Cirque du Soleil clown moves to Regina to tackle next project

It's definitely not the typical career path, but for Mooky Cornish becoming a professional clown was natural.

"I've always been a clown," the performer said recalling her antics as a youngster. She turned that youthful clowning into a professional, international career. She has been with Cirque du Soleil, a performing company in England and recently decided to move to Regina, of all places, to continue to develop her career.

My style is more character-based clown, rather than say American circus.- Mooky Cornish

Mooky started working professionally as a clown when she was only 15. She's not sure how she caught the bug, noting she grew up in an eastern Ontario farm town.

"It wasn't like we were going to clown theatre shows on the weekend," she said.

Somehow, however, she started thinking about it, then dreaming about it and finally pursuing it seriously.

Her rehearsal space was the front yard of her home where she taught herself to juggle. She jumped at every opportunity to perform at community events, slapping on her mother's makeup to entertain kids as a clown.

She eventually went to clown school in northern California where she also did kids shows and theatre. She even moved to Calgary to start her own circus with friends. When that venture folded, she gave Cirque du Soleil a call. The world famous company took on Mooky as one of two lead clowns in the show Varekai, pumping fresh helium into her ballooning career.

"I was performing 10 shows a week for 3,000 people," Mooky recalled. "It was a massive learning curve in my performance."

Saskatchewan-based production

When Mooky decided she wanted to create a television series, her thoughts turned to Saskatchewan — where her grandparents used to live — as the place for that project.

"We spent our summers here in Indian Head growing up," she said.

Mooky aims to develop a multi-episode show about a budding starlet from rural Canada who wants to become a big celebrity.

"When I started thinking deeper into where I wanted to shoot it I thought: 'Oh, Saskatchewan's so beautiful and Indian Head is such a beautiful town.' So I chose there," she said. "Honestly, off the top, it is for aesthetic reasons."

She intends to shoot the show's pilot episode this fall.

Clown character

When asked about her clowning character, she said she goes beyond oversized shoes and the bright red nose familiar to many.

"My style is more character-based," she explained, "rather than say American-circus."

She says she follows more of the European tradition of clowns, like a Charlie Chaplin, where she gets into comical situations and reacts in character. Her acts involve lots of physical comedy and jokes on herself.

June show in Regina

Mooky also decided to mount a show in Regina to introduce herself to the community and present her clown character.

"Most people think of rainbow wigs and noses," she said. "So [the show is] just to introduce them to what I'm talking about and what kind of laughs I go for."

The Glories of Gloria Revue presents the tale of a woman who desperately wants to put on a big, Broadway style extravaganza show. Audience members can expect elaborate costumes, puppetry, magic, comic sketches and plenty of interaction with the character.

The show is set to run June 3 and 4 at Regina's Artesian Theatre. It is open to all ages.