Philip D. Noble is an Episcopalian minister and evangelist from Scotland who has been involved in the visual arts for many years as a clown, storyteller and workshop leader. Originally trained in pure science and theology, he has developed play and performance skills that are suitable for audiences of all ages, using paper, string and a selection of simple objects.

Philip has conducted workshops and given performances throughout the United Kingdom for over fifteen years. He has also traveled widely in his role as evangelist-storyteller-clown, visiting the United States, Holland, Sweden, Switzerland, France, Portugal, Zambia, South Africa and Japan. He has performed in a variety of settings, from schools, churches and libraries, to theatres, prisons and outdoor festivals. He spent three years in Papua, New Guinea in the early ‘70s. There, he learned how to make a large variety of string figures from the local people.

He has written books on string figures and has contributed to several other books on origami, string figures and clown ministry, including The Clown Ministry Handbook and Everything New and Who’s Who in Clown Ministry.

Though Philip continues to give formal performances, he really sees himself as an “itinerant gladness scatterer,” constantly ready to share the wonder of God’s creativity. His goals are twofold: to awaken the sense of wonder in simple things through his performances, and to encourage all to playfully develop their creative gifts to the glory of God through his workshops.