TED GLOBAL IDEA SEARCH 2025: A Clown’s Guide to Failure

We brought the magic of theatrical clowning to the TEDxSingapore stage as part of TED’s Global Idea Search, offering a fresh perspective on failure that resonates with everyday life in Singapore.

In A Clown’s Guide to Failure, founder Shanice Stanislaus draws on clown philosophy to explore the pressures many of us experience: high expectations, constant productivity, fear of mistakes, and the need to always appear capable. Through humour, vulnerability, and play, she invites audiences to see failure not as a personal flaw, but as a shared, human experience.

By translating the art of clowning from the theatre to real life, this talk offers new ways to approach mistakes, stress, and uncertainty with courage, honesty, and a touch of humanity.

Watch behind-the-scenes documentary below: