THE FUNNIES

At our February meeting instead of a guest speaker we had our annual Swap Meet. It is usually in May with our club elections but the members had items to sell and wanted to do it in February.   AHHHHHhhhhh….free enterprise at work in the USA.  Those who didn’t attend missed out on LOTS and LOTS of GREAT items.  I diligently stayed up at the table in the front as long as I could, as I didn’t want to go HOG WILD and spend LOTS of money.  Well, I finally had to go out with the rest and BUY, BUY, BUY!  I got some nice things too!

Those who did not attend sit back and weep, as you missed some EXCELLENT items and the prices were right also.  And those who attended, they purchased the items you didn’t get and went home happy.  I know that I did anyway.  Start thinking about next year’s swap meet.  The sooner you start getting things ready, the more you will have to sell when the swap meet rolls around again.  And the more that you sell, the more money you will have to buy from others.

LITTLE TIDBITS TO REMEMBER: Whenever you are getting ready for a gig, check out your balloons to see if they blow up or do many of them POP?  You need to store your balloons in a cool place and the latex cannot be in the sun.  Or they may just be too old.  Also, if you haven’t done balloons for a while flex your hands and arms to get them into shape.  At the meeting I will be showing the exercises that I do to keep my hands and arms in shape for doing balloons for long periods of time.  If you keep these areas in shape, then you will not have tired arms and your fingers will be limber when you work with the balloons.  At a “Balloon Boot Camp class” at All-American Balloon & Supply, everyone in the class was joking around.  We decided to call ourselves “Latex Engineers”.  Feel free to use this term in your clowning.

And a HUGE reminder. . . .Never do something that you just learned at a gig.  You need to PRACTICE, PRACTICE & PRACTICE each and everything new until it becomes part of you.  We get a new prop and are always so excited and want to use it NOW!  Resist that urge and practice it first.  Some day’s before a gig, I will go through and practice everything that I will be doing at that gig.  I want to be sure that everything is POLISHED and PROFESSIONAL.  After all, we ARE professional clowns so we need to be this way down to our soul.

Remember – In May we have our club elections.  Think of which office you would like to run for.  The offices are as follows:  (1) PRESIDENT (2) VICE-PRESIDENT (3) SECRETARY (4) TREASURER (5) NEWSLETTER EDITOR (6) WEBDESIGNER AND WEBMASTER.  As a sideline – In the bylaws, it states that the President can only serve two terms and this is the end of my second term.

AND. . .What do you get when you cross a dinosaur with a computer?  A mega-bite!

Hello Everyone,
COAI is getting ready in the next couple of weeks to have the Convention in Louisiana and with all the set backs that have happened since Hurricane Katrina, we are still plugging through to make it one of the best yet!  This is the first time that the Board ourselves have put the convention on and it has been interesting to say the least, but I know we are all going to do our best to make it fun!  If anyone would like to contribute to the South West Region basket for the auction that benefits those who would like to attend convention with a scholarship, please bring it to the meeting.  I hope to see some of you there!  See you soon!
Butterscotch
COAI SW Regional VP
and Junior Joey Chair 

Warmer weather will be coming up in the spring and thoughts of new summer picnics and learning new routines come to mind. NOW IS THE TIME TO START LEARNING AND PRACTICING NEW ROUTINES.  Here is a funny one that works at picnics, parties or just about anywhere that people wear summer type clothing. 

PROPS:  You will need two pair of “Long John” bottoms.  But we are actually talking about sweat pants.  Buy the XX-large size, the larger the better and get the brightest colors possible.  You need two different colors, as you’ll have two teams.  Also, purchase (at ALL-AMERICAL BALLOON of course) a bag of #9 round assorted color balloons, a package of large twenty gallon trash bags, and a coach’s whistle.

PREPARATION:  On the morning of the event, blow up an equal number of balloons; say 12, for each team.  Blow them up various sizes.  Some big, medium and small.  Have a good mixed assortment for each team.  Place the blown balloon into each trash bag.  Put twelve in each bag.  Seal the tops of the bags with the twist tie and you are ready to begin the fun.

ROUTINE: Some use a mom and one of her kids for one team & a dad & one of his kids for the other team.  You put the mom & the dad in the long johns without knowing yet what is about to happen.

You then explain the rules as you bring out the 2 bags of balloons.  “When the whistle blows, the kids must put as many balloons into the Long Johns as they can while the music is playing!  The first team to successfully get all of the balloons into the Long Johns is the Number 1d Team”.  All during the action do a play-by-Play.  Tell the audience to cheer for the teams.  This adds to the excitement.

When one team has finished, blow the whistle and stop the music.  You have the Number 1 Team!  Now have the kids help to unload the balloons from the Long Johns one-by-one as you and the audience all count out loud.  Do the same with the other team counting out loud.  Count slowly so the little kids can join in the counting.

As the balloons are counted, they are returned to the garbage bag until after the show.  Give them to the little kids.  At a big event, don’t give them out, as you will not have enough.  At a small event you can give the bags to the parents and they can give them out after you leave. 

Assist mom & dad in removing the Long Johns & thank them for being such good sports. Make sure you and the kids give them a round of applause.  Oh, if a balloon blows away, a child from that team must go and get it and put it back into the garbage bag to use it.  A parent can help the kid get the balloon.

The parents in the brightly colored Long Johns with the kids are a GREAT photo opportunity and kids in the audience are laughing, as it is so funny.  As to the music, use an up tempo banjo song or two, instrumental only.  Be sure it is a fast paced tune.  You can use all kids but it is better to have the two parents as it runs more smoothly.  NEVER use teenagers as they won’t cooperate and you’ll be disappointed.  This game is for kids & parents ONLY!  HAVE FUN!

(Laugh Makers – Vol. 14 – No 1 & 2 – 1996)

Your Funny Business Board and Associates:

Pam "Twinkles d'Klown" House, President
562-431-6955 klassyklowns1@yahoo.com

Candy "Butterscotch" Will, Vice President and COAI Regional Vice President
949-489-9971 Btrsctch4h@cox.net

Wendy Olson "Wendy" Secretary/Treasurer
714/524-2897 dolson970@sbcglobal.net

Jackie McDoniel "Sweetheart" Co-secretary
714-636-7966 jackiemc@socal.rr.com


Send all Articles by the last Monday in the previous month to:
Paulette "Pom-Pom" Rosen, Newsletter Editor
and Webdesigner and Webmaster for "Clown Pages" our Funny Business Website
714/539-4472 pom-pom@pom-pomclown.com
Funny Business Website http://clownpages.com