men who can feel, love boldly, and take real accountability. Many are giving up: “If men refuse to heal, we don’t want them.”
But do we truly understand what it takes for men to heal?

February 8, 2026.

Five powerful storytellers step up to the mic, delving into the messy, funny, and raw terrain of men’s healing. They’re honest, hilarious, and calling us all into a bigger love than we’ve ever known.

If you need a few shots of hope, we’ve got plenty.

And stay for the best part—the talkback.

We take your questions about men’s healing live. With humor, authenticity, and a strict no-bullshit policy, we tell it like it is!

Each night will be a fundraiser for a local org do the work of love! 80% ticket sales will be donated

Improv for Actors with Paloma Nuñez

Mondays Feb. 9, 23, March 2, 9
12-3pm
$240 + HST
Sweet Action Theatre - Artscape Youngplace, 180 Shaw St, Unit 106

Registration: The class is designed for experienced actors. If you have any questions about if this is the right fit for you, or you're are ready to request a spot in the class, please email erinlconway@gmail.com 

Improv for Actors with Paloma Nuñez is designed to help actors drop into play, deepen trust with scene partners, and uncover the magic that happens when you fully commit to the moment.

This workshop focuses on presence, active listening, and saying yes to the offers happening right in front of you. Improv isn’t about being funny or clever—it’s about getting out of your head and into your body, trusting your instincts, and letting the work breathe.

Stepping on stage without a script can feel terrifying, but Paloma will guide you toward trusting your voice, your impulses, and what you uniquely bring to the room. You’ll explore what makes improv thrilling, grounded, and joyful—and how these tools can add freedom, specificity, and depth to all of your performances.

Paloma Nuñez is a Toronto based actor and comedian. She has written, directed and performed with The Second City, Bad Dog Theatre Company and the Impatient Theatre Company. Her improvisational skills have helped her in acting roles like, Disney’s Peter Pan and Wendy, CBC’s, Baroness Von Sketch Show, Prime’s Upload, just to name a few. Paloma is a Dora Mavor Moore award winner for Best Ensemble for The Coal Mine Theatre's improvised production The Wonder Pageant, and a Canadian Screen Award winner for her writing on Baroness Von Sketch Show. Improv has truly been the backbone of Paloma's career and allowed her the freedom to create and collaborate on set!

𝐏𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞: 𝐌𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 & 𝐄𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
Embody the richness and complexity at the heart of your story.

Mondays, 6 – 9PM | Feb 2nd – March 16th, 2026 (no class Family Day, Feb 16th)

Showcase Show, Monday March 23rd, 7PM

$𝟯𝟯𝟵 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗝𝗮𝗻 𝟭𝘀𝘁, then $395 (Includes HST)

All Classes at Sweet Action Theatre Company (180 Shaw St.)

BUY CLASS HERE: https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/XCZJWTE6NQY4S
Visit https://www.jamesgangl.com/pagetostage for class synopsis and for future classes.

50 minutes of laughs and chaos as Rakhee performs everything she's been too afraid to do (till now) in order to heal.

After sold out shows at Toronto Sketchfest, Montreal sketchfest, Comedy is Art Festival, Canadian Screen Award Nominated comedian and actor Rakhee Morzaria, of Run the Burbs (CBC, Hulu) and Dinner with Friends (TIFF) and is back with the premier of her solo show, This Will Heal Me.

Comedian Rakhee Morzaria will do everything she's been too afraid to do in front of live audience (vulnerability included) in this debut solo show, so that she can emerge fully healed. Themes of identity, culture, beauty and worse.

Friday Feb 13th - 7:30pm & 9:30pm
Saturday Feb 14th - 7:30pm

Written and performed by Rakhee Morzaria (CBC, Hulu, JFL Toronto)
Direction by Natalie Metcalfe (Crave's Made For TV, Second City, Christian & Nat)

Technical Dir. by Seann Murray (Second City, Bad Dog Comedy Theatre, Sex T-Rex)
Writing Consult by Daphney Joseph (JFL, Yuk Yuk's, Winnipeg Comedy Festival )

Poster Design by Yazmin Butcher (Legally Brown)

3 nights only - limited tickets

Pricing transparency

Tickets at $20 - our artsworker rate, with a $2.63 processing fee, plus tax.

If ticket price is a barrier and you would like to see the show, email raktapes@gmail.com by Feb 11th .

If you would like to increase your ticket price to cover the cost of someone else being able to see the show, or donate to the artist who made this show, please email raktapes@gmail.com

50 minutes of laughs and chaos as Rakhee performs everything she's been too afraid to do (till now) in order to heal.

After sold out shows at Toronto Sketchfest, Montreal sketchfest, Comedy is Art Festival, Canadian Screen Award Nominated comedian and actor Rakhee Morzaria, of Run the Burbs (CBC, Hulu) and Dinner with Friends (TIFF) and is back with the premier of her solo show, This Will Heal Me.

Comedian Rakhee Morzaria will do everything she's been too afraid to do in front of live audience (vulnerability included) in this debut solo show, so that she can emerge fully healed. Themes of identity, culture, beauty and worse.

Friday Feb 13th - 7:30pm & 9:30pm
Saturday Feb 14th - 7:30pm

Written and performed by Rakhee Morzaria (CBC, Hulu, JFL Toronto)
Direction by Natalie Metcalfe (Crave's Made For TV, Second City, Christian & Nat)

Technical Dir. by Seann Murray (Second City, Bad Dog Comedy Theatre, Sex T-Rex)
Writing Consult by Daphney Joseph (JFL, Yuk Yuk's, Winnipeg Comedy Festival )

Poster Design by Yazmin Butcher (Legally Brown)

3 nights only - limited tickets

Pricing transparency

Tickets at $20 - our artsworker rate, with a $2.63 processing fee, plus tax.

If ticket price is a barrier and you would like to see the show, email raktapes@gmail.com by Feb 11th .

If you would like to increase your ticket price to cover the cost of someone else being able to see the show, or donate to the artist who made this show, please email raktapes@gmail.com

50 minutes of laughs and chaos as Rakhee performs everything she's been too afraid to do (till now) in order to heal.

After sold out shows at Toronto Sketchfest, Montreal sketchfest, Comedy is Art Festival, Canadian Screen Award Nominated comedian and actor Rakhee Morzaria, of Run the Burbs (CBC, Hulu) and Dinner with Friends (TIFF) and is back with the premier of her solo show, This Will Heal Me.

Comedian Rakhee Morzaria will do everything she's been too afraid to do in front of live audience (vulnerability included) in this debut solo show, so that she can emerge fully healed. Themes of identity, culture, beauty and worse.

Friday Feb 13th - 7:30pm & 9:30pm
Saturday Feb 14th - 7:30pm

Written and performed by Rakhee Morzaria (CBC, Hulu, JFL Toronto)
Direction by Natalie Metcalfe (Crave's Made For TV, Second City, Christian & Nat)

Technical Dir. by Seann Murray (Second City, Bad Dog Comedy Theatre, Sex T-Rex)
Writing Consult by Daphney Joseph (JFL, Yuk Yuk's, Winnipeg Comedy Festival )

Poster Design by Yazmin Butcher (Legally Brown)

3 nights only - limited tickets

Pricing transparency

Tickets at $20 - our artsworker rate, with a $2.63 processing fee, plus tax.

If ticket price is a barrier and you would like to see the show, email raktapes@gmail.com by Feb 11th .

If you would like to increase your ticket price to cover the cost of someone else being able to see the show, or donate to the artist who made this show, please email raktapes@gmail.com

If you are the kind of person who appreciates the art of the creative jam, the ideas and support of the hive-mind, or just to have an opportunity to say your idea out loud in a group, this program is for you. 

The PWL is a formally informal opportunity for SAT community members to come together, share independent creative projects and receive feedback from their peers. 

We will ensure that each artist gets a chance to share a creative project, be it a 5 minute bit or the premise to a one-hour show and receive curiosities, ideas and support from other artists in the room. 

As a collective of semi/professional writers and performers we want to encourage community members to share expertise, strategies and writing activities that have been pivotal in their creative career. 

This is a pilot project so we will go with the flow of the group and evolve to suit the needs of our beautiful SAT community. 

Because we want to see more, more, more performing and production at Sweet Action Theatre, this is a FREE community program.

See you there. xo

-Morgan joY

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This is not like most on-camera classes.
Clown for Commercial Acting is a two-day workshop for commercial actors who want to become more playful, spontaneous, and watchable in auditions.

Commercial auditions rarely reward perfection. They reward presence — the ability to stay alive, responsive, and human when things don’t go as planned. This workshop focuses on developing that skill through play, impulse, and learning how to use failure rather than avoid it.

This work is for commercial actors who feel capable but tight in auditions — who over-prepare, overthink, or try to get it “right.” It’s especially useful if comedy feels like a weak spot, if you freeze when asked to improvise, or if you sense there’s something watchable about you that isn’t quite coming through on camera yet.

The clown work in this course isn’t about being bigger or sillier. It’s about clarity, precision, and openness — learning how to follow an impulse, recover from a misstep, and stay connected even when something feels awkward or off. When that work is clear on stage, it transfers directly to camera: the lens picks up small shifts in attention, timing, and ease.

Day one focuses on off-camera clown and play-based work to build this foundation: listening, eye contact, physical intention, and using failure as information. Day two brings that work onto the lens through commercial sides, with special attention to lead-ins and buttons — the improvised moments where watchability, ease, and instinct often matter most. Watching others work is part of the learning, and the room is held with care, humor, and respect.

This workshop offers a different way in. Rather than adding tricks or polishing performances, it helps actors get out of their own way — so something natural, specific, and genuinely watchable can come through. Actors leave with a looser relationship to auditions, a clearer sense of their own presence, and a practical way to stay playful and responsive on camera — especially when things don’t go as planned.

WHAT YOU’LL WORK ON

• Letting go of “acting” and responding truthfully
• Using mistakes, uncertainty, and awkwardness as usable material
• Staying relaxed, specific, and alive on camera
• Improvised lead-ins and buttons
• Eye contact and openness — on stage and straight down the lens
• Scaling big, clear physical choices down for the camera

WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT THE WORK

“After the workshop, I felt more playful and comfortable, trusted myself without planning or material, and felt much more tapped into my creative instincts.”
— Bita Joudaki, Comedian & TV Writer
(JFL Toronto, This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Children Ruin Everything)

“You feel like an idiot and it’s super vulnerable, but also funny. The audience lets you know pretty quickly what they like and don’t like, and Chase does a great job of summing it up so you walk away with genuinely useful information — even while kind of feeling insane.
It’s enlivening and worth it, especially if practicing failure is useful to you. For me, it is.”
— Rakhee Morzaria, Actor, Comedian & Writer
(Run the Burbs, What We Do in the Shadows, Mr. D, Second City)

“It’s like embarrassing yourself into becoming yourself. You get to fuck up in a room full of people, work through it, recover, and be better for it.
Chase is playful, encouraging, and safe, so even the scariest parts of clowning feel less intimidating. I’m now much more comfortable being silly in public. It’s been really healing for me.”
— Mia Hay, Actor & Riff Reps Student

“Chase is a fearless improviser with a sharp sense of humour and a deep grounding in clown dramaturgy. He’s a warm, sensitive, and rigorous teacher who cares deeply not only about his students’ learning journeys, but about the state of clown pedagogy itself.
He’s constantly experimenting, innovating within the form, and pushing it beyond a strictly clown-centric box, opening the work to new expressive comedic forms.
He’s simply one of the best clown teachers and performers in the city. Highly recommend watching him perform and taking his classes.”
— Adam Paolozza, Actor, Director & Artistic Director,
Bad New Days Theatre

These testimonials speak to the clown and Goofing work that forms the foundation of this unique approach to commercial acting.

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR

Chase Jeffels is a Toronto-based actor, comedian, and teacher whose work blends clown, improvisation, and the practice of joyful failure.

His face has appeared in commercials across Canada and the U.S., including campaigns for Ritz Crackers, Milestones, and the NBA, among many others. His performance work spans film, television, and theatre. He appears in the Crave sketch series The Dessert, stars in an upcoming short film by viral comedian DangerBean, and has worked on a project with the director of Jackass.

Chase trained at École Jacques Lecoq in Paris and at George Brown Theatre School, and studied under legendary clown teacher Philippe Gaulier, who once said of his work:
“I do not like very much Canada, but I like what you do.”

Onstage, Chase mixes physical comedy, riffing, and direct audience connection to create performances that are unpredictable, awkward, and painfully human. He is a member of the improv and sketch collective $20 Sandwich, co-creator of the clown duo West 2 West, and the creator of Goofing — a punk-leaning approach to comedy that treats failure not as a mistake, but as the fastest path to connection.

This workshop draws directly from that practice, translating play, spontaneity, and failure into tools commercial actors can actually use on camera.

Commercial Demo Reel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9ThDFhmrJE

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This is not like most on-camera classes.
Clown for Commercial Acting is a two-day workshop for commercial actors who want to become more playful, spontaneous, and watchable in auditions.

Commercial auditions rarely reward perfection. They reward presence — the ability to stay alive, responsive, and human when things don’t go as planned. This workshop focuses on developing that skill through play, impulse, and learning how to use failure rather than avoid it.

This work is for commercial actors who feel capable but tight in auditions — who over-prepare, overthink, or try to get it “right.” It’s especially useful if comedy feels like a weak spot, if you freeze when asked to improvise, or if you sense there’s something watchable about you that isn’t quite coming through on camera yet.

The clown work in this course isn’t about being bigger or sillier. It’s about clarity, precision, and openness — learning how to follow an impulse, recover from a misstep, and stay connected even when something feels awkward or off. When that work is clear on stage, it transfers directly to camera: the lens picks up small shifts in attention, timing, and ease.

Day one focuses on off-camera clown and play-based work to build this foundation: listening, eye contact, physical intention, and using failure as information. Day two brings that work onto the lens through commercial sides, with special attention to lead-ins and buttons — the improvised moments where watchability, ease, and instinct often matter most. Watching others work is part of the learning, and the room is held with care, humor, and respect.

This workshop offers a different way in. Rather than adding tricks or polishing performances, it helps actors get out of their own way — so something natural, specific, and genuinely watchable can come through. Actors leave with a looser relationship to auditions, a clearer sense of their own presence, and a practical way to stay playful and responsive on camera — especially when things don’t go as planned.

WHAT YOU’LL WORK ON

• Letting go of “acting” and responding truthfully
• Using mistakes, uncertainty, and awkwardness as usable material
• Staying relaxed, specific, and alive on camera
• Improvised lead-ins and buttons
• Eye contact and openness — on stage and straight down the lens
• Scaling big, clear physical choices down for the camera

WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT THE WORK

“After the workshop, I felt more playful and comfortable, trusted myself without planning or material, and felt much more tapped into my creative instincts.”
— Bita Joudaki, Comedian & TV Writer
(JFL Toronto, This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Children Ruin Everything)

“You feel like an idiot and it’s super vulnerable, but also funny. The audience lets you know pretty quickly what they like and don’t like, and Chase does a great job of summing it up so you walk away with genuinely useful information — even while kind of feeling insane.
It’s enlivening and worth it, especially if practicing failure is useful to you. For me, it is.”
— Rakhee Morzaria, Actor, Comedian & Writer
(Run the Burbs, What We Do in the Shadows, Mr. D, Second City)

“It’s like embarrassing yourself into becoming yourself. You get to fuck up in a room full of people, work through it, recover, and be better for it.
Chase is playful, encouraging, and safe, so even the scariest parts of clowning feel less intimidating. I’m now much more comfortable being silly in public. It’s been really healing for me.”
— Mia Hay, Actor & Riff Reps Student

“Chase is a fearless improviser with a sharp sense of humour and a deep grounding in clown dramaturgy. He’s a warm, sensitive, and rigorous teacher who cares deeply not only about his students’ learning journeys, but about the state of clown pedagogy itself.
He’s constantly experimenting, innovating within the form, and pushing it beyond a strictly clown-centric box, opening the work to new expressive comedic forms.
He’s simply one of the best clown teachers and performers in the city. Highly recommend watching him perform and taking his classes.”
— Adam Paolozza, Actor, Director & Artistic Director,
Bad New Days Theatre

These testimonials speak to the clown and Goofing work that forms the foundation of this unique approach to commercial acting.

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR

Chase Jeffels is a Toronto-based actor, comedian, and teacher whose work blends clown, improvisation, and the practice of joyful failure.

His face has appeared in commercials across Canada and the U.S., including campaigns for Ritz Crackers, Milestones, and the NBA, among many others. His performance work spans film, television, and theatre. He appears in the Crave sketch series The Dessert, stars in an upcoming short film by viral comedian DangerBean, and has worked on a project with the director of Jackass.

Chase trained at École Jacques Lecoq in Paris and at George Brown Theatre School, and studied under legendary clown teacher Philippe Gaulier, who once said of his work:
“I do not like very much Canada, but I like what you do.”

Onstage, Chase mixes physical comedy, riffing, and direct audience connection to create performances that are unpredictable, awkward, and painfully human. He is a member of the improv and sketch collective $20 Sandwich, co-creator of the clown duo West 2 West, and the creator of Goofing — a punk-leaning approach to comedy that treats failure not as a mistake, but as the fastest path to connection.

This workshop draws directly from that practice, translating play, spontaneity, and failure into tools commercial actors can actually use on camera.

Commercial Demo Reel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9ThDFhmrJE

Improv for Actors with Paloma Nuñez

Mondays Feb. 9, 23, March 2, 9
12-3pm
$240 + HST
Sweet Action Theatre - Artscape Youngplace, 180 Shaw St, Unit 106

Registration: The class is designed for experienced actors. If you have any questions about if this is the right fit for you, or you're are ready to request a spot in the class, please email erinlconway@gmail.com 

Improv for Actors with Paloma Nuñez is designed to help actors drop into play, deepen trust with scene partners, and uncover the magic that happens when you fully commit to the moment.

This workshop focuses on presence, active listening, and saying yes to the offers happening right in front of you. Improv isn’t about being funny or clever—it’s about getting out of your head and into your body, trusting your instincts, and letting the work breathe.

Stepping on stage without a script can feel terrifying, but Paloma will guide you toward trusting your voice, your impulses, and what you uniquely bring to the room. You’ll explore what makes improv thrilling, grounded, and joyful—and how these tools can add freedom, specificity, and depth to all of your performances.

Paloma Nuñez is a Toronto based actor and comedian. She has written, directed and performed with The Second City, Bad Dog Theatre Company and the Impatient Theatre Company. Her improvisational skills have helped her in acting roles like, Disney’s Peter Pan and Wendy, CBC’s, Baroness Von Sketch Show, Prime’s Upload, just to name a few. Paloma is a Dora Mavor Moore award winner for Best Ensemble for The Coal Mine Theatre's improvised production The Wonder Pageant, and a Canadian Screen Award winner for her writing on Baroness Von Sketch Show. Improv has truly been the backbone of Paloma's career and allowed her the freedom to create and collaborate on set!

𝐏𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞: 𝐌𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 & 𝐄𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
Embody the richness and complexity at the heart of your story.

Mondays, 6 – 9PM | Feb 2nd – March 16th, 2026 (no class Family Day, Feb 16th)

Showcase Show, Monday March 23rd, 7PM

$𝟯𝟯𝟵 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗝𝗮𝗻 𝟭𝘀𝘁, then $395 (Includes HST)

All Classes at Sweet Action Theatre Company (180 Shaw St.)

BUY CLASS HERE: https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/XCZJWTE6NQY4S
Visit https://www.jamesgangl.com/pagetostage for class synopsis and for future classes.

Improv for Actors with Paloma Nuñez

Mondays Feb. 9, 23, March 2, 9
12-3pm
$240 + HST
Sweet Action Theatre - Artscape Youngplace, 180 Shaw St, Unit 106

Registration: The class is designed for experienced actors. If you have any questions about if this is the right fit for you, or you're are ready to request a spot in the class, please email erinlconway@gmail.com 

Improv for Actors with Paloma Nuñez is designed to help actors drop into play, deepen trust with scene partners, and uncover the magic that happens when you fully commit to the moment.

This workshop focuses on presence, active listening, and saying yes to the offers happening right in front of you. Improv isn’t about being funny or clever—it’s about getting out of your head and into your body, trusting your instincts, and letting the work breathe.

Stepping on stage without a script can feel terrifying, but Paloma will guide you toward trusting your voice, your impulses, and what you uniquely bring to the room. You’ll explore what makes improv thrilling, grounded, and joyful—and how these tools can add freedom, specificity, and depth to all of your performances.

Paloma Nuñez is a Toronto based actor and comedian. She has written, directed and performed with The Second City, Bad Dog Theatre Company and the Impatient Theatre Company. Her improvisational skills have helped her in acting roles like, Disney’s Peter Pan and Wendy, CBC’s, Baroness Von Sketch Show, Prime’s Upload, just to name a few. Paloma is a Dora Mavor Moore award winner for Best Ensemble for The Coal Mine Theatre's improvised production The Wonder Pageant, and a Canadian Screen Award winner for her writing on Baroness Von Sketch Show. Improv has truly been the backbone of Paloma's career and allowed her the freedom to create and collaborate on set!

𝐏𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞: 𝐌𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 & 𝐄𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
Embody the richness and complexity at the heart of your story.

Mondays, 6 – 9PM | Feb 2nd – March 16th, 2026 (no class Family Day, Feb 16th)

Showcase Show, Monday March 23rd, 7PM

$𝟯𝟯𝟵 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗝𝗮𝗻 𝟭𝘀𝘁, then $395 (Includes HST)

All Classes at Sweet Action Theatre Company (180 Shaw St.)

BUY CLASS HERE: https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/XCZJWTE6NQY4S
Visit https://www.jamesgangl.com/pagetostage for class synopsis and for future classes.

Improv for Actors with Paloma Nuñez

Mondays Feb. 9, 23, March 2, 9
12-3pm
$240 + HST
Sweet Action Theatre - Artscape Youngplace, 180 Shaw St, Unit 106

Registration: The class is designed for experienced actors. If you have any questions about if this is the right fit for you, or you're are ready to request a spot in the class, please email erinlconway@gmail.com 

Improv for Actors with Paloma Nuñez is designed to help actors drop into play, deepen trust with scene partners, and uncover the magic that happens when you fully commit to the moment.

This workshop focuses on presence, active listening, and saying yes to the offers happening right in front of you. Improv isn’t about being funny or clever—it’s about getting out of your head and into your body, trusting your instincts, and letting the work breathe.

Stepping on stage without a script can feel terrifying, but Paloma will guide you toward trusting your voice, your impulses, and what you uniquely bring to the room. You’ll explore what makes improv thrilling, grounded, and joyful—and how these tools can add freedom, specificity, and depth to all of your performances.

Paloma Nuñez is a Toronto based actor and comedian. She has written, directed and performed with The Second City, Bad Dog Theatre Company and the Impatient Theatre Company. Her improvisational skills have helped her in acting roles like, Disney’s Peter Pan and Wendy, CBC’s, Baroness Von Sketch Show, Prime’s Upload, just to name a few. Paloma is a Dora Mavor Moore award winner for Best Ensemble for The Coal Mine Theatre's improvised production The Wonder Pageant, and a Canadian Screen Award winner for her writing on Baroness Von Sketch Show. Improv has truly been the backbone of Paloma's career and allowed her the freedom to create and collaborate on set!

𝐏𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞: 𝐌𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 & 𝐄𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
Embody the richness and complexity at the heart of your story.

Mondays, 6 – 9PM | Feb 2nd – March 16th, 2026 (no class Family Day, Feb 16th)

Showcase Show, Monday March 23rd, 7PM

$𝟯𝟯𝟵 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗝𝗮𝗻 𝟭𝘀𝘁, then $395 (Includes HST)

All Classes at Sweet Action Theatre Company (180 Shaw St.)

BUY CLASS HERE: https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/XCZJWTE6NQY4S
Visit https://www.jamesgangl.com/pagetostage for class synopsis and for future classes.

TICKETS COMING SOON

BE GOOD! is an absurd character show that follows Paulette, the mildest man imaginable, as he tries to pull off an hour of perfect moments with a roomful of strangers. A baffling, delightful mix of physical comedy, improvisation, and crowd work, the show has an enthusiastic alt comedy/clown following on both sides of the Atlantic and strong word-of-mouth from its runs at the Edinburgh Fringe (★★★★, Mervyn Stutter's Pick of the Fringe) and Philadelphia Fringe (Winner, Fringie Award).

𝐏𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞: 𝐌𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 & 𝐄𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
Embody the richness and complexity at the heart of your story.

Mondays, 6 – 9PM | Feb 2nd – March 16th, 2026 (no class Family Day, Feb 16th)

Showcase Show, Monday March 23rd, 7PM

$𝟯𝟯𝟵 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗝𝗮𝗻 𝟭𝘀𝘁, then $395 (Includes HST)

All Classes at Sweet Action Theatre Company (180 Shaw St.)

BUY CLASS HERE: https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/XCZJWTE6NQY4S
Visit https://www.jamesgangl.com/pagetostage for class synopsis and for future classes.