Aaron Malkin

James

Performer & Co-Artistic Director

Aaron passionately supports the discovery of full self-expression and the generation of delight through performance and teaching. His background in outdoor & experiential education, physical theatre, dance, and visual effects have led to international performance and teaching collaborations that often bridge mediums with delight and play as the central theme. He founded Vancouver’s PlayLaughBe Festival to build community through creative expression, co-founded the clown troupe Poupon Parade and is a marketing director of Vancouver’s In Jest Festival of Clown and Play.

Alastair Knowles

Jamesy

Performer & Co-Artistic Director

Alastair is dedicated to the creation and presentation of performance that emphasizes impulse, introspection, and performance honesty to ultimately strengthen the connections between performer, audience, and community. With a background in business, clown, and dance, Alastair has focused his business acumen in the field of performance arts and acts as Treasurer and Principle Performer for Vancouver’s critically acclaimed Dusty Flowerpot Cabaret and Co-Produces Vancouver’s In Jest Festival of Clown and Play.

David MacMurray Smith

Ringmaster, Director, Co-Creator, Co-Writer

David is an independent educator with over 40 years of experience in the areas of Theatre, Clown, Mime, Ballet, and Opera. He is a movement specialist and an experienced counselor who has drawn on his broad range of experience and sources to develop a body-centered, humanist approach to personal and professional development through creative studies in human performance. He was head instructor at the Vancouver Playhouse Theatre School and movement director for the Music Theatre and Opera programs at the Banff Center for the Arts. David was program director for the two-year Ensemble Training Program of Full Circle: First Nations Performance and currently on faculty at Douglas College. He is also a founding faculty member of a two-year certificate program in Expressive Arts Therapy through Langara College Continuing Education, and runs his own studio, Fantastic Space Enterprises, which he founded in 1995.

Jill Raymond

Public Relations Director

Jill studied at Bretton Hall College in England from which she graduated with a First Class Honours Degree in Acting. Since then she has worked and trained on three continents constantly developing and defining her skills within performance. She also is a leading performance arts teacher in Vancouver’s Lower Mainland with contracts for Arts Umbrella, Richmond Arts Centre and as a regular featured artist in the Children’s Arts Festival held annually in Richmond. Jill has a diverse resume in her “other” work which has included Administration, Sales and Marketing both as a freelancer and within large corporations (including Foxtons, UK). Also, she can make a really good cup of tea.