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March 28, 2000
The Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus utilized the American circus clown to
provide comic relief between sets, relieving the audience of the dramatic tension created
by the never-before-seen, death-defying acts endearing to traditional circus performances.
But big top or small town, circus or no circus, clowns work hard to get a laugh or three.
Providing fans with belly-laughs is a tough job. It is also an adventure when one’s
audience just happens to be under three-feet tall.
As part of the Parent / Tot Enrichment classes offered through the Camas Parks and
Recreation Department at the Camas Community Center, located at 1718 S.E. Seventh Ave.,
children ages three to five, accompanied by their parents, took part in a hilarious,
foot-stomping, hand-clapping, belly-busting interactive program entitled "BJ the
Clown: Let’s Clown Around."
Children were entertained with preschool-level developmental activities that focused on
reinforcing the names of colors, parts of the body, counting, motor skills, and taking
turns. Dressed in street clothing and sans makeup, BJ, a.k.a. Bret Christie of Portland,
Ore., gave each of the 16 children in attendance a small picture of himself wearing his
registered clown face (yes, clown identities are protected), to facilitate a discussion
about which colors should adorn various parts of his face.
Youngsters not only watched BJ transform into his colorful clown personality, they helped
him, stamping rosy red face paint onto his cheeks, powdering his face with an old gym sock
filled with talcum powder, and dusting off the loose powder with a turquoise blue feather
duster. BJ’s physical comedy produced thunderous giggles and broad-reaching smiles as
the funny one made strange and wonderful mouth noises whenever kids got powder or feathers
in his mouth.
Transforming before their very eyes with makeup, BJ then showed the kids his "real
clown nose," demonstrating how he attaches it after the glue, painted on his own
nose, dried, forming a sticky adhesive.
Digging through a costume trunk, BJ produced the trademark clown shoes, dangling them in
the air for everyone to see. When finally decked-out for clowning, BJ donned clown pants
and jacket, silly socks, big shoes, a bow tie, a hat, and white clown gloves, which he
used as a slapstick prop.
"I like gloves," he said, putting one on, "they keep your hands warm and
they let you hold balloons," he said cheerfully. But the ribbon attached to the
bouquet of helium-filled balloons he brought into the act kept slithering through the
slippery fabric encasing his hand, as the multicolored latex army charged its way toward
the ceiling.
Then he told the kids that to keep the balloons from floating away one must wear two
gloves and use two hands. Again, the ribbon snaked through his gloved fingers to the
amusement of all the guests, at which point he encouraged the kids to help him tell the
balloons they had to stay in "time-out," a popular parental tactic used for
misbehaving children in which they must stay in a designated location until further
notice. But the balloons did not obey, and the children went wild.
"You balloons stay there," said BJ, when they reached a comfortable resting
point in the corner of the room. And they did just that while he continued to entertain
with tricks involving magically cutting a five-foot-long pink balloon in half –
without popping it – using special oversized, yellow plastic clown scissors.
Engaging his charges in a clapping and dancing game to music that he played on a
multicolored squeeze box, BJ the Clown had kids grooving with goofy instructions like
"pat your head" and "cry like a baby," humor which the kids seemed to
enjoy tremendously.
BJ the Clown
503-282-2000
PO Box 55604
Portland, Oregon 97238
Celebrating 12 years & 3000 performances!
Exciting comedy Shows – Magic – Games – Balloon Art Facepainting – Puppets –
Music – and More!
Experience & reliability you can trust!
Email: bjclown@aol.com
Serving the Portland and Vancouver Metro area including Beaverton, Tigard, Hillsboro, Tualatin, Lake Oswego, Milwaukie, Gresham, Camas, Oregon City, Willsonville, Canby, and most of Salem.