Clown Life

When I look at this photograph, what comes to mind is the adage, "The show must go on." That's because I woke up that day with an insanely painful toothache. Excedrin didn't help, oil of cloves didn't faze it. It just thudded along, making me wish I could take a hammer to my mouth, much like the guy with the ice skate in "Castaway." But, it was my niece Samya's birthday, and we promised to do a clown show for her and her siblings. So my brother and I suited up and entertained them. I am the clown on the left, with the birthday girl on my shoulders. The next day, I had to get my molar pulled out.



This is the clown family. Brother SadSam, Sister Sunbeam, My mom, Angel, and Me, Cherub. We weren't in full costume yet, but we had all the gear in that big ol' camper and were going to finish up when we got to the site.



Angel, showing off her new finished Angel outfit. It was a very complicated costume, with petticoats, layers galore, halo, wings, etc. A truly heat-holding costume. But, she loved it.



Angel and one of her clown college classmates, Sparky. You can't see them, but in the exercise pen behind the clowns, we had a chicken, a guinea pig and a rabbit. The chicken's name was Sonia Henny.



Clown college graduation day. Angel the Clown with Poco. Poco was a dentist, and he taught me how to juggle. I kind of had a crush on him.



More Clown College graduation photos. Angel with Dr All-Thumbs. Dr All Thumbs was going to be a doctor someday. I wonder if she ever made it.




Me and Angel doing an Oktoberfest somewhere. I wasn't really a clown that day, just an assistent. I did the balloon animals for the kids. I sure wish my lungs still worked as well as they did back in those days, before we had air pumps for the balloons.



At the Mother Goose Parade. The clown on the ground was Curly, the clown instructor.



Fireplug the Clown. He was a firefighter in real life. I loved his costume, and he had a friendly dalmation to go with the act.



Cherub (me) with Bijou. I liked to take Poodles with me to visit elderly people and kids. Also, the Poodles loved walking in parades.



Me and Mom. Cherub and Angel. I was experimenting with different faces. This was the costume I ended up with. I actually still have it, and can still, barely fit into it.




Me and my brother Jeff. Jeff was in his final Sad Sam costume. He had a cool red wig with a little hand pump that you could squeeze to make his hair raise on the top of his head. He was demonstrating it in this photo.