April 24, 1999 - SAYUS Walk
April 1999 - Giggles & Grins Clown Alley Meeting
April 1999 - Ohio High School Thespian Conference
Wow, my first opportunity at actually teaching this clowning stuff! It was great! My friend I. B. Sassy was asked to go teach a clown class, and she invited me to help her out. The kids and teachers there seemed to enjoy themselves, and I know I had a lot of fun. Hopefully we'll get to go back next year and do another class.
March 1999 - Giggles & Grinss Clown Alley Meeting
This month's theme was Make-Up. And we also threw in the Alley Birthday Party, even though the alley's birthday is in February. (What's up with that, anyway?) We had a few "Expert" clowns on hand to critique the make-up of anyone who wanted an opinion. Sadly, we didn't have very many clowns show up at all. And only a handful of those that did show up were in make-up. But I was able to get some great pointers for make-up and costuming from a couple of people. And I think my friends at my day job enjoyed that Alley birthday cake, since very few of the clowns ate any.
February 1999 - Giggles & Grins Clown Alley Meeting
Well, this month I remembered the sign-in book! Our theme for the meeting was Costume & Wig Comparison, Care and Critiquing. We got to see differen't types of costumes, including some that were professionally made by Pricilla Mooseburger. We also got to see the evolution of the costumes from some of the alley members who have been clowning for quite a while. They shared their very first costumes, the outfits they wear today, and a whole bunch from times in between! It was very interesting. We didn't have quite as many clowns show up this month as we had in January, but we still felt successful.
January 1999 - Giggles & Grins Clown Alley Meeting
Our first alley meeting with the new officers and our new format! I think it went over rather well. Of course, my first order of business as scribbler was to forget the sign-in book! Oh well, things can only improve from here, right? :)
Our theme for the January meeting was balloons. We had three different levels of balloon making going on. It was very educational and a lot of fun. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. We had a VERY large turn-out, too. Lots of new members from the last Klown Kollege graduating class, and some from the class that just started! This is looking like a very promising year for Giggles & Grins!
December 19, 1998 - Dayton Vineyard Christian Fellowship Christmas Party
This was an educational experience for me! I got to make balloon sculptures that were bigger than me! It was great! I was able to help make a huge balloon snowman (he was so tall I couldn't get his hat on even when standing on a ladder!)
December 10, 1998 - Christmas party at the Linden Center
Well, I have to say it was the wettest night of my clown carreer! I attempted to do Busy Bee with Mickey. You'd think I would know by now not to do that skit with him, but somehow I never learn... Anyway, despite the fact that my only request of him was that he not get me very wet, he ended up spraying the water directly in my face. It was even dripping off my nose and out of my hair! So I vowed to get him back. I offered to give Boof a dollar if she got him really wet in Rocket Man. Well, wouldn't you know, while Boof was pumping up the extinguisher back stage, she sprayed me! That right there killed her chances at getting a dollar from me! But all in all, it was a fun show. Maybe nexxt year they'll actually get the kids to be quiet enough that they'll be able to hear us!
December 6, 1998 - Downtown Fairborn's Annual Pre-Christmas Kazoo Parade and Clown Show!
Okay, I'll be honest. It started off as a BAD day. Everything that could go wrong went TERRIBLY wrong. But luckily for me, clowns are an exceptional group, and a couple of them were kind enough to tell me that the world wasn't going to stop just because a few things weren't going as I would have liked. So I calmed down, waved goodbye to my perfectionist nature and had a little fun. And that, of course, made the whole day better. I got to lead the Kazoo parade, and let me tell you, a clown can only walk backwards while kazooing christmas carols into a megaphone for so long before she is tuckered out! My limit was four blocks.
The show was wonderful. Every audience member I talked to said it was VERY funny. Of course, all of the clowns were cracking up at rehearsal, so I was pretty sure it would be a hit. Besides, who couldn't laugh at Mickey, Skippy, and Corky on stage together, even if they weren't saying anything! The combination of those three great clowns is definitely a winner!
November 24, 1998 - Giggles & Grins Clown Alley Meeting
Uh-oh, it was election night! If you've ever been a member of Giggles & Grins, you know what that means - run before you get drafted! Well, luckily this year we didn't have to draft anybody. Instead, we had three of our four officers win by default because nobody wanted to run against them. Our officers for 1999 are:
Skippy.
Second Banana: Jingles.
Bean Counter: Rainbo.
Scribbler: Polly Wogg.
That's right, I am an elected official now! Scary, isn't it? Luckily they didn't actually have to elect me. I was the only one running. So next year they can all say "It's not MY fault! I didn't vote for her!"
I'm so excited to actually have an office! The new officers have already met, and amazingly enough, we all have the same goals for the future of the alley. This next year should be fun and exciting! I can't wait until January! Aside from the feeling of responsibility that comes from my new position, I'm excited for the next meeting because no matter how late I get there, I'll still have a chair at the table reserved for me! YAY!
November 16, 1998 - Clown Class for Dayton Vineyard's Christmas Party
This was a great class. Not only did I get to meet some people who aspired to be clowns and some people who already were clowns, I got to share my vast knowledge! (Um, whatever!)
Okay, so I don't have a vast knowledge. But I did get to share what I know, and I learned some things, too. I also got to plug the Alley and Mickey's Clown Class. (Speaking of which, if you're interested in signing up, the next session starts on Jan 28, 1999. Email me for more details!)
I also got to make somebody up as an Auguste clown. It was a great experience! I'd never really made anybody up on my own before. Sure, I'd helped other people put make-up on after they told me what they basically wanted, and I've made kids up who said "I want to look like you," but I've never actually made anybody up in a way that I thought would look good for them. And you know what? It was great fun AND it ended up looking pretty good, after a few helpful hints from other clowns.
October 27, 1998 - Giggles & Grins Clown Alley Meeting
Wow! It was Talent Night! And we all got our pictures taken, too! It was great to see all of the clowns as clowns! We had a photographer come in and take individual photos and a group shot. The only bad part was that more of the old members weren't there. It would be great to see all of the members who don't come around very much.
The talent part was great, too. The skit done by SnapTrap was one I'd never seen before, and it would've been great if I'd seen it at every show I'd ever been to! The fact that it was something new just made it all the better! Other clowns did skits, too, and they were all very good. I wish we had talent night more often than once a year, and I wish we invited the public to come and see it!
September 19, 1998 - Some Company's Picnic (I forget the name of the company)
Okay, this was an experience. It reminded me of many of the basic principles of clowning that I have learned. And it inspired me to add a Tips & Suggestions page. As for the picnic, I'll just say it wasn't the best day of my clowny life.
August 25, 1998 - Giggles & Grins Clown Alley Meeting
This month's meeting was great. The business part of the meeting was taken care of quickly and effeciently, and after that, we got to play with make-up. Lulabelle made up a new member as a whiteface, SnapTrap made Iggy up as a Hobo, and SparkleLee made herself up as an Auguste, while Freckles, who wanted a clown make-over, watched, learned, and applied some of the techniques to herself. I learned the joys of Apple White, a great clown make-up that gives a very white color without feeling too thick. Even though I was perfectly happy with my own clown face, I did really enjoy the educational time.
August 15 - Dayton Vineyard Christian Fellowship's Children's Church Picnic
This was the first time I'd ever done a picnic for my church. It was a lot of fun. We played games and tossed Water Balloons and told a few jokes. I think the kids' favorite part was when I tossed a water balloon and caught it wrong and it popped all over my skirt. Up until then they had been begging to throw water balloons at me, but I hadn't let them because I didn't want to get wet. So when I got myself wet, they thought it was hilarious. It was very hot outside, so I didn't stay long, but for the time I was there, it was a lot of fun.
July 28 1998 - Annual Giggles & Grins Picnic
This year's picnic was another success! The food was wonderful, the games were great, and the clowns were... well, clowny! Of course, being the clown that I am, I didn't start making my dessert until an hour before the picnic, so I arrived a little late because it wasn't done cooking on time. Then I had to go back home because I left my oven on when I left. Other than that, though, the picnic was spectacular, and I guess I really can't hold the picnic planners responsible for my irresponsibility.
This year we played fun games including Assassin, in which Sparkle Lee was a murderer, and if she winked at you, you had to die. I always knew there was something spooky about her. Luckily, she wasn't good enough to kill me! My amazing ability to think on my feet (most of the other clowns have to sit down when they think) kept me alive just long enough for Scooter to accuse me of being the murderer!
We also played fun games like a water balloon toss, a combination of Dizzy Bat and an Egg-on-a-Spoon race. It was very interesting to have one person running all over the place because they were so dizzy while someone else is balancing an egg on a spoon. We also played "Hit Skippy with the Water Balloon." That was great fun, until he decided it was all MY idea (which it wasn't. I just made sure everyone had heard about it when someone else came up with the idea.) and he started coming after ME with glasses of ice water. I'm so picked on. So overall, the picnic was a whole lot of fun!
July 4, 1998 - Fairborn Fourth of July Parade
The parade was a blast! This year the Giggles & Grins Clown Alley actually didn't have to walk! Golly, not only did we not have to walk, we had more vehicles than we knew what to do with! First came the Land Shark, a big, nicely decorated car (sorry, I'm not a car buff who can tell you what kind it was!) that was driven and ridden in and on loan from and surrounded by the Hicks family, who were all at least partially dressed up. Then we had Mickey's pickup truck pulling a flatbed truck! We had clowns in the back of the pickup (those were mainly the younger clowns and their guardians), and on the flatbed we had a Clown Band! Some of the other clowns rode on the flatbed with the band, and still more clowns walked around the trucks. And of course, you can't forget that Corky and Edith (The Fire Safety Clowns) were riding with the Firemen. There were clowns EVERYWHERE!
The best part about that, to me, was the number of NEW clowns we had. Only eight of the clowns from the parade were actually members of the alley. Everyone else was either a first-time clown or a just not a member of our alley. Hopefully some of these people enjoyed the parade enough that they will want to join our already-pretty-darn-big-alley and we'll get to have even more clowns! (I think if we try hard enough, we can take over Dayton. It's only a matter of time.)
July 3, 1998 - Downtown Fairborn's Family Block Party
The Fairborn Block Party went pretty well, though I didn't stay all that long. Unfortunately for us, the Actor's Theater had a play going on that night, so we had to do our show outside. Which wouldn't have been a problem if there hadn't been a band playing at the other end of the block. And it also would've been nice if we'd had more than 30 minutes to do our show. But that was basically our fault because our show was just longer than it needed to be. Only half of the skits we had prepared actually got to be done. But the ones we did went off pretty well. And all in all it was a good time. At least, while I was there it was fun. I didn't hang around too long because the City of Dayton decided to have their Fourth of July fireworks on the THIRD of July, so I had to run out as soon as our show was over to help my church with their part in those festivities. Hopefully next year I'll be able to stay longer at the Fairborn festival.
May 15-17, 1998 - ClownTown
Clowntown is a one-weekend-a-year clown convention held in Newark, Ohio. I've gone for two years in a row now, and it's definitely one of the most fun things I've ever done! More classes and clowns together in one weekend than I ever imaginied was possible! If you've never been before, I highly recommend that you sign up for next year! (And get your hotel room early - they're in short supply!)
This year, I got personal costuming advice from Pricilla Mooseburger herself! And I bought a wonderful new pair of shoes, and I learned a lot about how to prevent heat strokes. (It was EXTREMELY hot that weekend - we didn't even get to walk the parade because of the heat!) I also got a new nose, an airbrushed T-shirt, professional photographs... okay, lets just say I spent WAY too much money! But shopping's not all there is to do! There are classes (I learned some good storytelling techniques, among other things) and shows (Pricilla and Waldo Mooseburger's magic was hilarious!) and even a Christian Service on Sunday! I thought it was the ultimate weekend, and I was completely satisfied. And I'd like to take this little space on the web to thank the Clowncil profusely. Their hard work and dedication are definitely worth it!
April 24-26, 1998 - The Antioch Shrine Circus
The circus was awesome! I spent 26 hours there and I did six shows. I can't even begin to do it justice if I describe it. But I'll try anyway!
Being in the circus is a dream come true. From the lions and tigers to the elephants and from the trapeze artists to the Ringmaster, EVERYTHING at the circus is extraordinary. I can't imagine actually getting to travel with the circus and be with them full time, but I know I would absolutely LOVE it! I'm already excited about next year's circus, I enjoy it so much!
This year, we got to go outside and greet the audience members while they waited in line, then do a skit before the circus started, then go out for the grand opening, then be extras in the Shrine Clown's skit! WOW!! It was SO amazing! And of course, SnapTrap, a member of Giggles & Grins Clown Alley and our link to the Shrine Clowns, was honored in the opening of each performance because he is the Shrine Clown of the Year! Wow! It doesn't get much better than that, spending a weekend in the circus and getting to work with the Shrine Clown of the Year!! That whole weekend was just such a wonderful thing for me! I can't wait till next April!