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OUR CLASSES
The Art of Clown
Unlocking the Spontaneous Actor
Clown is one of the most liberating, demanding, and transformative disciplines an actor can experience. At Maggie Flanigan Studio, where we train actors to pursue truth, vulnerability, imagination, and craft, Clown offers a profound confrontation with what it means to be fully seen.
Facilitated by Sneha Sakhare and inspired by the work of master clown teacher Christopher Bayes, this two-semester, twenty-week program invites actors to reconnect with their deepest creative impulses through physical play, vocal freedom, movement, and radical openness.
Clown is not about putting on a red nose or performing comedy. It is about stripping away performance itself. Beneath the habits of trying to be impressive, clever, or in control lives something far more compelling: an authentic, spontaneous human being. Clown asks actors to let go of artifice and discover the extraordinary power of their own humanity.
Learning Through Play
The work challenges actors to embrace failure, surrender control, and find genuine joy in the unknown.
Through ensemble exercises, improvisation, movement, rage-outs, spontaneous song creation, vocal exploration, and meditative grounding practices, students develop greater freedom, presence, and creative courage. Every exercise encourages actors to stop performing and begin responding honestly to the reality of the moment.
In Clown, failure is never something to avoid. It becomes the doorway to authenticity, imagination, and genuine connection with an audience.
A Deeper Relationship to Truth
While Clown stands on its own as a discipline, it beautifully complements the philosophy of the Meisner Technique.
Both ask the actor to listen deeply, respond truthfully, trust impulse, and remain fully present. At Maggie Flanigan Studio, we believe an actor's ability to move an audience begins with their willingness to reveal their own humanity. Clown develops that capacity by asking actors to abandon self-consciousness and meet the audience with honesty, vulnerability, and generosity.
Actors are not asked to become funnier.
They are asked to become more available.
STUDENT TESTIMONIALS
“I was placed in the intense reigns of Charlie Sandlan. I became a better artist, actor, friend, sibling and daughter because of the studio. Even now, I crave the studio every day. What I learned is present in my work every day. I truly believe in everything they stand for.”
Jes Macallan
“Maggie taught me that I could control my work, my acting, and to throw all of the bullshit out that I had in my head about ‘what I should be doing’ and to just listen and respond honestly, in the moment. She gave me a craft. She is, quite simply put, THE BEST.”
Leslie Bibb
“Maggie Flanigan taught me the true meaning of artistry, passion, and professionalism. I am certain that I continue to work as an actress because of my training with Maggie. At every audition and every performance, her guiding voice is with me. It is a gift beyond measure.”
Andrea Anders
ACTING STUDIO NEW YORK NY
The Maggie Flanigan Studio is the leading acting studio in New York City where professional actors train for long careers. The acting programs at the drama school are based on the Meisner Technique and the work of Sanford Meisner. The two year acting program includes acting classes, movement classes, voice and speech for actors, commercial acting classes, on camera classes, cold reading, monologue, playwriting, script analysis and the Meisner Summer Intensive.
Call to Schedule an Interview
Developing a Free Instrument
Through repeated physical and vocal warm-ups, improvisation, movement, and play, students cultivate an instrument that is relaxed, expressive, and emotionally available.
Without masks or protective habits to hide behind, actors discover a greater capacity for imagination, emotional freedom, and spontaneous behavior. The red nose becomes the smallest mask in the world—revealing rather than concealing the truth of the performer.
The Courage to Be Seen
By the end of this transformative journey, actors leave with greater confidence in uncertainty, a deeper connection to their imagination, and an expanded ability to take risks without fear of failure.
More importantly, they discover that compelling acting does not come from trying to be extraordinary.
It comes from having the courage to be completely, joyfully, and truthfully human.
That is the heart of Clown, and one of the most valuable gifts an actor can bring to every rehearsal, audition, and performance.
CONTACT
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147 W 25th St 5th Floor
New York, NY 10001
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SNEHA SEKHARE
Sneha Sakhare is a multifaceted artist based in New York City, with a background in acting, singing, and clowning, complemented by her rigorous training in various theatrical disciplines and Indian Classical music. She has created original works such as "Pandemic Chapatis" and "Divinity and Ice Cream", while her philosophy emphasizes the spiritual and authentic nature of clowning, encouraging performers to embrace vulnerability and emotional truth. With a former career in engineering, Sneha applies an analytical approach to her creative practices, guiding her students to recognize and celebrate their unique truths.
THE ART OF CLOWN
Unlocking the Spontaneous Actor