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Alburquerque, New Mexico 2004
In this convention, a protest occurred
because of me, and it happened when
until that year, the Classic White Face
competed together with the Comedy
White Face. In the general assembly,
five clowns protested this competition
and demanded that I no longer compete
in this competition. The whole Assembly
and directive were protesting back, yelling
that “Luis will compete! Luis will compete”. This
protest was taken by vote and there were 236
clowns in my favor, while the five clowns who
were initially against me were the only clowns on
the opposite side. I thank God that the Classic
White Face category was separated from
the Comedy White Face. That year, my score
was the highest score from all the convention
in Make up and Costume. I had sixty points more than
the one clown that won second place. At the end of
the convention, Janet Tucker, who was part of the
directive, came to me and said: “Luis, we already
know that you are excellent in Make up and Costume,
but we want to see you in other facets. Why don’t you me through when Hurricane Fiona hit Puerto Rico
compete for the All-Around Clown?” These words
motivated me and the next year I competed for the
All-Around Clown, without knowing that I would be
winning for four consecutive years from 2004 until
2008.
Peoria Illinois, 2005
My comedy was about a Chinese Emperor. I was
worried about designing the make up and the
costume for this character. I used the colors that
were customs from Old China; I tried to be on point
with it. What I did not know was that there was a
delegation of clowns from China in the convention.
I was incredibly nervous, thinking that I was being
disrespectful by making a Chinese character. The
day of the comedy contest, the delegators saw me,
and they came running towards me asking for
pictures with my character. One of them
talked in English, and I mentioned
that I made this character with a
lot of respect to their customs and
culture. The person laughed aloud
and commented that I “looked more
Chinese than him”.
Orlando Florida, 2008
Three months before going to
this Convention, the Directive of
the WCA wrote to me and informed
me that I have been winning the past 3
years in the All-Around Clown and that if I
won this year, they would give me the
Master Clown award but that I would
have to wait 2 years to compete
back again in the All-Around
category. This year, not only
did I win the All-Around
Clown for four consecutive
years, but I also was the first
clown to win the Master Clown.
I decided to no longer compete in
this category, because I wanted to
give the opportunity to my fellow
peers to win.
After Hurricane Maria and
Hurricane Fiona
Another memory that I carry in my
heart was the one after Hurricane Maria
hit Puerto Rico in 2017. I lost everything and all the
clowns in the WCA were the ones to reach out and
help me through that tough time. They also helped
last year (2022). I will forever be grateful. I lost my
home, and the government helped me with flights
and my neighbors pitched in to help me stay at a hotel.
A carnival Queen gifted me her dress, in which I later
tweaked to use it as my contest dress. I arrived at the
hotel with only one hundred dollars to survive the
week. Sometimes, I would go hungry, but God was
with me always and I survived.
As long as God gives me good health, I will continue
to compete in the Classic White Face category. It is the
category in which I identify myself and love. Although
my clown is incredibly beautiful and eye-catching on
the outside, the inside reigns sadness, pain, emptiness
and loneliness.
Nevertheless, all these years of experience and
profound profession will be treasured in my heart
for the rest of my life. I will forever yearn for those
years while I was a clown. This has been my home
-my refuge- where I learned how to perfect
my clown. To bring an end to my story of
anecdotes, I would like to say that
I have three dreams. First, I dream
of a day where I will be nominated
in the WCA as Clown of the Year;
second, I hope that a clown museum
can accept my offer to donate my
dresses so all future clowns can
be inspired by my characters and
stories; and my third wish is the
day I no longer walk this earth, that
other clowns may continue my legacy to
compete in my category that I love, value and
respect.
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