The above photo was taken at the National Conference of State Legislators at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. I was expecting to be around a stuffy crowd that looked down on clowns but was pleasantly surprised. It was a pretty friendly setting for us. There were all kinds of booths throughout the place including the one set up by Ringling for their Center for Elephant Conservation in Florida where we spent our day entertaining the guests. I never knew if a person stopping at our booth was a politician and quite frankly didn't want to know. I was content to do my best to put smiles on people's faces.
I hadn't put on my costume and make up in a long time. Doc Ed is the closest thing to clowning I do on a regular basis so it was really a great deal of fun slapping on the grease paint again. Clowning allows one the freedom to do and say a good many things you wouldn't normally allow yourself as well a remove a few social barriers that would otherwise make it difficult to strike up a conversation about something like juggling with someone in the political elite. It's fun to be a clown and it felt good to feel like one again.
Peggy Williams was there too. She was the first female graduate of the Ringling Brothers Clown College in 1970. She's a hard working lady and pretty nice too. The last time I saw her was at Winter Quarters in Florida for the Ringling show back in December of 2000. Has it really been that long?! Time zips along doesn't it? All in all is was a good day to be a professional goofy-type person. I hope I don't have to wait so long between gigs.
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