About Me

Anatoli Akerman, portrait and clown character

ME

Since I was a child, I wanted to be a clown.

When I was six, I started imitating my uncle, who was a comedian. I became quite successful at imitating him, without knowing what was behind what he created. Only later did I begin to understand how much work and live performance experience was behind something that looked so simple. This was my first school of laughter.

Over the years, I have performed in circuses, theatres and open-air spaces, developing my material and my stage characters, and discovering how they live on stage and gain experience through performance.

My experience goes from large productions for thousands of people, with more than eighty artists and crew, to solo and duo shows.

Along the way, I have worked across very different worlds — from classical and contemporary story-driven circus to theatre, dinner shows, ballet, opera and film. Each of them has a different language and has influenced the way I work and create.

I have created many of my own circus acts, as well as full-length shows like KUKU and Splinters.

Some creations I have been part of took only a few days. Others took almost a year of rehearsals and preparation.

I have a collection of material that I have developed over time through hundreds of performances in front of hundreds of thousands of people. At the same time, I am always open to creating something new. Depending on what a show needs, I can bring existing material, adapt it, develop it further, or start a new creation from scratch.

For me, collaboration means staying flexible, finding what works best for the show, and allowing it to grow from performance to performance.

I have worked with many directors and creators, but I also direct myself. I look for ideas, try them, change them, sometimes throw them away and start again. Sometimes I need an outside eye. Sometimes I am the outside eye.

Over time, I discovered that the more I enter unknown situations, the more my inner clown grows. A character is never completely fixed. It changes with the space, the needs of the show, the partners, the audience, and even the country where I perform — but the core stays, and everything new grows around it.

Sometimes not knowing is the best place to start — but experience helps you find the path.

EXPERIENCE

2026–2027
Koninklijk Theater Carré / Wereldkerstcircus — Amsterdam, Netherlands
2026
Sirkus Finlandia, 50th Anniversary Tour — Finland · Performer
2026
La Strada Festival — Graz, Austria · Splinters
2026
FINC — France · KUKU
2026
Capital Circus of Budapest — Budapest, Hungary · Performer
2025–2026
Heilbronner Weihnachtscircus / Charles Knie — Germany · Performer
2014–2024
Circus-Theater Roncalli — Germany & Austria · Clown / Physical Comedy
2019
Disney, Dumbo — Feature film directed by Tim Burton · Clown / Physical Actor
2008
Cirque du Soleil, ZED — Tokyo, Japan · Creation & Performance · Directed by François Girard
2003
Cirque du Soleil, KÀ — MGM Grand, Las Vegas, USA · Creation & Performance · Directed by Robert Lepage
2002
Pomp Duck & Circumstance — Berlin, Germany · Dinner Show · Performer
2001
Hansa-Theater — Hamburg, Germany · Varieté · Performer
1990–2002
Independent Clown & Physical Performer — Created and performed original clown acts, working solo and as part of clown duos and trios. Performed across Europe at festivals, events, variety shows and different venues.

Own Productions

KUKU — Full-length theatre production
Director: Anatoli Akerman
Performers: Anatoli Akerman & Christoph Schiele

Splinters — Full-length clown / physical theatre production · Outdoor & Indoor
Director: Anatoli Akerman
Performers: Anatoli Akerman & Christoph Schiele

Awards

2025 — Gold Medal
Festival International du Cirque de Massy, France

2024 — Gold Medal
International Festival des Artistes de Cirque, Saint-Paul-lès-Dax, France

1990 — First Prize
International Mime Festival, Jaffa