Noah Seltzer answers our questions ahead of Here Comes Almost heading to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Here Comes Almost is a playful, vulnerable and absurd solo clown piece. “Almost” is a figure constantly reshaping themself into someone the world might love, as the show moves through clowning, dance, song and physical comedy while exploring loneliness, queerness and the desire to connect. We chat to Noah Seltzer about self-expression, authenticity and acceptance.

The central character is called "Almost". Almost what?

Almost connecting. Almost being vulnerable. Almost celebrating. Almost solving the global loneliness epidemic…! I'm fascinated by how close we are to one another all the time. We're often just one sentence away from a vulnerable conversation, one small act away from making someone feel seen. Every morning on the subway in New York, if I get a seat, I'm usually pressed between two strangers. Sometimes I can even feel another person breathing beside me. It's an unusually intimate experience, yet we are usually alone in our own morning commute world. The name Almost actually came from my first clown teacher. In clown, you often try on different names in front of the class until one suddenly feels true. At the time, I was struggling with clowning, and "Almost" felt painfully accurate. But over time, I started hearing something else inside it. Almost can also be read as All Most. And I think my clown lives between these two poles - the quiet poetry of almost, and the explosive fullness of all-most. The show is constantly moving between those states, asking whether the distance between us really is as great as it seems - or whether we're all just one small moment away from feeling genuinely connected.

Your show was inspired by the World Health Organisation describing loneliness as a growing global health threat. Do you think we're actually lonelier than previous generations, or simply more aware of our loneliness?

That's a great question. I think it's probably both, but I do believe we are genuinely lonelier. I think it’s easier to find like-minded people and communities of belonging than it once was. However, we are also much less tethered to family and home. Moreover, we’re inundated by facsimiles of connection. Many of us end up scrolling through social media at the end of the day, instead of having a nourishing conversation with a friend. Remote work is much more prevalent, and it’s much easier to stay home with Netflix instead of going out to be with people.

Why is a clown the perfect person to tackle questions about loneliness and connection?

I think the clown always wants to help the world in some way - to bring joy, to bring beauty and humour. Moreover, unlike traditional theatre, which happens in the "there and then," clown happens in the "here and now." So Almost gets to actually live in the given circumstances of the moment and bring his most ambitious self to the audience each night.

Almost spends the show trying desperately to be lovable. What's the most ridiculous thing you've ever done in an attempt to get somebody to like you? Hmmm, I don’t know!!! Maybe working for months on a clown show to get the approval (hopefully!) of random audiences in Edinburgh…

The show feels particularly relevant to social media, where we're constantly editing ourselves for public consumption and validation. Do you think we're all performing a character online now?

Yes, I think we probably are - but I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing. One of the discoveries of theatre, clown, and mask work is that we’re always performing some version of ourselves. I notice it in my own life. I’m different when I’m at my parents’ house for the holidays than I am at a queer bar in Brooklyn on a Saturday night. I don’t think performing oneself or wearing different masks is inherently dishonest or bad - It’s actually quite human. The problem begins when we don’t realize that we’re wearing a mask. Social media certainly exacerbates all this. Scroll through Instagram Reels and you start to notice the same vocal rhythms, facial expressions, and ways of presenting a personality. Imitating others is quite human, but I think the danger starts, to self and to culture, when we don’t realize that these are masks we’re wearing and start shaping ourselves around what is most popular or likely to be rewarded.

You're also a live event poet who writes poems for strangers in real time. What's your favourite ever interaction that's come out of that?

I’ve had so many wonderful interactions writing poems for strangers it’s hard to choose one! But about a month ago, a woman who had just turned 84 told me she had just fallen deeply in love with a man she’d been friends with for decades. After her husband passed away, she'd always had this quiet intuition that she would fall in love again someday. She just had no idea when it would happen - or with whom. But she had just come back from spending a weekend with this longtime friend, who had also recently been widowed, completely alive with new love.

This is your first time performing in Edinburgh - what are you excited to see and do at the Festival?

Gosh, so much! I’m so excited to see a bunch of shows and get inspired for my own work! I want to meet a bunch of other artists and performers. And when I'm not performing or handing out flyers, I'm looking forward to simply being in Edinburgh in the summer. Long August afternoons in the park, strolls through the city's streets, eating meat pies in a pub.

Here Comes Almost will be performed at 9:30pm at Zoo Playground from 7th – 30th August. Booking link: https://zoofestival.co.uk/programme/here-comes-almost/