Buddhism: is it just for losers??

Image: Max Rudkin (left) with fellow performers.

An created and performed by Matt Rudkin who has taught on the Fine Art Performance BA(Hons) at Brighton since 1999. 

The show, which is described as a 'Post Structuralist Zen Clown show' is based on Rudkin's PhD research at the University of Brighton which looks at Flow theory and its applications for theatre making. Inspired by the words of est founder, Werner Erhard, the show explores the ways in which the language we use constructs the world as we know it. The show is framed as a support group meeting for those who 'think too much', at which a self-confessed analysis junkie dramatically reconstructs a tortuous train of thought through notions of determinism. Encounters with 'non-sense' therapy seemingly cure him of his affliction, but create a new dependency on idiotic behaviour. The show employs the popular forms of clowning, puppetry and narrative to illustrate these ideas, and aims to use humour as a deconstructive tool to tease the mind free from attachment to reified schemes, such as the 'art/entertainment' divide.

Through its styling and promotion it resists being consumed as cultural capital within the 'fine/high art' tradition, instead being framed as a theatre/comedy event that might form the basis for a good night out. The title refers to the idea that the term 'loser' is bound up in ego concerns that the Buddhist adherent is seeking to overcome. Similarly, the clown performer must learn to 'flop' with acceptance, and share with authenticity their failures. In the practice of zen, humour is said to be both the means and the end of the process, hence I describe this is a 'post structuralist zen clown show' - about 37 per cent. in jest. 

Rudkin's career has encompassed work in puppetry, live art, cabaret and street theatre as a performer, writer, maker and director. He was founder, co-ordinator and compere of Edinburgh's ‘The Bongo Club Cabaret' (1994 - 2001), concurrently working as a puppeteer and maker with The Edinburgh Puppet Company, touring throughout the UK and Ireland. From 2003 - 2007 he toured internationally with street theatre shows, working with 3 Monkey productions and Fraser Hooper, including appearances throughout the UK and Ireland, France, Belgium, Holland, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

He has presented both solo and collaborative performance work, at such venues as 'The Green Room' (Manchester), 'The Powerhouse' (Nottingham), 'CCA' (Glasgow); 'ICA', ‘Omsk’, ‘Shunt Lounge’ (London). He has been a regular collaborator with Rotozaza, most recently co-writing the audio-tour ‘Wondermart’. With Rick Conte he created theatre work commissioned for EU conferences in Warsaw and Helsinki, and devised the video work, ‘Beauty Spot’ with Edwina Ashton for the Whitstable Biennale.

In 2009 he set up the company ‘Inconvenient Spoof’ with Silvia Mercuriali, producing three Arts Council funded shows; ‘Dean Gibbons and the Knowledge of Death’, ‘Naïve Dance Masterclass’ and 'Buddhism: Is it Just for Losers?'. In these shows he seeks to use skills developed in popular theatre forms to create provocative, playful work that straddles the divide between art and entertainment. 

As well as the October dates at the Marlborough Theatre in Brighton, the show will be performed at the Camden People's Theatre on 7 & 8 November, 2014. More information.