More than that darned old economy, I'm in competition with Shell, Exxon and Chevron.
When gas prices go up, my prices come down. I understand, people end up with a hundred less in their checking accounts at the end of the month. That's less discretionary money for things like going out to dinner, movies and of course clowns.
I figure I'm the bell weather of the state of the economy. When people feel good, they hire me, when they are worried about money, I don't get hired. The one common all of us have, rich or poor, we complain about the price of gas.
I've given up on complaining, I've even given up on looking around for cheap gas it goes up and down so fast. I'm now one of those people that just says "whatever". But I notice. I can't help it. We all have to drive, sorry hippies but how do we get groceries? How do you get a clown to come to your house? The one line in the sand for me...Not going to take a bus to my shows!
Pray for electric cars and natural gas powered cars because I need the money!
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Friday, February 10, 2012
"Getting Kids To Laugh Harder"
"Getting Kids To Laugh Harder"
As a clown, there is a certain expectation that you're funny.
I would say this is the biggest problem when I watch newer or not very good clowns. Fundamentally, clowns are not cute or acrobatic or great jugglers, clowns are just funny.
And of course clowns are cute, acrobatic, whatever. But realize a child sees you and automatically laughs. If you start off with that assumption, laughs get bigger and bigger because you can mess with that assumption.
I see clowns walk in, casually, like they're party goers and get permission to start. My question is why? You're a clown, the person hiring you will find you. Go, nuts. I think it's confusing to a child when they see a clown discussing with another adult.
Your character is very specific as a clown. You should know how you walk, talk. Are you forgetful? Or know everything?
You can make kids laugh like crazy if you get mad at an inanimate object. You can get children to laugh like crazy by repeating something that made them laugh earlier, simply do it again. Sometimes things happen by accident, if you get a laugh do it again.
I'm mostly free to answer questions. If you've got a spot in your show that is not killing, send me a note, I'll try and help. Even if you're not a clown but work with children, I can give you tricks to get kids attention.
As a clown, there is a certain expectation that you're funny.
I would say this is the biggest problem when I watch newer or not very good clowns. Fundamentally, clowns are not cute or acrobatic or great jugglers, clowns are just funny.
And of course clowns are cute, acrobatic, whatever. But realize a child sees you and automatically laughs. If you start off with that assumption, laughs get bigger and bigger because you can mess with that assumption.
I see clowns walk in, casually, like they're party goers and get permission to start. My question is why? You're a clown, the person hiring you will find you. Go, nuts. I think it's confusing to a child when they see a clown discussing with another adult.
Your character is very specific as a clown. You should know how you walk, talk. Are you forgetful? Or know everything?
You can make kids laugh like crazy if you get mad at an inanimate object. You can get children to laugh like crazy by repeating something that made them laugh earlier, simply do it again. Sometimes things happen by accident, if you get a laugh do it again.
I'm mostly free to answer questions. If you've got a spot in your show that is not killing, send me a note, I'll try and help. Even if you're not a clown but work with children, I can give you tricks to get kids attention.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
"150 posts and still going...and going and going..."
I got a nice note this morning from a young lady that told me my blog was awesome.
Which is much appreciated; because I forgot why I'm doing a blog at all.
My original idea was, a blog would be a good place to get a bit of a following while I work on a book for children's entertainers. A book to get children's entertainers to think about children and their relationship to performing.
In the meantime, I've talked about people dying, being tired, what it's like to put on a show. What it's like to put on a show and no one shows up. How to write jokes, how to tell jokes, how to market yourself, mistakes of marketing, thoughts on being an artist, thoughts on Aikido, thoughts on my children, thoughts on being married.
I have plenty to say and a world of people to read my insane ramblings about my life as a professional clown.
If you're out there in the darkness of cyber space, thanks for reading. Thanks for following and of course thanks for calling me awesome. (I'm a very very needy person)
Which is much appreciated; because I forgot why I'm doing a blog at all.
My original idea was, a blog would be a good place to get a bit of a following while I work on a book for children's entertainers. A book to get children's entertainers to think about children and their relationship to performing.
In the meantime, I've talked about people dying, being tired, what it's like to put on a show. What it's like to put on a show and no one shows up. How to write jokes, how to tell jokes, how to market yourself, mistakes of marketing, thoughts on being an artist, thoughts on Aikido, thoughts on my children, thoughts on being married.
I have plenty to say and a world of people to read my insane ramblings about my life as a professional clown.
If you're out there in the darkness of cyber space, thanks for reading. Thanks for following and of course thanks for calling me awesome. (I'm a very very needy person)
Monday, February 6, 2012
Doing Things Different From Everyone Else
I was listening to an interview with Phillip Glass the other day. He's a crazy amazing composer, I was fascinated with him years ago when I was in college.
He got me thinking about being an artist.
Phillip Glass essentially became a composer when he discovered, you have to know the rules intimately, to break them. He was talking about music, he had been studying for years, when he had an ah ha moment. Why do you know it's Beethoven compared to Mozart in a few bars. It got me really thinking. AC/DC has a sound, you know right away, the Beatles, Rolling Stones etc etc etc. Yet, they all follow the rules of music. This starts applying to all art forms. Dance has rules, the dancer that stands out, follows the rules but makes them their own. A painter, uses paints and brushes, a canvas but you can tell a Picasso from a Rembrandt in a fraction of a second.
Kid's know my personality from far away, they know me as distinct 20 seconds after I leave my car.
This was a really interesting topic for me when I heard the interview. How do you become an artist? How do you stand out?
Artists spend years learning the rules. You have to learn the rules so you can break them. Breaking the rules, you still work within the rules, you've simply bent them pushed them to the near breaking point.
So many people focus on the skills. Making a good balloon animal is really important. The fun comes when you can do the balloon animal in your sleep and you find routines with that balloon. When the balloon animal attacks you, when the balloon snaps you in the nose, when you accidentally step on it and you cry. The balloon is just a balloon, the rest is clowning.
Go back to the most basic, take a look. How do you walk in character? That walk tells everything. How do you stand when posing for a picture? There are very simple rules to walking and standing, now bend the rules. Walk with your feet pointed out, bounce when you walk, stand at an angle, stand with your arms behind your head like you're in bed.
This is what I mean by rules. This is how you create a very unique clown character.
He got me thinking about being an artist.
Phillip Glass essentially became a composer when he discovered, you have to know the rules intimately, to break them. He was talking about music, he had been studying for years, when he had an ah ha moment. Why do you know it's Beethoven compared to Mozart in a few bars. It got me really thinking. AC/DC has a sound, you know right away, the Beatles, Rolling Stones etc etc etc. Yet, they all follow the rules of music. This starts applying to all art forms. Dance has rules, the dancer that stands out, follows the rules but makes them their own. A painter, uses paints and brushes, a canvas but you can tell a Picasso from a Rembrandt in a fraction of a second.
Kid's know my personality from far away, they know me as distinct 20 seconds after I leave my car.
This was a really interesting topic for me when I heard the interview. How do you become an artist? How do you stand out?
Artists spend years learning the rules. You have to learn the rules so you can break them. Breaking the rules, you still work within the rules, you've simply bent them pushed them to the near breaking point.
So many people focus on the skills. Making a good balloon animal is really important. The fun comes when you can do the balloon animal in your sleep and you find routines with that balloon. When the balloon animal attacks you, when the balloon snaps you in the nose, when you accidentally step on it and you cry. The balloon is just a balloon, the rest is clowning.
Go back to the most basic, take a look. How do you walk in character? That walk tells everything. How do you stand when posing for a picture? There are very simple rules to walking and standing, now bend the rules. Walk with your feet pointed out, bounce when you walk, stand at an angle, stand with your arms behind your head like you're in bed.
This is what I mean by rules. This is how you create a very unique clown character.
Friday, February 3, 2012
"Staying Just Ahead of the Curve"
This is why I'm tired this week.
I've been putting together a small video on DVD for a group of 150 children's librarians.
Children's librarians from around Northern California come together once a year and hold a showcase to look at acts. Libraries hire a lot of entertainment over a year's time. Children's entertainment in libraries is big business. I mean when you mulitiply it all together. Show by show, they pay about the same as all my shows.
But, I'm a huge fan of libraries. I focus a lot of love and energy on them. I love that libraries have changed with the times. Libraries have become a community center of information, they are heavily used. I hardly walk into a library where 3 people aren't waiting to check things out and there are 3 or 4 people at each table. They obviously know what they're doing.
I only get to show off every 4 years on this showcase. There are enough acts coming in they have to rotate. There are plenty of acts that are just there because it's a market. I'm not real fond of that. I spend a lot of time analyzing my character and performance, I have chosen to focus on children's entertainment. It's not a market to me, it's just what's so. Some actors only do stage, others do movies.
I feel like the old man of comedy...get off my lawn!
Over the years, promotional material gets better and better. There was a time, a color business card was really impressive. I used to hand out brochures and people would say "oh this is too expensive, just give me a business card" And yes, they were expensive but I want to reflect this is my job, I want to present myself as a professional.
Then people started making videos. Then DVDs, youtube etc. etc.
I thought about it last year and decided, I'm going to make a DVD for these folks.
And of course, I put it off and put it off and put it off.
When I started on Monday, I couldn't find video clips I was sure I had. My computer is making all my pictures blurry for some reason. I edit in a professional program called Final Cut. Now it's unhappy. You get the point.
The video I made is of me, just being funny in front of the camera then cutting into clips. My first shot was terrible, the light was bad. The next shot was good but if I had started 3 weeks ago, I would shoot it again but it's funny.
The good part of this, it's really good to be forced to look at yourself. I generally pick on myself, I'm never happy with a show, I think of things I could have done better. I was forced to sift through, nearly 300 very nice quotes of appreciation. I used the quotes from librarians and I came up with about 10 pages of quotes. I was surprised and a bit overwhelmed.
I was forced to look at my performance and I said, I'm very loveable. I hadn't seen myself like that.
But here's the realization. To get better, you have to work and do the hard choices. I have spent a lot of unpleasant hours in front of a camera being not good. I got good like an athlete practices. I chose to give away a DVD because people follow the herd, I will be one of the few that has one. I'm about 99% sure I will be the only one that specifically made a DVD just for these 150 folks.
That's staying ahead of the curve.
This is in no way about my ego. My ego is a bit shot this week. I just was thinking, I'm creative, I love video production, in the end this project will cost maybe $50 but looks like a million. Staying ahead of the curve means pushing through doubts, fears and not following the pack.
I've been putting together a small video on DVD for a group of 150 children's librarians.
Children's librarians from around Northern California come together once a year and hold a showcase to look at acts. Libraries hire a lot of entertainment over a year's time. Children's entertainment in libraries is big business. I mean when you mulitiply it all together. Show by show, they pay about the same as all my shows.
But, I'm a huge fan of libraries. I focus a lot of love and energy on them. I love that libraries have changed with the times. Libraries have become a community center of information, they are heavily used. I hardly walk into a library where 3 people aren't waiting to check things out and there are 3 or 4 people at each table. They obviously know what they're doing.
I only get to show off every 4 years on this showcase. There are enough acts coming in they have to rotate. There are plenty of acts that are just there because it's a market. I'm not real fond of that. I spend a lot of time analyzing my character and performance, I have chosen to focus on children's entertainment. It's not a market to me, it's just what's so. Some actors only do stage, others do movies.
I feel like the old man of comedy...get off my lawn!
Over the years, promotional material gets better and better. There was a time, a color business card was really impressive. I used to hand out brochures and people would say "oh this is too expensive, just give me a business card" And yes, they were expensive but I want to reflect this is my job, I want to present myself as a professional.
Then people started making videos. Then DVDs, youtube etc. etc.
I thought about it last year and decided, I'm going to make a DVD for these folks.
And of course, I put it off and put it off and put it off.
When I started on Monday, I couldn't find video clips I was sure I had. My computer is making all my pictures blurry for some reason. I edit in a professional program called Final Cut. Now it's unhappy. You get the point.
The video I made is of me, just being funny in front of the camera then cutting into clips. My first shot was terrible, the light was bad. The next shot was good but if I had started 3 weeks ago, I would shoot it again but it's funny.
The good part of this, it's really good to be forced to look at yourself. I generally pick on myself, I'm never happy with a show, I think of things I could have done better. I was forced to sift through, nearly 300 very nice quotes of appreciation. I used the quotes from librarians and I came up with about 10 pages of quotes. I was surprised and a bit overwhelmed.
I was forced to look at my performance and I said, I'm very loveable. I hadn't seen myself like that.
But here's the realization. To get better, you have to work and do the hard choices. I have spent a lot of unpleasant hours in front of a camera being not good. I got good like an athlete practices. I chose to give away a DVD because people follow the herd, I will be one of the few that has one. I'm about 99% sure I will be the only one that specifically made a DVD just for these 150 folks.
That's staying ahead of the curve.
This is in no way about my ego. My ego is a bit shot this week. I just was thinking, I'm creative, I love video production, in the end this project will cost maybe $50 but looks like a million. Staying ahead of the curve means pushing through doubts, fears and not following the pack.
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