So, just for a light Friday topic:

IRL, I am a clown. I know some folks are terrified of clowns, but I absolutely love being a clown and making people laugh. I only use my clown powers for good, donating time to charities and fund raisers at least once a month. Of course, I have lots of paying gigs, too, and getting paid to do something you love is wonderful. Ok, so you get it that I am passionate about my clowing. DH and I were talking about death and our funerals one day and I kind of half-jokingly said he could bury me in my clown suit if he wanted to.

Later, in a conversation with my TBM mom, I mentioned that I had told DH he could bury me in my clown suit. She was absolutely appalled! She said that was the craziest, most outrageous thing in the world to be buried in "clown". She said how ridiculous it would look to see a dead clown in a coffin. I stopped her rant by saying, " Hold up! You think being buried in a clown outfit is ridiculous?? This from the woman who wants to be buried in a white dress, green apron, and veil over her face??"

After a brief pause, she said, " when you put it like that, it does seound kinda crazy, doesn't it?" Hmmm....is there hope for mom yet??

that's great she was able to laugh about it. I will admit to being scared of clowns. But if you love it, I think that's awesome. Do you make balloon animals?

Your post reminded me of one of the funniest scenes ever on TV.

I don't know if you're old enough to remember the Mary Tyler Moore show. At the funeral of Chuckles the Clown. Mary is dying trying not to laugh.

She fails miserably when the minister mentions one of Chuckles' sayings, "A little song, a little dance, a little seltzer down your pants". :-)

janebond462 (NLI) Wrote:
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> Your post reminded me of one of the funniest
> scenes ever on TV.
>
> I don't know if you're old enough to remember the
> Mary Tyler Moore show. At the funeral of Chuckles
> the Clown. Mary is dying trying not to laugh.
>
> She fails miserably when the minister mentions one
> of Chuckles' sayings, "A little song, a little
> dance, a little seltzer down your pants". :-)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmBK5GslDaQ

Love that show.

Tupperwhere, yes, indeed, I do make balloon animals! And I completely understand the fear factor. One of the main reasons I don't do "white face" is that a lot of folks are more afraid of that. I have a lot of make up on as a clown, but it is colorful and exaggerated, with purple eyelashes, etc. Janebond, I do remember seeing some of the Mary Tyler Moore shows, but don't remember the one about Chuckles. Sounds hysterical, though!

YouTube. You won't be disappointed.

awesome! What's the most complicated balloon animal you can make?

I went to a charity event earlier this year and there was a clown there who was making balloon animals for the kids. I wanted one for myself but I was too shy to ask lol Afterwards several of the other adults I was working with got one :(

Don't ever be embarrassed to ask a clown for anything! I get adults wanting balloons all the time. I do magic tricks for them and they are just as amazed as the kids. The whole point of a clown is to bring out the child-like fun in everyone!! I can't actually do "complicated" balloons yet, but I can do a really cute parrot. I think that one is my favorite. I am going to a clown convention next week and they are having a class on balloons. Hopefully I will learn to make some of the bigger, more impressive things. I'm also going to be taking a juggling class. Looking forward to that, too!

I would love a parrot balloon because I have 2 parakeets. How cute.

I went to Taiwan once and one of the places we visited was a Chinese opera school. The kids were trained from preschool to learn acrobatics, juggling, pretty much everything you can think of including magic tricks. We pulled into the parking lot and there were people riding unicycles and doing flips on a trampoline. It was like the ultimate clown college. It was so much fun and awesome to see. Good luck with your class!

Nobody does balloon animals quite like Steve Martin :)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bI--TGQGNFc&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Thanks Deco and JaneBond!!

My sister won a clown contest back about 30 years ago when she was a kid. She got to be on the Mr Knozit show for winning and 2 free tickets to the Barnum & Baily Circus.

Good times.

Ohhhh. You could come back to haunt people in your getup. It would be scary!

Poodle, I was just watching SNL and they were making a joke about this story. Maybe this could be a new career venture for you!

http://politix.topix.com/homepage/5392-philly-using-mimes-clowns-to-combat-texting-while-walking

Ha ha! Love it!

PinkPoodle Wrote:
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> After a brief pause, she said, " when you put it
> like that, it does seound kinda crazy, doesn't
> it?" Hmmm....is there hope for mom yet??

LOL....Is it possible that Mom has been lurking here, too?

Love it! You've very slightly opened a door. How did you say it in a way that didn't make your Mom defensive?