“Zander is a master at identifying the essential weirdness of the human experience. She takes things we as a society don’t like to talk about, or only talk about in whispers – in this case, things like placentas, breast pumps, and the fact that new motherhood isn’t all flowers and unicorns – and amplifies them to the most outrageous extreme you can imagine. She’s a clown, so it’s funny, but it also has the effect of making you feel not alone in your own essential weirdness. We’re all weird. Weird is actually quite normal.”

—BroadwayWorld

Jess Bohinik Photography

“Zander is a master of physical comedy... at the same time as she's completely ridiculous, [she] is also completely vulnerable.”

—BroadwayWorld

"...Zander has eyes that pierce and the ability to register an overwhelming number of emotions at once..."

— Exuent Magazine

"Anne Zander... brilliantly portrayed the struggle between levity and darkness... particularly powerfully done, and very moving."

— Backstage Pass

"… Zander is manic, but brings a fantastic energy to the stage in everything she does."

— View from the Gods

  

Anne Zander is a “completely ridiculous… completely vulnerable” actor, clown, solo-character creator and physical comedy teacher with an MA in devised, physical theater (Theatre Lab) from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. She studied clowning there and beyond with her Gaulier-trained teacher, Peta Lily. Her “painfully funny” debut solo show — JUICEBOX — took Portland by storm in 2019 and was Official Selection 2020 at Chicago Sketchfest, Dallas Comedy Festival and HBO’s Women in Comedy Festival (Boston). Pandemic credits include multiple guest spots on Ron Lynch’s IG Live, comedy-variety Tomorrow! Show (LA), and her absurd, digital solo show, Prolific, which debuted at Fertile Ground 2021. She performs regularly at comedy venues across Portland and is also the mother to 1-year old twins, who made multiple stage appearances in utero but have yet to bring their own clown antics to the greater public.