Class Clowns

by Kira Glassman

Eighteen-year-old Billy Murray was following his childhood dream. Jason Epstein wanted to do it before he started medical school. Robin Wood was giving herself a 60th birthday present.

Dance teacher Tiffany Riley instructs her students in the fine art of funny movement. Photo: Carl Glassman

Those crazy clowns!

If you happened to peek into a vacant second-floor store in the World Financial Center last month, you would have seen these and a couple dozen other apparently ordinary men and women learning the finer points of funny walks and grease-paint smiles, or just seeing what it feels like to, well, clown around.

It was all in a day's studies at the sixth annual NY Goofs Ultimate Clown School. And if you think there's nothing more to clowning than putting on a red nose and acting goofy, think again.
That's what these wannabe Bozos-a dancer, a social worker, a psychologist, a retired conflict-resolution counselor, and

a few professional clowns-discovered during the intensive two weeks of training that also included public displays of craziness before hapless workers and tourists in the Winter Garden.

As students learned dance steps, they quickly added a large measure of personality to go with them. Later, they used dance in improvisational routines. Photo: Carl Glassman
Ian Lloyd, a party clown from Ottawa, Ontario, performs in the Winter Garden, where he and other clown school students entertained lunchtime visitors. Photo: Alan Tannenbaum

Instructors stressed, first and foremost, the importance of finding the character from within. Different from acting, it doesn't require playing a part, but playing a part of yourself, they said.

Larry Pisoni, the character development coach, asked his students to put aside any performance skills they might have brought with them, such as mime or acrobatics.

"I want you to work with what's really you," he told them. "It's exploring those parts of yourself you wouldn't necessarily like to share with others."

"Clowning is a very personal art form," explained Dick Monday, the school's co-founder and the former director of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College. "We can't teach clowning, but we can guide it."

Under the tutelage of professional clown specialists-from make-up artists to movement experts-the students powdered their faces, balanced brooms on their noses (the trick is to keep your eye on the top of the stick), learned the Charleston (clown-style) played charades, and improvised routines.

They also learned to take pride in the clown performer's art-baggy pants, floppy shoes, and all.

"We are worthy as clowns," said Monday. "We represent something that is oh-so-needed in society."
Aiko Hayashi, a Japanese clown, applies the finishing touches to her face. Photo: Alan Tannenbaum