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F.A.Q.'s
What do I think about being a clown?
Giggles": It's funny....because I can see the humor in it.
Do you like being a clown?
Giggles": I LOVE IT! This is the best job in the world! It's my Calling, my Art, my Passion.
How long have you been a clown?
"Giggles": Professionally since 1976 but my first encounter with grease paint was when I was 6. I detail this on my History/Bio page.
Did you always want to be a clown?
"Giggles": No. I wanted to be a singer. I studied voice for 8 years but I wasn't really gifted in that area of performance. But I was performing on stage since I was 6~dancing and acting~and then doing parades and shows as a clown with my father, Smokey the Fire~Eater. So, I believe I was born into "show-biz" per say, and that "clowning" was the performance path that was most traveled, most nurtured and definitely the most fruitful.
What is your favorite color?
"Giggles": HOT PINK!
Does "Giggles the Clown" wear a wig?
"Giggles": Yes, under my real hair. "Giggles the Clown" is a natural bluenette. Some kids ask me if I have a wig on and I just simply tell them that "I don't live in a wig-wamm~hello!"
Well, then, where does "Giggles the Clown" live?
"Giggles": I live in a Clowndominium in Clown Town, about a mile-and-a-half east out of Hobo-ville.
"Giggles" always asks kids if they have a pet, does "Giggles the CLown" have any pets?
"Giggles": Oh, yes! "Giggles" has pets...2 elephants, Harvey & Matilda & a puppy named Dolce'. Dolce' means sweet in Italian.
Did you go to school or take lessons on how to be a clown & twist balloons?
"Giggles": Well, kind of. Here's how I see it. Years ago when I was a student of Musical Theater @ Point Park College (University, now), I read a book called Acting is Believing, and as the character of "Giggles the Clown" started developing, I implemented those acting techniques into the process, renaming it as The Art of Clowning, because that is what "believable" clowning is~ACTING + ART. And in my opinion, this is just my thought, but being a "believable clown" is quite a high form of acting because a clown is supposed to be bigger than life, like a cartoon character. And today more than ever before children have the greatest imaginations and we actors in the genre' of "Children's theatre" have to work harder to be consistently believable and relevant.
Actually, my first lesson in twisting balloons was when my father brought a Shriner clown to our house to teach me how to twist balloons; I was 15 years old. The Shriner clown showed me a few things and then my father bought me a Marvin Hardy book. So I started learning on my own by reading books. The art of balloon sculpting has just magnificently evolved over the past 20 years and to stay marketable and fruitful in a growing business, you have to keep learning~and that is done by studying your craft whether it be learning by books, DVD's, conventions and just by being exposed to seeing what others are doing with balloons. So, the way I see it, is that I've never left school, I've just transferred to a new campus~REAL LIFE.
Are you a "real clown"?
"Giggles": YES! Hello!?
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