Christmas in pictures (children's entertainment)

SEASONS GREETINGS!

A picture is worth a thousand words so here are Christmas pictures 

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Free places to hold a children's party

One of the cheapest places to hold your children's party is your house or apartment. If you have the party in your house you can have the guests in your livingroom or basement or backyard.

 However, if your place is small or you don't want the hassle of extensive cleanup before and/or after your guests leave or if you live in a place that is out of the way there are still other cheap places to hold a party. If you are willing to hold your party during the week you can have your child's party at his or her school or daycare. Most of the time you need to ask the teacher's permission or the school's permission to do so.  The advantages to doing so is that you don't have to worry about a lot of guests not showing up. If your child has 20 kids in his or her classroom chances are all 20 kids will be there minus maybe a few who are sick that day. You also don't have to spend money and/or time decorating the house. Nor do you have to wait sometimes hours for youur guests and their kids to show up. After all the kids will already be there when you get there.

Other cheap ideas are fast foods like McDonald's. As long as you have a certain number of guests they will usually set aside an area of the restaurant (or some may have a designated playspace), and all you have to do is pay for the food.

Another  free place is the park. However, the disadvantage of that is unless you arrange things only a few days before it could possibly rain. This means you have to have a either a plan B as to where you should hold your party or a raindate which cold be inconvenient for your guests or entertainment as they may not be able to make it on your raindate. Also, another disadvantage is some parks do require you to have a permit if you are having more then a certain number of guests (you need to check with your local parks department on that)

   

Clown who use rabbits in their act

For the last ten years of my clowning life I have used rabbits in my performing act. In the beginning I used them for magic tricks but the last few years all I did was let the kids pet my rabbit. My newest rabbit, a brown mini-rex named Cinnamon has never been used for a magic trick. I just let the kids pet him, and that makes the kids happy.

It's amazing how different each rabbit's personality is. Honey Bunny my previous rabbit was a little people flirt. This rabbit I have now is not as outgoing. Once in awhile though Cinnamon will surprise me by licking my hand or the kids' hand at a party. One time at a party a few months ago one of the kids asked does he lick. I started to tell the kids "no" but then Cinnamon actually started licking my hand and the kids' hands like he understood what they were talking about!

I've always gotten very attached to my rabbits.To me they are more endearing then dogs or cats.  Rabbits aree like children - you always have to talk to them sweetly and compliment them so that they will be happy and show affection.      

The rabbit who acted like a puppy

For nearly five years I had a brown dwarf rabbit named Honeybunny. Honeybunny was a male rabbit born on a farm in upstate New York. I bought Honeybunny because he had such a calm disposition. I thought he would be perfect for taking along to kids' parties and using him in a magic trick designed for rabbits,

Some rabbits don't like people but not Honeybunny. When I took him to kids. parties whenever someone petted him he  licked my hand like a little puppy. If the kids placed their hand in front of him he usually started licking their hand too. I remember him one time reaching up to lick a kid on his nose.

Honeybunny didn't like other animals though, One time I adopted  a cat,. Whenever the cat went near his cage Honeybunny's long ears would tilt forward and the cat would back away. Since Honeybunny didn't like the cat I gave the cat away to an assistant of mine within a few weeks of the adoption . Also  Honeybunny was scared of guinea pigs. When I showed him a guinea pig in a cage a couple of times at parties Honeybunny started shaking.  

When I found out Honeybunny needed surgery to remove stones in his bladder I still brought him to parties but stopped using him in magic tricks. From that point on (even after his surgery) I just let the children pet him and everyone was happy with that..

New York Goofs Clown School - children's entertainment

For the last week in July 2010  I attended New York Goofs Clown School. The entire school ran for two weeks but all I could fit into my schedule was one week. Classes were held every day from 10 AM to 6 PM.

There were about ten of us attending the school. Among the students there were actors and actresses, school teachers,and a court clerk. One student, a former teacher who had been injured in a car accident and so was now looking for a new career came all the way from Canada to study the art of clowning.

The classes took place in the auditorium of the Flea Theatre which was close to Chinatown.  That first week we studied improv, clown dance, clown make-up, clown skits used in the circus,  and the history of clowning. There was one instructor who taught us how to balance a stick on the palm of our hand and then our foot and  finally our chin. Another instructor taught us how to throw and catch a hat on our head (okay I didn't have much success catching a hat on my head).

I am sorry I missed  the second week which inclused a class on pie throwing. However, for the week I was there clown school was a lot of fun and I hope to be back for that second week in 2011

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Are all children's entertainers the same?

Are all children's entertainers the same? If you pick a clown or a children's entertainer should you always go for the cheapest price?  Not necessarily.

Those of us who have spent more time, effort,and money improving our magic show will more likely have higher prices then someone who is new or has not attended any or many conventions. When I first started I knew how to make only 2 balloon sculptures my first year - a dog and a sword. Now over 15 years later I have read a lot more books on balloon sculpting,, studied a lot of balloon twisting DVDs, and attended my share of balloon conventions and I can make 100's of  cool, attention grabbing  balloons. Therefore my prices are not the cheapest (but neither are they the most expensive) . My prices are somewhere in the middle.

To this day I am still learning new balloons and magic tricks. That makes things more interesting for me and for my customers.

My first day ever as a children's party clown - children's entertainment

My first day ever as a children's party clown (over 15 years ago) I was so nervous I gave myself something like 2 hours to get to my party even though it was in Queens, and I live in Queens. It was in a neighborhood called Rosedale. I don't think I had ever been to Rosedale at that time. Now of course thousands of parties later I have been to probably every neighborhood in Queens as well as all over Brooklyn, the Bronx, Long Island, Westchester, etc.

I sat in my car for something like an hour because I was so early. I was wearing a rainbow wig, white clown make-up all over my face, and a Halloween clown costume. I also had some magic tricks including the popular coloring book trick that I had been given by the company I worked for at that time. I had practiced those tricks all week. I had also practiced making a balloon dog and sword!

I came into the house a little early. It was March, a warm day in March because it was in the person's backyard. No one asked me if it was my first time. In fact, one of the fathers thought he had seen me perform at another party, and I even got a ten dollar tip.

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A Penny Hardaway Christmas (children's entertainment)

Several years ago I got a call during the holiday season to do a Penny Hardaway party. The woman who called me asked me if I had ever heard of him. At that time I hadn't because I am not knowledgeable about sports. "He is a basketball star," she said.

As his manager she booked a Santa, a Ms. Claus, and an elf from my company to entertain at a Christmas party Penny was giving for underprivileged kids in Harlem. The party was a few days away.

After she booked my services I started asking around, and it seemed like almost anyone I asked knew who he was because he was famous. When we got to the party it was crowded with children. Dressed as an elf I made balloon animals while Mrs. Claus facepainted the kids. Penny also had the hip hop magician perform, and a clown to help me make the balloons. He had Santa give out electronic toys for the children. After the show a lot of people went up to Penny to get his autograph including Ms. Claus who wanted his autograph for her grandson.

It was a fun party and one of my few parties for a celebrity.

    

My clown make-over through the years (children's entertainer)

As a clown and children's entertainer over the years I have had several make-overs. I first started with a lot of white make-up and a rainbow wig and a cheap clown costume.

After awhile I ditched the rainbow wig, because I wanted something more feminine and started wearing a wig with straight orange hair. Along the way at a clown convention I met a clown who had won awards for her make-up as a whiteface clown and she helped give me a make-up. I think her name was Sunshine the Clown and she was somewhere from the mid West. I also got a better (more expensive clown costume)

A few years ago I ditched the wig because it was bad for my natural hair and just wore my hair in 2 ponytails.I also became an auguste clown (less make-up because that is the trend these days in what people want).

Santa's Beard is real (children's entertainment)

I know one Santa and his long gray beard is real, it is not a fake beard that he stuck on to play the role of Santa. It took him a very long time to grow the beard (just like it takes a long time to grow hair long) and so he has the beard year round and not just for the holiday season. Of course, this Santa. just like a really good celebrity impersonater,  is very much in demand.

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Children's Entertainer First Blog

This is my first blog at blogger.com. I have been in the children's entertainment business for 15 years and have had my own business for 14 years. I actually have a degree in accounting and was an accountant for many years. Guess which business I like more :0)

My company Crazy Daisy Clowns has been in business for 14 years. Over the years I have worked as a children's entertainer all over the NYC area as well as Long Island, Westchester County and have even done occasional parties in Rockland County, North Jersey, and Connecticut.

I used to provide just clowns now I have other children's entertainment like princesses, characters, balloon artist, cotton candy, popcorn and of course Santa Claus and elf