P.R.O.F.E.S.S.I.O.N.A.L.
(Part 1)
P.R.O.F.E.S.S.I.O.N.A.L.
(Part 2)
You’ve probably heard people say “I’m a
PROFESSIONAL clown”. So, what
exactly does that mean? Is it based
on how many years they’ve been performing as a clown?
Does it refer to how busy or how often they clown?
Perhaps it relates to how much they’re able to charge?
Or possibly how many clown conventions or festivals they attend?
Let’s take a look at these ideas.
Sometimes a person will say “I’ve been
clowning for 5 years”. It’s
possible that they only do one event a year. The
more accurate description would be that they’ve clowned 5 times.
And then there are lots of people who perform numerous times throughout
the years they’ve been clowning. So,
the term ‘professional’ doesn’t exactly refer to how long a time
that a person has been clowning, as we can see how much that varies from clown
to clown.
But does it refer to how busy or how often they
clown? There are people who perform
infrequently. However, when they are
out there, they put everything they have, everything they can possibly give to
an audience, into their show. The
smallest detail is never overlooked. And
then there are some individuals who slap something together and do the same old
tired performance over and over and over again.
Once again, the frequency or infrequency of performances doesn’t seem
to relate to whether a person is a professional or not.
Perhaps it relates to how much they are able to
charge? Since different regions
across the nation and around the world have different economic structures, what
an individual charges can vary tremendously from town to town, state to state,
region to region, etc. In addition,
a newer clown usually charges less than the going rate in an area as they start
to build up their business. Some of
these entertainers might be better at what they do than the ones who have been
around for a long time who do only what they have to in order to ‘get by’.
Consequently, what a person is able to charge doesn’t automatically
make him or her a professional.
How about the clowns who attend every clown
convention, every clown festival, every workshop that is offered?
Based on the amount of educational avenues they’ve explored, does this
make them a professional? Some
people can attend a class, listen to a lecture, read a book or watch an
educational video and get enormous amounts of information they can use on the
first try. Then they work on these
new skills and new ideas and put them into practice.
Other people can attend the same classes, listen to the same lectures,
etc. They might take copious notes
from the class and then take them home, drop them in a drawer and never do
anything to implement this new knowledge into their clowning.
So, the information one garners from attending conventions, festivals,
classes, etc. can vary immensely from one individual to the next.
Obviously there are so many variables to
entertainers (as to how often they clown, how many years they’ve been
performing, how much they charge and how often they attend educational venues)
to affix any one of the above to classify an individual as a professional.
So, what does make one a professional entertainer?
I took the word PROFESSIONAL and used it as an acronym.
We will look at the first 6 letters this issue.
“P”: Phone
etiquette is a key element in how you make a good impression on a client. This
relates to how you party plan for a birthday party or other event.
It is a good idea to get a business line as soon as possible.
Either that or look into getting a second line that piggy-backs onto your
home line but has a slightly different ring.
This way you always know when it’s a business call coming in.
There is a world of difference in answering your phone as “ABC Clown
Company” or “ABC the Clown” as opposed to “Hello”.
It also eliminates the phone being answered by your kids, a babysitter or
a spouse who doesn’t know what your schedule for next month looks like, etc.
The majority of people nowadays have either an
answering machine or voice mail. This
is important for a variety of reasons. First,
if you are not home, you won’t miss out on those important calls.
Second, if you are in the middle of fixing dinner, changing a diaper,
refereeing a squabble between your kids, angry with your spouse, etc., this is
not a good time to answer the phone. Use
the answering machine to screen those important calls and call them back when
you can present a business-like image. If
you use an answering machine to pick up messages for you, record a professional
message as opposed to having your young children recite a message or sing a song
that may not be intelligible to callers. Remember
that some of the callers are business clients looking to hire a professional
entertainer. The first thing they
hear (whether it’s you personally answering or a recorded message) should be
business-appropriate.
“R”: Reputation.
I can’t say enough about how important your reputation is.
If you are always on time, always prepared for your event, always
courteous on the phone, always deliver what you promised, etc. then your
reputation can speak volumes of praise for you as an entertainer.
If you cancel out on gigs, fail to show up, arrive late, don’t do what
you were hired to do, fail to live up to what you promoted yourself as…this
will adversely affect your reputation. There
is an old saying: “Anyone can get
hired a first time.” The
key is to get rehired. That will
only happen if you are careful about your reputation being spotless.
Your reputation precedes you. If
you have done a wonderful job, then your client will pass the word along.
In the same respect, if you have created a black hole surrounding your
clowning, that same client will spread the bad word along.
Your reputation is one of the most important things to care about in
clowning.
“O”: On
Time. Being on time is essential.
The best way to do this is to be prepared.
Know where you are going. Check
out the directions carefully. Listen
to traffic reports as you are getting into makeup.
Having a cellular phone in the car is important for those unfortunate
traffic jams that can occur. Corporate
events are usually concrete as far as the time you should be there.
They’ll want their entertainment from a certain starting point in time
for a set number of hours. Birthday
parties, however, can vary from one to the next.
Generally speaking, I like to arrive at a party about 10-15 minutes after
their party starts. That gives all
of the children a chance to arrive, take off their jacket, set their gift down
and say their ‘hellos’ to the birthday child and other guests.
I like to arrive 5-10 minutes early, parking slightly down the block.
This allows me to see when the majority of kids are there.
If they all seem to be there by 10 minutes after, then I know I can go
in. If there are still cars pulling
up, I’ll wait a few more minutes before going in.
This, however, is not always the best scenario.
I just had a mother book me to arrive at
“F”: Fees.
Whether you are just starting out or whether you have been clowning for
years, it is important to figure out your prices ahead of time (The New Calliope
May/June 1999). Have your list of
fees right by your business phone. That
way, when a parent calls, you don’t have to verbally fumble to come up with
the fee. Your fee might be different
for a variety of reasons. Do you
want to charge a little more for a party that is expecting 25 to 30 children as
opposed to the party with only 6 or 7 party guests?
Depending on where you live, do you charge the same for someone close to
your neighborhood as opposed to having to drive for an hour one way?
If you offer options to your basic party, are there additional fees
necessary? Do you charge differently
for a corporate event versus a private birthday party?
This is all information that should be figured out ahead of time and
posted near your phone where you have easy access to it.
“E”: Energy
and Enthusiasm. Do you get to an
event and just go through the motions? I
hope not! Your energy and enthusiasm
should be apparent even when on the phone while party planning.
My clients tell me they can ‘hear’ my smile over the phone.
I regularly have new, prospective clients tell me that they’ve called a
number of clowns from the phone book and that quite a few of them sounded 1)
unenthused, 2) dull, 3) uninterested, 4) no energy, 5) unfriendly and sometimes
all of the above! Before answering
that phone, put a smile on your face and in your voice.
After all, this is what we love to do.
Let that enthusiasm shine through. When
you get to the party or event, whether it’s the first or last in a long day of
performing, your energy and enthusiasm should be unwavering.
It’s rather dismaying to see another clown at an event standing there
doing balloons without any life to them. I
want to tap them on the shoulder and ask them “why are they here?”
A few years ago, I had a conversation with someone in my area that offers
different types of entertainment for parties, one of which is for her to dress
up like a clown. She said she just
couldn’t figure out how clowns managed to always be in a good mood.
She admitted that when she got into makeup, if she was in a grumpy mood
from dealing with her own unruly kids, she remained in a grumpy mood even when
she got to the party. Maybe she
needs to re-think her chosen career!
“S”: Supplies
/ Equipment / Props. Having the
right supplies, equipment and props for our clowning is important.
And keeping them in good condition helps us in using them correctly as
well as gives us a more professional look. When
you’re starting out, your supplies are likely to be minimal.
As you grow in your clowning, adding to what you do, its most likely that
you’ll also add to your supplies and equipment.
I’m not suggesting that you load up on expensive equipment when you are
first starting. Most of us add
things, a few here and there, as we progress over the years with what we do and
what we offer. It is important to
have the props you need when you get to an event (and that you maintain them in
good condition). I remember at one
party I started to perform the Beads of Prussia magic trick.
As I went to pull out the clear plastic tube that the beads are dropped
into, I realized that it wasn’t in my trunk.
Not good! There is no way to
complete that trick without the tube. I
quickly pulled out another trick as if I’d just found a wonderful new treasure
and focused on wanting them to see this exciting new find.
I hope the kids were distracted enough to forget about the other
unfinished trick. I doubt that I
succeeded in pulling the wool over the adults’ eyes.
It was one of those ‘lessons’ we learn that hopefully makes us more
careful in the future to double check to see if we have everything we need
before walking out the door.
(503) 281-7393 (Voice) * (503) 335-8568 (FAX)
PO Box 13187 * Portland, OR 97213