A Fear of Clowns (The Greasepaint Chronicals) Read Free

because
he'd practiced making them daily for eight months. Jay would be darned if he
was going to miss out on a chance to show his skills just because of mortal
fear.
    "Who wants to see a giraffe?
Everyone loves a good giraffe, right?" That got a sea of blank looks,
until he "failed" to make that at all, and managed to twist something
into being that looked suspiciously like a penis with large a pair of balls
hanging underneath.
    Maggie giggled at least, when he
comically looked down at it. He lowered it a bit in front of his body, so that
everyone would get the idea, and then let it droop, as he sighed.
    "Maybe not a giraffe? That isn't
a good one at all. I guess I made a... hotdog!" Then he popped it, getting
people to jump and react a bit. There was some laughter, since sex jokes worked
with a lot of people. Even subtle ones. Seth, the birthday boy suffered to let
him make a crown of balloons that also had a "hotdog" sticking out
the top. He did two or three more gags like that, mixed with real animal
sculptures, before one of the girls got bored and called him on it.
    "You keep making dongs, what
are you, a perv?"
    He clutched his chest
dramatically, showing that he was wounded by the words, and stared around the
room obviously, leaning into it and moving his whole upper body in a way that
caught attention. Then he focused on the young lady in question, making a visor
of his open right hand, pretending she was hard to see. She was near the open
patio door to the back, so it worked well enough and got people to turn to
stare at her.
    " Dongs ? Why I never!
You don't like hotdog sculptures? I assure you it's state of the art, and art
of the wise! I know, I'll show you! I have skills! Name any animal, anything at
all, and I'll make one for you. Quickly, quickly, time is flowing backwards
here!" He pretended to tap his foot, the oversized yellow shoe slapping
the soft cream colored carpet with deep thumps. His throat hurting slightly
from his high pitched and squeaky stage voice. The mask was getting a bit warm
too. He'd need to get it off soon, or he'd risk a makeup meltdown.
    It itched, but that could be
ignored. You couldn't be a clown without the ability to put up with minor
annoyances. Everyone thought it was simple, or easy, but that wasn't the case.
It was all about hard work and preparation.
    So when the girl asked for an
elephant, he was ready. He even had a plan for that one, since it was a common
thing to request.
    "I'll need some tape!"
He had it in his pocket, being that some of the more advanced balloon animals
really did need it, if you wanted them to be identifiable. Awkwardly he pretended
to struggle with it, playing up the gag for a bit, then made four legs and a
snout and set them down on the table in front of the sofa that Seth sat on in
the large living room. "There, one elephant!"
    No one clapped. The little
ingrates. With just a bit of imagination, it was clearly good work.
    Maggie made a face and pointed,
"it doesn't have a body."
    Helpful of her, really. It was
what was needed, for the rest of the gag. Not that Jay couldn't have worked off
of almost anything. There was a lot of improv involved in being a party clown.
More than he would have expected, when he'd first started. He smiled and
nodded.
    "Oh, right! I forgot that
part. Let's see, I need a really big balloon for that. A huge one." Snapping his fingers, Joey the Clown chuckled, his voice becoming
ever so slightly more menacing. Dark. He worked the pitch change into what he
said next. "I know. I have just the thing. More... body ."
    Then he pulled a condom from his
pocket, slipped there before the show, and blew it up, exaggerating the amount
of force it took. To a lot of very awkward giggling. They were all just about
the right age for things like that to still seem dirty. Alluring too. It was
linked to that secret world of things that most of them hadn't really tried
yet, but desperately wanted to.
    So they had to laugh, to relieve
the