Date: Sun, 12 Sep 1999 01:10:42 -0400 (EDT)
From: Larry Moss <moss@fooledya.com>
To: Balloon Twister List <balloon@balloonhq.com>
Subject: Re: white face?

There have already been a few answers to this, but there are a couple
things I want to add.  

On Sat, 11 Sep 1999, Shansu Ellwood wrote:

> When I sat down and chatted with him, he told me that true white-face is
> dead.  He said nobody wears full white-face, that everyone now dresses like
> he does.  He said that the true white-face was "old fashioned" and that
> "modern" clowns didn't bother with it because it scared children.

Old fashioned?  Perhaps.  But the white-face wasn't the first clown either.
You could have countered his argument by claiming that his look was even
older.  Styles change and come around again.  Give it a few years and
you'll see many white-face clowns on the birthday party circuit again.
They aren't gone from the birthday party circuit now, but I am encountering
fewer of them than a few years ago.

Does it scare children?  Bad makeup that makes the face grotesque can scare
children.  But it's not a blanket style that does that.  I have some really
good friends that do amazing full face makeup.  (That is, in my opinion.
I've never judged a makeup competition and wouldn't want to.  I haven't the
slightest idea what wins.)  In fact, I've had kids approach me after shows
and ask me to say hi to Scooter and Crystal since they miss them.  Their
makeup obviously isn't scaring kids if the kids only talk about seeing them
again.  On the other hand, I have had parents tell me that they hate
white-face since it brings back memories of bad clowns they saw when they
were younger.  So, the way I see it, for a few years I'll be hearing
parents complaining about white-face.  Then I'll start getting calls from
parents that miss that look and want to know why they can't find a clown
that wears it.  It's no different than any other style that comes and goes.

As someone else said, your makeup and costume should match your personal
performance style.  If you're a good white-face clown, be greatful the
style is fading out.  It makes you more unique and quite possibly more in
demand, once you find the right market for it.

Now, with that said, it's really in your best interest to take this over to
the a clown mailing list (such as clowns@onelist.com).  The majority of the
people on this list are into balloons and just balloons.  There are quite a
few clowns here also, but you'll get a larger audience that understands
your concerns about clowning if you approach the right group of people with
them.

I'm not trying to get rid of you.  I'm just trying to keep this list on
topic and direct you to an appropriate forum.

Larry Moss
Balloon HQ, LLC