I just returned home from a walk about for a family night movie in the park.

It went really well! I was very pleased with everything and the people were really nice and the place is clean. There were about 300 people there, maybe more. Not sure, I was too busy to count them.

Young children weren't shy or afraid of me (I'm very concerned about that when I'm in clown) and even the parents joined in when I brought out peacock feathers to balance on our hands and noses.

Then when everyone was getting settled for the movie, I sat in the grass and kids came up to me and I drew their cartoon portraits with crayons. (My contact information is on the bottom of the papers by the way.) The kids loved them. It was a lot of fun for me to do too.

So here's the question:

There are two more movie nights scheduled (one in July / one in August). I'm sure that the same people will be there, but then there will be new ones there too.

SHOULD I GO AS ARTSY FOR CONTINUITY FOR BRANDING STRATEGIES and just do different things with them or SHOULD I RETURN AS ANOTHER CHARACTER? What do YOU do when you have multiple walk abouts scheduled for the same venue?

Is this the right place to try out new characters? Or should I remain as Artsy to build up a following for parties in the community?

I am working on two other characters that I'd like to try out, and I have a chicken costume that I'd love to bring my tape player and do the chicken dance in a huge group including the parents.

I can't do everything, but I want to!

I want to try out my hobo character but I'm not sure how families are gonna react to a street bum/ homeless looking person in the park. My hobo character makes artistic stuff out of old newspapers.

I want to try out my girlie character--Cupcake the Clown (what can Cupcake do with a walkabout that has to do with cupcakes but not handing out cupcakes?)

Lots of questions...
Help?

i would stick with artsy to build a following then you can try your other characters with famaily and friends and then when someone asks for a clown you can say well i have x amount of characters which would you prefer. just my opinion and i am open to others i havn't thought abut makeing other characters myself due to the fact i still don't have a voice for scoop that i can maintain

You could try the other characters and see how people react. Maybe in the park sometime. You should probably not go as someone else if you've agreed to show up as Artsy. Just a thought. I've never been any clown other than Zippy Zoo. Kinda like you, though, I have other characters wanting to come out. Can I join you when you go out in your chicken suit (lol, I live in PA)? sounds like lots of fun!

In my opinion, I think you should go as Artsy again, for couple of reasons ... the kids will know you and the more you go out as Artsy, the better that name will be known around town. When they are ready to hire a clown, the name Artsy will come to mind because they've seen you a few places and they've seen your work.

I'm kind of with the guys above. If this is a new community for you it may be best to remain in same character. People will be more likely to remember you if your character remains more stable but provides new and different type activities. That will show your versatility and then you can tell them you have other characters when they call to book a future show. I know it is more fun to try out new characters and I feel for you what you think you may want to do. Ask in your heart where your priorities are - do you want to bill your name or could you live with not getting another gig in this community? (worse case scenario) Not that changing characters would do that. but may make it more confusing for future clients as to who to call. Maybe you could just slightly modify your Artsy character by adding a new hat or other costume piece to make it fresh and fun for you. You could still do some of the same activities. I don't see why Arsty couldn't do the newspaper art creations. I would stick with the cartoon drawings as that is a super good idea for billing your face painting talent also it is what makes you unique.

I just thought she could "test the waters" a little with her other characters. Just show up in public somewhere just to see what people think, how they react. Then show up at her official events as Artsy. It would also be a chance to try out those new characters and see of SHE likes them or if she never wants to do them again.

I agree with the others, that you should stay as Artsy. That way, any kids who saw you this time and enjoyed it, will come running up to see you because they already have a bond with you, and it will also be publicity for Artsy for any new families there.

All the kids will be begging their mums for Artsy at their next birthday!

I think a hobo in a park could be a bit worrying for families, unless you were very obviously a clown, and not just a bum with a red nose!

Id love to see the chicken dance though :-D It sounds great!

Okay, so hubby wins on this one. That's what he said too, but I wanted some clowny opinions from experienced people who have been out there in the trenches.

Well, I've been Artsy for more than 25 years, and if it hadn't have been for this forum, I would have never thought of exploring new characters. I'm really excited to try them out, and since the park and rec coordinator said that I can do anything I want, oh boy, did my mind go wild with ideas! LOL!

My hobo character kinds looks like Artsy and you can tell obviously that I am not a real bum but a hobo character, dressed in black and white with one red flower in the lapel (I wear fabric pants that's printed to look like newspaper so it kinda goes with the whole newspaper creations thing I wanna do.) I'll try this out at the park on my own another time. Cupcake is for fancy birthday parties, so she's staying in the garment bag until requested.

For this gig, I will remain as Artsy and do other activities. I'd love to incorporate stuff I can do AS a group including parents instead of them watching me do something. ANY SUGGESTIONS?

The other day, I ended up playing around with my kids and it turned into something which Im thinking I might use when I start clowning. We were pretending we were all in an invisible circus. We were riding invisible unicycles, walking invisible tightropes, swallowing invisible swords, juggling invisible but highly dangerous flaming torches. My kids absolutely loved it and got really into it.

That DOES sound like fun! I'll have to try that sometime!

Along the lines of music that the parents can join in there is always "The Mexican Hat Dance and The Bunny Hop". There is a song by Greg and Steve called "The Freeze". I have yet to see a kid who doesn't love it. Heck, I love it. I went searching for it and found something else which is cute and would work to. Here is the you tube link it says circus clown in the song. Not sure who sings it but maybe you could find it for sale if you Google or Amazon.

YouTube - Count to Ten Freeze Dance! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQ1vQXfO0tw)

I'm exhausted just thinking about all that jumping up and down. Count to TWO for me and I'll be happy "freezing." ha ha

Here is one website that you can preview music on. Then you can decide if you want to purchase it. I lost my bookmarks. Sorry it took me some time to find it. Songs for Teaching: Educational Children's Music Downloads/CDs (http://www.songsforteaching.com/)
Hope it can help some of you party clowns.

I was just gonna add, don't worry to much about repeating some of the same activities, esp. the drawings. Some kids even if they have one from last week will want to get a new one from Artsy.. it is very unique and something I bet that they show others and kids that are new will have heard about it, and will want one.

hmmm...good question.... JJ's my first, primary, and favorite character... the people in my hometown know me/JJ so well, that when I brought Muffy out, some still called her JJ (oops!), even though JJ doesn't speak and Muffy doesn't shut up... so, there's risk of competition one way, and risk of character merging the other...

Perhaps build your reputation on Artsy, let her show up for most things, and occasionally break out your other characters with the line 'Artsy couldn't be here, she sent me' - maybe 'Artsy's in Tahiti, but I'm so glad you got to meet me!' or something similarly fun, so the characters are connected and you've still got the big market footprint. The idea of 'Artsy and Friends' came to mind, but, only one of you can show up at a time...

sounds like you need to join a clown alley or club in your area.

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Then when everyone was getting settled for the movie, I sat in the grass and kids came up to me and I drew their cartoon portraits with crayons. (My contact information is on the bottom of the papers by the way.) The kids loved them. It was a lot of fun for me to do too.
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This is a great idea to help with marketing and branding is your picture and what you offer there too or just contact information