A Real Clown or Not? how to tell if you're a real clown, as told
by a real clown
No true clown wants to scare a child. However, some children can
and do grow up with a Fear Of Clowns-- the clinical name for
this is coulraphobia. The question is, how can professional
clowns prevent children from being scared?
Before even discussing make-up, let's look at some basics.
Remember when dealing with children, all adults are
"giant-sized" from their perspective. When interacting with
children, clowns (or other children's entertainers) need to come
to their level physically. Get down on one knee, or sit on the
floor. Remember what it felt like to be that age.
In a related note, never force a frightened child to come by the
clown. Parents will very often try to push an obviously
frightened child to go by the clown, often for a photograph.
Something I try to do in this situation is to act frightened
myself, greatly exaggerating my "fear" while explaining to the
parents that I get really scared by little kids when they're
frightened. This serves several purposes -- it makes the clown
the scaredy cat and lets the child off the hook, it reflects the
fear to the child and allows him to be brave in comparison to
the clown, and it allows the clown to "lower himself" and raise
the child up. Of course, it also gets the message across to Mom
& Dad -- when the child is ready, he or she will willingly come
by the clown, and the experience will be the happy one the
parents wanted in the first place.
(originally published at
http://www.clown-ministry.com/Articles/fear-of-a-clown.html)
Finally, think about your clown make up. Remember that the
purpose of clown make up is to amplify your own natural
features. Do not overdo your make up -- remember, less is more.
You want to entertain children, not frighten them.