Fear of Clowns to be published

Just five days into the New Year and I've already got my first acceptance. Heuer Publishing just informed me that they'll be publishing my ten-minute comedy Fear of Clowns.

This is an old one. I wrote it in 2011, and it received its world premiere at the Millibo Art Theatre in Colorado Springs the following year. The play went on to get productions in Maryland, New York City (my only off-off-Broadway show!), and even London. (These photos are from the Maryland production.)

But then I didn't know what to do with it. Submitting a ten-minute play to contest after contest is incredibly time-consuming, barely worth the peanuts in licensing fees it might earn.

I figured the only way to make any money from Fear of Clowns was to get it published. But Pioneer Drama Service doesn't publish ten-minute plays, and I didn't have an in with anyone who does. So I set the script aside and forgot about it.

Then a year ago, I realized that Heuer, who already publishes my full-length plays The Last Radio Show and Kill the Critic!, has a ton of individual ten-minute plays in their catalog (yes, sometimes I'm a little slow on the uptake).

The key to their success in this often challenging market? Simple. They offer their customers a package in which they can license an evening's worth of ten-minute plays for one low fee. The plays don't even have to be from the same playwright.

Fear of Clowns may be over a decade old, but its story is timeless. The play was inspired by that old joke about a man who visits a psychiatrist for his depression. The good doctor tells him to see Pagliacci, the world-famous clown who's sure to make him laugh. The man sighs. "But I am Pagliacci," he says.

For this play, I flipped things around. A clown visits a psychiatrist, but instead of depression, he suffers from a very unusual fear: he's afraid of people.

It's a very funny play, but it's sad too, and in it, I do some things with the offstage sound effects to heighten that sadness.

I've got one other ten-minute play that might be worth submitting to Heuer. I may write more. But first I want to see how this one does. If it does well, it may just open up a whole new (old?) field of playwriting for me.

Fear of Clowns probably won't come out until this fall. But if you'd like to take a look at it ahead of time, email me. I'll be happy to send you a free perusal copy.