Have clowns changed in the last decade? Not a bit. They are still idiots, every last one of them. Oh grow up! Take off the wig. What’s with the big hammer? Clowns don’t change.
I just worked with about 30 clowns at a festival in China and I realized something. We all look and work the same as we did 10 years ago. Nobody wants to change. I’m not changing. Those quick-change acts, they have to change, that’s their act, even though they’re all the same. But I’m a clown. No need to change.
Okay, one thing has changed. I used to be in my forties and now I’m not. And do you know what afternoon delight is? It’s a good nap before dinner. Sure we follow trends, but only in comfortable footwear. Like a few years ago everybody wanted to be funny. But that was too hard. So we decided to be scary clowns. But that was too easy. So visual became the norm. But Slava took it too far. Then everyone was Russian for about three years. I felt so cold being a Russian clown, but it gave me the confidence to do anything on stage as long as it had drama and a wind machine. Absurdist clowning was the best. All you had to do was wear a long coat and wait for someone. But the French Canadian thing has been around a decade too long. I had to change my name to Jean Guy Marcel just to get a corporate gig. Thank God that’s over. And I really hated wearing that spandex hooded costume and working to Edith Piaf music while being lifted up and down on a wench.
Bello’s not going to change. He won’t be trying any new hairstyles. No way. And Grandma is still a Grandma, you won’t see her playing an Uncle. Uncle the Clown, he’s so lovable and funny. That’s not gonna work. The famous clowns don’t change. They work hard to stay the same. If they change no one will hire them. A famous clown? Hmm. That’s kind of like a famous plumber, except the clown doesn’t get a truck with his name on it.
If you’re a dentist and they discover a new way to pull a tooth, well you have to pull a tooth the new way. If you’re a clown and they discover a new way to pull a tooth, who cares, because no matter how you pull it, “you got the wrong tooth!” Can’t change that. Are you kidding? Change? All us clowns sit around watching old kinescopes of Sid Ceasar and Jackie Gleason because it’s the same. Clowns don’t change. And as I grow older it becomes even more clear to me that the oldest clown is really the youngest child and who would ever want to change that. To capture the joy of discovery in every breath is the fountain of youth as far as I’m concerned. I’m not changing. I do miss the spandex though.
(article first published in Spectacle Magazine)
Theres alot to be said about clown and change I have lost jobs because I wouldnt change. And sometimes it has been hard to get work because of it. But I would have it no other way. I have spent 35 years? building a craft and character that finally has started to reflect the real me. This is what the masters always said you try to acheive through clowning.I too was in China with the same group and couldnt have had a better time. Dick and I had time to reflect back on our CC days. It opened my eyes about where I came from in this bussiness and where I hope to go. Although my style is a little bit dated, they say history repeats itself. My day will come again until then I will continue knowing that experience and longevety is the key to success in this thing we call clowning.
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