Making Them Laugh

It’s not often that many people have a chance to tap into an entertaining alter ego like Lynda Miller can.

Miller, a longtime chaplain for the LaGrange Park Police Department and a chaplaincy coordinator for Western Springs Baptist Church, gets people to smile as “Toot-Toot,” her clown persona during birthday parties or special events.

She shares her experiences and expertise in the world of clowning with others as the founder of the 27-year-old West Suburban Clown Club. Members, which total about 40 and attract all ages, come on the second Monday of the month to La Grange’s Meadowbrook Manor to learn new skills as they perform at various functions.

Miller’s interest in clowning began with her love of singing and entertaining people. With her five children, their house was the hit of the neighborhood as they played games and put on skits for visitors. She wanted to find a venue to do both.

An opportunity came in the early 1970s when she watched a Cicero parade filled with clowns. She talked with some of them and they applied special makeup on her.

“I didn’t want to wash for a month,” said Miller, a Brookfield resident. “I thought it was so cool. I didn’t know that there were any other kind of clowns other than circus clowns.”

Wanting to know more, she enrolled in a special clown class at Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills which taught her the basics of makeup, balloon art and costuming. Knowing that she needed more skills to start her own business, she attended a Midwest clown convention to take more classes.

Gathering copious notes, she decided to not only be a clown but devised her own class syllabus teaching students at Westmont Park District in 1974 and then at Lyons Township High School’s adult education program from 1976 to 1988.

In the interim, Miller had many clowns ask her what they could do with their newfound skills and if there was a group where they could meet each other. In 1984, she formed the group. At the club, members learn from various speakers who introduced subjects such as magic, juggling, ethics or face painting. The club also appears at parades and visits residents at retirement communities, a local abused women’s shelter or other nonprofit organizations. Aside from the club, people hire members to work at birthday parties and other events.

There are two types of clowns, Miller explained. The division is between those who are trained by circuses and work exclusively at them and those who performs at birthday parties, picnics, parades and other events. Also, clowns have three faces or different types of facial makeup that represents a character. There is the white face; “auguste,” a natural flesh-colored face with various markings; and the “tramp” which is evocative of the Emmett Kelly character.

Miller is very serious in addressing how clowns should behave whether for a private party or  or the public. Club members learn ethics such as being in clean in the personal appearance and how to back away from children if they are frightened by them. 

When people hire clowns, Miller said that they don’t realize how much time is spent in applying the makeup, getting dressed, driving to and from the home or special location, buying supplies and games and presenting the show.

“(Being a clown) is not a talent; it’s a skill,” she said. “It’s just like anything else. You have to learn these things. I’ve seen people wear (bad) costumes and terrible makeup that you could ever imagine and this is because they don’t know how to apply it right or don’t powder. You want to look, act and be professional. There’s people who are just not professional but not my students.”

What makes a good clown, Miller said, is being able to tap into your alter ego.

“Let’s say that the person is very introverted, the minute he or she puts on that makeup, he or she comes alive,” she said. “We teach them how to do that. This is how a lot of introverts (get into clowning). They wouldn’t say a word if we were talking. They would sit there and not participate. Once they get in makeup and costume, they come right out of their shell.”

Berwyn resident Beatrice Koza, who goes by her clown persona “B-Noz,” has been a member since 1995. She became involved by taking a clowning class at Morton College in Cicero and learned about the club from there.

“The crowd at the West Suburban Clown Club is very generous,” Koza said. “Whatever knowledge members have, they are very free in disseminating it. They are very good and respectful of one another. You form friendships for life once you get into that club.”

Koza hopes that more younger people will come and take up clowning. The only way to attract this generation is to find people who are “interested in making people laugh and making them feel comfortable. There are so many youngsters who are so involved with their own lives now that they don’t see the value (of being a clown.)”

If there’s one thing that Koza has learned, it’s “that everyone needs to laugh a little bit.”

“It’s great doing work for children because they’re so easily pleased,” she said. “For example, you do some face painting and it’s not as perfect and the children

For information about the club, call 708-442-5161.