Quoting our World Clown Association Past President from Southport, England, Arthur Pedlar “They don’t decide – they can’t help it!”

Actually, there are many reasons people become clowns.  Some have enjoyed clowns since their childhood and want to try sharing miles of smiles and hugs.  Many have some experience in other entertainment arts such as magic or puppets or balloon sculptures and find that these performing arts can be enhanced by learning to be a clown and adding comedy to their performances.

Often, people will see a clown at a parade or a corporate event such as a picnic and realize how much fun that person is having entertaining others – while getting paid to do so.  That motivates them to find out what it takes to become a clown, while others wait until they have retired and have some time on their hands so they want to share some fun and laughter with others.  Older clowns are very active in visiting hospitals and nursing homes as “caring clowns”.  They believe that clowning for people can take a rather “down day” in the person’s life and create just a few moments for that person to have a smile on their face.

Some people just have so much joy in their lives that they feel the need to share it with others.  Some people have become clowns because they were recruited by friends in the entertainment business and, after they tried it, they were just hooked.  Some just see the fun clowns have and want to be “just like them”.

Once someone has been bitten by the “clowning bug”, it’s important that they find a local clown group, such as a World Clown Association alley, to get some training in proper makeup and wardrobe and skills.  Do a Google search for the World Clown Association and other clown organizations, both international and regional, to see where you can get instruction, find a weekend workshop, find others with your same interests and experiences to help you, and look at photos of many award-winning clowns to help you get started.  There are three general types of clowns and each has a definite personality so everyone can find a kindred persona in one of the traditional clown types.

No matter what reason a person has to become a clown, we find it all starts from their heart, and getting the opportunity to let the “real you” come out and play for a while.