Clowning and Shriners
By Mike Selig Teacher-WECL English College



来自加拿大的Ron目前是厦门WECL学院的老师,来厦之前,他不仅是一名老师,也是一位专业小丑演员.他是国际互助组织Shriners的一名成员,常常出席各种表演为Shriners医院的孩子们募捐,滑稽的扮相也为孩子们带去了不少欢声笑语.

Ron Lyons retired in June 2004 as Head of Special Education in Midland, Ontario, Canada. As a professional educator, he was responsible for supervising the teachers and programs for the challenged (learning disabled, handicapped, gifted) students in his school. Ron is presently employed as a teacher of English at Xiamen WECL English College.

A clown called Shammy

Each one of us likes to clown around during some time in our lives. Ron Lyons is a professional clown who is trained to know how to make others laugh and be happy. Ron is known as Shammy, one of Shriners' many professional clowns.



How did Ron become interested in clowning and eventually become a professional clown? Ron was always interested in acting and he performed in a variety of activities in his school days where he enjoyed making others laugh and be happy. Developing an interest in clowning seemed to be a natural thing for him to pursue. Ron has been a Shriner for 25 years and 15 years ago he was taken to a clowning workshop by one of his Shriner friends. After that workshop he decided he wanted to become one of Shriners' professional clowns.

Ron attended a clowning school where he learned the history and tradition of clowning, all about costuming and makeup, party magic, face painting, balloon sculpturing, hospital clowning and many ways to raise funds as a clown. The next thing he did was buy a costume that cost one thousand dollars. He had to pick a nose from one of 25 different types and also clown shoes, which are very unique because they are oversized and especially made for clowns. To date, Ron has three large suitcases full of clowning supplies. Ron usually paints himself either with a white face or an auguste (flesh colored) face and it takes him at least an hour to paint his face each time he performs.

The many faces of clowns

Although there are many different clown variations and combinations, all circus clown faces are divided into only three basic types: White Face, Auguste, and Tramp. The white face clowns of today descended directly from the Pierrot and harlequin comedians and jesters of the Middle Ages. Their faces are fundamentally all white, with their eyebrows, noses and mouths painted in a combination of black and red makeup. In a gathering of clowns the white face clown is the leader, the schemer who always gets the others in trouble but never gets into difficulties himself or takes the blame for any of his fellow clowns' misdeeds. In a skit where a clown dentist pretends to remove another clown's tooth with an enormous hammer and an oversized drill, the white face plays the part of the dentist and endures none of the patient's pain. In a skit where a clown tips a can of paint over another or throws a pie in a fellow clown's face, the white face tips the paint and throws the pie.



The Auguste clown is the most familiar comic of all. The "Auguste" comes from a German word meaning "clumsy boy". The Auguste clown wears an outlandish costume, a tailor's nightmare. His greasepaint face is white or red or a combination of these colors. Traditionally the base color of his makeup is pink or reddish, rather than white. His oversized features are painted in red or black. An Auguste clown is a good-natured but clumsy comic. The Auguste always tries to help others but gets into embarrassing situations instead. Sometimes he is hit with a baseball bat or doused with a pail of water. The Auguste is the most slapstick comedy artist of all clowns.

The Tramp clown is the star performer of the circus ring. Instead of working with a group, the Tramp usually does a solo performance with all eyes of the audience on him. The Tramp clown almost always perturbs a particular role and creates an enduring mood that is truly circus magic.

Shammy and Shriners

Ron decided to call himself Shammy and registered his name so no other clown can use that name. He is now one of ten clowns with his Shriners' club of 80 members in Midland. He helps them raise about sixty thousand dollars each year to donate to their favorite causes - especially their Shriners' hospitals.



Who are these Shriners? Shriners is an international fraternity or group of about 600,000 men and women who belong to 191 Shrine Temples. The Shriners in North America are known for their participation in colorful parades, for its clowns, and for the Shriners' Hospitals.

Their main purpose or mission is to raise funds for their Shriners' Hospitals for Children. There are 18 orthopaedic Shriners' Hospitals, three Shriners' Hospitals dedicated to treating severe burns, and one Shriners' Hospital that provides orthopaedic, burn and spinal core injury care. Shriners raise 650 million dollars each year to operate their hospitals. Besides the local fundraising by each Temple some people donate to the hospitals in a big way by belonging to the Million Dollar Club; others leave bequests and money in their wills; some give gifts of securities, real estate, and other collections; and some give life estate agreements and gifts of life insurance.

The Shriners' mission is carried out all over the world without cost to the patient (birth to age 18) or family, and without regard to race, color, creed, sex or sect. Shammy wants you to know that if you know of a child Shriners' Hospitals might be able to help, you can go to the website for information on how to get help. http.//www.shrinershq.org/hospitals/index/html
The Shriners' clowns perform an important role because they not only help raise the funds to help pay for the hospitals but they also participate in other community charity activities such as visiting the sick in hospitals. Hospital clowning is an excellent way to cheer up the very sick children who are being treated and others who are recovering. Ron misses performing with his nine other fellow clowns in Midland this year but he constantly keeps up to date by practicing tricks, and staying in contact with other clowns via the internet (chat line). He reads his professional clown magazines and other news on his fellow Shriners' work as well as the news from their Temple - the Rameses Temple.

Shammy is doing his part to help make our world a happier place. He will undoubtedly be performing sometime in China when he can find the time from his teaching and when he is not traveling to see as much as he can of China while he is here this year. Ron has a goal for the future after he returns to Canada. As Shammy he wants to go to New York to join the circus train to Milwaukee. He wants to be on the train with the other circus animals and performers and waving to the people who are out to see the circus train as it travels through their community. When he gets to Milwaukee he will join the other one thousand clowns as they walk and perform in the annual clown parade.



Happy traveling Ron and we thank you for sharing your talents with so many people. Happy clowning too, Shammy!

Vacabulary
circus 马戏团
Pierrot 走江湖的丑角
harlequin 滑稽角色
jester 小丑
skit 小品
douse 弄湿
slapstick 闹剧
orthopaedic 整形外科的
bequest 遗产