By Julie Shapiro
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
TRIBECA — Learning to be a clown takes some serious work.
That’s what six jesters-in-training learned over the past two weeks at the New York Goofs Ultimate Clown School, based at the Flea Theater in TriBeCa.
Veteran clowns explained everything from the trick of balancing an object on your chin to the importance of pacing and character development. The aspiring clowns honed their acts, learned how to gracefully accept a shaving-cream pie to the face, and, starting Thursday night, will perform three shows at the Flea.
In one of the last classes Thursday afternoon, Larry Pisoni, 60, a clown and circus founder from Seattle, reminded students of the basics.
"A red nose does not make a clown," Pisoni said. "It’s not all the makeup. It’s here" — Pisoni said, pressing a hand to his heart — "and here," he said, pointing to his head.
Dreagn Foltz, 32, a clown student from Jersey City who performs in a musical comedy duo, said the emotional connection to the audience is what drew him to clowning.
"It’s not about being funny," Foltz said Thursday, after playing a juggling clown whose feet get stuck to the floor. "It’s about creating these great empathetic moments. You wear your heart on your sleeve."
Many of the students said clowning was a good break from their daily lives, where they work as receptionists, teachers and ushers.
Shannon Morgan, 45, a court clerk from Florida who does birthday parties on the weekends, said she hopes eventually to be a full-time clown full-time.
"It’s so exhilarating," Morgan said. "It’s satisfying to see people smiling and happy, as opposed to the seriousness of court."
Dick Monday, a longtime clown and circus director, founded the New York Goofs with his wife in 1999 after the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College closed. He has since moved his family to Texas but still returns to New York every summer to run the clown school.
Monday, 57, sees his students as torchbearers and teaches them not just the methodology of clowning but also its history, going back to court jesters. He believes clowns will continue to exist forever, as long as performers keep tapping into basic human emotions.
"Fear will always be there," Monday said. "Love will always be there, and rejection. Those are the real, rich topics of clowns."
