Send in the clowns: Bristol congress to explore role of comedy in tricky times

‘The world is going to shit and who do they call? It’s the clowns,’ says Holly Stoppit, a drama therapist and clown who will lead the conference. Photograph: Adrian Sherratt/The Guardian

The world may be a pretty unfunny place at the moment and global leaders don’t seem to have the answers. But this weekend a different sort of talking shop will take place when a “clown congress” convenes in Bristol to discuss the role of the funny people in troubling times.

One of the leaders, Holly Stoppit, a clown therapist, teacher and facilitator, summed it up succinctly: “Do you know what? I think there is no accident that the world is going to shit and who do they call? It’s the clowns.”