A PacoGuide to Clowning
About a week ago, I received a call from a lady I knew who told me that she heard of my unicycling and juggling abilities. She was helping to organize a town fair (the Western Oregon Expo), and she wanted to use my services as a clown. I was just itching to try this, so I heartily agreed.
I'd only done one clowning show before, and that had been years earlier. It was now time to create a clown character who would be me. This was done in stages, and I'm still working on getting everything together. Here's a step by step guide to what I did (and what I'm doing) to prepare for my first clowning show that's coming up in three weeks.
Contents:
1. Research
2. Type of Clown
3. Face Painting
4. Your Name
5. Building a Costume
My Appearances
1. Research
Before you start anything, it's important to have some clue what you are doing. I'd actually been reading up on the internet about clowning for a couple of months, so I already had some idea of what I was doing. I'd suggest doing some research somewhere other than this page before trying to start your own clowning business. Personally, I couldn't find very many good instructional clowning pages for beginners. Most of them were either about specific clowns or trying to sell something (like clowning equipment). The one thing I did learn was about a book called, "Creative Clowning." From what I've read on the net, it is one of the best overall clowning books on the market. It tells you all the backstage stuff about clowning, from developing a character to finding work. I can't say anything about it personally, but I just ordered it from a local bookstore, so hopefully I'll receive it before I do my performance.
A note on Creative Clowning:
Well, it is now December 30th. I finally got the book. The bookstore took longer than expected, and I had to leave for school. When they finally received the book, my mom gave it to me for Christmas, and I'll be using it next year at school. But it definitely is worth the wait. It has chapters on EVERYTHING! I'm very well pleased at the book and now that I have it, I still recommend it to everyone.
2. Type of Clown
This is an important first step. Before you can do anything else, you need to decide on what kind of clown you want to be. There are three types, and I'll explain the differences the best that I can with my limited experience.
- Character Clown- A character clown is a clown that imitates some type of person who by themselves, would not be considered a clown. The most common character clown is called, "The Tramp." This type of clown paints his face in a way to resemble a scruffy appearance, dresses in old clothes with patches all over, and acts like a hobo. Of course, this is all done in a comical way, as to not appear too realistic. A character clown is still, above all else, a clown!
- Whiteface- A Whiteface clown is just that- A clown with a white face. This type of clown will have an all white face, except for around the lips and maybe around the eyes. In comparison to a character clown, a whiteface is simply a clown. They wear brightly colored clothes and do clownlike things. I'm not sure what else to say about them, since I really don't know much about the difference between a whiteface and the next type.
- Auguste- This is the type of clown that I've chosen to be. Once more, their character is a clown, but this time, not with a purely white face. An Auguste clown wears a base color which is similar to the original skin color, and wears brightly colored makeup to accent and exaggerate the mouth and eyes. Usually, the mouth will be red with a white border, and white around the eyes with maybe black eyebrows painted higher than the original ones. This type often wears a brightly colored suit.
I chose to be an Auguste Clown because I didn't feel like wearing white paint all over my face. I also plan on being a very active clown, including juggling, unicycles, cartwheels, etc, which I wouldn't want to do with my face completely painted. It might rub off on my outfit or smear. Plus, I wanted to be seen as a clown, not a clown imitating something else. Like I've said before, I'm just starting out, so I can't give you a better explanation than that.
3. Face Painting
The face of a clown is his identity. Costumes change, you may meet another clown with the same name, but no two clown faces are alike. As such, remember not to copy someone else's face. You may want to imitate the style, but just don't copy it exactly. That's cheating. Besides, where's your personality if you do that?
I don't know much about clown makeup. I'm just using some stage makeup that my sister had, and some normal makeup that I bought at a dollar store. I'm sure it's not the best stuff, but it's better than nothing. So all I can really say is that you should try and make your clown face compliment your real face. For instance, if you have some distinct smile lines, incorporate them into your clown face. I noticed that I had some sharp creases in my forehead when I wrinkled my brow. I brought the paint up to those lines. When I stick out my lower lip, it touches my chin at a certain point, so I traced this for my mouth line. I took the makeup up around my cheekbones to emphasize the three-dimensionality of my face. All these elements and more combined to give me a very expressive face. When I smile, the makeup changes shape to show this and when I show surprise, you can see it in the makeup. I can't tell you how to do your own makeup, but try and create a design that is you. Another part which is important is picking your nose (choosing a clown nose, you sicko!). I still haven't had the chance to do this yet, but I'll let you know as soon as I do.
4. Your Name
This may seem like a strange place to put this, but it wasn't until after I'd decided all the previous parts that I chose a name. All I know about choosing a name is that you should pick something clownish. I know that doesn't help, but I can't tell you any more. I personally would avoid a name like Mike Smith the Clown or Antidisestablishmentarian the Clown, the first because it doesn't sound very clownish and the second because it's too long and hard for people to say. I'd also avoid names like Charles Manson the Clown and Ted Bundy the Clown, for obvious reasons. I've been going by the nickname Paco for years now, so I wanted to do a variation of that theme. After many different names and mich deliberation, I came up with 'Pacobel the Clown.' Unlike the first thought of being a reference to a popular fast food place, it's actually a reference to Pachelbel, a sixteenth(?) century baroque composer who wrote "Canon in D," one of the most famous pieces of classical music of all time. It is something that says a lot to me, since I'm majoring in Humanities in college, but it's still a fun name for those who don't catch the reference.
5. Building a Costume
Once more, this is one of those things that is important for the first impression. Knowing what kind of clown you are helps decide what type of costume to wear. Being an Auguste clown still gives me the freedom to wear basically whatever I want. There are places where you can buy a pre-made clown costume, or you can make one from scratch. But for my first costume, I think it's a good idea to raid the second hand stores.
Second hand stores are a virtual paradise of ugly clothes. Many of the styles come from the 70's so right there, you should be able to find something pretty clownish. Be creative, forget everything you've learned about style, and you should be able to find something very clownish for a very low price. And one more thing- remember to look at the cleaning instructions. You don't want to buy something which can only be dry-cleaned if you're going to be interacting with kids (which is a pretty safe bet when you're a clown).
In two days and two stores, I found myself some great clothes. First off, I already had some huge pants which were blue plaid polyester. So I wanted to try and find something that would complement this. The first thing I found was a yellow button up shirt. I think button up shirts are a good idea, as you can get them on and off without smudging the makeup. This bright yellow shirt has orange and black stripes and is made out of 100% Nylon! That was all I found yesterday at one store, so I decided to try again today. This time, I hit the jackpot. Almost at the same time, I found a suit coat and a pair of pants that went perfectly with each other. Okay, so they don't match at all, but that's the idea. The pants are one color of plaid arranged mostly in a vertical pattern while the jacket has many of the same colors in plaid, but in different porportions, and seems to be alligned more horizontally. To this I added a pair of blue suspenders, a wide red tie, and a black plastic hat, and I've created my first clown suit. Total cost- around $25.00, including two pairs of pants and an extra set of suspenders. I can change the pants, go with or without the jacket, find a different color tie, and change from blue supsenders to red, so with these few inexpensive items, I've got many different costumes I can use.
My Appearances
Well, so far, I haven't done much clowning. But yesterday, our town was doing a 'book brigade,' or moving the children's section of the old public library to the new public library, which involved forming a human chain about 4 blocks long or so. We had various newspapers and T.V. news crews show up, and since I was going anyway, I decided to go dressed up in my full clown costume. By the time we were finished, I had two newspapers take my picture and one T.V. news crew interview me. Plus, my makeup still looked fresh at the end, so that's a good sign!
Five months later, I have had much more extensive experience in the clowning arts, although most of my experience falls in the juggling category. I've made maybe a dozen appearances as Pacobel the Clown, and another dozen as Paco the Juggler. I did a walk-around at the city fair in August, and have performed at many birthday parties and dances (including a Halloween carnival) in my Pacobel outfit, as well as rode my unicycle in the Homecoming Parade. More about all this later, when I have more time to work on my web page.
Well, that's all I can tell you for now. This is as far as I've gotten so far. As I get more prepared for my show, I'll share with you my new experiences. Until then this is Pacobel the Clown saying, stay strong and happy!