Home » Visual & Performing Arts » Clowns » The Wise Speak

The Wise Speak

© Sheri Bell-Rehwoldt

A Clown Has a Revelation

"An adult looks down on a clown and sees a person in makeup. A child looks at a clown and sees something else entirely-a caricature, a cartoon, an invincible creation doing what that child always wanted to do: being silly and not being reprimanded, being reckless and not being injured, being naughty and not being punished. Not surprisingly, the child is right. The makeup, so central to the adults, is not an end unto itself; it's a means of escape. It's a two-way mirror: allowing you to see what's deep inside of me, and allowing me to reflect what's deep inside of you. I was not myself in the ring. I was you. I was everybody. I was a clown."

Bruce Feiler, from his book Under the Big Top: A Season With the Circus

---

Just What the Doctor Ordered

"The arrival of a good clown exercises more beneficial influence upon the health of a town than 20 asses laden with drugs."

Dr. Thomas Sydenham, a 17th-century physican, as quoted in Pam Grout's Living Big: Embrace Your Passion and Leap Into an Extraordinary Life

---

An Important Lesson

"Beginners fear, as they should, that the audience might not laugh. The easy out is to try to avoid the possibility of failure by turning to gifts, balloons, face paint, stickers, or magical amazement. All of these are great things when used along with clowning, but too often they are desparate diversions to keep the audience from noticing that you are not actually clowning, that you are not funny."

David Bartlett, from his book The Clown Star: Five Points to Guide You Toward Continual Progress

Be a clown!

Sincerely, Contributing Editor Sheri Bell-Rehwoldt ("Piper" the Clown)

*Check back at least monthly for new articles*

Visit my writing site: http://www.Rehwoldt.com