Clowning around is no joke
Interview by Jassmine Shadiqe
IN Johor Baru, having a clown walk down your street would be very unusual. Seeing a female clown is almost unheard of. Almost.
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| MY FRIEND THE CLOWN: Most children are wide-eyed and wear a big smile on their faces when held by an angel with a red nose. |
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| SING-A-LONG: Entertaining children with the guitar and a song is all in a day’s work for a clown. |
I am a female clown in Johor Baru. More female clowns have been emerging of late, but I am proud to say that I was the first in the city.
I was trained in Kuala Lumpur. It’s been an adventure to be able to express myself in ways that I could never do before in my day-to-day life. It always gives me a great sense of satisfaction being able to make someone smile or laugh. Indeed, I have not regretted my decision to be a clown.
As a clown, you have to choose a clown name or stage name for yourself.
I had trouble finding a suitable name for myself, being a female clown. It went from Chocolate to Sunshine to Mimi. But I eventually chose Salad, since it sounds like my actual name, making it easier to respond when anyone calls out to me. I almost chose Toilet and Carrot, but decided against those names.
It is always a challenge to make someone smile. But the gloomier he or she is, the greater the satisfaction when you get him or her to smile.
Hence, when the opportunity came, I took a big leap to quit my former job in the financial sector to learn clowning from a company specialising in clowns, performers and puppeteers in Kuala Lumpur.
It was then that I realised why most clowns are guys. The amount of stamina required in clowning is no simple feat. Clowns use exaggerated movements and it is tiring to be on your feet for eight hours straight as a clown.
However, after several months, I was as fit as I could be. I had to practise how to put on my make-up, make balloon sculptures, juggle, stilt walk as well as acquire some simple magic skills.
I returned to Johor Baru, my hometown, after a few months because the demand for clowns for events in Kuala Lumpur was not high in 2002.
I found another job in a foreign bank. It was better that way, as I was getting calls for a clown act only every few months during weekends; the bank job gave me a steady monthly income while continuing to work on my passion.
I have clowned around at property launches, shopping complexes, hotels, weddings, charity programmes, children’s parties, product launches, annual dinners and many other events. I sometimes head out to Kuala Lumpur or Singapore and sometimes to small towns around Johor, such as Batu Pahat and Mersing.
Experiences gained while clowning are varied and filled with very interesting anecdotes. You could never say that a clown’s life is dull.
I had one 7-year-old girl who shouted out in Mandarin to me, from 50 metres away, “Clown!” She came running across the field in her dress and jumped onto me and gave me a great big hug. She started babbling almost as fast as a jet, telling me about what she was doing there, how happy she was to see a clown and even about her younger brother who was too young to come.
She was filled with such joy and innocence that it really warmed my heart to see her, hold her, hear her.
A rainy day at a launch can be fun too. One time, a group of us got caught in a sudden downpour and we raced to a gazebo nearby. There were at least 20 people in the little gazebo, all trying to get away from the rain and wind. Being the clown of the day, I started entertaining them with my crazy antics of trying to get away from the pouring rain. Climbing onto the benches and complaining at the top of my voice about my big clown shoes being wet.
The rain continued for a good whole hour. After the experience of a photo session in a gazebo on a rainy day and having nice handsome young gentlemen shelter me back to the stage area, I think rainy days are great!
I love entertaining children. They are always so enthusiastic and spontaneous. They would be both fearful and excited at the same time.
Some would cry and run away, but most of the children would be wide-eyed and wear a big smile on their faces. They would line up eagerly for a balloon sculpture or candies and raise their little hands for a shot at being chosen for games.
Many people have asked me if it is humid and uncomfortable wearing a costume, or whether my arms ache from making zillions of balloons.
Well, it is bearable wearing the costume, but it can get slightly warm and my arms do not ache, at least not as badly as it does when doing chores at home.
But the most hilarious question thrown to me was from a young girl with two front teeth missing. She came up to me one day at a shopping complex, asking me in a cheery voice, “Are you a real Clown?”
To which I replied, in the same cheery voice, without trying to laugh out loud, “Are you a real girl?”
The adults are a different crowd altogether and I enjoy entertaining adults more.
Maybe it is because they require more conversation and it is always a challenge to keep up an exchange of witty comments between clown and adult.
As a clown, I can get away with saying the most ridiculous of things. I love looking at an 80-year-old grandma and calling her “little girl”. It is always such a delight to see her face go from surprise to delight at being “made” years younger.
Being a clown helps me to see people in a different light. Every individual is unique. To be able to reach out and have an impact on their lives, even for just 10 minutes, is a strong motivation for me to continue clowning around.
Being a clown also allows me to express myself to the extremity. To be able to shout and scream and say the darnest thing — it is very therapeutic, better than yoga or a session in the gym. Laughter is the best medicine indeed!
- Charlotte Goh is a compliance officer with Hwang DBS Investment Bank Bhd in Johor Baru. When she wears a red ball on her nose, she goes by the name of Salad d’Clown and swears that a clown is an angel with a red nose!
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