Getting my clown on – Round Two

This Saturday marks another major milestone for my clown. I will be joining a group of clowns (not sure how many) for some hospital clowning.

The last time I put on my clown threads I took darling daughter out trick-or-treating…not really a high stress situation as far as clowning goes. My last real clown performance – and let’s be honest here, my only real clown performance – was way back on Oct. 24. That’s like a life time ago.

Pushing my comfort zone once again
I’m anxiously excited (excitedly anxious?) for this next clown adventure. Having done this once before, the fear of the unknown does not weigh as heavily on my mind. However – this clown gig brings with it a few new twists, a few things that if I think about it too much it sends the nervous butterflies to fluttering.

1. New situation – Hospital clowning will be as different as night and day from the first time I clowned in the party goods store. I won’t have balloons to fall back on since the hospital won’t allow them. That means the gags/magic better be good. Secondly, the audience is captive – they won’t be wandering all over the place like in the store so less chaotic. Might make the initial approach easier but there could be a greater risk for bombing. The clowns are front and center – no where to run, no where to hide.

2. Unfamiliar faces – Unless some former classmates show up (and I will have no way of knowing until I get there) I will be with a group of clowns I don’t know. My Instructor Dude clown can’t go on Saturday. I met the lead hospital clown once before but only briefly. I could be all by my little lonesome with no safe and familiar faces for security blanket purposes.

3. Greater Expectations – When I clowned the first time, I kept my expectations very low. It was my first time – I was a newbie. But now that I’ve done this once before I would personally like to see some improvement from myself. That’s how I’ve always been…I try not to compare myself to other people, I compete against myself. So with this next outing, I would really like to see some progress in either my confidence level or performance.

Other clown news
My clown is officially out of the closet. I’ve had two people approach me in the last week or so about doing some clowning – one for a church fund raiser and one for just some balloon work. I’m happy to do both – I need all the practice I can get.

I can now do two – yes, TWO – magic tricks! The new one still needs a little work but I was able to fool darling daughter when I did it for her the other night.