Newbie

[Lotty-Dotty]

Hi,
I recently went to a clown camp and now am hooked on clowning. However, now that I am back home I have not been able to find a clown alley to join and I am too nervous to go out on my own. Any suggestions of how to build up some confidence and just get out there.

I took the basics in balloons, and applied my own make-up only twice, so I think I definitely need more training.

I'll look forward to joining a message group and discussing clown capers.
Any alleys in the Baltimore area looking for a "rookie" clown to mentor?

Best wishes

[Fitzwilly]

Welcome to the Forum Lotty, we are glad you found us. We can be your "virtual" mentors. Working together we all get better and better. We have a few members in Mass. and Virginia so I bet one of them might have some ideas of finding other clowns in your area. A would also recommend going to Clowns of America International and looking along the left hand side for the button marked "find-a-clown" then you can select Maryland. It doesn't have phone numbers or email but you should be able to do a Google search on their names and "clown." Take you time and read through the threads and posts here at the Forum and when your brain gets full just find a comfy spot and sit down and enjoy the friendship.

[Wowza]

Welcome Lotty-Dotty!

I'm glad you found us! I know that the Forum has been a great help to me, and I'm confident we can extend the same help to you. Ask questions!

As far as being new, you really just have to go for it. You will continue to tweak your face until you are absolutely happy with it, so I wouldn't be concerned with it. As long as you know how long it takes to apply the makeup, so that you are on time for gigs, you should be golden. For first gigs, I would recommend a fair or festival event. If you could just do walk-around type stuff, it's much less intimidating for you. Most people at the fairs we've attended were happy just to take pictures with us. When we whipped out our washable stamp pads and did Thumb-Art (check out Klutz press for information on Thumb-Art), they were amazed.

Above all, have fun.

Welcome again.

[Ty-Me]

Welcome aboard Lotty-Dotty!

[Lotty-Dotty]

Many thanks for the support and kind words.

Lotty-Dotty

[Scruffy]

Welcome, Lottie!
Wowza is right. the only way to get your feet wet in clowning is to jump in, big shoes first!
My suggestion is ask lots of questions! We are always glad to help you in any way that we can. If fact, if you want a personal critique of your costume, and or makeup, Send photos via Pm to either Fitzwilly, or myself. We are glad to work privately with you to help you get where you want to be. As a first event, make arrangements with a preschool to go and help. Serve the snack, read a story, or just go out on the playground and lead games. Jump in and have fun!
Cheers,
Scruffy

[Pickles]

Welcome, Lottie! I know you will love it here as much as I do!

[Fifi D. Clown]

Hey Lotty-Dotty!
That comes out like a song. Welcome.
There is lots and lots of helpful advice here and we all understand how scary that first gig is! Just practice what you plan on doing a lot so you feel comfortable with it and jump in with both feet. Go with flow if things don't go exactly like you think they are supposed to (they never do!) Most importantly play and HAVE FUN.

[Harpoetta]

Welcome to the Forum, Lotty-Dotty!

[Sir Toony Van Dukes]

Welcome to the Clown Forum!

What clown camp did you attend?

I know that the Washington DC area has Just Clowning Around in Northern Virginia, and I have seen information for Kapitol Klowns in Maryland. I don't know if either would be convenient.

I don't know how you would feel, but you could look in the phone book for clowns and contact them to see if they belong to any clown alleys.