Heads up, this is going to be a long post, I have so much to share! As you may know, this weekend was the IHS Camp Good Days Carnival that my advisors and I organized. Thank you to everyone who came, this event was more successful than I ever could have hoped. Although the carnival wasn't a part of my wise project, I am more excited than ever after planning it to keep forging ahead on my project. Thinking about what kids would enjoy at a carnival and what activities people have fun is an integral part of being a clown. My experiences at the carnival (to be shared later in the post) have helped me put a focus on my project.
My focus? How to interact with other people. I've always been a social person, I've been called a chatterbox on more than one occasion and after my experience clowning for kids this weekend I realized that the interaction you have with people is by far the best part of being a clown. I want my macro research questions to focus on my communication with the people I'm clowning for -what do people find funny? How does the understanding of humor evolve as you grow? (most of my jokes were compltely lost on kids younger than 10) What do you do when kids are shy, won't talk to you or are just not interested? How do you separate your personal character from your clown character? The micro research really includes the things I've been learning up until now. How to juggle, most popular balloon animals, my clown costume, those types of aspects.
The night before the carnival I found all of the necessary components for my costume and all the supplies I needed and put it all on, shoes, hat, the nose, the pants, everything, to make sure I was completely ready. The final touch were a few hair ties with flowers on them and it rounded out the whole costume (thanks mom). I'll include some pictures in a separate post. I didn't see any problems with the costume, I got all my balloons together, my stickers, my pump, and packed my bags for the next morning.
Set up for the carnival lasted from 9 to 11:45, I then went into the locker room to put on my costume. A few swimmers from the swim meet next door walked by as I was adjusting in the mirror and gave me the most confused looks I have ever seen. One literally stopped and had her mouth open btu I calmly suggested that they stop by our school carnival when they were done with their races and didn't let their confusion phase me.
At noon I stepped out into the carnival and barely breathed for the next 4 hours. I made over 75 balloon animals. After the 4th time I was asked to make a dolphin I decided not to ask them what they wanted me to make but instead suggested the few animals I knew (dog, horse, giraffe, elephant, flying mouse, cat) and they were rarely disappointed when I explained how cool my giraffe was. I had a few kids come back to me in tears when their balloon animals broke and I was more than happy to fix them up new ones quickly. I had practiced making swords before I went and they went smoothly at home but when I tried to make them at the carnival I broke 5 in front of two kids and it was so embarrassing. The worst thing ever was seeing them disappointed after the second and third balloon popped and finally after the 5th one I had to ask if they'd rather have a giraffe instead. All in all though my balloon animals were such a hit!
Because my balloon animals were so popular I had very little time to juggle. I'd juggle for a few seconds in front of a table and then I'd feel a tug on my pants and look down to see a little boy or girl with a sheepish parent in tow and they'd ask me to make them a balloon. Alot of little kids (3 or 4) would bring older siblings along to ask (9 or 10) and I would be sure to ask the older sibling if they wanted one too because you could tell they wanted a dog so badly but they didn't want to ask. If I asked and they said no thank you, I'd always offer stickers to both kids, just as an extra fun thing that they got out of the carnival.
My favorite part about the carnival was the chit chat I had with the little kids. I would start by approaching them and introducing myself as Marigold the clown and then ask them what their name was. When I interviewed Crossroads the Clown one of my biggest questions was "what do you say to the kids?" I was so worried I would run out of things to ask. But once I started asking questions and telling jokes sometimes I had to politely excuse myself from one child to make a balloon for a kid who had been waiting ten minutes. I would ask their name, where they went to school, if they liked school, did they have pets, sibblings, had they been doing fun thigsn at the carnival, had they been on the bounce house? I would suggest things for them to do and see and I would always address them by their name in the conversation so there was a connection between the two of us.
It was so rewarding to see how happy kids were to see me and talk to me. Kids I had met earlier in the carnvial would wave to me every time I walked by or drag their friends over to see if I would make them a balloon too. On occasion I would dig quarters out of my pockets and give them to kids and tell them to go play games that I knew they were garunteed to win (these games also happened to benefit the senior class but hey there wasn't really a hidden motive here...) I talked to their parents too and thanked them for coming to the carnival.
I have to admit I was sweating for the first half an hour. I was so nervous. Every time I approached a little kid I was so nervous I would pop their balloon or they would be afraid of me or I would trip over my shoes and crush them. But after a while I got my confidence and had a blast! There were only two children that were very shy but eventually they came around and took a sticker, I don't think anyone I talked to was truly afraid of me. That was my main goal though when I planned my costume, don't be scary!! I think it worked very well.
All in all, I LOVED my first clown experience. It taught me what I still need to work on (making those gosh darn swords) and what I want my project to focus more on so I can become an even better clown. I'll post pictures next and in the next week I'll work on explaining how I picked my name and more research.
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