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SUNNYSIDE - So you want to be a clown.
Well, there's more to being a clown than just clowning around, says Arlo Waggoner, the man behind the broad smile, big eyes and loud tie recognizable as "Waldo the Clown" to thousands of Lower Yakima Valley adults and youngsters.
"A clown should always look good and represent his trade proudly," says Waggoner, who has been a fire-safety clown for the Sunnyside Fire Department for the past 30 years.
By that, Waggoner means that clowns, like anyone who works with the public, need to look good and behave in a manner that is a credit to their profession. That is one of the basic principles he teaches students when he and his wife, Joyce, conduct their periodic one-day clown schools.
"The bottom line is to expose them to what clowning involves," says Waggoner.
Albert Alter agrees. He's the Northwest regional vice president of Clowns of America International, the largest of two trade associations which represent clowns throughout the world. The other is the World Clown Association.
Alter, who lives in Portland and makes his living by being a clown, says there are three main clown types - auguste, whiteface and character.
Auguste clowns like Waldo come out of the "baggy-pants" clown tradition and tend to be more outgoing in their behavior. They also apply makeup just around the mouth, nose and eyes, leaving the rest of the face in its natural flesh color.
Lou Jacobs, a former Ringling Bros. Circus clown, is a well- known example of an auguste clown.
This is in contrast to the whiteface clown who, in addition to heavy makeup around the mouth and eyes, uses "clown white" on the rest of the face. Whiteface clowns are more restrained...