Any Number of Gigs
When I did gigs for entertainment agencies, I would use a variety of different clowns and costumes. I liked to partner with a musician who would create a rhythm for the work.
In this issue: These agency clowns were my working clowns. Their experiences with the public helped Pierrot grow more confident. Failure is highly underrated. It’s our best teacher. In his book ‘Clowns’ 1976, John Towsen lays a groundwork for understanding the practice of clowning in many societies. At Mrs. Lipton’s, Hans built the booths on the radiators and moved away soon afterward. The waitress married one of the customers. Time changes everything.
Special Event Clowning: Scrambled Eggs and Tomatoes
James Meagher and I got asked to do a week of shows for McDonald’s. They had something called “Kid’s Week” and we were to travel from restaurant to restaurant doing music, mime, storytelling shows all day. Both of us love to perform, so five shows a day times seven days had great appeal. The only trouble was, McDonald’s didn’t have movable chairs, so we would have to find a wide enough space to perform. Sometimes the aisle was so narrow that we had to stand one behind the other. In one restaurant the aisle was on the way to the washrooms, so we had to keep stepping to the side as people came and went.
On the way out the managers would often give us free food, so we’d be eating in the car on the way to the next gig. One time James kept saying “Red light. Red light!” I didn’t understand until all the cars started coming at me as I entered the intersection. Luckily, I braked in time. “That’s it Scram,” he said. “You’re not driving anymore!” He moved into the driver’s seat and I felt much safer.
When I was thinking of a name, I thought, well I feel scrambled a lot when I’m a clown – so that’s what I’ll call myself. Eggs just seemed to go with it. James decided to be called Tomatoes because, he used to say, “I don’t want to be toast.”
One time we did a Christmas show at a mall and James talked about the one guest that didn’t look forward to Christmas – the turkey. I played the turkey.
Birthday Party Clowns - Dotty and Dalvin
Dalvin and Dotty were a musical storytelling duo. As Dotty, I wore black and white polka dots and could talk. We had a story by Mercer Mayer that we told and acted out with the kids called “The Queen who Loved to Dance”. This is a story about a mean old king who wouldn’t let anybody dance and throws them into prison. Finally, he reforms and everybody dances. Well, I didn’t know that certain religions today aren’t allowed to dance. Dalvin and Dotty were being as entertaining and funny as possible but the story was bombing. Clearly, the parents were not pleased with us and gave us the cold shoulder as we left. After the gig, a friend explained that these people were religious and weren’t allowed to dance.
Dotty and Dalvin were at another birthday party in the basement of a big home. The boys were about five years old. The adults were sitting there drinking and started making lewd jokes. Dalvin, clown that he is, didn’t get the joke. The Dad said cynically, “Yes we know, it’s a kid’s party”. At one point the Mom said to the birthday boy, “You’d better behave because there’s a length of rope in the garage with your name on it!
Dotty and Dalvin played at Christmas parties, rewriting Christmas songs and miming actions to them. The funniest one was “When Santa comes Round the Mountain”. We did a show at a Credit Union and they invited us back the next year. We were rushing between shows but the clock on their tower said that we had 15 minutes to rest in the car. When we finally went in the people had all been sitting there waiting for the show. The clock on the tower was slow. Santa was on the way and we had to rush the show. Once she was laughing, the colour returned to the organizer’s face.
Popcorn Philosophy
The roles of trickster, clown, fool, manifest themselves in different times, in different ways, but their forms are similar. John Towsen writes:
The clown was not invented by a single individual, nor is he exclusively a product of Western civilization. Instead, he has been perpetually rediscovered by society because – as fool, jester, and trickster – he meets compelling human needs. Historically, the figure of the clown encompasses far more than the obvious funny costume and painted face; it represents a vision of the world that both intellectual and so-called primitive cultures have valued highly, a sense of the comic meaningful to children and adults alike, and a dynamic form of acting based on startling technique and inspired improvisation. (1976, 5)
When I clown, I feel like I step into that role, which then shapes me. I have experienced a similar sense when donning an old leather commedia mask. It was as if I stepped into the mask, through a portal in time, and the mask shaped me.
Peacock Performance: Remembering Mrs. Lipton’s
Hans, a musician as well as a carpenter, a regular, built the booths on top of the radiators. The booths were raised about two feet from the floor and encased the windows. It was an original design by Karen’s partner, Shankar, and it was exciting to see them completed. April 1st was Hans’ birthday and Karen had baked an apricot torte to celebrate after closing. April 1st was a record-breaking hot day. The air conditioning hadn’t been on for the season and of course it didn’t work. It was so hot that Karen had to turn off the grill and just make sandwiches. She sent the torte home with Mrs. B to put in her freezer. By the end of the day Karen was so overheated and exhausted that there was no celebration. The staff never did get to taste that apricot torte, but Mrs. B did.
There was even a Mrs. Lipton’s romance. One of the regulars, a taxi driver, who was saving up to go to Law School, came in several times a day for his meals and his breaks. The first waitress to work full-time with Karen was young and single. One Halloween, this young man gave her a ride to pick up something for the store. Karen waited, and waited, the young woman was two hours coming back. By the way she laughed and blushed at the teasing when the would-be lawyer brought her back, the staff knew those two were an item. Believe it or not, he did become a lawyer and they were married and had children. In fact, they are still married today!
Small businesses like the Wolseley Elm, Prairie Sky General Store, Humbolt’s Legacy, Sled Dog Music, Tony’s Tomboy and Barchette’s have all contributed over the years to the unique flavour of Wolseley. In Wolseley, Mrs. Lipton’s and Harvest Collective were raising consciousness about food and promoting local, organic and after Mrs. Lipton’s had closed, Tall Grass Prairie Bakery opened. But that’s another story..
Odds & Ends - My Take on Clowning
I wrote about my work creating a drama program at Manitoba Developmental Center (MDC) in Canadian Theatre Review (vol 183). Although I wasn’t teaching people to be clowns, I used important elements from my clowning practice:
In the world of clown performance, such failures are known as ‘the flop’; the intention of working with ‘the flop’ is to practise our ability to accept, play with, and share our limitations and failures. By playing ‘the flop’ every week, I was making room with the participants and staff to laugh at our human shortfalls. I came to realize that accidents were commonplace for the participants, and now everyone had permission to make light of them. If someone spilled their coffee, the group would yell “Accident!” and laugh. Eric, an older man with a great voice, shared a story about how he had fallen in the toilet; we heard about how George’s bed broke. It was all cause for more laughter and group acceptance. This idea of giving light to our imperfections, shortcomings, and less-than-fortunate circumstances is important in clown practice.
I didn’t know what I was doing, so failing came naturally. If my attempts to engage the participants ended up in laughter, things were going well.
References
Proctor, Sue. “Clowning But Not: A Clown’s Approach to Drama for People with Physical and Intellectual Disabilities”. Canadian Theatre Review vol 183, Summer 2020. Stephenson, Jenn Ed. University of Toronto press incorporated (30-33).
Proctor, Sue. The Archetypal Role of the Clown as a Catalyst for Individual and Societal Transformation. https://spectrum.library.concordia.ca/id/eprint/977096/
Towsen, John. Clowns. Canada: Prentice Hall of Canada Limited, 1976.