Jessica Aszkenasy Brings New Solo Comedy Show TITCLOWN to Edinburgh Fringe

Jessica Aszkenasy is bringing her debut solo clown show, TITCLOWN, to the Edinburgh Fringe. Created and performed by this Gaulier-trained clown, TITCLOWN is a charming, compelling comedy which draws the audience into the absurd, often disorienting world of a creative genius on the brink - a woman desperately workshopping the question: what is art, and more importantly, what is her art?

At its core, it is a "work-in-progress" presentation by a fictional alter ego who holds her audience at a distance, judging them, correcting them, and challenging their expectations. She wears a Baywatch-style bathing suit, high heels, and - eventually - nothing above the waist, a deliberate contradiction: she looks fantastic, but also deeply absurd - blending hyper-femininity with deadpan critique. This character is both commanding and silly, issuing instructions and eliciting responses with a stern intensity, all while wearing a look that is both glamorous and ridiculous. TITCLOWN is a bold, mischievous exploration of art, authority, and the ever-loaded performance of femininity.

The show plays with perceptions of the female body and the performance of sex and sexuality without becoming flirtatious or overtly erotic. Her interactions resist the male gaze even as the form superficially invites it. Through audience interaction and a climactic act of live painting (using her breasts as the brush), TITCLOWN skirts the line between reverence and ridicule. It's laugh-out-loud funny, but the character is serious. The show's title, visual palette, and central image all suggest provocation, but the tone remains dry, ironic, and cerebral.

Jessica trained with Philippe Gaulier for a full year - an experience marked by both creative growth and profound discomfort. While she does not explicitly critique the institution, TITCLOWN emerges as a response to the complex, often gendered dynamics she encountered, humming quietly with questions of misogyny and power. It leaves space for ambiguity, for discomfort, and for a deeper feminist resonance to echo beneath the laughter.

Jessica grew up in a "feminine-first" household, where the feminine was the default and the masculine the aftershock. This context profoundly shaped her worldview and performance style, reinforcing the themes of TITCLOWN and its interrogation of gender, power, and bodily autonomy.

Blending absurdist humour with pseudo-philosophical musings, the show poses questions about the nature of art and the female body's place in performance. It challenges both the audience and the performer, pushing against the constraints of form and expectation while embracing the chaos and contradiction at the heart of live performance.

While Jessica's character may express open disdain for men, it's clear the real Jessica holds a more generous view - though she does not disguise her ongoing frustration. That tension - between disdain and connection, between absurdity and sincerity, between beauty and grotesque - is where the show finds its bite.

Funny, self-aware, and provocatively poised between vulnerability and control, TITCLOWN is a nuanced satire of artistic ego, gendered expectations, and the relentless search for creative expression - one that refuses to make things easy for the audience, even as it makes them laugh. It holds its audience in an exquisite kind of tension - inviting them to look, to laugh, and to reckon with what exactly they came to see.

Get Broadway News on WhatsApp

Receive the latest updates, breaking news, and exclusive coverage from Broadway directly in WhatsApp.