ResearchHow To Be a Clown This Halloween
I first did my clown routine at work on Halloween of 2001. If you're parsing the calendar, you're notice that's one month after the dreaded 9/11. Yes, we'd had almost two months of trudging the office halls with a morbid air of doom and gloom, and I decided, "Time for a stress-buster!" Dressing up for my Halloween day at the office was just the ticket - everybody loved it.
Props: Ignore the hobo-clown and ballerina-clown. We're going for classic circus clown: clothes are best found in charity used-clothing stores, anything wacky will do. Big shoes, loud mismatch clothes, rainbow suspenders, squirting flower, rainbow wig, face paint, and rubber nose.
Now neither you nor your "audience" will have much fun if you just dress up and don't play the part. So tie each prop in with as many jokes as you can:
The nose is a big one. Sniff the air and ask if anybody else smells something strange. When they answer no, sniff some more and say "It smells like...foam rubber." Come up behind somebody and yell "Achoo!" and throw your nose over their shoulder. Roll your nose across the desk and say, "I must have a cold, my nose is running."
The squirting flower: people volunteer for this one. No matter how big and obvious it is that it's a squirting flower, people will still come up and ask if it really squirts water. Frown in concentration as you fumble for the squeeze bulb in your pocket, mumbling you think it might be out of water. Nope, it wasn't!
Carry some juggling balls whether you juggle or not. Juggle - or try to juggle - and drop one. Say, "There must have been a sudden gust of gravity!" or to anybody near-by "That was your turn to catch that one." Juggle with just one ball and act like it's a supreme feat of effort. Try to juggle all three balls and when they fall, keep moving your arms around as if the balls were still in the air.
Balloon art: You might want to get a book and practice with balloon shapes beforehand - almost anybody can do a simple balloon hat. Animal shapes are another thing; once you have the basic dog down, however, it should be easy to vary it to a mouse, a giraffe, a wiener dog, etc. It's up to you if you can do this, but do try it and see. Balloon animals aren't half as hard as they look. An invaluable resource is a can of compressed air - the kind that's always around office equipment or is sold in computer stores. A can of compressed air is essential for blowing up balloons while saving your lungs, and it fits easily in a coat pocket.
Other props: By all means, grab as many cheap wind-up toys as you can. Or any random silly toy that comes in a fast food kid's meal. Stuff your pockets with every gag you can fit - try to have something for every occasion. Dime store novelty magic tricks work too. Remember that it doesn't have to be spectacular - clown props should be cheesy and childish.
Humor: remember to make yourself the butt of the joke most of the time. Some people get a little defensive around clowns. Leftover scary memory from childhood, perhaps. Take it easy and don't push yourself - you'll find plenty of fans around to play for. With kids, go especially gentle. Let them come to you. If you seem to be scaring a toddler, maybe you should go ahead and yank off the wig and nose and let them see that you're a normal human being under a costume. Everybody watching will understand.
Most important of all, bring your own inner child along - and let it play! If you pull it off right, they'll be talking about you all year long.