Things to Consider When Hiring A Clown

When hiring a clown for a party, you want to think about a few things in advance.

Should you have a strolling clown? Is your event a child’s birthday party? If it is an adult’s event, what kind of clown would be best?

A strolling clown wanders from group to group or table to table, creating balloon sculptures or performing simple clown magic. Sometimes they will face paint the children. At no time will they attempt to engage everyone’s attention at once, rather, they can spend a bit more one on one time with the children. The strolling clowns are ideal for events that need entertainment for a longer period of time, where there are large crowds, and where people are not seated and are not all able to pay attention at once, such as a picnic or a large holiday party.

We offer special shows with special rates for children’s birthday parties. The magic is geared to the age group and is usually coupled with balloon animals for each child. The clowns encourage the children to take part in the show, but they’re gentle—they recognize that not all children are ready to be the center of attention.

Our clowns who perform shows for adults require space: a stage is ideal. Their performances are funny, but geared to adults. They often use props, and most of these performances are by clowns with a more elaborate background: vaudeville, clown school, etc’. Time length differs from clown to clown and according to the type of show, but generally the shows last from twenty to thirty minutes. All eyes are focused on them and shows are best for banquets, holiday parties, corporate events…any event when everyone is able to watch at the same time.

Skills vary from clown to clown, and here is a list of some of the things you might expect to see, in decreasing degrees of likelihood: Slapstick Comedy, Clown Magic, Balloon Sculpting, Face Painting, Juggling, Slapstick Acrobatics, Storytelling, Plate Spinning, Stilt Walking, Unicycling, Chin Balancing, Miniature Bicycle Riding, Human Statues, Fire Manipulation, Ventriloquism, Whip Cracking and Targeting, Rope Spinning, Devil Stick Manipulation, Cigar Box Manipulation, Diablo Spinning, Rolling Globe Walking, Rola Bola Balancing, Mini-Trampoline Acrobatics, Tap Dancing, Aikido, and Slack Rope Walking. A few of our clowns have rabbits, as well. No clown has all of these skills, but they can all do a few things, and they are all very entertaining.

Small children: children two and younger present certain challenges to clowns. Balloons inevitably pop and the clown cannot be everywhere at once to keep small children from swallowing latex, which can block passages. Also, the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology states that 'estimates of the prevalence of allergy to latex allergens in the general population vary widely, from less than 1 percent to 6 percent’. Either way, the number is high enough to keep an eye on young children who may not have ever touched balloons before. Keep an eye on your children, and the more parents present, the better. In addition, young children sometimes take a little while to get used to clowns when they meet them for the first time. Our clowns are aware of this, and treat them gently. If you’d like your clown to entertain without wearing clown makeup we’ll be happy to accommodate you.

When you are planning your event, if you would like to have the clown face paint, plan ahead. They can face paint approximately 15 faces per hour, (and once one child gets done they will all want to get done!), so if you only have your clown scheduled for an hour and you have 15 children, face painting is all he will get to do for you. If the number of children makes it tight timewise, reserve an additional hour, or hire a face painter in addition to the clown, or dispense with the face painting and concentrate on other fun activities like clown magic, balloons and entertainment.

Book in advance and if you think you may run over or want an additional hour, let us know as early as you can. Our clowns are very much in demand and often book more than one event in a day. If we know you’d like an option to extend, we’ll make sure to allow your clown enough time between jobs to accommodate you should the occasion arise.

Clown News - She nose it works

Popular culture has it that children are scared of clowns, but the mood at Sick Kids suggests the opposite: As one patient's mother says, 'He loves the clowns, especially Mary Sunshine. He loves her the best' ... read more of this wonderful Clown News Article

Dressing Up

Costumes play an important part of special events, holidays, and entertainment as they let the wearer and the viewer to have a much better experience of the given situation. Such as the clown suit the clown wore who made you a balloon animal during your birthday or the cowboy who was riding the stallion down the street while you were watching a parade from the sidewalk. Costumes allows people to play out their imaginations and fantasies to however they wish and allows for them to appreciate the given situation many times more if there was no costume involved.

During a sports game there may be a mascot character that appears before an audience to try to rally them up to cheer for their team to win the match, or during the Christmas season there would be many people in Santa Claus outfits to try and spread the holiday cheer. Costumes allow a person to enjoy the ambiance of the occasion a lot more than it would have been if there was no one in costume.

Movies, plays, musicals, and operas wouldn’t be the same without a costume or as it is more commonly known, a wardrobe. Imagine trying to watch a classical opera with the singers wearing 21st century New York street clothing or a science-fiction action film that takes place deep in space with the actors in business attire. As amusing it may be, it wouldn’t give the same sense of enjoyment and suspense as it would have if they were wearing frilly dresses and suits or clothing that seems futuristic and allows for the addition of alien creatures.

Probably the biggest holiday that revolves almost entirely on costumes is on All Hallows’ Eve or as it is more commonly known, Halloween. While the majority are young children and teenagers, adults are also known to participate by dressing up in a costume to celebrate on this pagan holiday. People dress up in a variety of costumes such as protagonists from their favorite stories such a super hero or a princess from a magical kingdom to series clothing that reflects upon a certain type of stereotype in the general public like a French maid or sumo wrestler to a costume that may portray their interests such as a certain person from history, an object of interest or an animal of interest.

Other holidays where it involves people to dress up include but are not limited to Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter. You wouldn’t feel the same holiday cheer if you didn’t see someone dressed up as Santa Clause or his elves that work in the toy shop at the North Pole. Thanksgiving wouldn’t be the same if you didn’t see a person dressed up as a pilgrim or an Indian and Easter would definitely be ruined if the Easter Bunny didn’t make an appearance.

Costumes allow for a person to enjoy a movie, a special event, and holidays to a much fuller extent and can leave positive memories for us to cherish in the future.

Plan A Great Kids Treasure Hunt Party

Kids parties have become the latest craze, and coming up with unique and fun themes and activities for children's birthday parties and other events can be daunting. More and more parents are faced with the need to find new and creative ways to entertain throngs of classmates, neighborhood friends, and siblings of various ages.

One simple, low-cost, and very popular way to entertain children at any kind of celebration or gathering, indoors or out, is with a good old-fashioned treasure hunt. A treasure hunt is the one party game that truly promotes interaction, naturally evokes squeals of excitement, and leaves your party guests with lasting memories of their adventurous day at your child’s party.

What if your child doesn't want a pirate-themed party? No problem! Treasure hunts aren’t just for pirates. Tradition has dictated that pirates are the great treasure hunters, but the fact of the matter is treasure hunts are loved by boys, girls, and grown-ups alike, and make a great addition to any party theme. Treasure hunts can be simply adapted with a storyline and a variety of decorations to fit into any party theme. This is the one area of planning where your child might already have a very clear idea of what they would like, and it would be wise to involve them in this decision, as it makes the party their own.

To adapt a treasure hunt for a princess-themed party, for example, you might announce that someone has stolen the princess's jewels, and whoever finds them by following the clues will be rewarded with a share of the loot. You place a jewelry box overflowing with plastic beads, candy necklaces and rings, and other gem-like treats in the center of the party table, and have someone sneak the treasure away during the party before making the announcement. Other themes and decorations might revolve around the latest TV cartoon characters, superheroes, pop idols, a holiday, or your child might want to create their own theme.

That being said, be careful not to fall into the parent trap of spending a small fortune buying themed party goods. Consider purchasing just a few themed bright and colorful decorations and/or centerpieces, and then either complement them with less expensive coordinating party supplies and decorations, or make your own -- there are plenty of great fun ways to put you and your child's artistic talent to work to customize your party.

Some crafty ideas kids may love making or having at their party include authentic-looking weathered pirate treasure maps, princess crowns and jewelry, spyglasses made from paper towel rolls, pinatas (handmade or bought), cardboard hooks inserted into the bottom of styrofoam cups to wear on their hands like Captain Hook, paper or felt decorated pirate hats, and bejeweled and personalized loot bags, to name only a few.

Although it requires some time, creativity, and resources, you can make and stage your own treasure hunt game to play as a group or competitively in teams. Design and hide 10 clevel clues that lead players step-by-step from one clue to the next, hidden amongst common objects, to ultimately discover the hidden treasure, which might be sacks of “loot” consisting of candy such as chocolate coins wrapped in gold foil, or party favors, toys, and other items valuable to children.

Alternatively, if you're short on time, money, and party ideas like many busy parents and party planners, online sites such as Treasure-Adventure.com offer affordable complete treasure hunts with pre-made custom clues full of rhymes and riddles that kids love to solve, the design of which can be the most time-consuming and difficult part of preparing a treasure hunt.

Use creativity to build your party further around the hunt for a truly fantastic and memorable party that your child and his or her guests will talk about long after the party is over. Although the treasure hunt will likely be the main attraction since it is the most action-packed and engaging, don't necessarily limit other activities that might complement the hunt such as a cannonball toss using bean bags or water balloons, "Walk the Plank" using a shallow pool full of plastic alligators and snakes, pan for gold using gold spray-painted rock nuggets, dress in costumes, hold a peg-leg relay, make a castle or pirate ship out of an appliance box, play "Blackbeard says," etc. -- the sky is the limit!

Treasure hunts are also not just limited to children or birthday parties, but are perfect for family fun night, slumber parties, classroom parties, picnics, and other group events. Treasure hunts bring parties alive with hours of challenging and fun entertainment, with the thrill of the hunt along with the solving of puzzles often being the most enjoyable and memorable part of the day. And don't think you can't top your last party. By using a variety of themes, new treasure hunt clues and decorations, and a little creativity, you can throw many more successful and unique parties for years to come that never go out of style.

“If you're up to the challenge, spyglass and compass in hand, yer prize is in sight, so let the adventure begin!”