Gisella Warmhoven is a 'buffoon” and 'whacky” in a delightfully cultured clown kind of way.

Clowning around – Welcome Bay's Gisella Warmenhoven and her alter ego.

She slips a plastic red nose over her head, pirouettes and declares to her audience of one that she is now a different person – 'I am a clown”. And that opens a myriad of performance possibilities for her.

And she is inviting Tauranga to breaks its shackles and clown down with her.

Gisella's running a workshop - eight 2-hour sessions on the basics of being funny.

She guarantees a journey of personal discovery. 'You will learn to express emotions you didn't know you had. You will enjoy it and you will make people laugh”.

Gisella, an ex-pat German, is a seriously good clown. She has her clown ticket. She trained in Italy at MimoTeatroMovimento where people learn to express themselves, how to 'grab an emotion and make it big”.

'Take dying – in reality sad and unpleasant. But a clown can make death funny and enjoyable.”

But buy-in here in Tauranga isn't easy.

'This is fringe theatre' says Gisella now out of clown mode. 'And people are reluctant to try something new. If it's not mainstream it's difficult”.

But not Tauranga pre-school teacher Andrea Lehman. She's putting up $240 dollars because she has had a life-long love of clowns. And 'it's ok for grown-ups to reconnect with their childhood. It's cool and I am really excited about the workshop”.

She agrees with Gisella. 'Tauranga's a wee bit conservative like its politics, a wee bit grey. We should shake loose and have a good laugh. It's therapeutic. It can be a lifesaver.”

Pre-school teacher Andrea intends using her clown skills as a teaching strategy 'acting out important life lessons for the kids – make it different so they take things on board”.

Gisella says a clown looks like anyone – except big. Big nose, big coat, big pants and an even bigger personality.

'And we need all sorts of people. Shy clowns, serious clowns, not just exuberant clowns. Short people, fat people, lawyers, doctors, dentists so anyone and everyone can have a crack.

Clown feature throughout history, in folk lore and legend. They are one of the most common character types found in culture and mythology throughout world history.

And Gisella reminds us the clown was always the feature on the circus poster. 'And if the clown was no good the circus was no good”.