Performance during a solo party?

[Toodle C. Doodle]

I have lots of questions about how to tie everything together at a one-clown birthday party.

• When someone hires you for a party, do they mainly want a performance from you or just a clown face painter/balloon twister on the side?

• Do you charge differently for one or the other?

Here is my big one.

• When I perform an act, how do I tie juggling and humor and magic and balloon twisting and skits into a satisfactory, flowing performance? Is there some kind of universal plan I can shape my act around?

• When hired for one hour, how much of that time are you actually doing your performance?

• How do you conclude your act?

Sorry for all of the questions. A big thanks for any help.

[Fitzwilly]

A lot of your answers depends on your character and how well developed he is, and your various skills.

When the average parent calls me for a party they have no real idea of what they want. They know "they want a clown that is funny."

From the parties I have done so far I have learned that the better you become with your character the longer your show can be; that is because instead of just doing tricks your are entertining. That being said for a typical party for a 5 to 8 year old with 15 to 20 kids expected I know that if each child is going to get a balloon (and a few repairs) I need to allow about 30 minutes for balloons, that means my show should last about half an hour also. So I start with the show, during the show I see about how many kids actually showed up, in case I will need to shave a couple of minutes from my show. And after the show I bring out my balloons. That is a basic party. You can substitue face painting for the balloons or the show. I charge the same for FP or balloons or a show plus. It depends on the time. If I am going out of clown I take that into consideration.

When I perform an act, how do I tie juggling and humor and magic and balloon twisting and skits into a satisfactory, flowing performance? Is there some kind of universal plan I can shape my act around?

That is indeed the big question. I actually have an hour to a 90 minute lecture on this very topic. I dont have the time right now but I will post a few pointers. If I get side tracked please send me a PM reminder.

[Sir Toony Van Dukes]

Toodle, I haven't done any parties yet, but I think I can try to help with some of your questions.

When someone hires you for a party, do they mainly want a performance from you or just a clown face painter/balloon twister on the side?

That would be a good question to ask the parent. They may not know the answer, but they may say that their daughter really liked the clown at Sarah's party because he made eveyone balloons. Ask questions. Find out how many kids will be at the party and the age range.

When I perform an act, how do I tie juggling and humor and magic and balloon twisting and skits into a satisfactory, flowing performance? Is there some kind of universal plan I can shape my act around?

I attended my first clown alley meeting last night and we talked about storytelling. This will take some time to become a good storyteller. See if you can develop a central theme that can be used to tie everything together. For instance, you could create a show that centers around dogs. You can do some magic tricks related to dogs, twist balloons into various dog shapes, paint the kids faces to look like their favorite type of dog. If it is little girls, it could be Cinderella and the slipper as the central theme.

I hope this helps a little.

[noname]

Toodle,

I find the best way to have segways and for it all to tie in is to have an overarching theme, something to fall back on if you get lost. For example, I have done a pirate theme, a Halloween theme, etc. I find it helps to have something just that general because it gives you a basic outline from which to work, but does not prohibit you from doing the things you want to do.

Just to give you an idea, when I did the Halloween theme, I "turned on" a street lamp with the D-Lites (and an accomplice) and I "picked" an apple, well three apples, off a tree, did a little routine, where you eat one of the apples during a part in the song, then wiped it all off with a hanky, which, I happened to notice I had three of in my pocket, and so did some scarf juggling.

General enough to have a basic outline, but free enough to have my own segways...if that makes sense.

Hope that helps.