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Spheres of a Clown
By Robyn Mohone
He flips a hat onto his back,
and then, in a stooped position,
can’t seem to find it. As he
moves about with a catlike
agility in search of the hat, a
small child, a probable age
seven, points knowingly at the
object on his back. He then
makes a quick movement that
lands the hat on his head
without the help of his hands.
He gives the child a silent but
apparent thank-you.
He twirls a rapidly moving
unnameable something, that
cannot be seen by the naked
eye, on the tip of his index
finger. It seems and im
possible feat, but he then calls
upon a child and tranfers the
curious spinning object onto
the child’s ready finger tip
and, suddenly, it seems quite
easy.
He’s a strangely dressed
' fellow. He wears a dilapidated
multicolored jacket and
ludicrouly large shoes and
pants. One wonders how he
keeps the pants from falling as
there are not suspenders or belt
visible. All of his brightly
colored attire scream at you
loudly.
And then there’s that face.
With a Charlie Chaplin type
moustache right under the
very red nose. That face, with
the whited out stationary
smile. A smile that is suddenly
transformed into a long,
mobile, Dick Van Dyke type
smile that reveals no teeth.
There is a chorus of childish
laughter.
Above the bright red nose
are eyes like that of the panda
bear, encircled by white. He
has the silliest pair of arched
eyebrows you’ll ever want to
see. And that hat, and look at
that hair. Both look like rum
mage sale rejects.
Who is this man of such in
credible description?
He is Johnny Peers, an
enormously funny clown who
can make, your nose crinkle
with delight and make you
laugh until you’re breathless.
Peers, who is a youthful 24,
is a clown with the Circus
Vargas, the world’s largest
traveling big top. Once a
clown with the famous
Ringling Brothers and
Barnum and Bailey Circus,
Peers has been with the Circus
V argas for three years.
Peers said that he left
Barnum and Bailey because,
“there are 25 clowns with
Ringling, there are only three
Vargas clowns which means
that I can do pretty much what
I want.”
Peers, a trim, slender young
man, was out of costume but
still sported his painted face
which presented a very
comical picture. His trick
dogs, a small poodle and a very
friendly fox terrier, nuzzledup
to their master and then, after
a few more nose pokes, went
about the business of in
volving themselves in what
was more than likely a
repeated investigation of
Peers’s comfortable looking
traveling trailer home.
Why did this young man,
who was only 18 when he
began,. choose a career as
circus clown.
“I enjoy making people
laugh,” Peers said simply and
convincingly.
He said that in school he was
the class clown.
“My parents thought that it
was good for the time being,”
Peers acknowledged.
But it turned out to be more
than a temporary occupation.
However, although his parents
did not expect him to stay with
it, now that he has, Peers said
that they are happy to know
that he is doing well.
It all started for Peers at
Madison Square Garden in
New York City where his
family worked a concessions
stand.
“I made friends with the
Ringling Brothers clowns,”
Peers smiled, and eventually,
he became one of them.
The young clown studied at
a school for clowns which
offered an eight week course.
At the end of the course the
graduates received diplomas
and graduation caps.
“I don’t think that you can
learn to be a clown in eight
weeks,” he stated, “You learn
by doing, getting in front of an
audience. If you don’t make
them laugh then you know
you’re a failure.”
Peers is certainly no failure.
One could tell by the expres
sions on the faces of the
children at the Lenox Square
shopping center. The children
loved him. Even the grown-ups
reacted with childish glee.
The purpose of a clown,
Peers said, “Is just to make
them laugh.”
Peers said that he was not
inspired by the early comedy
until he joined the circus.
Along with his own technical
developments, Peers obtained
some of his ideas as to what
makes a good clown from those
whom he considers the
greatest, such as “Groch.”
“Groch was a Swiss clown,”
Peers informed, “he played 25
instruments and did an hour
and 45 minute show by
himself.”
Another clown whom Peers
considers great is Auto
Grebling, an American clown,
and Emmett Kelly.
“They say that Emmett
Kelly was reallythe guy,” he
said.
Emmett Kelly won fame as a
sad faced hobo dressed in
tatters.
“He would come on stage
with a big ice cube,” Peers said
of Kelly, “Later the ice cube
would be smaller, and at the
end of the show there would be
this very small ice cube,” Peers
said holding an invisible ice
cube of his own, “He did the
same thing with a tree.”
“It’s guys like that, who’ve
stuck with it, who are good.”
Peers emphasized.
There are three basic type of
clowns. There is the neat
faced traditional clown who
wears white make-up that is
compounded with a zinc oxide
base. The make-up worn by
the French mime, Marcel
Marseau is typical of that
worn by the traditional
clowns.
There are the character
clowns that include such types
as cops, “rubes” and tramps.
Charlie Chaplin was a well
known character clown.
Johnny Peers is of the third
type. The “auguste” or grotes
que clown. These clowns may
be distinguished by their
usually ill fitting; outlandish
and riotously colored costume.
As a clown and a part of the
Circus Vargas, Peers works 50
weeks out of a year. Asked
about the loneliness of circus
life Peers replied, “A lot of
circus people seem lonely. But
they are exposed to so many
people that it may just seem
that way.”
Peers does not appeqr to be the
lonely circus person type.
After one of his performances
he spent a night out on the
town at Underground Atlan
ta’s Scarlet O’Hara.
“I saw this great blues guy,”
he said with apparent en
thusiasm as he tried to recall
the name of the blues singer.
What was his name.” he
asked himself, “Waters,
Waters, Muddy Waters,” he
remebered with a broad
clownish smile revealing teeth
this time, “He was really
great.”
And so is Johnny Peers. A
man who can induce people to
perform those great miracles
called smiles and laughter.
Freshman
Continued from page one
By Lei Charlton
For the following recipes,
you do not need to stick to
definite measurements; they
are quite adaptable to in
dividual tastes.
Banna-nut Bread
1% cups unbleached flour
Vfe cup pecans
Vfe cup honey
2 eggs (or equivalent egg
replacers)
V2 tsp. salt
2% tsp. baking powder
V6 tsp. vanilla
2-3 ripe bannas
Jegg replacer is made with
vegetable bases
Preheat oven to 350. Blend
oil, honey, vanilla. Mash the
ripe bananas. Mix dry
ingredients: salt, flour, baking
powder, pecans. Grease a loaf
pan and pour in mixture. Bake
at 350 for 60-70 minutes.
A Vegetarian Sandwich
1 loaf Pita Bread
Vfe cup sliced mushrooms
Vi cup grated onion
Vi cup grated green pepper
seasoning (soy sauce or
Tamari suace, Tofu or
cheese, sea salt, cayene)
1 diced tomato
lettuce
Saute mushrooms, onion,
and green pepper in vegetable
oil. Sprinkle dry seasoning
and add sauce. Slice Pita
Bread and stuff with sauteed
ingredients. Add tomatoes,
tofu or cheese, if desired and
bake until bread is warm. Add
lettuce to taste.
Smoothie
1 ripe pear
1 gold apple
2 ripe bananas
juice from 1 lemon
V6 tsp. honey
Dice pear, apple, and
bananas and combine with
lemon juice and honey in a
blender.
result of their Spelman
experience.
Now, after my first semester
of Spelman is over, I must
reflect with a final look at the
impact of this campus.
Spelman has a spirit that is
not unique to college, but it
possesses a spirit that
essential if Spelman is to
survive.
Spelman desparately needs
a true sisterhood on its cam
pus. It needs a sisterhood of in
volvement in making Spelman
a great school, but she needs
the participation of each and
every one of her students. That
participation can be expressed
in a variety of ways: scholastic
excellence, social awareness,
extra-curricular involvement,
and intra-campus sisterhood
consciousness. Make Spelman
strong. Make it a school you
can look back on with pride.
Help make it have a heritage
you can be proud to have been
a part of. Make Spelman an
extention of you. The only way
for that to happen is to get in
volved and stay involved.
Spelman needs you!