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Some years ago I was a clown. As in, I made balloon animals, I did small magic shows, face painting, games, etc for your kid's birthday parties. In the truest form I was a balloon twister, but some people would ask me to come dressed as a clown, so eventually that was a side part of my standard job. I only ever did the whiteface paint ONCE. In Arizona it's hard, unless you have the super high grade professional makeup (the poo poo that the circus clowns from Barnum and Bailey, not a local carnival) would use, because the poo poo melts off, or clumps and runs, and you look like a half-rotting clown. Since I was never going for the Pennywise look, I opted instead for lighter makeup, which consisted of painting my eyebrows green or blue, a heart or star painted on my nose, and similar bright shapes on my cheeks. This was years before Twilight, so sometimes I'd glitter everything up and use a flower motif. I don't do birthday parties as a clown anymore; the money was amazing (some clowns could charge $100 an hour. I always went maybe $30-40 because I wasn't, in my mind, a full pro, as I'd never gone to the clown college, which is, or was, a real thing), it was always fun when the kids saw me do magic or make balloons, but when the economy tanked, most people stopped wanting to throw money around like mad. I still have most of my supplies, and for my friends' kids' parties, I bring balloons and keep the bastards entertained for a bit while the adults set up the cake or whatever, but otherwise it's a past job. I never dressed as a Pennywise or a scary clown. Never met a mime. I did work with some Barnum and Bailey clowns once for a grocery store opening, and I felt like the little kid mimicking his dad shaving, with a toothbrush and foam, when I saw her facepaint. The lady was amazing, and she could do a very detailed leafy sea dragon over a squirming four year old's face in the time it takes most people to open a soda. I did several group functions but mostly worked solo.
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Sep 17, 2017 02:09
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| # ? May 2, 2024 12:21 |
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So is this industry dead? Of course there are some clowns out there still, but I haven't even seen mention of a circus for 20 years, or a single private clown at a party for about as long.
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Sep 17, 2017 04:01
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Canine Blues Arooo posted:So is this industry dead? Barnum and Bailey closed down this year, and was on the decline for years prior. I don't see many clowns doing the poo poo I used to, but I also never see balloon twisters either. People simply don't have the money for cheap things that won't last long. I do see a lot of Hispanic carnivals around areas of Phoenix with some ads featuring clowns (I learned a lot of Spanish working in some areas, and if a kid screamed Payaso, he meant me, the clown lady) but otherwise not much.
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Sep 17, 2017 04:57
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How strong is your inclination to commit crimes?
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Sep 18, 2017 04:44
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Did the 'evil clown' hysteria affect the industry? It got McDonald's to at least temporarily put the kibosh on Ronald McDonald, after all. Edit: Finally read the OP, realized there's no way you were clowning during that time. Never mind. BiggerJ fucked around with this message at 14:11 on Sep 18, 2017 |
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Sep 18, 2017 14:08
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Canine Blues Arooo posted:So is this industry dead? Cirque du Soleil is still kicking and definitely incorporates a lot of traditional clowns.
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Sep 18, 2017 17:09
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Did you ever try Ben Nye Final Seal makeup? It will let you do whiteface in sweaty weather. My clown friends use it.
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Sep 18, 2017 17:23
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Turtle Blogger posted:Did you ever try Ben Nye Final Seal makeup? It will let you do whiteface in sweaty weather. My clown friends use it. I used Ben Nye makeup but never saw Final Seal. People tend to not associate Cirque with clowns. Acrobats, yes, but they're more of a theater thing as opposed to a circus in the traditional sense. For crimes, sometimes I speed, does that count? The evil clown deal wouldn't have bothered me even if I had been clowning; I also had my balloon uniform, which was dress pants, white longsleeve shirt, and my rainbow apron. That with glitter and brightly dyed hair would have counted enough as a clown, but not enough to scare people.
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Sep 19, 2017 02:31
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Have you ever sang the aria from Pagliacci whilst putting on your costume?
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Sep 19, 2017 02:47
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Is there a reason you specialized in balloon twisting instead of something like magic? Is there a clown social hierarchy like magic>balloons>slapstick/pie-facing and clown cliques?
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Sep 19, 2017 19:45
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Blackchamber posted:Is there a reason you specialized in balloon twisting instead of something like magic? Is there a clown social hierarchy like magic>balloons>slapstick/pie-facing and clown cliques? I started as a balloon twister in high school, and did that for a few years before I picked up the clown part; I actually met a clown (she was not in costume) at one of my stops, and she hired me to work as her sidekick for some clown gigs. Most clowns specialize in one area: gymnastics stuff, balloon, face paint, etc, when they are big pros who work for an agency or circus. I tended to generalize my poo poo, because most people who hired me wanted a Jack of all trades rather than a master who would reproduce a Starry Night over a ten year old's face. That said there were limits. Doing magic for 7-8 year olds is a lot harder than 6 year olds, balloons are more interesting to older kids (and teaching them how to twist their own was always a good time killer), and facepaint was better for the younger ones who just wanted color splashed on their face rather than something intricate. I made all kinds of balloons. I made the first, at least shown in AZ, one-balloon Pikachu. Monkeys on motorcycles were very common, but I eventually was able to persuade kids to get flying dragons or other, easier poo poo. Swords, all the time (never pink ones, per management rules), and never ever any guns.
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Sep 21, 2017 14:27
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Cowslips Warren posted:Swords, all the time (never pink ones, per management rules) Why is this?
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Sep 21, 2017 20:33
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Khizan posted:Why is this? 
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Sep 21, 2017 23:07
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Precisely. I had a little leeway with black swords but those I usually made another colored handle, or swirled another color around for a laser sword. I did get a lot of kids who asked for guns, but this was when school shootings had just hit the media, so that was a huge No by everyone in the balloon community.
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Sep 22, 2017 02:19
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the term 'balloon community' is really funny
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Sep 22, 2017 03:18
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what's the most elaborate balloon creation you've ever done? heck, what's the most elaborate balloon creation you've ever seen?
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Sep 24, 2017 02:39
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Do you know how to juggle? Ride a unicycle? Did anyone with a clown fetish ever hit on you?
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Sep 24, 2017 02:50
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N. Senada posted:the term 'balloon community' is really funny Seeing as the OP was literally a clown, that makes sense
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Sep 24, 2017 04:00
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Tailored Sauce posted:clown fetish Is this real? I am too scared to google it.
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Sep 24, 2017 04:18
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someone awful. posted:what's the most elaborate balloon creation you've ever done? Years ago I did a large Poliwhirl at a birthday party. Took something like 10 balloons. Ever seen? Dresses. Like full on evening gowns. I have no idea how the models walked in them. No to juggling, unicycles, and clown fetish, not that I remember. I got hit on a lot when I worked at the pet store, and it was always by skeevy guys old enough to be my dad. As a clown, I dodged the bullet because I was always surrounded by kids, or I wasn't porn-clown enough?
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Sep 24, 2017 05:12
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Blackchamber posted:Is this real? I am too scared to google it. https://thefpl.us/episode/113
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Sep 24, 2017 06:58
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someone awful. posted:heck, what's the most elaborate balloon creation you've ever seen?
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Sep 25, 2017 15:35
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Did you do this independently or work for a service?
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Oct 1, 2017 03:21
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I.C. posted:Did you do this independently or work for a service? I did both. I learned balloon twisting in high school (a classmate taught me) and I ended up signing on with the company she worked for. And even though I suspected it was shady, it seemed good at the time. The company had contracts with lots of family restaurants (and remember this was in the early 2000's when money was mad and spent), like Macayos and Bobby McGee's, places where parents could be persuaded to throw out a few bucks for their kid to get a balloon. I worked for tips. And I had to pay the company a "service fee" for every night I worked. I wasn't paid for my gas or hours, so some nights I'd drive 30 miles one way, work for four hours, and make loving zero dollars because no one was tipping. We couldn't ask for tips either so lots of people thought the balloons were free. I got lucky, and one night I made a decent improv design for a table who happened to own a competing company. They offered me a job, and they didn't charge a fee to work for them. Still no hourly rate, but it was a lot better, and buttons that encouraged tipping were allowed, and they offered free training and classes. A much better place, and they did offer clown gigs as well, which did get hourly rates. Sadly summer was always slow for them, so the summer of 2004 or so I ended up having to leave, and soon after the business closed. Shortly before that though, I was mostly freelancing my clown gigs. And again, one night I made a balloon improv for a rather older lady, who gave me her business card; she was Cupcake the Clown, and wanted a backup/sidekick. She helped me pick out a general costume, and working with her it was always hourly wages. Very easy being an assistant clown, watching her do all the hard work, and eventually I ended up doing all of the balloons for her parties, and she did all the magic and facepainting. But the best gig we did was at a small buffet. I don't know how she got this setup, but we worked from about 5 to 8pm, every Wednesday. The manager paid us 10 bucks an hour each, and we got all the tips we could make (which wasn't much, but still) plus we each got 3 free buffet tickets. And a free meal that night. The only real rule was to only make small fast single balloons, no huge hats or animals that would block the way to the food. It was a pretty amazing place with the perks and pay. At one point I had something like 40 free buffet meal tickets. Not bad for a college student!
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Oct 1, 2017 03:45
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| # ? May 2, 2024 12:21 |
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I feel you on almost all of this. 1998, I started working for an entertainment company that primarily did school shows and would take over phys-ed for weeks at a time teaching circus skills instead of dodgeball. At this time, I refuted the term 'clown' for anything I did. It was all gentleman juggler stuff. Black pants and vest white shirt and solid color tie. Any announcing I did was in tails. I was primarily interested in doing commercial work, this company was connected and I got to do a lot of film and tv as a result of it. By 2000, I had a full one-man-show choreographed to music with audience participation, lots of juggling, trick rope, balance boards. I could never comfortably coast on a unicycle, so it was never added to my repertoire. However stage makeup started to become a thing. It started with foundation and powder. (the secret is all in the powder) Then some eyes so that my facial expressions could be read by a larger audience. The company I was working for charged $750 for the show, I was paid 10-99 for my work and received $300 for every gig. Balloon twisting started as part of the show in one act, but I cut it out really quickly and started charging $150/hour after the show for meet/greet/twist. This required a more elaborate costume, I would put on a band leaders jacket without all the extra piping, essentially an over-sized red tails, then a little rouge went on the nose and eyelids.... it was a downward spiral. I worked with a lot of clown-college grads that had worked with B&B, the whole company started moving into the 'clown-show' direction. I still preferred gentleman juggler and resisted as long as possible. That would change as soon as I found out that full face makeup paid $450, per gig and you would keep the money for every additional hour the event would pay for. So, I went for it. Paper mache noses, white top lip full eye makeup the lot. Still dressed in essentially a tux. This was kinda my golden year, I booked large events, did stand in shows for larger entertainment companies, comedy clubs and even some of the larger circuses. The company went through management training and downsized. Since I wasn't a 'real' Barnum clown they let me go (read- no funny voice or name). I have the 'announcer' voice. I threw up a website and some ads in the local papers with a phone number and the website. Put a price list on it and undervalued my time completely. I was charging $150 for a show and couldn't book myself at all. I figured that the people that were going to pay were willing to pay and put my price up to $275 for a show and $100 for each additional hour after the show. Apparently, when things cost more they are better and I started getting booked months in advance. I continued like this for years, even putting the prices up to $350 / $150 / hour respectively. I was working like this with my girl at the time, who I had met in the circus. She booked even more shows that I did. We could afford nice cars but bought matching bright yellow cars and covered them with advertising. They weren't bad cars, but when I used a friends Lexus SUV one time while my car was in the shop, getting paid became quite awkward. I was driving a nicer car than him and we usually got a massive tip as well as the price of the shows etc. This time, I was quizzed and haggled with. Recreating it wasn't hard either. Every single time I used a nice car, haggling ensued. It's bullshit. Back to the lovely yellow cars and no questions. 2010 was my burnout year. What a lot of people don't realize about the costume / entertainer gig scene is that you have to show up with your game face on. Kids are the single most perceptive group ever. If you are half-assing a show, they know it. Younger kids you can entertain for 30 solid minutes with a can of goop and some keys. Older kids require you to actually 'do' something. The proverbial straw though was a birthday party. Where the birthday boy was a spoiled piece of poo poo. Whining the whole time and just being a Prima Donna pain in my rear end. Working with kids for 12 years at this point, I get down to his eye level to have a 'chat' and 'see whats wrong'. This motherfucker turns around, swings back and hits me in the face with a pair of loving binoculars. Not small ones either, big serious ones. So, now I am bleeding from the bridge of my nose and eyebrow, in full loving clown make-up. Show's over. I walk over to the parents 'now its time you pay me and I leave'. I worked the booked gigs on my calendar and just started passing off the gigs that were coming in. I am not saying that it was the sole quitting factor, but it takes a special kind of person to work with kids, you have to love it. I never really did, the shows were great but being surrounded by spoiled hellspawn all day has never been fun for me. The last gig I did, was a stilt-walking gig. When I was done, I threw them in a dumpster and drove away. I had some great times. Highlights include. - Face-painting gig, where all I did was put a white smudge on everyone lip and tell them to 'sprinkle some crack on it'. 45 kids all being Tyrone at a health and drug awareness promotion event was pretty sweet. - Working with a real giraffe while on stilts - Getting a SAG card, for eating fake food and smiling - Dating contortionists / dancers - Getting take out by multi-millionaires that own very large well known companies, to strip clubs etc... all expenses paid. - Met a poo poo ton of celebrities, even hung out with a few, still have a few on facebook / phone numbers - Set my own schedule .... and the clown fetish thing, is a thing. Even just in a tux, with cake on its still a thing. I was grabbed at poked at and prodded by moms and aunties, older sisters regularly. Like I said, I worked with my girl most of the time. But I would be lying, if I said that nothing ever happened.
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Oct 7, 2017 02:41
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