Tomorrow, I get to realise a life-long dream; to tick off a major item on my ‘bucket list’.
Tomorrow, I make my debut as a ‘clown’ – at least, my formal debut as a clown. My wife would argue that I have been a clown for much of my life.
Yes, tomorrow I will play the role of an oversized-toothbrush-toting-clown in Adelaide’s Christmas Pageant. My shtick involves brushing my partner-in-crime’s teeth (she is carrying an oversized lollipop), strumming my toothbrush like a guitar, shouting ‘yee-haa’ and riding the toothbrush around like a horse, and playing agricultural cricket shots, all the while high-fiving the crowd and getting under the feet of the trombone player in the band in front of me.
And for the first time, the Pageant will be broadcast on a platform that does justice to my clowning talents: the Pageant will be televised live across the country on GEM. Be sure to look for the clown with the toothbrush. He’ll be the one playing up to the cameras.
To qualify as a clown, I had to go to clown school last Wednesday night at the Pageant’s warehouse at Woodville. We were put through our paces by a ‘real’ clown, as we demonstrated our shtick, contorted our faces into clown-like expressions, and invented new uses for a host of props. At the end of our training we were all awarded a Clowning Diploma, which will no doubt figure prominently in my portfolio for my next job application.
Tomorrow’s clown roll call is at 6.30am, followed by face painting, brekky and limbering up for the big journey down King William Street. I’m looking forward to it.