Kid's alley video

made a short video of our time with Kid's alley

http://animoto.com/play/bqW1Itq55ncnWiC1mdoqFQ#export

wrote for an article for MACA 'Big Top"

Be a clown..all the time.

Did ya learn any new Tricks???...Did ya learn any new skits??..Who did ya Meet???...These are just some of the questions I got from friends at home after I got back for the last convention.

I got to meet up with some old (and I do mean old) friends and met some new ones. I got to hug the people who came to the worship service on Sunday, as we remembered two of our “giants of the clown community”. I got to meet, “in person”, one of the clowns in the Harrisburg Area that does a Homeless ministry. I found Pat Nissel’s story on you-tube . Please check it out and support…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9sOrDL1tZs

Helping those in need is what I enjoy most as a clown. Not being in a clown outfit shouldn’t deter you from a simple act of kindness. I normally like to keep a few balloons in my coat pockets “just in case” I see someone who might enjoy. The Sunday morning after the convention, I was helping out at a homeless ministry I go to from time to time in the heart of Camden, NJ. I saw a little one who was being dragged along the food line by her grandmother, getting a bag of food, and asked if I could blow up a balloon..a simple balloon flower made her day, as every time I saw her she gave me a little smile…I am by no means a master balloon artist, but a simple jester made her moment to smile and make eye contact…

Being a clown helps me become a better person, as you learn to look in the eyes of someone down on their luck, so you can “feel” for them and then act, instead of just passing them by. Like some of the lectures explained during the convention, you don’t need to have a fancy nose, shoes, or outfit to be a really good clown. It comes from within you to feel, breathe, and act like a clown or to be just plain silly. Everyone needs a laugh or two and it does a heart good to laugh. There have even been medical studies that back up that claim. The first night of the convention, “Bubba” showed us some a great view point of what it’s like to be a clown. Take the simplest thing and make it funny!!

Being honored again to be the MACA Chaplain for the coming year, is both humbling and meaningful. My prayer is that all of the members of MACA take to heart what it really means to be a clown. That the knowledge they gained from the convention not only helps them in the professional life as a clown but in their personal way they live helping others.

God Bless,

Shobo aka Bill Schober

PS can someone contact NORMONDO for me and explain to him his” cut the tie trick” didn’t work very well!!!!