Yuri Medvedev, 55, is a clown with the Cirque du Soleil which begins its Hong Kong run this week. He trained at the State Moscow Circus School and was with the Taganka Theatre for more than 20 years before he was kicked out for joining a peace organisation. He fled to the US in August 1991.
What's on your mind? We open Alegria on Friday. I'm actually more of an actor than a clown, but Alegria is more theatre than circus. There are no animals, and the spirit and production is more serious and subtle than circus. When I first saw the show in New York I was almost crying - it provoked a feeling of nostalgia, it touched something deep inside.
Audiences react differently. In the US they're very open and loud. In Japan, they were quiet but you could see the expression in their faces. My wig makes me look like a pineapple and sometimes people give me big pineapples afterwards.
What made you become a clown? It's something inside me - maybe an ability to see the funny side of serious things. I can't remember a specific moment when I wanted to be a clown, but meeting Marcel Marceau was a terrific experience. He came to our school in about 1964. I did a mime act about war and he was very encouraging. He's very old now, but I saw him perform recently and he was still amazing. In my soul I'm a performer - I like improvising and reacting on the spot. It's freedom; clowns are free people.
What do you find funny? I'm not a funny person in ordinary life. I can make stupid faces and force you to laugh, but generally I think life is not funny. We're not like clowns in America - a lot of them just do slapstick, which is not difficult. We do sad acts as well. I think life is more sad than happy. But it's important not to lose your sense of humour and sense of wonder at what's around you.
Why did you leave Russia? I was involved in the Trust Group, a grassroots peace organisation to establish contact between East and West. I joined in 1984. Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in 1985, and I was kicked out of the theatre in 1986 just because of my participation in the group. After that I was unemployed for three years. I was also arrested several times for demonstrations after Chernobyl. After the military coup in 1991, I decided I'd had enough and fled to New York two days later.