How to be a Clown

Chapter 4 Skin is a Four Letter Word

For some reason clowns need to be other worldly. They can't eat or drink soft drinks in front of others while dressed in clown because it is seen as breaking character and the illusion. They must be entirely mythical. Smoking and alcohol should be used with common sense. Some clowns even say you should not use the toilet while in clown.

Many instructional guides advise for no skin to show. Hide your human-ness. You have to be all covered up; the neck, the hands, the ears. There is even a name for clowns who don't cover up their neck in some way either with clothing or make up its called a "dirty neck clown". You must never let children see you making up your face or partially made up you are either all person or all clown. Once you put on your slap and motley (makeup and costume) you are crossing the threshold from human to clown.

No matter what type of clown you are you must wear base make up. It is seen as unprofessional by the other clowns not to. Base makeup decreases the visibility of the flaws on your face, and just looks more professional overall.

Some clowns think that a clown should not talk at all. If all the clowns didn't talk at all that would be really annoying. It can be a problem if the clown is doing some kind of job where they need to interact with people like twisting balloons.

There are lots of little extras to add to your clown costume to make it that much more special.

The socks are very important. Most clowns like to wear pants that don't fit well usually high water pants. So they need something to cover up that leg. Some clowns do wear white or colored tights to hide the leg and make them look clownier.

Collars, bibs, ruffs, and turtlenecks real and mock these are great for hiding the flesh colored neck. You can wear them to help hide the makeup rubbing off your costume. Collars, bibs, and ruffs just look clownier.

Hoods help prevent the look of a dirty neck clown and just makes the clown look more polished. It helps save time by using this you can apply less makeup to your face and neck.

Gloves are usually used for competitions and promotional photos. They are not really useful to everyday clowning. Hoboes don't normally use full gloves they use gloves with the finger tips cut off. Other non-hobo clowns like to use these too. Many clowns usually go without gloves. They can get very dirty while painting faces and makes it harder to twist balloons.

Buttons and badges. It tells others who you are or they could be funny little sayings. Some of the most common/popular ones are IYQ, IITYYOMAH, I dressed myself today, stop looking at my button, professional clown, etc.

I already mentioned the importance of marketability by using buttons with your name on them.