Clown Parade & Pie Fight

What a special time of year to be a clown. Two years ago, I discovered that New York had a clown festival. My participation was mild as I saw only two shows and attended one workshop. I had developed the barest pieces of a personal clown, and was still slightly embarrassed to be seen in a red nose. Two years later:

That's Joey (my clown) after he's put together his parade outfit. Yeah, a weird clown habit I've developed is talking about my clown persona in the third person. Not unusual in the clown community. Very odd to everyone else, as I've learned.

On Friday, September 5th, The NY Clown Festival held its annual Public Parade and Pie Fight. Although, I have begun to develop another clown persona, Dr. Moist Pete (some might suggest that they are different parts of the same clown), it was pretty obvious that Joey would have a much better time at these two events. Joey is a sweet and fun, silent clown with an insatiable appetite for joy and food. For the parade, he packed the following:

That's 10 pounds of popcorn.

The parade started in Union Square at 5:30pm. Dozens of clowns gathered in the park, handing out red noses and candy, playing music and dancing, and gathering quite a large crowd of spectators of all ages. Joey stubbornly handed out small cups of popcorn to any children who were brave enough to ask, hoarding the majority of it for himself. By my estimations he got through 1-2 pounds on his own before the night was over.

Then it was time to attack the underground. All clowns charged into the subway and on to the already crowded subway. The patrons looked on in curiosity, laughter and horror as their daily commutes were suddenly over-run with the silly and sometimes scary personas of a mob of red-nosed oddballs. Luckily, our subway reign was limited to 4 stops as we all abandoned ship at Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg.

We hiked the remainder of the way to the Brick, lovingly escorted by two cop cars, who tried to stay professional as they too were tormented by the parade folk. No one is immune to a clown's desire to play, not even those who are there to assist said clowns. Upon arriving at the Brick, the clowns were greeted to a surprise in the form of a fantastic drum squad. Their energy was infectious and helped give the tiring clowns (some carrying ten pounds of edibles) the extra boost they needed to get through the next big event of the day. . . The PIE FIGHT.

Joey played hard, Joey played fast and by the end, Joey played in his underwear. Throwing pies in other clowns faces is the Bacchanalian equivalent to a good wine-drunk, and there was plenty of vino to go around. This is one instance where pictures definitely speak volumes louder than words. A wonderful start to what is going to be a wonderful festival.