  |
|
|
|
I simply adore the musings of commentator Dave Barry.
But I was saddened by the column he wrote titled "Hit Them With Your Best Shot," which appeared in my local paper on Sunday, October 26.
While most of the column focuses on the impossible task of enticing a pinata to spill its goodies, Dave takes the time to describe the clown. It's not a ringing endorsement for those in the industry. He begins by describing her as "an older clown who had been clowning professionally for 20 years, which is a long time -- maybe too long -- to be spending every weekend wearing comical pants and a scratchy wig." "'Grumpy the Clown' is how I thought of her," he adds. "Her technique for creating a magical mood for the children was to periodically bark things like, 'Be careful on those chairs! You'll fall over backward and crack your head.'" Ouch! I bet you don't want to be associated with a clown like that, right? Let's be fair; maybe Dave is slightly prejudiced against clowns. Heck, if I had to endure midget birthday parties every single weekend I might feel a bit jaded myself. Perhaps that's why the clown was grumpy. She'd agreed to one birthday party too many. Or, worse, maybe she'd long ago forgotten that her mission is to be entertaining. Dave's comments segue nicely into a new book I want to share with you. It's titled "The Clown Star: Five Points to Guide You Toward Continual Progress." Written by clown veteran David Bartlett, the heart-felt text may just become the new bible for the industry. The book is jam-packed with David's personal philosophies on how clowns can reach their full potential. I love the fact that David stresses that there are no shortcuts to competence; if we want to become stellar clowns, it's going to take a lot of work, practice, and risk. And so, David feels that education from the right sources is key. "Many people enter clowning by placing themselves in the hands of unimaginative clown instructors," he writes. "They are mostly taught makeup and costume, balloons, magic, and historical trivia. They are taught very little about how to clown. The result is that clowning is inundated with ballooners in costume, face-painters in costume, magicians in costume, and very nice people in costume handing out stickers." Go To Page: 1 2
The copyright of the article Thanks, Dave.... in Clowns is owned by Sheri Bell-Rehwoldt. Permission to republish Thanks, Dave.... in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
|
|
|
|
