I should explain that we teach the Wiz Kids how to make one
clown face and fit into one clown character, whose name is always
Boppo, no matter which Wiz Kid is playing the role. As they
graduate from the Wiz Kids and are ready to create their own
clown faces and personalities to go with it, they also choose
their own clown names. They will also take with them the skills
they have learned in the Wiz Kids, and among those skills is how
to make your own clown magic props from stuff you can find at a
flea-market, second-hand store, or Dollar store. The idea is to
make them self-sufficient entertainers. If all else fails for
them in life, they can always go back to being a clown.
One of the more advanced props made by our clowns is the Portrait
of Grandma, but it is only considered advanced because the
complex version requires some basic woodworking skills. The
simple version can be made by a Kid with a bottle of glue and a
pair of scissors.
Effect:
The clown enters carrying a picture, and looks around for a
place to put it. "This is a portrait of my Grandma," he
tells everyone. "I always carry it with me everywhere I go.
I don't like to show it to anyone else, because people always
laugh at my Grandma. I don't know why. She looks perfectly normal
to me. I would show you her portrait, but you might laugh. You
would have to promise that you won't laugh if I show you
Grandma's portrait. Do you promise? OK, I'll show you. This is my
Grandma."
The clown turns the picture around, and of course, Grandma is
also a clown, so all the kids laugh. "You laughed! She is
pretty funny looking, though, isn't she? You can tell it's a
really old picture because it's all black and white. Just like
all the old movies are in black and white. They didn't have any
colors back in those days. Maybe we could use some clown magic to
put some color in Grandma's portrait. (To the kids) Would you
like that? (To the picture)Would you like that, Grandma? (The
clown makes the portrait nod it's head.) Grandma says yes! Let's
do it!"
I'm sure you can predict the rest of the routine as the clown
goes through all the ways of having the kids help him color the
portrait of Grandma. They are pretty much the same as the ones
used for most Coloring Book routines these days, including the
new ones I show you how to make HERE. In this
article, I show you how to make the Portrait with both the simple
method and the complex method explained. Because you are making
it yourself, you are not limited to a clown theme, but can make a
Santa Claus version, Frosty the Snowman, the Easter Bunny (help
him color all those eggs!), and so on.
Here's a video of Wiz Kid Qua-Fiki giving a very simple
performance of Portrait of Grandma.
