Friday, 24 February 2012
ending this blog
as nice as it has been to post about the business side of things, my new website design has a blog page included in it all. Since it is part of my main customer store front, it will be more from that side of things than this has been, but I will leave these posts online for now in case anyone finds them for reference. Please feel free to keep up with me on my website at www.perrynoia.ca, www.facebook.com/PerryNoiatheClown, or on twitter @PerryNoiaClown
Wednesday, 15 February 2012
Payments
Before I start this blog post, I want to preface it with the fact that I was not asked to promote anything and do not expect any kind of thanks for mentioning anything either.
When you have a home business, you start out on pretty much a "cash only" basis. Not much choice really, right? I started with just cash or cheque for my options. Then I added paypal for deposits. That was ok for a while, but they recently changed some stuff with the way "requests for funds" works and now the email that I send doesn't have the big, friendly yellow button that says "Pay Now" and instead just gives them a link to sign in to their account or create one. So I had to put a button on my website instead which is, sadly too complicated for some customers to figure out compared to an email directed at them with a big, shiny button on it.
I was drooling!! Soooooo incredibly jealous of my USA neighbours who had access to the Square reader. Canadian versions of such a thing required buying an expensive reader and paying $30+/month!! No fair!!
Finally!!!! There is something like it in Canada!!! There are promises of one on the intuit website, but no dates announced (you can wait for them if you want, no monthly fee, but different rates for swiped or keyed transactions)... too late, I got one from PAYD. It is affordable for a home business (very low monthly fee, free reader and the same transaction rates as pretty much all the others) and it WORKS!! I promise you, this recommendation was not solicited and I don't expect any thanks for the recommendation either... but I hope that it might help some of you that read this. The PAYD card reader is run through Moneris and Royal Bank (these should be familiar and trusted names to you if you are in Canada) and the reader works very well.
I can't have my bumper cover on my phone when using the reader, but my bumper is huge, so that's no surprise. I also have to be a LITTLE bit careful when swiping that I don't press too hard on the reader and accidentally press the power button with it, BUT you can turn it sideways off of the button or hold the reader more than the phone while swiping to avoid that too. I have to keep in mind that they made it for android phones as well as iphones, so some of the androids might not have a power button in the same place as my iphone. It is a great reader, it lets you key in transactions from people who aren't with you at the time (same rate as swiped), you can also access it from your home computer or ipad (over wifi) to key in transactions while you are on your phone. The reader plugs into the headphone jack and even comes with a neck strap so you can keep it handy without keeping it plugged into your phone all the time as well as a nice little plastic case to keep it safe and clean.
As a clown, my business is pretty much everywhere BUT home (with the occasional exception of taking a deposit or someone picking up balloon sculptures), so being anywhere with my phone and being able to say, "Yes, I can take credit cards!" Is awesome.
Happy Clowning!! :oD
Perry Noia the Scaredy Clown
When you have a home business, you start out on pretty much a "cash only" basis. Not much choice really, right? I started with just cash or cheque for my options. Then I added paypal for deposits. That was ok for a while, but they recently changed some stuff with the way "requests for funds" works and now the email that I send doesn't have the big, friendly yellow button that says "Pay Now" and instead just gives them a link to sign in to their account or create one. So I had to put a button on my website instead which is, sadly too complicated for some customers to figure out compared to an email directed at them with a big, shiny button on it.
I was drooling!! Soooooo incredibly jealous of my USA neighbours who had access to the Square reader. Canadian versions of such a thing required buying an expensive reader and paying $30+/month!! No fair!!
Finally!!!! There is something like it in Canada!!! There are promises of one on the intuit website, but no dates announced (you can wait for them if you want, no monthly fee, but different rates for swiped or keyed transactions)... too late, I got one from PAYD. It is affordable for a home business (very low monthly fee, free reader and the same transaction rates as pretty much all the others) and it WORKS!! I promise you, this recommendation was not solicited and I don't expect any thanks for the recommendation either... but I hope that it might help some of you that read this. The PAYD card reader is run through Moneris and Royal Bank (these should be familiar and trusted names to you if you are in Canada) and the reader works very well.
I can't have my bumper cover on my phone when using the reader, but my bumper is huge, so that's no surprise. I also have to be a LITTLE bit careful when swiping that I don't press too hard on the reader and accidentally press the power button with it, BUT you can turn it sideways off of the button or hold the reader more than the phone while swiping to avoid that too. I have to keep in mind that they made it for android phones as well as iphones, so some of the androids might not have a power button in the same place as my iphone. It is a great reader, it lets you key in transactions from people who aren't with you at the time (same rate as swiped), you can also access it from your home computer or ipad (over wifi) to key in transactions while you are on your phone. The reader plugs into the headphone jack and even comes with a neck strap so you can keep it handy without keeping it plugged into your phone all the time as well as a nice little plastic case to keep it safe and clean.
As a clown, my business is pretty much everywhere BUT home (with the occasional exception of taking a deposit or someone picking up balloon sculptures), so being anywhere with my phone and being able to say, "Yes, I can take credit cards!" Is awesome.
Happy Clowning!! :oD
Perry Noia the Scaredy Clown
Friday, 27 January 2012
A New Costume
I make my own costumes. You can probably see that my costume is pretty unique. As a professional clown, you don't have to make your own. There are a lot of really beautiful and well made costumes from places like Pricilla Mooseburger Originals or other such places. But when you are just starting out, or once you have found something that works for you, making it might be the cheaper way to go.
If you can't sew, you may have to settle for combining eccentric pieces that you find at the thrift store, etc. As long as you can put together a Simplicity pattern, you can probably get a couple of pretty good costumes done yourself.
My first costume was a Raggedy Ann pattern from Simplicity. I made it out of pink and purple broadcloth on the sale table and shortened the sleeves on the under-dress. It worked out fine for a year or so before I got tired of it and the colours started to fade a little. Some knee socks and colourful shoes and that's pretty much the costume.
From there, I wanted to find a way to streamline it a little. I liked the shirt/pinafore feel, but didn't like how many pieces I had to deal with and thought I might be able to combine the bloomers and pinafore into one thing by creating a romper/overall type thing. This is where we went from easy (assembling Simplicity patterns) to kind of hard (creating your own design and pattern and then trying to make it fit on YOU. I started with the basic idea of the pinafore, switched out the ruffled top for just a band, measured just enough to make it all the way around the widest part of my hips (plus some so they aren't even close to tight)... straight up (with a couple pleats into the band at the top), straight down on the legs and ruffle the bottom. That's the simplified version of my thinking. The reality involved a lot more naughty words, wasted fabric because it was cut wrong/didn't fit/looked stupid/etc. In any case, my first set of overalls, wasn't bad, but I've been refining it with each new pair since then.
Then comes my latest creation. Built upon the things I've learned from the last few overalls. I like them and they match my new custom Converse X-Hi Chuck Taylors!
Happy Clowning!!
Perry Noia :oD
If you can't sew, you may have to settle for combining eccentric pieces that you find at the thrift store, etc. As long as you can put together a Simplicity pattern, you can probably get a couple of pretty good costumes done yourself.
My first costume was a Raggedy Ann pattern from Simplicity. I made it out of pink and purple broadcloth on the sale table and shortened the sleeves on the under-dress. It worked out fine for a year or so before I got tired of it and the colours started to fade a little. Some knee socks and colourful shoes and that's pretty much the costume.
From there, I wanted to find a way to streamline it a little. I liked the shirt/pinafore feel, but didn't like how many pieces I had to deal with and thought I might be able to combine the bloomers and pinafore into one thing by creating a romper/overall type thing. This is where we went from easy (assembling Simplicity patterns) to kind of hard (creating your own design and pattern and then trying to make it fit on YOU. I started with the basic idea of the pinafore, switched out the ruffled top for just a band, measured just enough to make it all the way around the widest part of my hips (plus some so they aren't even close to tight)... straight up (with a couple pleats into the band at the top), straight down on the legs and ruffle the bottom. That's the simplified version of my thinking. The reality involved a lot more naughty words, wasted fabric because it was cut wrong/didn't fit/looked stupid/etc. In any case, my first set of overalls, wasn't bad, but I've been refining it with each new pair since then.Then comes my latest creation. Built upon the things I've learned from the last few overalls. I like them and they match my new custom Converse X-Hi Chuck Taylors!
Perry Noia :oD
Monday, 2 January 2012
Clown Boot Camp for Kids!
This March Break, I will be teaching a day camp on the basics of clowning for kids aged 9-12 (or 13). In the class, we will cover things such as clown makeup, face painting, basic balloon twisting and we will prepare several clown skits to be performed in front of a video camera (and an audience if there is one). Some areas of clown history, comic movement, making large stage movements, and of course working as a group will also be covered.
I am trained as a Junior/Intermediate teacher in my BEd, so I have plenty of experience with teaching grades 4-8. My training from two sessions at Mooseburger Camp as well as 3 years of clowning locally will be drawn upon to create an engaging and educational curriculum that is sure to excite young performers in the art of clowning!
For $200, each student will receive 5 days of instruction from 9 am to 3 pm (pick up between 3 and 4 pm), a Qualatex red balloon pump, one 100 count bag of Qualatex twisting balloons, use of clown makeup and face paints in class, foam clown nose and graduation certificate.
Reserve a space for your child early as I need to have at least 4 commitments to the class by February 1st to have enough time to order materials. Call (519)562-7371 or email hawkerin@gmail.com today.
Perry Noia the Scaredy Clown :oD
I am trained as a Junior/Intermediate teacher in my BEd, so I have plenty of experience with teaching grades 4-8. My training from two sessions at Mooseburger Camp as well as 3 years of clowning locally will be drawn upon to create an engaging and educational curriculum that is sure to excite young performers in the art of clowning!
For $200, each student will receive 5 days of instruction from 9 am to 3 pm (pick up between 3 and 4 pm), a Qualatex red balloon pump, one 100 count bag of Qualatex twisting balloons, use of clown makeup and face paints in class, foam clown nose and graduation certificate.
Reserve a space for your child early as I need to have at least 4 commitments to the class by February 1st to have enough time to order materials. Call (519)562-7371 or email hawkerin@gmail.com today.
Perry Noia the Scaredy Clown :oD
Thursday, 22 December 2011
Are you ready??
The hectic time of holidays is almost here and will quickly be gone.
Are you ready to gear up for a new year of business?
Are you ready to file your taxes from this year?
In the aftermath of the holidays, it's probably a good idea to get all your receipts in order and make sure your spreadsheet of income/expenses is up to date (you do keep track, right?) Even if your business is coming out in the red after all the deductions, it's good for your own peace of mind to know exactly where you are. You can't get anywhere if you don't know where you are starting from! If you didn't keep careful track of your income, expenses and kilometers this year, start January 1st for next year. It's a good habit to get into and it's not hard to do. A simple spreadsheet with the headings: "date," "description," "income," "expense," "kilometers." Works well for me. At the end of the year I sum the income, expense and kilometers. Be sure to subtract the expenses from the income to see how much money you REALLY made and on your taxes you can deduct kilometers as well as a portion of your house expenses because you have a home business. If you lease your car, I think you can deduct some of that too, but I'm not an accountant, so check with the person that does your taxes to see what things you can give them to deduct in there. If you do your own taxes and know of a resource for looking up things like that, please post a link in the comments below for others who might find it useful. Lucky for me, my dad is an accountant and he does my taxes for me.
Make 2012 your best business year yet!!
Perry Noia the Scaredy Clown :oD
Are you ready to gear up for a new year of business?
Are you ready to file your taxes from this year?
In the aftermath of the holidays, it's probably a good idea to get all your receipts in order and make sure your spreadsheet of income/expenses is up to date (you do keep track, right?) Even if your business is coming out in the red after all the deductions, it's good for your own peace of mind to know exactly where you are. You can't get anywhere if you don't know where you are starting from! If you didn't keep careful track of your income, expenses and kilometers this year, start January 1st for next year. It's a good habit to get into and it's not hard to do. A simple spreadsheet with the headings: "date," "description," "income," "expense," "kilometers." Works well for me. At the end of the year I sum the income, expense and kilometers. Be sure to subtract the expenses from the income to see how much money you REALLY made and on your taxes you can deduct kilometers as well as a portion of your house expenses because you have a home business. If you lease your car, I think you can deduct some of that too, but I'm not an accountant, so check with the person that does your taxes to see what things you can give them to deduct in there. If you do your own taxes and know of a resource for looking up things like that, please post a link in the comments below for others who might find it useful. Lucky for me, my dad is an accountant and he does my taxes for me.
Make 2012 your best business year yet!!
Perry Noia the Scaredy Clown :oD
Monday, 12 December 2011
Resolutions and Goal Setting
Yes, it's coming to that time of year!! Take a look at your books from 2011 and see how you did. Are you happy with the year compared to previous years? We always want to do better, we all want to see improvement, but I hope that you are happy with how far you've come enough to be able to push yourself to do more and not bring yourself down with the grumpy gusses.
Setting goals for the upcoming year is often a daunting task. You don't want to set your goals so high that they are unattainable, but you also don't want to set them so low that you don't feel like you really accomplished much by reaching them. There are often one or two on my list that go onto the list the next year or two as well... There are sometimes one or two that have been there for a couple of years already and need to be removed so that I can move on to other things (juggling was one of those for me).
I thought I'd take this post to talk about setting those goals so that they can be meaningful and helpful. I'm no expert (as usual), but I hope that some people find my thoughts helpful in setting their own goals.
1. Write them down - put them in a place where you can look at them, often. Studies have shown (ok so I don't have exact references to the studies, but trust me they are out there) that having your goals visually in front of you every day makes it far more likely that you will accomplish them. Keep them at the front of your mind and push for them.
2. Be Specific - REALLY specific. Not, "make more money." Look at your income for the last few years, is there a trend in the amount that you are increasing each year? So take the next number you would expect and bump it up (just a little) for your goal. Make it a little harder than coasting along, but not so far out there that it is a ridiculous expectation. Then, be even MORE specific... HOW are you going to make more money? Are you adding to your offered services? Advertising more? Raising prices? Cutting back expenses?
3. WORK on your goals - ok, is that too obvious? Then why does everyone sit back with their business and wonder why it's not going anywhere? A really important quote that everyone should keep in mind with their goals, "If you keep on doing what you've always done, you'll keep on getting what you've always got." ~ W. L. Bateman
4. Share your goals - well, some of them at least. If there's something that you want to be held accountable for working on, then tell someone about it. Once you've said to someone, "hey, I'm going to learn to ride a unicycle!" ... the next time they see you, they're bound to ask how it's going! And won't you be happier to say that you've come a long way with it rather than embarrassed to say that you haven't gotten on it since you fell three months ago? You don't have to tell your customers your annual income and income goals for next year (unless you have investors and such), but let a few friends know what you're working on so that they can encourage you to get it done too!
Happy New Year everyone!!!
Make 2012 your best year yet :oD
Perry Noia the Scaredy Clown
Setting goals for the upcoming year is often a daunting task. You don't want to set your goals so high that they are unattainable, but you also don't want to set them so low that you don't feel like you really accomplished much by reaching them. There are often one or two on my list that go onto the list the next year or two as well... There are sometimes one or two that have been there for a couple of years already and need to be removed so that I can move on to other things (juggling was one of those for me).
I thought I'd take this post to talk about setting those goals so that they can be meaningful and helpful. I'm no expert (as usual), but I hope that some people find my thoughts helpful in setting their own goals.
1. Write them down - put them in a place where you can look at them, often. Studies have shown (ok so I don't have exact references to the studies, but trust me they are out there) that having your goals visually in front of you every day makes it far more likely that you will accomplish them. Keep them at the front of your mind and push for them.
2. Be Specific - REALLY specific. Not, "make more money." Look at your income for the last few years, is there a trend in the amount that you are increasing each year? So take the next number you would expect and bump it up (just a little) for your goal. Make it a little harder than coasting along, but not so far out there that it is a ridiculous expectation. Then, be even MORE specific... HOW are you going to make more money? Are you adding to your offered services? Advertising more? Raising prices? Cutting back expenses?
3. WORK on your goals - ok, is that too obvious? Then why does everyone sit back with their business and wonder why it's not going anywhere? A really important quote that everyone should keep in mind with their goals, "If you keep on doing what you've always done, you'll keep on getting what you've always got." ~ W. L. Bateman
4. Share your goals - well, some of them at least. If there's something that you want to be held accountable for working on, then tell someone about it. Once you've said to someone, "hey, I'm going to learn to ride a unicycle!" ... the next time they see you, they're bound to ask how it's going! And won't you be happier to say that you've come a long way with it rather than embarrassed to say that you haven't gotten on it since you fell three months ago? You don't have to tell your customers your annual income and income goals for next year (unless you have investors and such), but let a few friends know what you're working on so that they can encourage you to get it done too!
Happy New Year everyone!!!
Make 2012 your best year yet :oD
Perry Noia the Scaredy Clown
Monday, 28 November 2011
Happy Holidays!!
I wanted to be sure and put this out there early enough that I wouldn't miss any of the wonderful holidays that stream their way throughout December! There are so many great things that all happen around the time of the winter solstice and however you celebrate, I hope that everyone stays happy, safe and well fed in the company of friends and family!
Merry Everything!!
Perry Noia the Scaredy Clown :oD
Merry Everything!!
Perry Noia the Scaredy Clown :oD
Saturday, 29 October 2011
Ongoing Training as an Entertainer
As a trained teacher, I have always been a firm believer in lifelong learning. I will NEVER stop learning. There are many sources of education for children's entertainers, and this list is only a FEW.
1. Mooseburger Clown Arts Education - I cannot say enough good things about this. The fact that I've been there twice and I'm going back again this summer, should say a fair amount though. ALL levels of clowns are welcome and everyone has more to learn. There are special guest instructors every year as well as an extensive regular staff including Pricilla Mooseburger (Tricia Manuel), Fred Baisch, Karen Bell, Greg and Karen DeSanto, Christopher Hudert, Connie Kennedy, Dan Langwell, Brenda Marshall, Marcella Murad, Rex Nolen, and Terry Ricketts.... there are many other fantastic staff members as well. Instructors are all around you the whole week, eating meals with you, sleeping in the same facilities... they are just completely available to help you with just about anything. It's a whole week of full days of classes, culminating in the presentation of a huge stage show. The cost is frightening to look at first off, BUT when you consider that there are no other costs for hotels or food (except for the fact that I need to be gluten and dairy free, so I bring some special stuff for myself), the amount you pay for this is a steal!! 5 nights in a hotel type room, all your meals and snacks provided, 4 full days of classes with the best in the biz, being part of a stage production and making friends for life... it is totally worth every penny.
2. Face Painting workshops and conventions - Thus far, I have mainly invested in full day face painting workshops rather than conventions. You can occasionally find something within a day trip to do workshops with people like Nick and Brian Wolfe (of Evil Twin FX), Mark Reid, Marcella Murad or many other fantastic painters. If you can afford to travel and spend a little more, there are conventions like FABA in Florida where you'll find many more instructors in one place and multiple classes and competitions. You'll be paying a lot though for conventions since there is not only the admission fees but hotel and food expenses as well... not to mention travelling to Florida.
3. Balloon Twisting classes and conventions - I've found these to be a little harder to come by since so many balloon classes seem to be at the beginner level. There are a couple of conventions I believe, but I've been sticking to mostly day trips for classes so far. You can look up things like Twist & Shout or there seems to be a long list here.
4. www.Balloon-Animals.com - there are a lot of great videos on this website to get you started if you've never twisted before or if you're stuck on single balloon creations. I love his style and find his balloons to fit well with my cute style. There are many other twisters online as well, some of them more elaborate in other ways, but you need to find things that you like the looks of for your style of twisting. Sometimes just watching someone else do something a certain way will give you an idea for how to make up your own version too.
5. FABA tv - I haven't started watching it myself yet, but there are many face painting videos online too.
6. Look for classes on the skills you want! - Keep your eyes open at local community centres, colleges, etc. for classes on public speaking, music, puppetry, kid's crafts... whatever you want to learn to improve your craft. Just keep on learning everything you can, you never know where it might take you.
1. Mooseburger Clown Arts Education - I cannot say enough good things about this. The fact that I've been there twice and I'm going back again this summer, should say a fair amount though. ALL levels of clowns are welcome and everyone has more to learn. There are special guest instructors every year as well as an extensive regular staff including Pricilla Mooseburger (Tricia Manuel), Fred Baisch, Karen Bell, Greg and Karen DeSanto, Christopher Hudert, Connie Kennedy, Dan Langwell, Brenda Marshall, Marcella Murad, Rex Nolen, and Terry Ricketts.... there are many other fantastic staff members as well. Instructors are all around you the whole week, eating meals with you, sleeping in the same facilities... they are just completely available to help you with just about anything. It's a whole week of full days of classes, culminating in the presentation of a huge stage show. The cost is frightening to look at first off, BUT when you consider that there are no other costs for hotels or food (except for the fact that I need to be gluten and dairy free, so I bring some special stuff for myself), the amount you pay for this is a steal!! 5 nights in a hotel type room, all your meals and snacks provided, 4 full days of classes with the best in the biz, being part of a stage production and making friends for life... it is totally worth every penny.
2. Face Painting workshops and conventions - Thus far, I have mainly invested in full day face painting workshops rather than conventions. You can occasionally find something within a day trip to do workshops with people like Nick and Brian Wolfe (of Evil Twin FX), Mark Reid, Marcella Murad or many other fantastic painters. If you can afford to travel and spend a little more, there are conventions like FABA in Florida where you'll find many more instructors in one place and multiple classes and competitions. You'll be paying a lot though for conventions since there is not only the admission fees but hotel and food expenses as well... not to mention travelling to Florida.
3. Balloon Twisting classes and conventions - I've found these to be a little harder to come by since so many balloon classes seem to be at the beginner level. There are a couple of conventions I believe, but I've been sticking to mostly day trips for classes so far. You can look up things like Twist & Shout or there seems to be a long list here.
4. www.Balloon-Animals.com - there are a lot of great videos on this website to get you started if you've never twisted before or if you're stuck on single balloon creations. I love his style and find his balloons to fit well with my cute style. There are many other twisters online as well, some of them more elaborate in other ways, but you need to find things that you like the looks of for your style of twisting. Sometimes just watching someone else do something a certain way will give you an idea for how to make up your own version too.
5. FABA tv - I haven't started watching it myself yet, but there are many face painting videos online too.
6. Look for classes on the skills you want! - Keep your eyes open at local community centres, colleges, etc. for classes on public speaking, music, puppetry, kid's crafts... whatever you want to learn to improve your craft. Just keep on learning everything you can, you never know where it might take you.
Keep Smiling :D
Perry Noia the Scaredy Clown
Sunday, 16 October 2011
Cold season is coming
One thing that is a problem for every small business owner is illness. This is especially a problem as an entertainer though. What do you do when a little cold medicine isn't enough to get you back to your tip top shape?
First and foremost, don't go to a party when you cannot represent your business at its best. A runny clown nose is gross. Unless it is part of your character, a silent clown isn't much fun at a party. And if you aren't feeling well, your show is going to suck. I hate to say it, but I've learned these things the hard way.
Have a list of other people you can call. I there isn't another clown available, at least try and find another face painter, balloon twister, magician or other entertainer to fill in for you.
Call your client and clear it with them. Let them know personally that you are sick and express your sincere regrets that you won't be able to come yourself but that you have found a replacement if it's alright with them. Don't just send someone without talking to the client first.
If you cannot find a replacement, you need to at the very least offer their deposit back. You can't charge them anything if you cancel no matter how much preparations you may have made. If they cancel, you are out of work and need to be compensated but if you cancel, they are already losing out on entertainment for their party and should not be expected to pay anything. (I hope this goes without saying but you never know)
Another thing that I hope goes without saying is try not to do this often and ONLY when you are really sick. It's not a way to skip work. If you wanted the day off them you shouldn't have booked it to begin with. Once you have said you will be there, only extreme circumstances should stop you from being there. A better paying gig is no excuse either.
Take lots of vitamin C,
Perry Noia the Scaredy Clown
First and foremost, don't go to a party when you cannot represent your business at its best. A runny clown nose is gross. Unless it is part of your character, a silent clown isn't much fun at a party. And if you aren't feeling well, your show is going to suck. I hate to say it, but I've learned these things the hard way.
Have a list of other people you can call. I there isn't another clown available, at least try and find another face painter, balloon twister, magician or other entertainer to fill in for you.
Call your client and clear it with them. Let them know personally that you are sick and express your sincere regrets that you won't be able to come yourself but that you have found a replacement if it's alright with them. Don't just send someone without talking to the client first.
If you cannot find a replacement, you need to at the very least offer their deposit back. You can't charge them anything if you cancel no matter how much preparations you may have made. If they cancel, you are out of work and need to be compensated but if you cancel, they are already losing out on entertainment for their party and should not be expected to pay anything. (I hope this goes without saying but you never know)
Another thing that I hope goes without saying is try not to do this often and ONLY when you are really sick. It's not a way to skip work. If you wanted the day off them you shouldn't have booked it to begin with. Once you have said you will be there, only extreme circumstances should stop you from being there. A better paying gig is no excuse either.
Take lots of vitamin C,
Perry Noia the Scaredy Clown
Sunday, 25 September 2011
Adding Other Services
The birthday party business has its busy periods and not so busy periods through the year. It seems odd because kids are born year round, but winter parties seem to be less in demand (at least in my area of the world). It may be a different time of year in your area, but the fact remains that there are slower periods and you may want to fill in those gaps by adding other services to your business. Here are examples of a couple of things that I've added and comments on making these things worthwhile for your pocketbook.
Costumed Singing Telegrams - I usually do this as a chicken, but I also offer a clown as an option too. I make a large balloon sculpture (like the birthday cake in the video below or a bouquet of balloon flowers) and show up to sing/cluck Happy Birthday to them in front of all their friends (usually at work). The whole thing takes about 5 to 10 minutes with pictures and stuff.
Holiday Elf - yes, I know a lot of clowns like to dress as an elf for the holidays. It's fun for holiday events to be sure, but I've also added another service. I get a copy of kids' letters to Santa and write them a customized letter back. I try to make it as personal as possible, commenting on the letter, on what they are asking for and try to find out something about their family/home life to comment on as well (like "be extra nice to your little brother, Jack" or "don't forget to feed your cat, Fluffy"). This can be for individual kids at home or a whole classroom of kids all at once. I'll sing some carols and read Santa stories as well on these visits.
Monetizing this kind of thing - Yes, these visits are a lot shorter than your average party. As a result, you can't use your regular hourly rates as a comparison for the amount to charge or you'll put yourself out of business in gas and wear yourself out running all over creation. These are not the kind of services that you will market towards cheapskates.... these are premium services for people with money for extras or corporate situations. I've had workplaces hire me directly to do a chicken-o-gram for a manager. Private schools and daycares may have the extra funds for special things to do with their class for elf deliveries where an individual family might not spend that kind of money. These are also services that can be hired during the week while we, as clowns, are usually only hired on weekends. You'll notice if you look at my prices for these services though, that I have to charge almost as much as my hourly rate for one of these visits... while the visit itself is maybe 5 or 10 minutes, when you add in my driving there, costume costs (wear and tear, makeup, etc), and material costs, the expenses are almost the same as one hour of regular work anyway.
Have fun and be creative!!
Perry Noia the Scaredy Clown :D
Costumed Singing Telegrams - I usually do this as a chicken, but I also offer a clown as an option too. I make a large balloon sculpture (like the birthday cake in the video below or a bouquet of balloon flowers) and show up to sing/cluck Happy Birthday to them in front of all their friends (usually at work). The whole thing takes about 5 to 10 minutes with pictures and stuff.
Monetizing this kind of thing - Yes, these visits are a lot shorter than your average party. As a result, you can't use your regular hourly rates as a comparison for the amount to charge or you'll put yourself out of business in gas and wear yourself out running all over creation. These are not the kind of services that you will market towards cheapskates.... these are premium services for people with money for extras or corporate situations. I've had workplaces hire me directly to do a chicken-o-gram for a manager. Private schools and daycares may have the extra funds for special things to do with their class for elf deliveries where an individual family might not spend that kind of money. These are also services that can be hired during the week while we, as clowns, are usually only hired on weekends. You'll notice if you look at my prices for these services though, that I have to charge almost as much as my hourly rate for one of these visits... while the visit itself is maybe 5 or 10 minutes, when you add in my driving there, costume costs (wear and tear, makeup, etc), and material costs, the expenses are almost the same as one hour of regular work anyway.
Have fun and be creative!!
Perry Noia the Scaredy Clown :D
Wednesday, 14 September 2011
My NEW YouTube Channel
I needed to change things around a bit with email addresses and such... as a result, I've had to move my YouTube channel to a different spot. The old one will stay up there for now so you can still watch all that stuff, but new stuff from now on will be posted to the new channel.
Thanks!!
Perry Noia the Scaredy Clown :oD
Thanks!!
Perry Noia the Scaredy Clown :oD
Sunday, 4 September 2011
Putting out feelers about classes in Windsor
I am thinking about offering to share some of the things that I have learned through my experiences as a clown the past few years. But before I start trying to pick a date and book somewhere to do it, I need to know if anyone would even think about coming.
The subjects that I feel confident that I could offer are:
Intermediate Balloons (Monkey in a tree, Super Hero/Ninja, Birthday Cake, Penguin...)
Approaching Uneasy Children
Beginner/Intermediate Face Painting (I'm certainly not the Wolfe Bros. but maybe some feel intimidated or financially unable to attend those?)
Applying Clown Makeup
Marketing your clown on a shoestring budget
If any of these would interest you, please comment below with which one you think you might like and what days are easiest for you. If you want to see the kind of balloons and face painting that I can do and hope to share, you can look on my website at www.perrynoia.ca
The subjects that I feel confident that I could offer are:
Intermediate Balloons (Monkey in a tree, Super Hero/Ninja, Birthday Cake, Penguin...)
Approaching Uneasy Children
Beginner/Intermediate Face Painting (I'm certainly not the Wolfe Bros. but maybe some feel intimidated or financially unable to attend those?)
Applying Clown Makeup
Marketing your clown on a shoestring budget
If any of these would interest you, please comment below with which one you think you might like and what days are easiest for you. If you want to see the kind of balloons and face painting that I can do and hope to share, you can look on my website at www.perrynoia.ca
Wednesday, 24 August 2011
Approaching Children that are Uneasy
Let's start this post with a definition of a phobia because it is often an overused term with respect to clowns.
(from Wikipedia) A phobia (from the Greek: φόβος, Phóbos, meaning "fear" or "morbid fear") is a type of anxiety disorder, usually defined as a persistent fear of an object or situation in which the sufferer commits to great lengths in avoiding, typically disproportional to the actual danger posed, often being recognized as irrational. In the event the phobia cannot be avoided entirely the sufferer will endure the situation or object with marked distress and significant interference in social or occupational activities.
The official term for a phobia of clowns is Coulrophobia. It does exist, but it is far more rare than most people may think. The people with this phobia will not come anywhere near you as a clown. They will be on the other side of the road, park, or house. They will not stand next to you and say, "you're freaking me out, man!" Those people are playing the game that is for some reason "cool" right now to say that they are "afraid" of clowns. As someone who has many phobias, I can tell the difference. They would respond to me the same way that I respond to dogs, cats, bees, the dark, etc.
Moving on, you will occasionally find that some people are uncomfortable or shy around you upon first seeing you. There are ways to respond to this behaviour that will also help people with real fears to feel less anxious as well. In my personal experience, if given at least half an hour, I have been able to win over every child to be comfortable with me at this point. There may come a time when there is one or two that don't come around, but I'm ok with that too. There was ONE instance where I had won over the child to play with me, only to find that he had an extreme balloon phobia and had to leave the room at that point since I had been hired to twist balloons for all the children... he went to another room with a colouring book and crayons and was happy there, however, so all went well.
On to how to do this. This lesson could be taught more easily in person, but if even this amount helps you in your work, I'm happy.
1. Be Aware - of everyone around you. And I mean EVERYONE. You should know they are there before they know you are there. This is hard, especially when you are also trying to entertain and interact with the people that are already there, but it is important that you notice their initial reaction to you immediately. It greatly affects how you will interact with them.
2. Eye Contact - make eye contact with everyone, but with the people who seem uncomfortable, make it out of the corner of your eyes or with your head down. You want to look shy towards them. You cannot look confidently towards someone who is uneasy with you or they will feel intimidated by your confidence. With little ones you can play a peek-a-boo kind of game with this, but I'll get into that more later.
3. Body Language - if you can, you want to make them taller than you. You want to make them feel completely in control of the situation. I will get down on my knees usually for these children or (hopefully) their parents will be holding them and they'll already be taller than me (I'm short). Your body language should indicate shyness or slight submissiveness, but not be unfriendly or unwelcoming. Pretend you are a shy 3 year old yourself, that's something they are familiar with even if your makeup and appearance is not familiar.
4. Voice - don't be Binky the Clown from Garfield. We all have a tone of voice that we use with babies and young children. Let's be clear that I don't mean that you should change your vocabulary or grammar (I speak with children using the same word choices and grammar that I would use with adults because that is what I want them to learn), but use your soft tone of voice.
5. Breaking the Ice - This is where you need to draw them in. You could do all those other things and just let them walk on by, but that isn't going to help your cause. Here is where you can play peek-a-boo, little "hiding" games that always let them see where you are and allow them to control how close they get to you (hide behind a narrow pole and cover your face like you are hiding), etc. Let them know that it is ok for them to stay 'over there.' I always have stickers in my pockets.... stickers are both a gift for children whose parents don't want to buy them a balloon or face painting and a peace offering for children who are uneasy. Your peace offering can be given at arms length or given to a parent to pass along, it will have the same effect. At a party, invite them to come and play whenever they are ready, but don't push and invite them to watch from the safety of their parent's arms if they are not ready yet. Every once in a while, check in with them and invite them again, but remember that as long as they are happy watching from where they are, they are enjoying you and your performance in their own way. The one that was climbing their mother's leg when they first saw you, just might be posing for pictures with you by the end of the party.
I really do hope that this helps you to be comfortable with all the "fearful children." Really, they are just not sure what to expect from you. They have been trained to avoid strangers and you are about as strange a thing as they have ever seen, but everyone just expects them to jump for joy at your mere presence. You need to show them that you are safe, you need to earn their trust, not just expect it.
(from Wikipedia) A phobia (from the Greek: φόβος, Phóbos, meaning "fear" or "morbid fear") is a type of anxiety disorder, usually defined as a persistent fear of an object or situation in which the sufferer commits to great lengths in avoiding, typically disproportional to the actual danger posed, often being recognized as irrational. In the event the phobia cannot be avoided entirely the sufferer will endure the situation or object with marked distress and significant interference in social or occupational activities.
The official term for a phobia of clowns is Coulrophobia. It does exist, but it is far more rare than most people may think. The people with this phobia will not come anywhere near you as a clown. They will be on the other side of the road, park, or house. They will not stand next to you and say, "you're freaking me out, man!" Those people are playing the game that is for some reason "cool" right now to say that they are "afraid" of clowns. As someone who has many phobias, I can tell the difference. They would respond to me the same way that I respond to dogs, cats, bees, the dark, etc.
Moving on, you will occasionally find that some people are uncomfortable or shy around you upon first seeing you. There are ways to respond to this behaviour that will also help people with real fears to feel less anxious as well. In my personal experience, if given at least half an hour, I have been able to win over every child to be comfortable with me at this point. There may come a time when there is one or two that don't come around, but I'm ok with that too. There was ONE instance where I had won over the child to play with me, only to find that he had an extreme balloon phobia and had to leave the room at that point since I had been hired to twist balloons for all the children... he went to another room with a colouring book and crayons and was happy there, however, so all went well.
On to how to do this. This lesson could be taught more easily in person, but if even this amount helps you in your work, I'm happy.
1. Be Aware - of everyone around you. And I mean EVERYONE. You should know they are there before they know you are there. This is hard, especially when you are also trying to entertain and interact with the people that are already there, but it is important that you notice their initial reaction to you immediately. It greatly affects how you will interact with them.
2. Eye Contact - make eye contact with everyone, but with the people who seem uncomfortable, make it out of the corner of your eyes or with your head down. You want to look shy towards them. You cannot look confidently towards someone who is uneasy with you or they will feel intimidated by your confidence. With little ones you can play a peek-a-boo kind of game with this, but I'll get into that more later.
3. Body Language - if you can, you want to make them taller than you. You want to make them feel completely in control of the situation. I will get down on my knees usually for these children or (hopefully) their parents will be holding them and they'll already be taller than me (I'm short). Your body language should indicate shyness or slight submissiveness, but not be unfriendly or unwelcoming. Pretend you are a shy 3 year old yourself, that's something they are familiar with even if your makeup and appearance is not familiar.
4. Voice - don't be Binky the Clown from Garfield. We all have a tone of voice that we use with babies and young children. Let's be clear that I don't mean that you should change your vocabulary or grammar (I speak with children using the same word choices and grammar that I would use with adults because that is what I want them to learn), but use your soft tone of voice.
5. Breaking the Ice - This is where you need to draw them in. You could do all those other things and just let them walk on by, but that isn't going to help your cause. Here is where you can play peek-a-boo, little "hiding" games that always let them see where you are and allow them to control how close they get to you (hide behind a narrow pole and cover your face like you are hiding), etc. Let them know that it is ok for them to stay 'over there.' I always have stickers in my pockets.... stickers are both a gift for children whose parents don't want to buy them a balloon or face painting and a peace offering for children who are uneasy. Your peace offering can be given at arms length or given to a parent to pass along, it will have the same effect. At a party, invite them to come and play whenever they are ready, but don't push and invite them to watch from the safety of their parent's arms if they are not ready yet. Every once in a while, check in with them and invite them again, but remember that as long as they are happy watching from where they are, they are enjoying you and your performance in their own way. The one that was climbing their mother's leg when they first saw you, just might be posing for pictures with you by the end of the party.
I really do hope that this helps you to be comfortable with all the "fearful children." Really, they are just not sure what to expect from you. They have been trained to avoid strangers and you are about as strange a thing as they have ever seen, but everyone just expects them to jump for joy at your mere presence. You need to show them that you are safe, you need to earn their trust, not just expect it.
Keep Smiling!! :D
Perry Noia the Scaredy Clown
Tuesday, 2 August 2011
Customer Management
As a clown, I have a new client for pretty much every event that I do. Not to say that repeat customers are unheard of, but it IS usually a once a year or less kind of situation for most people. This means that I have a LOT of different customer information to organize. So, I thought I'd take a blog post to talk about some of the ways that a clown can keep it all straight. I'll try not to make this sound like a commercial for all my little gadgets by mentioning some "low tech" methods that I've used in the past too.
When I first got started with all these parties, I had a paper binder that I sorted this stuff in. There were two sections to it:
1. Calendar - a day timer type page with things divided into morning, afternoon and evening because I'm not comfortable booking things too close together. I'm obsessed with being early for everything, so I need lots of time between things. ;)
2. Booking Sheets - pages that I fill out for every event with blanks for all the information that I need to get on my phone calls.
This worked well for me for quite a while and I kept all the past event forms in a duotang.
If however, you happen to have an ipad and/or iphone...
Cozi has been a fantastic calendar app for my family. It updates everything between the Cozi website and all connected mobile devices. It has a calendar (sorted by family member), shopping lists, to-do lists... it's just a really good app.
As far as sorting customer information by events, what you need is a database. There are a few different apps that do those, but the one I'm using is pretty easy to use and customize. It also exports files to a spreadsheet so you can keep a backup of all your information periodically. My choice is called TapForms. I use the one for ipad rather than iphone because I like to have more room on the screen while I'm doing it and I can do it while I'm on my iphone without switching to speakerphone.
What information do I collect?
Date
Time
Customer Name
Guest of Honour
Phone
email
location of event
mailing address (if different from event)
type of event (select from: party, greeting, hourly event, fundraiser, stage show, pay per face/balloon)
character (select from: Perry Noia, Cadenza, Freddie Farensquair, Chicken) ... probably adding an elf soon
estimated number of children
length of time
price quoted
deposit paid (check box) (although you could do an amount if your deposit amount varies)
party show (check box)
balloon twisting (check box)
face painting (check box)
stage show (check box)
greeting (check box)
large balloon sculpture (check box)
contact source
notes
I can edit fields, add fields, etc as needed and it goes really fast to take information down on a call.
The most important thing when taking customer information though is to keep it very well organized and up to date with ALL of the information that you have. It's a good idea to keep as much of your old info as possible as well. You never know when you'll want to look back at that information and if it's as simple as keeping a few spreadsheet files, it's not as hard as some very full duotangs.
Keep Smiling! :oD
Perry Noia the Scaredy Clown
When I first got started with all these parties, I had a paper binder that I sorted this stuff in. There were two sections to it:
1. Calendar - a day timer type page with things divided into morning, afternoon and evening because I'm not comfortable booking things too close together. I'm obsessed with being early for everything, so I need lots of time between things. ;)
2. Booking Sheets - pages that I fill out for every event with blanks for all the information that I need to get on my phone calls.
This worked well for me for quite a while and I kept all the past event forms in a duotang.
If however, you happen to have an ipad and/or iphone...
Cozi has been a fantastic calendar app for my family. It updates everything between the Cozi website and all connected mobile devices. It has a calendar (sorted by family member), shopping lists, to-do lists... it's just a really good app.
As far as sorting customer information by events, what you need is a database. There are a few different apps that do those, but the one I'm using is pretty easy to use and customize. It also exports files to a spreadsheet so you can keep a backup of all your information periodically. My choice is called TapForms. I use the one for ipad rather than iphone because I like to have more room on the screen while I'm doing it and I can do it while I'm on my iphone without switching to speakerphone.
What information do I collect?
Date
Time
Customer Name
Guest of Honour
Phone
location of event
mailing address (if different from event)
type of event (select from: party, greeting, hourly event, fundraiser, stage show, pay per face/balloon)
character (select from: Perry Noia, Cadenza, Freddie Farensquair, Chicken) ... probably adding an elf soon
estimated number of children
length of time
price quoted
deposit paid (check box) (although you could do an amount if your deposit amount varies)
party show (check box)
balloon twisting (check box)
face painting (check box)
stage show (check box)
greeting (check box)
large balloon sculpture (check box)
contact source
notes
I can edit fields, add fields, etc as needed and it goes really fast to take information down on a call.
The most important thing when taking customer information though is to keep it very well organized and up to date with ALL of the information that you have. It's a good idea to keep as much of your old info as possible as well. You never know when you'll want to look back at that information and if it's as simple as keeping a few spreadsheet files, it's not as hard as some very full duotangs.
Keep Smiling! :oD
Perry Noia the Scaredy Clown
Wednesday, 15 June 2011
Helping Your Search Results ... freely or cheaply
I'm not an expert, but I've done some research on my own and it seems to be working alright so far. We all want our websites to show up at the top of the google search results for our area. As clowns, most of us couldn't care less how we show up in a global search, so a lot of professional SEO type things are really unnecessary for us. These are a few things that I've done and have discovered that are bumping my page ever upward without spending more than I'm making.
1. Links - if you read anything about your google rating, you'll see that links to your site are the biggest thing. You need QUALITY links from related sites to your site. To be at the VERY top of the list, you generally have to pay a fortune for the biggest sites (like yellowpages) to link to you. But if you show up on the first page, you're doing pretty well and some of the other things might bump you to the top anyway. Find all the free directory sites for your area, province/state, country, type of service and put your listing on there. Prioritize the sites that will post your link and not just your phone number... those are ok too but most people probably don't look at the directories and it won't help your search results. Get as many as you can find without paying for them, I've paid for a couple in the past and it doesn't accomplish anything.. the only people who look at the actual pages are you and your competition. You can also do a link exchange with local businesses that you think your customers might like as well... you post their link on your site and they'll post your link on theirs.
2. Keywords - if you want to and can figure out how to do it on your site yourself, you can add keyword meta tags, but it's not a big deal. What you really need to focus on is that the keywords that people will use to search for you are ON your pages! I can't tell you how many clowns/face painters have websites that don't list the area they serve on their site.... anywhere! It needs to be at least on your index page and it doesn't need to be listed in a weird way, just somewhere on there. For me: clown, windsor, ontario, face painting, balloons, party, etc. If they are not on your site somewhere, then how will google know to show you for those search words?
3. URL - pay for a custom one or not, I personally don't think it's that big a deal... the free ones that come with free hosting are not all that bad. I did recently start paying for one, because I wanted it. The biggest issue with the URL is to do with time... your site will automatically move up in importance in searches once it has been around for at least a year. A whole year??? Yes, a year. This is where a little patience comes into play, but keep in mind that most small businesses take a good 2 or 3 years before they really start to do well. You can do it!
4. Google Places - sign up... get a google places page. It's as simple as that, it's free and it puts you at the TOP of the search page. Yes, it is slightly separated from the "regular search results," but you're at the top so whatever. A few extra clicks here and there and it's worth the few minutes that it takes to set it up. I think you can even set it for an intersection rather than your home address if you don't want to be so specific as to where you live.
5. Google AdWords - ok, so here you have to pay a little bit. But, you get to pick just how much you want to spend. You sign up and fill in all your info, then you can set a daily budget... when your ads reach that budget, they stop showing up for the day and start again the next day. The nice thing with adwords is that it not only shows on google searches, but in all those little sponsored ads on other websites. A friend of mine told me she was watching YouTube with her kids and my ad showed up! The other great thing about adwords is that you can set who sees your ads based on where they are searching from. The only people that see my ads are searching from my area. Because I'm in a border town, it means that a few people from Detroit occasionally click it, but it's pretty good anyway... I don't have to advertise across Ontario or across Canada, just where I tell it. I can type in actually cities and towns or pick a point on the map and tell it how many km radius from there.
So, there are my main tips on bumping yourself up the search results line. There are many more. If you'd like to share a couple of your tips in the comments, I'd love to hear them!!
Keep Smiling!! :oD
Perry Noia the Scaredy Clown
1. Links - if you read anything about your google rating, you'll see that links to your site are the biggest thing. You need QUALITY links from related sites to your site. To be at the VERY top of the list, you generally have to pay a fortune for the biggest sites (like yellowpages) to link to you. But if you show up on the first page, you're doing pretty well and some of the other things might bump you to the top anyway. Find all the free directory sites for your area, province/state, country, type of service and put your listing on there. Prioritize the sites that will post your link and not just your phone number... those are ok too but most people probably don't look at the directories and it won't help your search results. Get as many as you can find without paying for them, I've paid for a couple in the past and it doesn't accomplish anything.. the only people who look at the actual pages are you and your competition. You can also do a link exchange with local businesses that you think your customers might like as well... you post their link on your site and they'll post your link on theirs.
2. Keywords - if you want to and can figure out how to do it on your site yourself, you can add keyword meta tags, but it's not a big deal. What you really need to focus on is that the keywords that people will use to search for you are ON your pages! I can't tell you how many clowns/face painters have websites that don't list the area they serve on their site.... anywhere! It needs to be at least on your index page and it doesn't need to be listed in a weird way, just somewhere on there. For me: clown, windsor, ontario, face painting, balloons, party, etc. If they are not on your site somewhere, then how will google know to show you for those search words?
3. URL - pay for a custom one or not, I personally don't think it's that big a deal... the free ones that come with free hosting are not all that bad. I did recently start paying for one, because I wanted it. The biggest issue with the URL is to do with time... your site will automatically move up in importance in searches once it has been around for at least a year. A whole year??? Yes, a year. This is where a little patience comes into play, but keep in mind that most small businesses take a good 2 or 3 years before they really start to do well. You can do it!
4. Google Places - sign up... get a google places page. It's as simple as that, it's free and it puts you at the TOP of the search page. Yes, it is slightly separated from the "regular search results," but you're at the top so whatever. A few extra clicks here and there and it's worth the few minutes that it takes to set it up. I think you can even set it for an intersection rather than your home address if you don't want to be so specific as to where you live.
5. Google AdWords - ok, so here you have to pay a little bit. But, you get to pick just how much you want to spend. You sign up and fill in all your info, then you can set a daily budget... when your ads reach that budget, they stop showing up for the day and start again the next day. The nice thing with adwords is that it not only shows on google searches, but in all those little sponsored ads on other websites. A friend of mine told me she was watching YouTube with her kids and my ad showed up! The other great thing about adwords is that you can set who sees your ads based on where they are searching from. The only people that see my ads are searching from my area. Because I'm in a border town, it means that a few people from Detroit occasionally click it, but it's pretty good anyway... I don't have to advertise across Ontario or across Canada, just where I tell it. I can type in actually cities and towns or pick a point on the map and tell it how many km radius from there.
So, there are my main tips on bumping yourself up the search results line. There are many more. If you'd like to share a couple of your tips in the comments, I'd love to hear them!!
Keep Smiling!! :oD
Perry Noia the Scaredy Clown
Thursday, 26 May 2011
Twisting your way to happiness
When I started clowning, I asked my mentor clown if she'd get me started with face painting. She told me, "Well, I have a lot of face painters. What I really need are balloon twisters." So, I started with balloons! I went to face painting within a few months of that, but that's for another entry.
To start with balloons, you need a pump and a bag of balloons. Don't go to the dollar store for this or you won't get past a 3 twist poodle. Get yourself a good pump and some good balloons. You will start with what are called 260 balloons either by Qualatex or Betalatex most likely. Both are good brands with little poppage which will help. The good starter hand pumps are from Qualatex. You'll want either a single action (the red one) or a double action (the pink and purple one). I like the red one because it only pumps in one direction and the air does not come back out when you stop pumping. The double action pumps in both directions but if you stop, the air starts coming back out of the balloon... to me it isn't as precise. I like to count my pumps for sculptures rather than looking at the length of the pumped section or length of the tail, so the red fits my style best.
Once you have your pump and your bag of balloons (any bag of 100 assorted colours will start you off with learning to do it), then take yourself over to http://www.balloon-animals.com and try all of the single balloon sculptures on there. Once you can confidently do all of the single balloon things on there from memory, you can get away with calling yourself a twister and doing it at a party or event. You won't be the best in the biz with just those, but it will get your feet wet with doing it faster... if you can get through 12 kids before any of them have managed to pop their balloons, you're doing OK ;) That's why I always do balloons at the end of the party... make them and RUN!!
In all seriousness, I will usually do one or two repairs before I leave, but I'll give you a one liner that will save you from having your one hour party turn into two hours of fixing balloons:
Happy Twisting!!
Perry Noia the Scaredy Clown :oD
To start with balloons, you need a pump and a bag of balloons. Don't go to the dollar store for this or you won't get past a 3 twist poodle. Get yourself a good pump and some good balloons. You will start with what are called 260 balloons either by Qualatex or Betalatex most likely. Both are good brands with little poppage which will help. The good starter hand pumps are from Qualatex. You'll want either a single action (the red one) or a double action (the pink and purple one). I like the red one because it only pumps in one direction and the air does not come back out when you stop pumping. The double action pumps in both directions but if you stop, the air starts coming back out of the balloon... to me it isn't as precise. I like to count my pumps for sculptures rather than looking at the length of the pumped section or length of the tail, so the red fits my style best.
Once you have your pump and your bag of balloons (any bag of 100 assorted colours will start you off with learning to do it), then take yourself over to http://www.balloon-animals.com and try all of the single balloon sculptures on there. Once you can confidently do all of the single balloon things on there from memory, you can get away with calling yourself a twister and doing it at a party or event. You won't be the best in the biz with just those, but it will get your feet wet with doing it faster... if you can get through 12 kids before any of them have managed to pop their balloons, you're doing OK ;) That's why I always do balloons at the end of the party... make them and RUN!!
In all seriousness, I will usually do one or two repairs before I leave, but I'll give you a one liner that will save you from having your one hour party turn into two hours of fixing balloons:
"Balloons are like vitamins, you only get ONE a day."
Happy Twisting!!
Perry Noia the Scaredy Clown :oD
Wednesday, 11 May 2011
Videos
A few people asked me, when I first started doing a monthly video on youtube, if it helped me get bookings... how would I know? I had just started!
After having done it for a while now, I can definitely say, yes. It gives people a chance to "meet" my character before hiring me if they haven't seen me perform before. It gives a snippet of what my show is like. It has made a difference, without a doubt. The month that I had posted little clips from my "stage" shows at Colasanti's Tropical Gardens, I got calls/emails from 4 separate companies booking stage shows. That's just the most obvious result, it's hard to measure other months.
How to do it? It depends a little bit on what kind of video camera you have available and what kind of computer software you use. I had a better video camera when I first started, but it was stolen when someone broke into our house last fall... But you don't need a fantastic camera for something like this, youtube compresses it for streaming so much that the super quality is kind of lost anyway. You need good audio and pretty good video, but most importantly, you need content. That's actually the hardest part when you do it regularly. Finding something interesting and new to record every month can be hard, especially in the winter months when you don't have as many public appearances going on. But it is important that your videos be relatively consistent or you may fall off of making them at all. Give yourself a deadline for each of them. I really try to get mine done before the 15th, no later than the 20th of each month and I apologize profusely if it ever gets published later than that.
Editing is the next part and depends a lot on what kind of computer and/or software you have available to you. I have a mac, so the obvious and easiest choice is iMovie because it comes with the computer. It is a great program for an amateur videographer because it is easy to use but makes very effective transitions, titles and will upload the movie directly to youtube or make a quicktime video or whatever format you are looking for. If you are using Windows, you may need to search a little bit to find easy and affordable video editing software. It's been a long time since I've done any video stuff on Windows and I don't even know if "movie maker" still exists. LOL
Once you have your video up on youtube, you can try to get people subscribing to your channel, but your best bet is probably to embed it into your website. I have mine in the same spot on my index page all the time. It is easier to edit the code that way and it keeps my site consistent. The embed code is easy to find on youtube and once you find the right spot to insert it into your html code, it's a simple matter of pasting the code in the same place every time.
Feel free to subscribe to my youtube channel! http://www.youtube.com/user/PerryNoiatheClown?feature=mhum
Keep Smiling! :oD
Perry Noia the Scaredy Clown
After having done it for a while now, I can definitely say, yes. It gives people a chance to "meet" my character before hiring me if they haven't seen me perform before. It gives a snippet of what my show is like. It has made a difference, without a doubt. The month that I had posted little clips from my "stage" shows at Colasanti's Tropical Gardens, I got calls/emails from 4 separate companies booking stage shows. That's just the most obvious result, it's hard to measure other months.
How to do it? It depends a little bit on what kind of video camera you have available and what kind of computer software you use. I had a better video camera when I first started, but it was stolen when someone broke into our house last fall... But you don't need a fantastic camera for something like this, youtube compresses it for streaming so much that the super quality is kind of lost anyway. You need good audio and pretty good video, but most importantly, you need content. That's actually the hardest part when you do it regularly. Finding something interesting and new to record every month can be hard, especially in the winter months when you don't have as many public appearances going on. But it is important that your videos be relatively consistent or you may fall off of making them at all. Give yourself a deadline for each of them. I really try to get mine done before the 15th, no later than the 20th of each month and I apologize profusely if it ever gets published later than that.
Editing is the next part and depends a lot on what kind of computer and/or software you have available to you. I have a mac, so the obvious and easiest choice is iMovie because it comes with the computer. It is a great program for an amateur videographer because it is easy to use but makes very effective transitions, titles and will upload the movie directly to youtube or make a quicktime video or whatever format you are looking for. If you are using Windows, you may need to search a little bit to find easy and affordable video editing software. It's been a long time since I've done any video stuff on Windows and I don't even know if "movie maker" still exists. LOL
Once you have your video up on youtube, you can try to get people subscribing to your channel, but your best bet is probably to embed it into your website. I have mine in the same spot on my index page all the time. It is easier to edit the code that way and it keeps my site consistent. The embed code is easy to find on youtube and once you find the right spot to insert it into your html code, it's a simple matter of pasting the code in the same place every time.
Feel free to subscribe to my youtube channel! http://www.youtube.com/user/PerryNoiatheClown?feature=mhum
Keep Smiling! :oD
Perry Noia the Scaredy Clown
Monday, 2 May 2011
Festival Set-ups
I do several festivals each year as well as setting up weekly at the Downtown Windsor Farmers' Market. These outdoor events require more equipment than just doing birthday parties, so I thought I would cover some of those things to help anyone who might be thinking about getting into those kinds of events.
Tent/Canopy - most of these events will require you to bring your own shelter. Don't risk going without it by just getting shade under a tree or something. If you will be there for most of a day (or over several days), it is definitely worth putting up a tent. There are cheap and easy ones for occasional use like the FirstUp ones from Walmart. I had one of those, but in a high wind and being left overnight, this will not be sufficient. Once I came the next day to find it rather warped and had to kind of untwist it to get it up properly again, the second time though (while I will grant there were tornadoes in the area that night) it was completely uprooted and in a tangled mess when I showed up the next morning. My current tent is one that I bought at Costco, made by a company called Caravan. It was about $200 and well worth the money. Go for white rather than green or something. It is cooler and as a face painter, I don't want funny colours being cast onto my clients' faces.
Tables - you need to decide how much room you will need for all your stuff. Some people bring everything including the kitchen sink, those people might need a couple of tables. Or if you will have more than one person working in the space, you will probably want one table for each person. When working on my own, I find that a 4 foot table is enough for me. Many different sizes and shapes are available at Staples, I got mine for about $50.
Chairs - There are many different ways of setting yourself up at a festival. I have a tall director's chair for the customers to sit in while I stand and paint them. This is easiest on my back and for me to be able to move around them as needed while painting. My chair is from EZ Up, I have my name printed on the inside back of the chair and it cost me about $200. It came with a large black bag to carry it in and it has been well worth the money spent. I believe that if you live in the US there are some cheaper options on Amazon, but none of them would ship to Canada when I was looking. You will also want to bring a chair for yourself. I use it when making balloons sometimes so that I'm not kneeling on the ground to get closer to the kids and in between customers or when taking a break for lunch. The chair I use for myself is a little folding one with a back on it from Canadian Tire. They sell for $10 or $15.
Signage - You will need to post your prices, your name/contact info, and some photos to draw people into your booth. For my face painting, I have two "small" outdoor banners from vistaprint. I made image files to match the dimensions they specify for the whole banner, one banner for each price point. I hang these from the front of my tent using shower curtain hooks or the plastic baby toy links (those are nice because they are colourful, but sometimes the shower curtain hooks are easier to find). I recently got a third small banner with by balloon sculptures listed and grouped by price. I don't post pictures of these because there are just too many of them. I have one more banner, it is a LARGE one... I put it at the back of my tent because I have not found a way of attaching it in the front without it hanging down too low, but it is easily seen and has my name and website proudly displayed on it along with the words "face painting & balloons" because it is very important that everyone knows right away WHAT you are doing there! I have one more little a-frame folding sign... I found it at Staples and it works out well for facing the direction of traffic walking by (as some will have their blinders on to everything beside them). On this sign, I usually post the prices and my name again.
What to bring - This depends on what you are doing somewhat, but there are some things that are consistent. If you are face painting, bring your entire kit (you never know what you will need/want, so don't upset yourself with "I wish I had brought my..."). Make sure you have as many sponges as possible. Even if you are the kind of painter that uses one per colour instead of one per child, you may find that one ends up on the ground or covered in boogers or whatever and you'll need to replace it, so bring a lot of them. Bring your own water, you never know how far away the nearest supply will be and you want to be able to change your water as often and quickly as necessary. For balloons, bring as many as you can carry, your cutter or scissors, markers, etc. And now for the everybody-needs-these extras: food and drinks for yourself (you could go broke buying it all there), garbage bags, scissors, several different kinds of tape, markers, pens, string or twine, a construction/shop style lamp that you can hang from the top of your tent if you will be there later in the evening and will have access to power (and extension cords?), and a cash box with LOTS of change (I usually go through 5s faster than anything else).
How to bring it - As you can see, you have a lot to bring and you don't want to make 50 trips to your car, even if you can get it pretty close to your spot to unload (you can't always, you don't want to leave everything there overnight and you won't be able to get your car back in there in the evening in between a multiple day event). You want something with wheels for most of your stuff. Rolling suitcases, scrapbooking cases, or (as I have) a rolling tool box. Mine is a FatMax rolling toolbox made by Stanley. Prices vary depending on where you live and sales going on, but it's usually around the $100 mark. It's kind of heavy, so some people only use them for festivals where they have a lot to bring... I use mine for parties too though because, as a clown, I have a lot to bring with me everywhere and can fit everything in it. You'll need a cooler for your food and drinks. There really isn't any way to get around carrying your table and chairs, but hopefully your canopy case has wheels on it like mine. I couldn't move my canopy without wheels since it is taller than me even when folded in the case. My signage and little folding chair fit into my director's chair bag pretty well. While each trip from the car will be heavy, you can probably get away with only 3 or 4 trips to unload it all.
You'll put in a lot of hours at a festival, but unless you can book 4 or 5 hourly gigs in the same weekend, you'll probably make some pretty good money working pay per face and pay per balloon. It depends on the number of people that come to the festival of course and somewhat on the weather, but it is a chance that I often take as long as the booth fees aren't ridiculous.
Happy Fest-ing! :oD
Perry Noia the Scaredy Clown
Tent/Canopy - most of these events will require you to bring your own shelter. Don't risk going without it by just getting shade under a tree or something. If you will be there for most of a day (or over several days), it is definitely worth putting up a tent. There are cheap and easy ones for occasional use like the FirstUp ones from Walmart. I had one of those, but in a high wind and being left overnight, this will not be sufficient. Once I came the next day to find it rather warped and had to kind of untwist it to get it up properly again, the second time though (while I will grant there were tornadoes in the area that night) it was completely uprooted and in a tangled mess when I showed up the next morning. My current tent is one that I bought at Costco, made by a company called Caravan. It was about $200 and well worth the money. Go for white rather than green or something. It is cooler and as a face painter, I don't want funny colours being cast onto my clients' faces.
Chairs - There are many different ways of setting yourself up at a festival. I have a tall director's chair for the customers to sit in while I stand and paint them. This is easiest on my back and for me to be able to move around them as needed while painting. My chair is from EZ Up, I have my name printed on the inside back of the chair and it cost me about $200. It came with a large black bag to carry it in and it has been well worth the money spent. I believe that if you live in the US there are some cheaper options on Amazon, but none of them would ship to Canada when I was looking. You will also want to bring a chair for yourself. I use it when making balloons sometimes so that I'm not kneeling on the ground to get closer to the kids and in between customers or when taking a break for lunch. The chair I use for myself is a little folding one with a back on it from Canadian Tire. They sell for $10 or $15.
Signage - You will need to post your prices, your name/contact info, and some photos to draw people into your booth. For my face painting, I have two "small" outdoor banners from vistaprint. I made image files to match the dimensions they specify for the whole banner, one banner for each price point. I hang these from the front of my tent using shower curtain hooks or the plastic baby toy links (those are nice because they are colourful, but sometimes the shower curtain hooks are easier to find). I recently got a third small banner with by balloon sculptures listed and grouped by price. I don't post pictures of these because there are just too many of them. I have one more banner, it is a LARGE one... I put it at the back of my tent because I have not found a way of attaching it in the front without it hanging down too low, but it is easily seen and has my name and website proudly displayed on it along with the words "face painting & balloons" because it is very important that everyone knows right away WHAT you are doing there! I have one more little a-frame folding sign... I found it at Staples and it works out well for facing the direction of traffic walking by (as some will have their blinders on to everything beside them). On this sign, I usually post the prices and my name again.
What to bring - This depends on what you are doing somewhat, but there are some things that are consistent. If you are face painting, bring your entire kit (you never know what you will need/want, so don't upset yourself with "I wish I had brought my..."). Make sure you have as many sponges as possible. Even if you are the kind of painter that uses one per colour instead of one per child, you may find that one ends up on the ground or covered in boogers or whatever and you'll need to replace it, so bring a lot of them. Bring your own water, you never know how far away the nearest supply will be and you want to be able to change your water as often and quickly as necessary. For balloons, bring as many as you can carry, your cutter or scissors, markers, etc. And now for the everybody-needs-these extras: food and drinks for yourself (you could go broke buying it all there), garbage bags, scissors, several different kinds of tape, markers, pens, string or twine, a construction/shop style lamp that you can hang from the top of your tent if you will be there later in the evening and will have access to power (and extension cords?), and a cash box with LOTS of change (I usually go through 5s faster than anything else).
How to bring it - As you can see, you have a lot to bring and you don't want to make 50 trips to your car, even if you can get it pretty close to your spot to unload (you can't always, you don't want to leave everything there overnight and you won't be able to get your car back in there in the evening in between a multiple day event). You want something with wheels for most of your stuff. Rolling suitcases, scrapbooking cases, or (as I have) a rolling tool box. Mine is a FatMax rolling toolbox made by Stanley. Prices vary depending on where you live and sales going on, but it's usually around the $100 mark. It's kind of heavy, so some people only use them for festivals where they have a lot to bring... I use mine for parties too though because, as a clown, I have a lot to bring with me everywhere and can fit everything in it. You'll need a cooler for your food and drinks. There really isn't any way to get around carrying your table and chairs, but hopefully your canopy case has wheels on it like mine. I couldn't move my canopy without wheels since it is taller than me even when folded in the case. My signage and little folding chair fit into my director's chair bag pretty well. While each trip from the car will be heavy, you can probably get away with only 3 or 4 trips to unload it all.
You'll put in a lot of hours at a festival, but unless you can book 4 or 5 hourly gigs in the same weekend, you'll probably make some pretty good money working pay per face and pay per balloon. It depends on the number of people that come to the festival of course and somewhat on the weather, but it is a chance that I often take as long as the booth fees aren't ridiculous.
Happy Fest-ing! :oD
Perry Noia the Scaredy Clown
Sunday, 24 April 2011
On Working With Charities
As anyone who is a small business owner knows, you could book yourself solid with "donations of your time" .... this is not to say that we don't want to support charities. Quite the opposite in fact, we love helping charities. Charity work IS great exposure... potential customers LOVE to see that you support their preferred charity and would rather hire you based on that. HOWEVER, you have a business to run! You aren't just "donating your time" as you well know. You are booking yourself during time when you could be doing paid work, you are probably using supplies (balloons, face painting, etc) that cost you money, you are definitely using up gas in your car, wear and tear on your costume and/or props, and using up your own makeup. You can of course choose to donate all of these costs if you would like to a charity of your choice, but you can't do it for everyone that asks.
So, do you just choose one or two to make those donations to or do you find some other way to help out the charities without bankrupting yourself? Not all charities will take you up on these offers, but some will and you can feel good that you are helping out their events, getting some visibility (while not devaluing your services), and still making a little money for your work. Don't feel bad charging them something, they have to pay for other things too... halls will usually give them free rent, but only if they sell a certain number of plates of food at the event... that kind of thing.
I offer my services to ONE charity free every year. My husband is involved with the Returns for Leukemia bottle drive at Ontario locations of The Beer Store and I help out with those events.
For all other charities, these are the options:
- Donate a Gift Certificate to their auctions - I often donate a $50 gift certificate to charity events that are not looking for me to be present during their event. Since my smallest party packages are $75, it means that I will still be making some money from any bookings that result from this. To be completely honest, I've given out at least 20 of these and have only ever redeemed ONE of them. But it gets your name out there and someone probably gave the charity some money in exchange for it.
- Discounted Hourly Rates - Take off a percentage of your usual hourly rate to accommodate their reduced available funds. You decide how much you are willing to take off, it really is up to you and it doesn't have to be a huge amount. They can charge for tickets at their own rates, but many charities want your services to be free so that their patrons will donate all the money they brought.
- Charge the public and give some back - I often do face painting and charge the public at fundraiser events, then give the charity a percentage of the money. They don't have to put anything out of their budget (you are raising money for them instead), but you are getting compensated for materials used. There is a bit of risk involved with this as you are still using up time, gas and costume wear and tear at the chance that you won't make any money (or at least not very much), but many charities prefer this option because it makes them money instead of costing them money. Be sure to put out a sign that says "X% will be donated to XYZ today!" Again, the amount of the percentage is up to you and what you feel you can afford. I recently changed mine because I have gotten so busy that I'm turning down multiple paid events because I already agreed to appear at charity events (it is now costing me money, so I needed to be making a little more from the charity events than I was).
I hope this has been a helpful and informative article for you. Don't feel bad charging something, you need to eat too. Here's an amusing video: Donating Clown Services
Perry Noia the Scaredy Clown :oD
So, do you just choose one or two to make those donations to or do you find some other way to help out the charities without bankrupting yourself? Not all charities will take you up on these offers, but some will and you can feel good that you are helping out their events, getting some visibility (while not devaluing your services), and still making a little money for your work. Don't feel bad charging them something, they have to pay for other things too... halls will usually give them free rent, but only if they sell a certain number of plates of food at the event... that kind of thing.
I offer my services to ONE charity free every year. My husband is involved with the Returns for Leukemia bottle drive at Ontario locations of The Beer Store and I help out with those events.
For all other charities, these are the options:
- Donate a Gift Certificate to their auctions - I often donate a $50 gift certificate to charity events that are not looking for me to be present during their event. Since my smallest party packages are $75, it means that I will still be making some money from any bookings that result from this. To be completely honest, I've given out at least 20 of these and have only ever redeemed ONE of them. But it gets your name out there and someone probably gave the charity some money in exchange for it.
- Discounted Hourly Rates - Take off a percentage of your usual hourly rate to accommodate their reduced available funds. You decide how much you are willing to take off, it really is up to you and it doesn't have to be a huge amount. They can charge for tickets at their own rates, but many charities want your services to be free so that their patrons will donate all the money they brought.
- Charge the public and give some back - I often do face painting and charge the public at fundraiser events, then give the charity a percentage of the money. They don't have to put anything out of their budget (you are raising money for them instead), but you are getting compensated for materials used. There is a bit of risk involved with this as you are still using up time, gas and costume wear and tear at the chance that you won't make any money (or at least not very much), but many charities prefer this option because it makes them money instead of costing them money. Be sure to put out a sign that says "X% will be donated to XYZ today!" Again, the amount of the percentage is up to you and what you feel you can afford. I recently changed mine because I have gotten so busy that I'm turning down multiple paid events because I already agreed to appear at charity events (it is now costing me money, so I needed to be making a little more from the charity events than I was).
I hope this has been a helpful and informative article for you. Don't feel bad charging something, you need to eat too. Here's an amusing video: Donating Clown Services
Perry Noia the Scaredy Clown :oD
Thursday, 21 April 2011
Title and Topic change....
Hey everyone, I will be leaving the old entries on here (because I still think they are interesting) but I will be changing gears from where I was to a more business side of what I'm doing, what I'm learning and perhaps what mistakes I make in the hopes that you may avoid making the same ones.
It will probably be a little easier for me to "find material to blog about" and won't be just rehashing material and links that can already be found all over the web.
I already gave a bit of background into how I became a clown in my first blog entry, but a question that I have seen posted now and then from new children's entertainers is how to come up with a name for your character. I can't speak for everyone, but I can share how I came up with my own name...
Back in university (long before I had ever even met a clown let alone thought of becoming one) I frequented a little place called "the U of Moo" .... no, it isn't a real university. It was a unix based, virtual community on a server at the University of Windsor. To my knowledge the server is still running in some forgotten closet somewhere and may still be accessible if you feel like playing with unix for a bit. In any case, in this little moo community, I developed a few online personae. One of those, happened to be called "paranoia" and was an exaggerated extension of a strong personality trait of mine... yes, I am afraid of almost everything. The character was described something along the lines of "a small figure cowering in the corner with a flashlight and a can of bug spray."
Fast forward to post-university days... As a mother of two who has not had a steady job in 4 years because it was cheaper to stay home than work for minimum wage and pay sitters, we needed more income. I met Trixie the Clown, who is now a good friend and while I mean no disrespect to her skills and hard work (it IS harder than it looks), I watched her birthday party show and thought.... 'I can do that...' So, skipping the whole story of deciding to be a clown and what not, let's keep going with the name thing...
So you want to be a clown?
What's your name? Who are you? What are you like?
Oh my gosh.... hmmm.... ok.
What will be the hardest thing for me to do as a birthday party clown?
Go to someone's house where there is an enormous, horse-sized dog and have them expect me to be OK with that.
Well..... if my character is SUPPOSED to be afraid, then..... hey, this could work!
So, a friend of mine in university had shortened my "paranoia" handle to 'noia at some point. I decided that Noia would be an ok name for a clown... but nobody got it, nobody knew how to pronounce it, the joke was completely lost.
Oy.
Para Noia? no, that's not a name...
Peri? ew, that sounds gross... wait, Perry is a name!
It's a boy's name :S .... hmmm ... does it matter?
So, Perry Noia was born! And since she is simply an extension of my own personality traits, it makes it much easier to stay in character.
Take a word, take a couple of words... change their spelling or pronunciation a little to make them sound like a real person's name. I hope my little story can inspire a few new entertainers in their search for their own character.
PS - I added "the Scaredy Clown" because some people still missed the joke... and even with that added, some still do.
It will probably be a little easier for me to "find material to blog about" and won't be just rehashing material and links that can already be found all over the web.
I already gave a bit of background into how I became a clown in my first blog entry, but a question that I have seen posted now and then from new children's entertainers is how to come up with a name for your character. I can't speak for everyone, but I can share how I came up with my own name...
Back in university (long before I had ever even met a clown let alone thought of becoming one) I frequented a little place called "the U of Moo" .... no, it isn't a real university. It was a unix based, virtual community on a server at the University of Windsor. To my knowledge the server is still running in some forgotten closet somewhere and may still be accessible if you feel like playing with unix for a bit. In any case, in this little moo community, I developed a few online personae. One of those, happened to be called "paranoia" and was an exaggerated extension of a strong personality trait of mine... yes, I am afraid of almost everything. The character was described something along the lines of "a small figure cowering in the corner with a flashlight and a can of bug spray."
Fast forward to post-university days... As a mother of two who has not had a steady job in 4 years because it was cheaper to stay home than work for minimum wage and pay sitters, we needed more income. I met Trixie the Clown, who is now a good friend and while I mean no disrespect to her skills and hard work (it IS harder than it looks), I watched her birthday party show and thought.... 'I can do that...' So, skipping the whole story of deciding to be a clown and what not, let's keep going with the name thing...
So you want to be a clown?
What's your name? Who are you? What are you like?
Oh my gosh.... hmmm.... ok.
What will be the hardest thing for me to do as a birthday party clown?
Go to someone's house where there is an enormous, horse-sized dog and have them expect me to be OK with that.
Well..... if my character is SUPPOSED to be afraid, then..... hey, this could work!
So, a friend of mine in university had shortened my "paranoia" handle to 'noia at some point. I decided that Noia would be an ok name for a clown... but nobody got it, nobody knew how to pronounce it, the joke was completely lost.
Oy.
Para Noia? no, that's not a name...
Peri? ew, that sounds gross... wait, Perry is a name!
It's a boy's name :S .... hmmm ... does it matter?
So, Perry Noia was born! And since she is simply an extension of my own personality traits, it makes it much easier to stay in character.
Take a word, take a couple of words... change their spelling or pronunciation a little to make them sound like a real person's name. I hope my little story can inspire a few new entertainers in their search for their own character.
Perry Noia the Scaredy Clown :D
PS - I added "the Scaredy Clown" because some people still missed the joke... and even with that added, some still do.
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