Go Game! Double Down with Double Clowns

September 22, 2011

The last time I participated in the Go Game I had to make the post password protected for adult content!

[p.s. pw= 69]

When the Go Game contacted me this time, I invited Honey the clown along.  Not only does she drive a fuel efficient Prius, but she had some clever ideas about parking that would save me from paying $20 to park right next to the rendezvous spot.  She said that we could park in Queen Anne and take a bus.

However, things had changed since she’d last parked there.   They now have a 2 hr limit on most of those free spaces.  We wound up over at Warren & Howe.  We were a long way from any Fareless Square type bus zone ($2.50 for a ride) so we walked the 2 1/2 miles to the meeting spot.  I had worn my plain black garden clogs.

Then we played the game.  Microsoft employees approached and asked if I could provide them with a mascot for their team.  I gave them a balloon mouse.  The computer kind instead of the rodent kind.  Then I gave them a quick lesson on how to twist a balloon dog.  Their smart phones timed them and gave them a score, and they were on their way.

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Then we WALKED to 6 Arms McMeniman’s for dinner, and met some friends.  I arranged with Rick Blythe for our first fast-to-face after connecting through http://micromentor.org.  He’s been helping me on phone some strategies.  Give a call to book a party and find out what I mean.

Then we WALKED to a friend’s house to get a ride back to our car.  I used googlemaps to estimate that we did about 7 miles.

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Pie Fail

August 30, 2011

How many times does this have to happen?  If I’m sitting around without a gig lined up and I get the sudden urge to give away a pie-in-the-face to a former classmate who’s passing through town… Not if… WHEN that happens next, please STOP ME!

Last time I hung out a the corner of Olympia & Washington waiting for Puck.

All thanks to FACEBOOK… instead of relying on instant messages, I’ve got to pick up the phone to confirm the time and place the pieing will happen!

“Aloha, Agent Mousetrap?”

This time, I noticed that Shannon, a former classmate, was updating her status while riding a train between Portland and Seattle.  At least, I thought, we would have to meet at one particular spot: the Centennial Train Station in Lacey.

However, trains don’t always run on time.

At 1PM I proposed the pie-in-the-face.  She said she’d put her face up to the window.  I said that she’d have to step to the open door.  I checked the Amtrak website and saw that the estimated arrival was at 2:20.

However, a branch fell on the tracks and the train was stopped outside of Kelso.

At 1:52 the ETA was 3 O’clock.

At 2:17 I had done the fastest make-up job ever.  And wore my new Tiger God T-shirt from Dr. Sy Bantam of the Healing Journey Radio.

At 2:30 the ETA was 3:35.  I had one of Orion’s classmates over for a playdate, so I figured that I’d let them play at the house as long as possible and keep checking the ETA.

At 2:53 the ETA was 4:05 Then I lay down for a short nap.

At 3:07 @swianecki tweeted Surreal: I’m on a stalled train + old friends are plotting to pie me in the face when I pass through O-lympia! #hijackedbywoodlandcreatures

And the train started moving.

I checked and saw that the ETA was 4:45.

At 4:14 I departed for the station.

At 4:35  She wrote: I was there, camera in hand, waiting for you!  The conductor even let me get off the train!  Where were you?

At 4:40 I arrived at the station and greeted THE WRONG TRAIN!


“I think you wanted the 506… that was the 516. The 506 came through about 10 minutes ago.”

 

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Busy Sunday [SITC & 2kid/2clown Party]

August 28, 2011

I was flattered when Ned Hayes asked me to provide some professional face painting to support Kids at Play during Sunday’s Sand in the City.  It also provided another opportunity for intern “Crystal” to shine.

In email exchanges before the event, I quickly found out that an emergency comedy consultation was in order.  They let me know they were providing two palettes of Diamond FX 12 Essentials with four #2 & four #4 brushes.  It’s the same palette I use.  However, the Hands On Children’s Museum (who sponsors the event) had suggested that painters be prepared for 2500 faces over the course of 7 hours! [uh... six faces a minute?!]

I advised:
 I would get way more brushes of varying sizes and shapes.  And sponges.  And baby-wipes.  Just saying.
Especially if you let kids say ‘Tiger’ you need to get a square foot of orange (for example) up in a hurry.
Sidebar: if the paints are not depleted I might suggest you trade those for (a portion of?) the labor of my assistants.  Those clowns have been using my paint!

Luckily, it made sense to them, and we had enough paints AND brushes to cover many many faces.  Of course, we didn’t serve anywhere near the estimate.  In the end, I was able to bequeath my used palette to Crystal and accept a brand new & unopened one as a perk.

 

“Justin is the consummate professional clown. He loves his work — and it shows! He knows his way around kids, makeup, crowd control, and parents. What I love most about working with Justin is that he strives to create a complete atmosphere of fun — with pies, music, professional props, and all the accouterments. Justin is great to work with — and I highly recommend him to anyone who wants to have a GOOD TIME !!!” Ned Hayes

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Then I rushed home to get into clown and gather supplies [pies, Coke & Mentos, and water balloons].  I had a previously booked party for that evening.  The client had called Marie from Sustainable South Sound asking whether I would extend my coupon from last year.  She was especially excited when I further offered to bring Crystal as a Buy One Get One special.

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Brad & John of KISM Bellingham

August 3, 2011

I got a message on my phone that some DJ’s on 92.9 KISM Classic Rock saw the Seattle Times feed about clown camp and would like to talk to me…

I was otherwise engaged during their 5:30 – 10 AM show [working at Juvie].  They went ahead during their “I Can’t Believe It’s News 8/3 early” segment and had a little fun with the idea of it.

LISTEN HERE<

“It’s time to get serious about college.  My dad told me I need to buckle up!”

“Son, have you finally figured out… four years at college… have you finally figured out where you’re going?”

“Yes, father, my career track is taking me into clowning.”

“I knew we never should have sent him to Evergreen!”

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Mini-Clown Camp Party Extraordinaire [w/Vlog]

June 12, 2011

 

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For Kai’s 11th birthday at the Circle Hawk Farm house on the 11th with approximately 11 guests…

a highly interactive mini-clown camp from 1 – 3 PM, a microcosm of the week-long camp in July: juggling/ object manipulation lesson, balloon twisting lesson, joke telling lesson, laughter yoga session w/ Trish & Orion, & pies in the faces…  in the theme of Lego Star Wars meets Old MacDonald.

For this party, I realized where the advice of other clowns was leading me astray from my natural instinct.  It’s been ‘common knowledge’ among party clowns that the clown’s role is over when the cake arrives.  No one wants to compete with the cake and presents.  I’ve been making my exit as mom takes over and everyone gets their sugar buzz on.

During the discussions with Kai’s mom, however, I followed my own inclination and offered:

  • Presenting the cake by Clowns!
  • Lighting the candles by Clowns!
  • Singing the birthday song by Clowns!
  • Slicing and serving the cake by Clowns!
  • Delivering the presents by Clowns!
  • Thanking the gift-givers by Clowns!

A comprehensive multi-hour, multi-clown party package that everyone would be sure to remember!


“I hired Justin to manage the entertainment at my son’s 11th birthday party. The entire class was invited, and I wasn’t sure how to keep a dozen pre-teenagers (boys and girls) adequately and appropriately entertained. The results were nothing short of spectacular. “Jusby” and his team of clowns engaged the kids by first leading them in an icebreaker Laughter Yoga session. He came prepared with lots of different activities, but the two that the kids went absolutely ga-ga over were the face painting and the pies. I’ve never seen kids line up so enthusiastically to get a pie in the face. Additionally, several of the parents opted to be pied as well. Everyone was laughing hysterically and very happy. As an added bonus, Jusby and his team handled the cake presentation and serving (clowns serving cake!) and the unwrapping of gifts (hilarious). BUT THAT’S NOT ALL – Jusby also provided me with beautiful online photos of the event (he’s a terrific photographer). Would I hire him again? In a New York minute. He will give you every dime’s worth of your money and then some. He’s also great with all ages, from little kids to adults. Highly recommend -

- Jennifer Waldref, Communications Specialist at Democratic Caucus/Washington State House of Representatives

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Protected: 6 Ways to pick up Jusby (the Sexy Clown) in Seattle

June 10, 2011

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Soccer Pal Post Party Vlog

March 26, 2011

… waiting for stills from Party Mom cam…

[edit.. tracked down a few on facebook.  This mom said her son had taken a big, medium AND mini.

My son has won many a "7 year old one up" conversation with the zinger, "Well, have you ever taken a PIE IN THE FACE?" - Erica Van Lierop, Queen Beef at Van's Burger

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GI JOE Themed Party (~378 Total faces pied)

March 5, 2011

A client recently had me come for a 6 y/o boy’s GI Joe themed birthday party.

I went with the basic black topped with Grampa Del’s garrison cap, accented with a camouflaged belt from a long gone bathrobe.  For extra fancy, I  added the spats that came from Puck F.

On the way, I noticed someone had pranked a car in the OHS parking lot.  I left them my card in case they wanted to get even.

Afterwards, I pied a bonus face back home.  AJ had been visiting and took a large pie to the face.

The videos tell about the Magic Kombucha grenade fail.

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Noise Guy Pied

August 5, 2010

Charlie “The Noise Guy” Williams (of Isaaquah) capped off the Summer Children’s Entertainment Series on Tuesday night.  Capped it right off. bang-bang-bang. ke-BaaaNGGG!

Okay, kids.   You can only make these sounds OUTSIDE, okay?  Have a fun car ride home, parents.

Blasting the kiddy mosh pit with a Super Soaker to illustrate the effects of Hurricane Charlie.

And a third volley because they screamed “More, more, you fool!  We must be subdued by your hydraulic arsenal or we will rush the stage!”

What a pretty face!  It almost seems a shame to cover it in pie.  Almost.

We arranged to meet on Thursday morning before Charlie’s next Olympia show (at the downtown library).  We had a blast comparing stories and riffing on each others’ material.  We’ had a delicious breakfast at the New Moon Cafe (Vampire themed vegan breakfasts – j/k). He ordered French Toast.  I ordered the Monte Cristo… which is a triple-decker French toast club sandwich.  I brought a Buy Local coupon.  He brought a credit card.  Breakfast was on him!

Charlie’s modeling the new Magnum salon cape that replaced the backwards lab coat for pieing.  He’s always wanted a pie-in-the-face.  It was fate that brought us together.  Fate and FACEBOOK.

Now it’s time for his Jusby Desert.

Desert was on him too!

No skimping on the pie!  If you look closely you’ll see Terry Zander, former piee, peering at us from inside.  Also seen in the New Moon that morning, former client, Debe Edden.

Ooops.  Somebody’s gonna have to clean that up!  Out came Terry Zander to the rescue with several buckets of water and an industrial push broom.  The catch?  I had to listen to his jokes.

Speaking of water… an hour later Charlie’s back to squirting the children for the conclusion of Take a Splash, Read!

What IS that racket?

It’s your new light saber on the first day of Jedi School.  Good thing Master Yoda had that tip about the AA batteries.

“My crops need watering on Farmville!  I’m wasting time on Facebook!”

Charlie wrote a book: “Flush, an Ode to Toilets”.

OMG, I Pied ANOTHER AUTHOR!

I’m am the literariest clown in the whole reciprocating bio-region of Cascadia!

Charlie’s review of the Pieing

Out of the choices: Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree, Strongly Disagree or Not Applicable

Charlie selected Strongly Agree for All 7 survey questions

Pie

  1. The pie had an adequate, clearly identifiable target.
  2. Pie met my expectations in terms of its stated target.
  3. Comedy was appropriate for the amount of time allowed.
  4. Pie increased my laughter and/or expanded my smile.
  5. I will be able to apply the pie content to my current job assignment.

Clown

  1. The clown was organized and prepared.
  2. The clown had a thorough knowledge of the subject.
  3. The clown used effective talking and hand motions and stuff.

He also added the following comments: “Pied Piper, Pied lovebird, Pie in the sky, the great pie of Sauron”

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Funny Guy takes a Fall, Gets the Chair

November 21, 2009

I finally got around to having 2 1/2 hours to catch up on the Show Off Finals.

I was really looking forward to this moment per a status update by the director

“With a LIVE show anything can happen – our MC fainted ONSTAGE (he’s fine but it was scary)! Another MC stepped in for the last 1/4 of the show.”

Here it is.

[1:35:30]  “Another big hand for the Slieveloughane (Sleeve-locaine) dancers okay. we’ve got three more acts and a lot of talent, but first let’s bring out the second half performers, Formula Boogie… “

[1:35:44] slump, CLUNK.

[1:35:46] They enter.  Jerry’s hair is visible on the floor.

A b-boy does a flip.  They notice Jerry.

[1:35:51]  A lady jumps on stage and instantly says “Call 911!” and points at a person to do it [1:35:54].

[1:35:56]  Deb starts walking across the stage.  A b-boy is backing up with his hands in the air! Like WTF, I didn’t touch him!

[1:36:04]  Stage crew are rushing over.   A silhouetted woman in the audience gets up and runs toward that side of the stage, and the director goes to a commercial.

Then there’s a kid interviewing the b-boys.  They talk about how long they’ve been dancing and shout out a prayer for Jerry.

He is replaced by John Tennis who acknowledges that he is NOT Jerry Farmer.  He says, “Jerry put his body and soul into the show, and his body is being worked on now.”

By the 2:00 mark, Deb comes on and says that Jerry’s fine.

“He got a little light headed during that dance routine.”

Sheer Professionalism!  Donate to TCTV for some smelling salts!

[2:24:51]  All the contestants are on the stage, and John Tennis says, “Will You Welcome Back to the stage, Jerry Farmer… and Deb Vinsel!”  [Cheers and concerned looks.  He's in a wheelchair]

Jerry says, “Thank you all for your care and concern, and a special thanks to my two nurses who helped me out back there, Mike and Chelsea, and here’s the really cool thing.  They’re Mental Health nurses, okay?”

“God knows we love you, Jerry,” says Deb.  “Yeah,” says Jerry.

“There’s a whole other story,” says John.

“There certainly is,” says Deb.

“Crazy Business,” says Jerry, ” Thank you all.”

This update just in from Deb:

Congratulations … Troyz Boyz – 2009 TCTV SHOW OFF! Audience Choice Award Winner and “O” – 2009 TCTV SHOW OFF! Judges Choice Winner. TCTV is a winner too.. nearly $5000 raised in donations and sponsorships and a great, fun new community event is born! See you all next year!

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Pie in the face video (abridged)

October 25, 2009

Here’s the short version of the Pie-in-the-face routine from NWFest ’09.

Courtesy David Raffin and blissfulremembrances.com

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NWFC movie (feat. Jusby)

October 21, 2009

http://ia311004.us.archive.org/3/items/ClownConvention2009/ClownCon.mov

21 minutes of Northwest Festival of Clowns featuring all three of the events in which I competed… and some other clowns too.  Courtesy David Raffin & Blissful Remembrances.

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Things got weird at work that Monday

October 7, 2009

I’ve been working as a one on one paraeducator for about three years, and there’s a pattern of kids moving on. I worked for a year at Madison Elementary, and the kid moved on. The district reassigned me to McLane Elementary. After a year (and some change) the kid moved on. I spent the summer in Displaced Worker limbo. Then the district told me that a position was opening back at Madison, but I would have to interview for it. Although this was an annoyance because I was not used to simply being assigned a position, I had two aces up my sleeve.

At the conclusion of the interview they asked if I had any questions. I pulled out two letters of recommendation… from two of the interviewers in the room and asked, “Recognize these?”

They called to offer me the position later that afternoon.

I worked in 3rd grade, helping the kid and the others in the classroom or on the playground or in the lunchroom. I already posted the picture of my debut during the assembly. So let’s fast-forward to the 2nd week of school, the Monday after the two trips to Tacoma.

I showed up, but the kid wasn’t there. The special ed. teacher said that he had transferred to Lincoln.

Hmmm. What does that mean for me? It’s still in the Olympia School District, right. Sure enough, HR and Special Services confirmed that my contract means one on one with the student not the school building.

I spent the remainder of the day helping other kids, but drove myself over to Lincoln to get acquainted with the situation: staff, building, schedule, etc. The principal asked if I could start the next day. My philosophy was: I should be two steps ahead of him instead of running to keep up.

Lincoln was, in many ways, just like coming home.  The classroom had a loft (like Orion’s school) and felt dolls.  They work with beeswax and finger knitting.  In fact, many former Waldorf parents and educators are now Lincoln parents and educators.  The physical building reminded me of my old elementary school, Metropolitan Learning Center (MLC) in Portland that I’ve mentioned in previous blogs.  It also had three stories, so there’s lots of stairs to climb each day.  The Lincoln philosophy is similar to MLC’s, Waldorf’s and Evergreen’s.

Then the teacher gave me an outline of the schedule.  “The first recess is from 10:30 until 11, and…” Whoa, Whoa, Whoa! Hold Up!  It’s WHAT?  I had to steady myself.  Did she just say it was a HALF AN HOUR?!  Every other school has 10 whole minutes for recess.  This place is really putting a high value on PLAY!

I attended the first weekly assembly and nearly fell over again.  There’s a parent/ teacher band EACH week.  With drums, cello, guitar, bass, banjo, etc.  Mclane had a piano (with a candeabra)!  Though they often use a CD.  Madison sometimes had a guitar.  But this was a BAND!  A band with a CD out.  With a White Stripes cover song on it!

Check out

“We Are Gonna to Be Friends“mp3

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Fall Arts Walk preview

October 1, 2009

So much to tell you, but I’m going to cut to the most current.  Tomorrow is Olympia’s Fall Arts Walk, and I was part of Bil Fleming’s Great Clown Photoshoot.  I brought a whole trunk full of costumes and did quick changes, so he’d have plenty of options.  He’s photoshopping the clowns into a collage around a central clown.  She’s being crucified.  Very edgy.  Not for the average clown.

sadgreenhaired

Here’s my sad face.

darkclownmarshal

Here’s a favorite of mine, but it didn’t make the final cut.  I was going for the ruthless Roman look.  I think he used this one as a publicity shot.

The finished work will be at Hot Toddy, 410 Capitol Way S. in Olympia.

Here’s the pdf of the map/ schedule of events Entire%20Map_LowRes <<

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Flaming Pies, Mach II

August 30, 2009

I spent the afternoon with Luke shopping for the new flaming pie hardware.  We went to Home Depot for an hour.  Then we stopped at Ace Hardware for the white gas (aka Coleman fuel).  We walked to the dollar store and got cutting boards, red oven mitts, a red checkered tablecloth, and plums (for Orion).  Then we had to go back into Ace Hardware for more screws and washers to attach the boards and mitts where scrap lumber had been.

Luke handled all the drilling and screwing from that point.  They were done in time for me to rush down to the Midnight Sun and talk with Elizabeth Lord about the possibility of flaming pies in her upcoming Vaudeville show.

What was expected was “an audition”.

Two groups were before my conversation.  A couple did a drag Mary Poppins / Chimney Sweep lipsynch and dance.  I wasn’t familiar with the version, but it took aim, in part, at Disney.  Then the woman had another partner do a Flamenco duet.

I told Elizabeth frankly that my new flaming pie act had never been tried, but I proposed a Clown-lesque act of approximately 5 minutes.  If I felt I could not safely perform flaming pies indoors I was willing to work outside, perhaps during intermission.  I was sure to light them up later that evening.  We would be in touch.

Here they are soaking in white gas.  Neighbor Aaron advised, after the fact, mixing the white gas with paraffin lamp fuel, to lower the flash point and mellow it out overall.

fpsoaking

fp1soaked

A fully soaked pie.  Aaron also demonstrated how it is wise to shake off the excess fuel… before lighting it.

fpssm

They lit up good!

fpson1foot

So I did a little dance.

fpinterview

Then I consented to an interview with David Raffin.

Here’s the video

http://blissfulremembrances.com/br/videofolder/ClownFire.mov

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