1. Juggling- If you already know how, learn a new trick or to juggle something weird.
2. Unicycing- Seriously you can learn this by 2011, but you need to get started soon.
3. Ventriloquism- With some hard work this should be easy to learn and will be a great addition to your act.
4. Card tricks- I am a huge fan of card tricks. I would suggest learning some simple slights and using those instead of buying a bunch of trick decks.
5. Mind reading- Learning mentalism can only help your act as well as teaching you to better read your audience.
6. Stilt walking- Growing four feet overnight is a great attention getter. Plus you don’t have to do much while you are on your stilts, just hang out and wave.
7. Pratfalls- Learning the correct way to fall will save your life, or at least save your knees and elbows.
8. Dance- This one you may not be able to master by 2011 but the increased body awareness will allow you to move in more amusing ways.
9. Gymnastics- This is really a combination of 7 and 8. Learning to tumble will allow you to do crazy stuff and avoid injury.
10. Sewing- Making your own costumes is more satisfying then buying one.
11. Graphic Design- Your marketing materials will get a hundred times better after just one class.
12. Public Speaking- This will make you more comfortable in front of a crowd and teach you the value of projection and planning.
13. Business- Take some time to learn about business so you don’t make the same mistakes you have made in the past.

I would love to hear any other ideas for skill that people should work on before 2011 and what you are going to be working on. The Usable Clown is going to be working on Juggling 5 balls, Idling on his Unicycle and learning the classic palm and back palm with cards.

Here is what I have used this notebook for and I suggest you do the same.  The first thing you should do is record all your thoughts about clowning and your clown character(s) in the journal. This is not just limited to writing, in fact a majority of mine is full of drawings. I have about twenty five drawings of potential clown faces and costumes. This may sound silly but it will help you visualize what you are want to look like and what your dream costume is.

Another handy thing about a clown notebook is that it allows you to keep track of where you have found props and supplies online. You can record the prices and what you would order if money was no object.  That way when you do have some money you are able to pick through your clown notebook and choose what will be the best investment for you.

What you need to do is get a notebook that you are comfortable writing in and start using it everyday to record ideas and sketches of whatever strikes your fancy.

A face page from my notebook

A costume page from my notebook

Table of contents for 5 Steps to Better Clowning

1. 5 Steps to Better Clowning: Simplify
2. 5 Steps to Better Clowning: Practice
3. 5 Steps to Better Clowning: Marketing
4. 5 Steps to Better Clowning: Plan
5. 5 Steps to Better Clowning: Execute

It is finally time to finish this series off. We have covered everything from the importance of simplifying everything, practicing, marketing and planning; now we need to coer the final and most difficult step: Executing the plan! Please go back and reread the previous posts and make sure have completed everything in those posts. The more prepared you are the better this step will go.I will wait here while you do that…

Welcome back. Here we GO!

Get out all of your marketing materials and look at your plan. Where do you want to entertain? Start by making a list of all of the people that you know. Start contacting those people in groups of five or six. Send an email, a post card, call them or meet them in person. You want to turn these people into either customers, investors or advertisers.  Of course you are probably not really looking for investors so instead focus on turning them into customers or advertisers.

Over the long haul it is going to be better to convert these initial people into advertisers. That way they will help you get them jobs. Also converting people into advertisers is as easy as giving them a stack of business cards and then asking if they need more the next time you see them.  Customers have the short term benefit of giving you money, but with a little luck can turn into advertisers. You do this by blowing their minds with your show. That way they tell their friends and spread the word about you. Once again, leave them with a stack of cards.

The next step is going to be making a list of places that you think would benefit from your services and which of your services will help them the most. This is not a list of places where you want to work but a list of places that you should work. Try to keep in mind that their is no guarantee that you are going to convince them that they should hire you, however they now know your name and will hopefully think of you first.

With this list you want to select two or three at a time and focus your energy on them. This is especially important if you are a part time clown. You will also benefit from doing a dress rehearsal of your sales call with a business person that you have done a job for in the past and have a good relationship with. They can provide you with feedback and that feedback can make all the difference in the world.

Here is the most important part of this step. Do it. It is really easy to sit around and talk about how you need to go do this stuff. That will not get you any business. So get off you behind and get to work. Make sure you let me know how the plan works for you, unless you get too busy to come back and visit us.

I plan on using the rest of the month of August to clean up any loose ends on the site and we sill start with fresh updates in September.

Check back soon.

• Redesign- This could be the perfect opportunity to try a new clown face, develop a new character or put together that awesome new costume you have been dreaming about. Or it could be a great time to make that old looking website and make it look more Web 2.0. I am currently working on making my site look more fancy, which will hopefully make me more likely to get jobs. There are thousands of tutorials online on how to make your site look the most cutting edge and with a little practice and a lot of patience anyone can learn to build webpages.
• Re-invent- Is there a part of your act that you are not 100% happy with? I know that I have numerous parts of my act that I wish I could change. Well it is time to stop wishing and start doing. Start practicing again. Use the time that you normally would have used performing on the weekends and run through your act figuring out what needs to be fixed. Not only will this make your act stronger but you will learn something new. Plus you can then offer a new and improved show to your clients.
• Reconnect- Call up some of your older clients and say hi. Let them know that you appreciate their business and see if there is any event that you can help them with. It can’t hurt to let them know that you are still in business, plus everyone likes to be thanked. If it is a client that has hired you numerous times you might offer them a reduced rate to help promote both your businesses.

Well good luck. I am off to juggle.

Most of the time you can rely on the less is more treatment. This means that you give them a general idea and leave them wanting more. If you go to over the top with your description of your act it is possible to build yourself up too much. Another thing to keep in mind is that a lot of the physical skills that you have as a clown do not translate well to people who are not entertainers. If you tell someone on the street that you can do a cascade with five balls followed by a full shower, that is not going to mean anything to them. On the plus side you can say, I can juggle five balls and they will most likely be impressed. Heck I’d be impressed.

The other thing to keep in mind is that once you get started most clients are going to come to you after talking to a past client. They have already had you cat described to them by a person who has not reason to sell your abilities. That means that their description of you is already more believable then on you give because you are trying to sell yourself, and your past client is not. Alright, head out there and start talking.

This will make it quick and easy for you to find out how much additional charge there is to go to a certain area. If someone calls from an area outside your map, you just need to figure out how much further it is and what the charge will be. Once you have worked in an area not on your map, remember what you charged so that you have that number figured out in advance the next time someone calls.This is one of the best ways to not limit yourself to a certain area and provide you with the ability to charge a little more for your travel time. Doing this is especially important if you have a website. If someone finds you on the web there is no guarantee that they are going to be in your normal area of operation.On the flip side of this, don’t be afraid to say no if you don’t feel comfortable traveling that far to entertain. What I ususally do then is try to find another entertainer I know and refer the client to them.Hopefully that entertainer will do the same if they get a call for a gig they can’t do.

I always leave about fifteen minutes earlier then I need to when traveling outside my normal area. This allows for me to get a little lost, which is inevitable when traveling to a new town or even a part of a bigger city that you don’t know. If you find yourself lost, always call the people who hired you to let them know you are lost and get directions.

1. Nose is to Big: We have all seen these clowns, heck for a couple of years I was guilty of this. While a big red nose is the trademark of a clown a smaller nose will make you seem less foreign to children as well as make it easier for you to see, which is important to the jugglers, magicians and stiltwalking clowns out their.
2. To Much Outlining: Nothing darkens up a clown face like to many black lines on it. When you are designing your face make sure that you only outline the colors where it is necessary. This will allow you to have a lighter look to you face as well as help you appear more human to your audience.
3. Mascara- That is correct gentleman you need to wear mascara. This will get rid of the white eyelashes that most of us get while putting on the white parts of your makeup as well as make your eyes more expressive.
4. Shoes: A lot of clowns feel that they need to have those big crazy shoes. While those big crazy shoes are cool, they really only look nice when they are professionally made and match the rest of your costume.
5. Color Coordination: Being a clown dosen’t mean you don’t have to match. Some of the best looking clowns you will ever see have costumes that match from top hat to big shoes. When a clown first starts out the usual idea is to buy the zaniest brightest outfit you can find, because that is what clowns wear. Most clowns where oversized or colorful normal clothes, giving them that clown look without overwhelming their audiences senses.
6. Untrimmed Wigs: When you buy a wig you might think that it is fine as it is. That unfortunately not true. You need to go get it trimmed to fit your character so that you don’t look like every other clown that wears that same wig. There is nothing worse then one hundred different faces with the same haircut.
7. Wig color: Traditionally clown wigs where “normal” colors such as red, yellow and orange. As dyes got fancier greens, blues, pinks, purples and ,any other colors arrived on the scene. The thing to remember is that the color of you wig should match your character and compliment you costume.
8. Powder: Powdering is the most important part of your clown makeup. Without makeup you will become a melted faced mess. Powder often and you will have a clown face that can withstand the greatest heat as well as getting hit with a pie, jumping in a pool and eating.
9. Makeup: Use actual clown makeup. Women’s face makeup isn’t made to withstand the stress of clowning nor is face paint. There are many manufacturers of clown makeup and their products will stand the test of time.
10. Stay in Shape: Clowning is a physical art form. You want to make sure that you can do whatever it is that you do as a clown without running out of breath. It is ok to act like you are out of breath, but you need to be able to go and go and go. You don’t necessarily need to lose weight or change you appearance, but you do need to exercise to stay in shape.
11. Practice: When you are first starting out practice your makeup, performing in costume, anything that has to do with your appearance so that you know what it looks like and what you need to work on. Even so of the older clowns could probably use some practice on their makeup since you have possibly getting sloppy.
12. Ask for Help: Ask your friends and family what they think of your look. They hopefully will be honest and you will be able to improve your look. If you have no one to show your clown to email pictures to theusableclown [at] gmail [dot] com and I will be happy to critique your look.
13. Be Honest With Yourself: If you think something doesn’t look right with your costume, it probably dosen’t. The hardest part of being a clown is knowing what looks good on you and what doesn’t. If it feels to tight, it probably is.

There you have it, 13 ways to make you a better looking clown. Good luck and keep on being funny.

Table of contents for 5 Steps to Better Clowning

1. 5 Steps to Better Clowning: Simplify
2. 5 Steps to Better Clowning: Practice
3. 5 Steps to Better Clowning: Marketing
4. 5 Steps to Better Clowning: Plan
5. 5 Steps to Better Clowning: Execute

Advertising is usually the most costly part of having your own business. Luckily for you clowning is almost self advertised once you get it started, this means that if you have a well put together show and hand a card to every single person that sees you, there is very little left for you to do. This is because most of the advertising is done for you by the people you entertain. But we are getting ahead of ourselves first you have to understand Why.Why advertise? Especially if you can get your audience to do it for you. Because it is so simple to do. Once you have your cards (l) printed up all you have to do is hand them to everyone in the world. Grocery clerks, church members, coworkers, you get the idea. They all have kids or at the very least parties. Keep in mind that you may only get one call for every 10-25 business cards handed out. That means that one box of 250 cards should net 10-25 clown jobs at at least $50 a party you are looking at $500 – $1250 for the cost of the cards. That is a pretty good profit. But in order to do that you need to hand your cards to everyone, even people you might think have no use for a clown.Aside from getting your name out there this will also get you a collection of business cards from other people. For some reason you cannot hand someone a business card without getting one in return. These cards are the seeds for your off season marketing plan. Using the names and contact information on those cards you can start to sell yourself to local businesses for grand openings, sales and anything you or they can think of. If you give out enough cards you will be able to coast for a year without having to look for a job. I would advise against that as you should always be looking for jobs so you can clown forever.How you give someone a cards is as important as the card itself. One thing that you need to keep in mind is that age old first impression rule. The first impression is the most important and may be the only one you get. This means that at all times you need to carry yourself in a professional manner. This doesn’t mean that you need to dress like a business person, you just need to look like someone people want to invite into their home or business. Also, when you are in public out of your clown outfit you are not a clown. Not even a little. You don’t what to approach people in the same way that you would approach them in your clown outfit, you’ll just come off as weird and your card will disappear into the waste basket as soon as you walk away.The other part of this that is hard for even experienced clowns is when to distribute your cards. It all depends on the venue and the event. If you are making balloons at a restaurant you should give cards, see the ‘s’ on cards that means you give them at least two, to every table you visit and have a stack of cards up at the host stand. If you are at a festival, hand them out after every show, performing at a business have a stack at the counter as well as hand them out as necessary. When you are doing a birthday party make sure that no kid leaves without at least one your cards if not two or three. This will ensure that their parents see the card as well as give their parents something to give to their friends.As you can see the trick with marketing yourself is word of mouth. The more people that have seen you perform that have a card with your phone number the more people will call you. Even if you think someone could never use a clown they might have a friend or relative that could. Leave no card unhanded out.

The hardest call to make is the restaurant cold call. This is when you just show up at a restaurant, ask to see a manager and convince him that hiring you to make balloons for tips or otherwise is a benefit to his restaurant. It dosen’t matter how fabulous your balloons are. If he, or she, dosen’t see it as a benefit to his business he will not hire you.

So what do you do, I would suggest these three things: Dress to Impress, Show Value and Ask Questions. Those are the three things that I have done when approaching a restaurant and while I can’t guarantee that it will work for you, it has a better success rate then being a slob, not showing the value and bragging about how good you are.

1. Dress to Impress: A lot of children’s entertainers that I have met feel that since they are “goofy” that they can look goofy when interviewing for a gig. This is so far from the truth that its not funny. If you approach restaurant manager wearing jeans, a t-shirt and sneakers, his immediate thought is going to be that you are going to show up to entertain in that same outfit. The same goes for faded clothes, outdated clothes, tight or baggy clothes. You want to exude professionalism and the best way to do that is start with the dress and the rest will follow. You may have noticed that when you are dressed up you have a different attitude then when you are in sweat pants. That is the attitude that will carry you on towards success and not hold you back. The flip side of this is that you want to look comfortable. So if you hate ties, don’t wear a tie, if you hate skirts don’t wear a skirt. Just make sure that you look nice.
2. Show Value: Showing value in a restaurant situation can seem daunting if you have never entertained in a restaurant before. This is because you don’t have a job description, so you don’t know what your duties as an entertainer is. Well here is a description that should hopefully get you in the right mind set. Your primary job is to help the restaurant run smoother, not to entertain the guests. That’s right, entertaining the guests is secondary to getting people in, fed and back out quickly and efficiently. This means that you don not approach tables until their menus are gone and they have ordered. If asked, politely tell them that you will be back after they have ordered. This also means that you stay out of the servers way. If they come to a table to see how everything is, step back and let them talk to the table. Doing this will also prevent the servers, most of them anyway, from resenting you and thinking that you are stealing tips from them. With those two goals, helping the restaurant run smooth and allowing the servers to interact with their tables, you will be more successful and potentially get more tips.
3. Ask Questions: This means that when you are meeting with the manager(s) you actively find out what they envision or need from an entertainer. By asking them what they want or need you will be able to decide if this restaurant is for you as well as figuring out if they really want a balloon artist. While you are asking them questions you can find out if they have worked with entertainers before and what kind of experience they had with them. When you ask them questions you will be able to allay their fears and help them see you as the superstar entertainer that you are.

These three ideas are just part of your overall presentation. You need to know what you offer to the restaurant, other then adding value. There needs to be a good reason for them to hire you over another. That is something that you have to figure out for yourself since every entertainer does everything a little bit differently.