Program Ardy the Clown (Robin Ermer)
 
          Interesting program on what it takes to be a clown and how to become one.
 
          Robin, just on a whim, attended a Clown Class in Lincoln , Nebraska .  Found out she liked it and has since clowned in seven stated and attended upwards of 10 Clown Conventions (in which everyone attending the convention all arrive in the same VW bug).
 
          Robin has two clown personas (one with a more complex makeup and costuming scheme than she was in today).  Today she was in her "plain clothes" clown gig.  Her specialty is ballooning and claims she can construct up to 40 different ballooning twisty thingies.
 
          Found out that there are all sorts of clown rules.  Clowns can talk / mimes don't (although you can choose not to be a speaking clown).  There are three hierarchies of clowndom - the White Face clown (the boss clown; not as funny as the others but on a power trip), the Auguste clown (base color is flesh tone and this clown tends to get ht pie in the face, the seltzer down the pants, and other pratfalls), and the Hobo clown (usually an eccentric character of some sort - Emmet Kelly and Red Skelton).   Ardy is a pie-in-the-face type.
 
          All-in-all a fun program. Nice to have a real clown come in and talk to the rest of us clowns once in a while.