The top five things we wish we had known when we started clowning

Hey everyone. Today we thought that we would tell you the about the top 5 things that we

wish that we knew when we started clowning 5 and 6 years ago.  

1. How much time everything takes.

When your clowning there is a lot of time that needs to be put in. You are constantly writing

or finding new material. Later on you then often have to tweak it so that it works out

perfectly. If you are not finding or writing material then you are practicing for a performance

or getting ready the day of it. We spend 15+ hours getting ready before the day of the

performance. Then we spend 3-5 hours on the day of the performance getting everything

together and making sure that everything will go smoothly. Some performances and topics

take more time researching which is not included in that 15 hours. We have seen many

clowns drop out of clowning because of the time commitment. We wish that we had known

how much time clowning takes ahead of time.

2. How rewarding clowning is.

With all of the difficulties we’ve mentioned you may wonder why we bother, or even why you

should. That with that in mind I, Cupcake, have a short (true) story to tell you: I first started

clowning mainly because our original clowning director asked me if I wanted to, I said “Sure”

because I knew that would keep him happy, and he wouldn’t have to ask me the next year.

No real dedication, although I loved my fellow clowns and working with the kids, and even

acting I just didn’t really see the draw… Until after a performance or two. I discovered that

such incredible joy laid in teaching the kids about Jesus in such a unique way, as well as

making people laugh. Now I can’t imagine NOT clowning, it’s such a rewarding experience,

and you get as much if not more out of the experience then you put in. Trust us here,

hearing from a parent about how the kids couldn’t stop talking about your performance is

priceless, and if you think about it, they are talking about and focusing on God, and the

lessons you just taught. I honestly believe that God blesses our ministry, and works through

it, and us when we’re performing, and nothing is more worth it then that. If I had known this

ahead of time I would have jumped in head on, but beware, not necessarily everyone will

experience this, but if you’ve been called to it, Dizzy and I think you will find plenty of reward

in this work.

3. How much work you have to put in.

So when you begin clowning the main effort you have to put in is making your costume and

character, which is quite a bit, and when you finally finish filling out your character you may

think that you can rest right? Nope, it can get even more crazy depending on what all you

are planning on doing. Obviously we run a blog, do performances, and occasionally run

photoshoots, while training in Storm, we are a bit crazy admittedly but we love it! Typically if

you are running performances, you have to plan, and prep before most anything else, then

you need scripts, and we would recommend that you either write them yourself or tailor

them to your characters, not to mention practices and actual day of the performance work.

We love the work, but it’s quite a bit and it would have been nice to know about it ahead of

time.     

4. How you are able to communicate.

Some of us are natural teacher, and some of us are not, but clowns aren't teachers. Clowns

are able to teach in a way that is nothing like a teacher. Clowns are fun, entertaining, funny,

and often very silly. This means that the way they teach is a way that gets a different idea

into their head that might not have been there before. By making fun of a topic kids realize

that they know that is wrong and want to fix it, and in turn they remember that topic better. A

great benefit that comes with clowning is that you are able to communicate with kids in a

way that a traditional Sunday school teacher could.

5. How much stuff you need.

You might think that needing a lot of clown stuff is a bad thing and it can be, but it can also

help you have fun. You indeed do need a lot of stuff to clown. You need a costume, along

with make-up, and props. Even though at first this may be some work to find just what you

are looking for, the extra things that you add can add to your personality and help you have

a lot of. One of these things is my, Dizzy’s, pinwheels. They are not necessary but they help

Dizzy’s character. You also start to accumulate things and props for your clown. One of the

newest toys that the clowns got was a unicycle. We wish that we knew how much stuff we

needed and how much fun we could have with our stuff.  

Like this.

(Just kidding!)

Ok, so we may have played a little trick on you, but there are so many incredible and tricky

things about clowning that we had to add one extra special secret bonus point, so here it is.

6. How your co-clown relationships can grow.

So this is going to sound crazy, but it’s true. Dizzy and I Cupcake didn’t used to be friends!

Although we’ve known each other for nearly forever, having met when we were barely older

than toddlers. We just didn’t really get along super well, but when we started clowning

together, we were working together, and got to build the great friendship we now have, and

we had great relationships with all of the other clown we worked with too, working with

someone in general can help form a distant friendship as many people know. Clowning can

be even more dramatic though, when you’re clowning, it’s hard to stay tense, or distant, and

if you share a passion for it with the others you work with, then you will all share a special

bond over it, you can talk about it and laugh over what sounds like nonsense to others, and

even the oddest most polar opposites can find ways to work together, and maybe even form

a friendship. I don’t believe that either of us could have predicted this happening, but maybe

if we’d known ahead of time we could have looked forward to it, or even helped it along, it’s

easier to work with someone you feel comfortable with, so maybe we could have spent

more time trying feeling comfortable with our group when we started, (although that was not

much of a problem for us.).  

Something Silly Clowns

(Cupcake and Dizzy)

Two clowns trying to spread God's love to everyone.

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