Interview With A Clown

How did you get into the clown industry?
Well I was always the class clown at school and in the holidays a family friend said that she had the perfect summer job for me. I later found out it was working that the local carnival as their clown. They taught me the basics of what i needed to do and it pretty much just felt right from that moment on.

How did you get your clown name?
Well where I was working that summer they had a tradition where at the end of the summer they would dub you with a name, it was a huge honer really. They named me 'Hobo Joe' because "Peppy Pete' because I was always happy and they never saw me frown.

Did you think you would be doing it this long?
Oh yes, I knew that summer that all I wanted to do was light up little kids faces, that moment where you see the light in their eyes, it melts my heart every time.

How do people react when you tell them your a clown?
Most people are purely jealous, ha I mostly work festivals and carnivals that come into town and occasionally travel around to different cities, i'm living the dream really.

What is your makeup routine to become 'Peppy Pete'?
Well I start off with the classic 'White Face' then i emphasise my eyebrows to make me constantly surprised, then I get lipstick, but I don't put it on my face, ha no I rub it onto my cheeks to create a
blushed effect. I use lipstick because it stays longer, blush falls away too quickly and if your sanding in the heat for long hours you tend to sweat and lipstick is the most effective way to maintain your look.

Well thank you Peppy Pete for allowing me to interview you. 

Interview With a Circus Beginner.

How did you hear about Aerialize?
When I was younger my mother places me in circus school as a way of learning unique skills, at the time I was also doing gymnastics, doing both at the same time helped me with my balance on both the trapeze and the balancing beam in gymnastics. And later in live i decided to go back and try it out again to see if i still loved it, so with a ten year gap of learning circus I went back and tried again.

What was your favourite apparatus?
My favourite was always the trapeze. It clicked best with my understanding of balance and moment, now don't get me wrong I love the silk as well but it doesn't have the same stability that trapeze offers and I enjoy the freedom that static trapeze gives.

What was the first thing you learnt at Aerialize?
Ha on the first day they got us to do the real basics, it was all bout the fundamental that we will have to lean to be able to do the more advances tricks. So we learnt how to juggle, keep a hula hoop up and we learnt to basic stretches that we where going to have to practice.

Do you enjoy the performance aspects of Aerialize? or do you just do it for leisure?
Oh I defiantly love the performing, it is what we work all year on some times, perfecting the tricks and learning new ones to impress the crowd. Its not just the performing that I love, its the whole environment that is created when everyone works together on one project and everything falls into place at the final moment. And after the final show is over everyone comes together in a momentous occasion to celebrate what once was.

What is your practice schedule?
Well I mostly attend the classes for the fitness and leisure and rarely participate in the performances, so my schedule consists of stretching every morning, attending class once a week and generally staying heathy.

Would you encourage others to attend the classes?
Oh yes defiantly, I have made some of my best friends during these classes and it is a great alternitive to  going to the gym every morning and you learn unique tricks and skills that you would not necessarily learn anywhere else.

Thank you, Sonia Hart for answering my questions.