Learning as a Clown

[noname]

A while back I had a show to do, what I considered my first real show. It was outdoors but would be considered a stage show. When all was said and done, I sat down and wrote out what I learned. Even though I have clowned a lot more since this point, it always helps to go back and see where you were and how you can still improve.

Also, Chance Marmalade's recently resurrected post inspired me to think again about clowning in general and to look back at my musings. Hopefully, they can help someone just starting out. I know they still help me BTW, it was a post to another forum, which is why the grammar is structured the way it is.
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Oh ok, I can tell you what I learned from this, because I think I learned a lot.

I learned that if you are going to use music, make sure it is keyed up right, (one time I let my cousin use the remote which she kept leaning on and the other time I had forgotten to turn the shuffle off of my iPod)

I learned that you can never assume, when you have two shows, that some of the same people will not return. So, I guess, in essence, I unintentionally broke one of the cardinal rules of magic: repeating the same trick twice.

I learned that children and adults really love the visual effects. The Magic Coloring Book amazed many, and I could hear the "wows" and the gasps in the audience, however, the killer was the vanishing Ketchup bottle (I heard the entire audience collectively gasp when they saw me crumble it up into a ball...it was so unexpected that it caught them by surprise)

I also learned that the simple tricks were the most effective. For example, in the second show I did a color changing hanky, easy to do, yet, when those kids saw it change from yellow and green to red and blue some were in shock.

I also learned that the easiest juggling routine can seem difficult to the average person. When I broke out those devil sticks, people were shocked. It was funny because I heard a kid telling another kid, as I was doing the tricks: oh, you see that is easy to do, (so then I did something a little more advanced) he said that is a little bit harder (then I tossed it up in the air doing the helicopter spin, then caught it before it hit the ground) I then heard the kid say to the other kid, OK, now that is hard. The people went crazy. Truth be told, it is one of the simplest moves to do with the devil sticks.

I also learned that when people see things they have seen on TV or seen elsewhere, but never seen it live, it has a very strong impact. Case in point, for the second show I broke out my spinning plate. All I had to do was take it out of the box and the crowd was going crazy, they even went crazier when I spun the plate, then threw the plate up, flipped the stick in my hand, and caught it with the bottom of the stick, then to toss the plate up once more and catch it on my finger. I remember when I first learned to do that, I thought it was the hardes thing, turns out, it is a very easy form of manipulation.

I did learn, as I have read and heard time and time again, it is important to have a strong opener and a strong closer. I think I had a relatively strong opener with the whole trying to get the chest open, but the first show I had no closer and it really impacted the audience and what they were looking for. I was so glad I purchased a dove pan a while back, because that thing saved me. Had I not had something that strong, it definitely would have been my demise. It also did not hurt that I tossed the tootsie rolls in the audience.

I also learned that even though you think you have everything worked out, anything can go wrong. I had routined and practiced this show for weeks, and yet when it was go time I fell flat. I think the reason my second show was better than the first was because I had things that I was comfortable with (I used to get paid to do devil sticks in front of toy stores) and it forced me to think on my feet.

Thinking it through now though, I think what I learned, out of everything, was that, at least for me, it was boring going through an entire routine, well rehearsed and well thought out, because it bored me and did not challenge me. I think the second show was better because it caused me to think on my feet and to find a way of making a boring first show much more interesting the second time. I am beginning to think, given that I have now done about 6 clown gigs, that the best clown shows are those that are entirely different.

My very first clown show I walked into a classroom with a circle of children staring at me. I had no idea what I was going to do, so I winged it. I made a funny juggling routine up as I went along, I used the Magic Coloring Book to impress them and then the D'Lites to make believe I was having a fight with a dragon (they were red D'Lites).

Don't get me wrong, I am not saying it was stupid to have a routine, because I needed an idea of where I was going in order to sync the music, but I think sticking too close to a script, especially for a clown, can be the death of a clown.

Before I had to do this show, I emailed two clown friends of mine to tell them I was getting a little nervous and worried. They both gave me the same advice, go out there, have fun and don't forget to play. I think the first show was so poor because I forgot to play, I was so worried about making sure everything worked that I forgot who I was, a clown. My job is not to be perfect, but to be an ass, and if something does not work right, to use that for a routine rather than a failure.

I said in another post that I think part of the reason the second show went better was because I allowed myself to play and to be foolish, and to be a clown. When I walked around, all I had with me was a squeaker in my mouth. I would shake the kid's hands, then look at my hand, they would look at theirs trying to figure out where the squeak was coming from. I would then squeeze my nose, have them step on my shoes, stupid random stuff, but I was having fun, I was playing. I stopped taking myself and my performance so seriously and just had fun. If a clown is not having fun he is going to be a boring clown. I realize that now.

My clown friend kept giving me that same advice and I was not hearing her, but now I know what she meant.

I think, at least for a clown, it is important to practice the skill part, the magic, the juggling, the puppetry, etc. as well as the clown skills, but I think it is important to not use any of them as a crutch but to use them as props, a means to have fun and to entertain. I was the entertainment, and I think I forgot that, so caught up in being a performer in a show, worrying about the details and forgetting everything else. Granted, it is bound to happen, because you want to leave a good impression, but if you don't allow yourself the ability to play then whatever first impression you made will change by the end of the show.

So, after all that, what did I learn? I learned that in order to be a clown I have to forget fear and nervousness and allow my inner child to come out and play. If I mess up, make an ass of myself, that's fine, a clown is not perfect and not meant to be, a perfect clown is no clown at all.