Thanksgiving is upon us! Wow, this year went fast. I really believe that the older you get the faster the time goes by. Florabelle is aging right along with me, but I’m determined to keep her going as long as possible! What’s a few more wrinkles to cover up?
We only had one event in October and some of you came to the “Trunk and Treat” at the Club on Oct. 18. It was very successful, with lots of young families and adorable children. Many of the parents came in costume and some had family themes, which was clever. Unfortunately, we were so busy twisting balloons that I never took any photos, except the one here and that was at the very end. People are always taking photos of us, but unfortunately we never see them—so—if anyone reading this has any good shots of any of the clowns, especially with kids, I would greatly appreciate your e-mailing them to me at [email protected]. I never got to see the haunted house, but many kids told me it was very scary. The Club staff did a great job!
As the holiday is fast approaching, many very well-known clowns devote themselves to Santa and Mrs. Clown gigs. In some ways I regret that I never considered branching out to include these two character figures in our repertoire. I don’t believe I have ever written about the category of “Character Clowns” in my articles so here’s a little background information. When choosing to become a clown, the individual must decide what type of clown they want to be. The main categories are: whiteface (face entirely in white, traditionally a more serious clown), august (skin tones for base and more exaggerated features making the look more humorous), tramp clown (lots of black and a sad, forlorn look), and character clowns ( depicting a particular individual, i.e. – Mother Goose, a baker, a superhero, etc.). When I first got into clowning in 1975 and attended a wonderful convention in Seaside Heights, N.J. called “Clown Fest,” I was amazed at the beautiful costumes in general, but especially the character clowns. The women had multiple crinolines under very full skirts and everything matched including a parasol. The men were fully in serious costumes, and I remember one cowboy whose hat must have been 3 feet wide! I don’t remember any Christmas Clowns at that time, but this has changed over the years! It would have required purchasing costumes for whoever was interested in becoming Santa or Mrs. Claus, but I know it is something we could have done training-wise. If we were able to offer this service, “Clowns on Call” would be very busy during November and December. Oh well—It’s a little late but if anyone out there would like to consider this, please contact me.
We have two gigs in December that we will be looking forward to. Dec. 13 we always entertain at the Coconut Creek Woman’s Club annual “Brunch With Santa.” This is a wonderful group of women who raise money for scholarships locally, and they organize a great party. On Dec. 27 at 10 a.m., we will be performing our “Wiggles and Giggles” show at the Country Club, and the community is invited. We are going to include some of the kids who were at summer camp and performed in their own show, so it should be really cute! More info next month.
That’s it for now! Thanks for reading and don’t forget to wave if you see us on campus!
