CAROL LEE SIRUGO is a theatrical clown, actor, writer, teacher and director. Born and raised in New York City, she began performing at age 7. After graduating from LaGuardia High School of Music & the Performing Arts, she received a BA from Sarah Lawrence College.  She attended the National Theater Institute Program (Eugene O’Neill Theater Center) as well as their overseas program at Guildhall School (London) and Trinity College (Dublin). She studied clown with David Shiner, Kenny Raskin, Jango Edwards, Mark Gindick and the New York Goofs. She studied Commedia dell’arte with Antonio Fava, mime with Gregg Goldston and improvisation with various teachers including Ralph Buckley (Just Say Yes!) and Scotty Watson (IN Studios).

Carol performed for many years as an actor Off and Off-Off-Broadway before falling in love with theatrical clown. She has performed many solo and duo acts in venues throughout NYC, including HERE Arts Center, Theater for the New City, the PIT, Dixon Place, the Brick Theater and Triskelion Arts. She has written and performed numerous shows for the Int’l Fringe Festival Circuit in Canada winning BEST OF FEST (Winnipeg) and a MEDIA CHOICE AWARD (Saskatoon). For several years, she performed improvisation and wrote sketch comedy for IN Studios (NYC). Her directing credits include theater productions for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (Scotland), Edmonton Fringe Festival (Canada), FringeNYC, Frigid Fest (NYC) and SOLOCOM (NYC). She is the founding member of the touring theatre company Found in New York Productions.

Carol has guest taught clown workshops for: student actors at the Atlantic Theater Acting Conservatory; Atlantic Theater Program at New York University; high school students at Amas’ Musical Theatre program and Opening Act; circus artists and aerialists at the Muse Brooklyn; puppeteers at Showplace Theatre (Brookline, MA) and staff/practitioners at Maha Rose (NYC).

Currently, she teachers Comic Gold Clown Workshops in NYC (www.comicgoldnyc.com).  Carol is also an acting coach and comedy consultant.  She has recently been interviewed for the biography “Shemp Howard: Much more than a Stooge” and “Behind the Nose,” an upcoming book on clown teachers from around the world.