There is a time in every clown’s life where he\she stops and thinks, “There has got to be a better way to do this” and every time a clown thinks that, they are correct. Here are 5 steps to better and easier clowning:
Simplify
Practice
Market
Plan
Execute
Starting today and continuing for the next five weeks you will read the steps to follow to make yourself a better clown.
Simplifying your clown life is, well, simple. All you need to do is figure out what you need and only do those things. That may not sound very easy so lets break it down into the two areas that most clowns have a problem with: Make-up and Props.
Simplifying your make-up is the easiest part of this exercise. Look at what you use every time you clown. Place all of those common items in one pile (A), take everything else and place it in another pile (B). Take everything in pile A and place it into your main make-up bag or case. Take pile B and check for dried up or empty make-up and store the good stuff in a large Ziploc bag.
If you, like so many clowns, have more then one character, you will have more then one style of make-up that you use. What you need to do is to put all of the essentials for any clown face in one Ziploc and the make-up that is only used for one clown face in a bag for that specific type of make-up. This will make it much easier to put on your individual characters, while streamlining your overall make-up process. You will still be doing pile B the same way.
By following the two-pile plan you will be able to quickly prepare foe any situation by not having to rustle through all of your make-up for one color cup or pencil.
Simplifying your props is a much harder process then your make-up. This is because you have probably grown attached to a lot of props that you don’t use and yet don’t want to part with.
The easy way of sorting props is to make a list of what you use at every gig and place that into your gig bag. That way most of what you need for every party will be in one place for easy grabbing as you head out the door.
Next take all of the stuff that you use for holidays and special events (grand openings, etc.) and organize them in plastic tubs by event or holiday. This will allow you to quickly modify your gig bag without having to dig through a mountain of props. Now the real trick is to stack these tubs according to when they are needed. Consider that a lot of your holiday stuff may only be used for a couple of months whereas props you use for grand openings may be out every month or more.
Take a look at all of the props that are not in a box. Those are your museum props, this group of props is usually full of props that you don’t use and have an emotional attachment to. You need to go through these props and make sure that you really need them. If you do need them, try and figure out a way to display them so that you still get some enjoyment out of them and they don’t just gather dust.
By simplifying your make-up and props you will find getting ready for gigs to be much quicker and easier. This will allow you to spend less time running around looking for things and more time preparing to put on the best show you know how to.
Come back next Friday for the Practice portion of Five Steps to Better Clowning.
[...] back to the second part of our five part series on becoming a better clown. Last time we covered simplifying your clown life, today we will cover making the most of your practice [...]
[...] Simplify [...]