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Feeling the call of the clown, answering with a honk

By SUE CARLTON
Published July 2, 2006

Clowns fascinate me. Not the kind we elect to public office, though they can be pretty funny, too.

Something about the double life they lead, the exaggerated makeup. The shoes.

Dale Bieber, a 67-year-old software and accounting guy, husband and grandfather, is a Shriner clown. For 29 years, he has put on the white face and wig for kids in parades and hospitals. Today, he’ll watch as 120 fellow Shriner clowns compete against each other as part of the massive Shriner convention that hits Tampa this week.

(Watch out for those tiny motorcycles in traffic.)

I talked to Bieber about his life as a clown, about clown hierarchy, clown snobbery, and those who fear clowns.
What’s your clown name?

Bago. I was Bags, and then I joined a group where every name has to have an O. I carry a lot of bags.
I do magic and I do ventriloquism. Sleight of hand, and then I have a lot of props. There’s only really about 10 magic tricks in the whole world.
 

And I do character clowning. I have one where I’m a bagpipe player, only it’s made out of rubber hoses.
So how’d you get to be a clown?

I once belonged to a (Shriner) marching unit. They told me I belonged in the clowns, so I went over there. I was acting silly. Marching, they’ve got to be precise. I didn’t fit in.

What does it take to be a clown?

You have to think, I want to be a clown, I want to be close to the kids. Some make it. Some don’t.
Do Shriner clowns drive those little motorcycles? Pile into cars?

A lot of clowns do have small vehicles they ride in, little clown cars or clown scooters. I’d rather walk. Because in the parades, we can get to the kids, do things, make them laugh.

I don’t believe in vehicles.

You make it sound kind of honorable, being a clown.

Yep.

Do circus clowns think they’re better than Shriner clowns?

Sometimes the professional clowns don’t like the Shriner clowns around because (Shriner clowns) are going to do something free, and this is (their) living.

They kind of look down because they’ve done all this training. But after we discuss it, they’re okay.
Sometimes their ego gets in it, but we’re all trying to do the same thing.

Tell me about the clown hierarchy.

The white face ... he’s the stricter clown. The goose is more slapstick.

So the white face gets to throw pies at the goose?

Right.

Any others?

Well, there’s tramp, but I haven’t done tramp. Ever. I’m afraid once I start tramp I won’t come back.

Why?

The others, you have to work on your art, your face and customers. (Tramp is) all torn and roughed up, just like a tramp riding the rails would be. Less precise, less work.

It’s a lazy clown, in my opinion.

Tell me about the competition.

We’ll have people from North America there, Mexico and Canada ... to compete in costume and make-up. We have skits and we judge those. Then we have what they do in a parade, which we call paradeability.

The first part is based on beauty, makeup and costume. After that comes the funny stuff.

Does it get cutthroat?

No, no. The clowns seem to get along with everybody.

Ever heard of people who are afraid of clowns? What’s your take on that?

Absolutely. My take is that somewhere along the line they must’ve gotten scared when they were younger.

When you go to a child and he starts to cry, you have to get to down on his level, look him in the eye, and pretty soon he realizes you’re not the enemy. Sometimes it doesn’t work, and we have to move away.

I had an adult who came into my home, a deliveryman. I’ve got a bunch of clown pictures.

He says, “I can’t be in this house. I’ve got to get out of here.’’

Takes all kinds, huh?

All kinds.

Free and open to the public, the Shriner clown competition begins at 9 a.m. at Egypt Temple, 4050 Dana Shores Drive in Tampa, and is expected to last all day. Bieber says kids can sit up front.

Sue Carlton can be reached at carlton@sptimes.com.

[Last modified July 2, 2006, 21:20:27]