CLOWN COLLEGE

by Elissa Rashkin

In the good old days, people who wanted to be clowns ran away with the circus. Or so the legend goes. The Ringling Brothers, being too many to run away all at once, held their first circus as kids after being inspired by the great Dan Rice, whose show hit their area in 1870. John Ringling, at age 3 or 4, dressed as a clown and led cast and audience in a rendition of the anthem "Root Hog or Die," and the rest is history. These days, however, clowning has become professionalized. There are clubs, societies, and a museum, hall of fame and research center in Wisconsin, where the Ringlings started out. And as in all professions, there is a college.

Clown College, in Venice, Florida, holds 8 week intensive sessions every fall. Admission is by audition, and tuition is free, although there are charges for materials and room and board. When you graduate you don't get a degree, but many of the graduates are offered contracts with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus, which they are bound to accept as a condition of admission to the program. After graduation you become an apprentice clown and live on a train! Before that, though, you undergo grueling training in skills such as pantomime, improvisation, character development, gag writing, makeup, choreography, as well as the history of clowns. And before that there is a written application with questions such as "If you could be someone else who would you be and why?" "How do you face a new day?" your favorite comics and musical groups, and detailed questions regarding drug use. Most of which is probably not as important to clowning per se as it is to living in close quarters for 11 months on a train.

According to the College's brochure, its founding in 1968 helped to save a profession that was in danger of extinction. In my opinion, clowns are a widely misunderstood subculture that many people seem to confuse with comedians in funny makeup and heinous advertising gimmicks such as Ronald McDonald. The Clown College keeps the subversive clowning tradition alive and also provides a fab career alternative for wayward teens of all ages--although you should be warned that its Corporate Supervisor is a former Mormon missionary, and that one of the alumni listed in its brochure is a C.P.A. named Joe Banker. A clown gag? You decide.

For more information, write to CLOWN COLLEGE, P.O. BOX 9, VIENNA, VA 22183-0009. Auditions are held nationwide; for places and times you can call 1-800-755-9637.

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