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
In my stand-up sets after the workshop, I’ve noticed that I feel more playful and comfortable on stage. I trust myself more to be funny without planning or material, and I feel much more tapped into my creative instincts.
— Bita Joudaki, Comedian & TV Writer (JFL Toronto, This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Children Ruin Everything) · Goofing Workshop
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 at the end 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) · Riff Reps
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 with new exercises, 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, Teacher & Artistic Director, Bad New Days Theatre
What I love most about Chase’s approach is that he encourages you to find what works for you. He’s deeply empathetic and clearly cares about every person in the room, while also bringing a level of organization and consistency that’s rare. I don’t think I could have found a better teacher than Chase to dive into the clown world. Through the work, I’m slowly finding the confidence to be weird on stage.
— Ankur Kaushal, Performer, Goofing Student
With warmth, care, and real skill, Chase creates a welcoming and stimulating space to explore beyond our habits and reconnect with spontaneity. It feels less like an invitation and more like a permission to be. The workshop supported me in finding my way back to a childlike, playful exploration, allowing me to take risks with spontaneity and with others.
— Isabelle Meline, Gestalt Therapist & Workshop Participant
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 participants is 12 people
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.