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American Clown with Guilford Adams- Circuspreneur Podcast Ep.101
22 Plays22 days ago
#Clown #AmericanClown #CircusArts #Clowns
On this episode of the Circuspreneur Podcast, host Sheneas Stiletto interviews writer, director, and circus documentarian Guilford Adams.
American Clown is a feature-length documentary exploring the plight of clowns in a country that looks on them with a growing sense of apprehension and disdain. Guest appearances include John C. Reilly, Steve-O, David Arquette, and Matt Morgan.
Guilford Adams has worked as a professional clown for nearly two decades. In recent years, he’s watched media reports of “clowns” terrorizing neighborhood streets at night, the reboot of “IT” and Pennywise, the shuttering of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus and the unceremonious end to the regional Ronald McDonald program, where “assistants” to Ronald appeared at grand openings, community events and elementary school shows.
Guilford was one of those dismissed assistants to Ronald.
As he felt the culture shifting, he started thinking about what it might mean for him, his family and all of his clowning comrades.
The film follows Guilford’s quest as he surveys the current state of clowning with his friends who are also struggling to adapt, as well as legendary performers of past eras and their take on the history and art of clowning.
American Clown premieres today at the Chinese theater in at the Los Angeles Dances with Films Festival.
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Transcript
Introduction to StageLink and Guest Introduction
00:00:04
Circuspreneur Podcast
This podcast is also available stagelink.com, the groundbreaking new platform for live performing arts. Please support the podcast by liking, subscribing, commenting, and tagging the podcast.
00:00:15
Circuspreneur Podcast
It helps us to continue to bring the industry high-level content. I'm your host, Sinead Saletto, and my guest on today's Circuspreneur podcast is writer, director, and clown documentarian, Guilford Adams. Welcome to the podcast, Guilford. How are you?
00:00:29
Guilford
Thank you. I'm delighted to be here. Thank you so much. great
00:00:33
Circuspreneur Podcast
Oh, it's absolutely a pleasure. and i want to let listeners know ah little bit about you and your amazing film.
Exploring American Clown and Its Themes
00:00:42
Circuspreneur Podcast
American Clown is a feature-length documentary exploring the plight of clowns in a country that looks on them with a growing sense of apprehension and disdain.
00:00:50
Circuspreneur Podcast
Guest appearances include John C. Reilly, Steve-O, David Arquette, and Matt Morgan. Guilford Adams has worked as a professional clown for nearly two decades. In recent years, he's watched media reports of clowns terrorizing neighborhood streets at night, the reboot of It and Pennywise, the shuddering of Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus, and the unceremonious end to the regional Ronald McDonald program, where assistance to Ronald appeared at grand openings, community events, and elementary school shows.
00:01:17
Circuspreneur Podcast
Guilford was one of those dismissed assistants to Ronald. As he felt the culture shifting, he started thinking about what it might mean for him, his family, and all of his clowning comrades.
Premiere and Cultural Shift in Clowning Perception
00:01:27
Circuspreneur Podcast
The film follows Guilford's quest as he surveys the current state of clowning with his friends who are also struggling to adapt, as well as legendary performers of past eras and their take on the history and art of clowning. American Clown premieres today at the Chinese Theater in the at the Los Angeles Dances with Films Festival. Again, amazing. I'm so excited to have you on the podcast, Guilford. This is an exceptional documentary. I mean, it just feels like such an amazing gift.
00:01:58
Circuspreneur Podcast
for the circus community and for the clowning community. I can't say enough about, you know, in terms of like advocacy and I think the times that we're into where we see, you know, clowning, usually the brunt of jokes, I think in mostly negative ways, the circus arts too, used in ways sometimes that I don't feel are super respectful and trying to get folks to change the narrative around that.
00:02:24
Circuspreneur Podcast
um And then also to just honoring the, I think, in some ways, dying art of of traditional clowning, where there you know are many spaces where they won't even use the term clowning anymore, which I think is is is really fascinating and something that I don't want
Advocating for Clowning as an Art Form
00:02:40
Circuspreneur Podcast
to see go. I want you know folks to you know continue to honor and use that word.
00:02:45
Circuspreneur Podcast
um you know And that you know that title that's so important to so many folks um that exist in this industry and have existed in it for so long. So could you please go into you know what inspired American Clown and um you know and why you feel like it was important to continue to advocate um for the art of clowning and then, you know, include ah so many amazing folks in this documentary that I think some people will be surprised to see who went to clown college and, you know, who has this, you know, interesting ah background, um you know, that might not be necessarily associated with folks that you see kind of in like comedy now or stand up or, you know, kind of any of those offshoots, um you know, of this art form.
00:03:30
Guilford
Sure, yeah.
Guilford's Journey into Clowning
00:03:31
Guilford
you know i mean I got into this. I've been a clown in Los Angeles and even before that for 25, 30 years. I had my first dabble with it when I was in junior high and I learned how to do animal balloons and some magic and stuff and went to a nursing home where my mom basically propositioned show at a free auction and so I gave kind of a free show.
00:03:55
Guilford
um And then I kind of left it and I got into sports. So I've kind of I came into ah kind of acting as an athletic sort of thing. I was a springboard diver and I did that in college and i enjoyed being, you know, I was collegiate and enjoyed being around the swimmers and all that stuff. But, ah you know, I just and they were a little jocular for me and it just didn't quite feel like my tribe, even though we look similar and, you know, we had similar tastes and stuff. And I got into an acting class.
00:04:25
Guilford
And that acting class, it just, it just opened my eyes to everything. Um, and so when I transferred from Tennessee, because I was a diver on the university of Tennessee, a volunteer team, I transferred to Texas and I went to Texas.
00:04:37
Guilford
Um, I didn't have a lot to go on as an actor here.
00:04:37
Circuspreneur Podcast
right.
00:04:41
Guilford
I wanted to be an actor. I've been athlete, basically my whole, uh, my young adult life at that point. And, um, I just didn't know what to do. So I led with my best foot forward and that was being physical and being like Tumblr and flips and all that sort of stuff because I didn't go to high school doing musicals. And so I didn't really yeah have the ability to compete with the others that did do that, but I could tumble and I could take pratfalls
Building a Clown Business and Ronald McDonald Experience
00:05:07
Guilford
and stuff.
00:05:07
Guilford
So I naturally kind of refound clowning in a way that I had left it in junior high Then when I moved out to l L.A., I was lucky enough to um to be able to move here. Right. And then to try to create a career. And I was always told to have my weeks free for auditions.
00:05:26
Guilford
And so I did do that to have them free as before self tapes just kind of took over the world. And um so I worked on the weekends doing party stuff for other people.
00:05:37
Guilford
And after doing that for six months, like this is I saw the money change hands and I thought, well, I want this money.
00:05:43
Circuspreneur Podcast
So
00:05:44
Guilford
I'm taking out these middle fee, middleman fees. And so I started my own company. And this was like back when they had yellow pages, believe it or not. So I was clowns for a hire and it didn't. And then I wanted to get on the internet, but somebody had clowns for hire.com and he wouldn't let me put my name up there because it was the name of the database.
00:06:05
Guilford
And so he and he kind of talked to He's like, he was sympathetic. And he was like, listen, why don't you're in Los Angeles? don't you be like Los Angeles clown or something? And then I Googled that name. The domain wasn't taken in 2003.
00:06:17
Guilford
So that's how I kind of started the company. And because of that name and because of this sort of we're in a large, sprawling, I live in Southern California, metropolis area, you know, I was able to learn a lot of about clowning and and shows and work as a kid's clown. And then that led to opportunities and jobs because people would be looking for a clown, you know, or productions would be looking for a clown.
00:06:43
Guilford
And so I have that 4000 kids parties over the past 20 years, and I started booking commercials and TV shows and all that sort of stuff.
00:06:46
Circuspreneur Podcast
Thank
00:06:51
Guilford
um So i really kind of learned like it was always on the job training. I did audition for Ringling Brothers in 97. I wasn't I didn't follow through with that sort of audition. I didn't do the paperwork. And there's a ah big entry. It's like a a gigantic form that you have to fill out an application. And and i just, I was like, oh no, they should just see me for who I am. And I like, I was above it. like And so I didn't get in that year.
00:07:16
Guilford
And consequently, it was, it was the last year that, that, that school existed.
00:07:21
Circuspreneur Podcast
Yeah.
00:07:23
Guilford
And so that school closed for everybody. But I did end up meeting a lot of those people that went into the 97 school, including Steve-O and my friend Matt Morgan and people that I've become allied to since then.
00:07:36
Guilford
But that that was kind of the beginning of this sort of career that I've had as a clown. And then in about 2008, 2007, I was approached by somebody via online that was looking for a clown.
00:07:50
Guilford
was going to be a position for a clown with benefits. Now, I didn't know many clowns that have benefits.
00:07:54
Circuspreneur Podcast
Oh.
00:07:55
Guilford
So I did some Googling and I thought like, I think this is for kind of like working with Ronald McDonald, you know, or at the time I like this is McDonald's is calling me.
00:08:06
Guilford
And I had another friend that was being approached at the same time, my friend Laffy Pants, who's in the documentary. And, um, and we, we both got the job. He got the full-time position. I got the part-time position of being an assistant to Ronald.
00:08:21
Guilford
And at that time we did that job for 10 years, um, between the two of us, uh, both of us. And, and, uh, and I still maintain my clown stuff. I still worked as an actor here and there.
00:08:31
Circuspreneur Podcast
Thank you.
00:08:32
Guilford
I still book jobs as a clown. Um, but then it was around 2017 and kind of to your, uh, your, uh, your opening sort of salvo that that there everything started shutting down.
00:08:45
Guilford
It was it you know was like coming out the rebooting of of of it. And there was like ah all these Tom's is what we called each other in the Ronald program. You call each other top of the market, the acronym for because you can't say I'm Ronald because there's only one Ronald.
00:09:01
Guilford
And then so we're an assistant to Ronald.
00:09:01
Circuspreneur Podcast
Yeah.
00:09:04
Guilford
and um and um And so it really started everything. So I lost that job. We all lost that job eventually.
The Changing Landscape of Clowning Jobs
00:09:12
Guilford
Started off kind of in the East. People were losing jobs in the Southern California, lost their jobs at the end of the year.
00:09:17
Guilford
And I thought, this is a real crisis right now for clowns. w Ringling Brothers closed their doors. Big Apple Circus closed their doors. And I thought, this is weird. Like, what's going on? It was right at the beginning of a presidential election.
00:09:31
Guilford
And you know the the news cycle had gotten very entertainment biased.
00:09:32
Circuspreneur Podcast
Amen.
00:09:36
Guilford
And and you know and and so there was just a a bunch of sort of like events that were kind of all affecting one another. but But the end result was this clown. Clowns are going away, you know, the way that we knew them.
00:09:50
Guilford
And the horror clown was kind of coming to replace it. So... um You know, I thought this is the start of the documentary. You know, we need to talk about this and kind of what's happening. and And that was kind of that's that's where we are. And eight years later, the documentary is now finally premiering tonight.
00:10:07
Circuspreneur Podcast
Wow. And I think the relevance, because we saw that happening in 2017, and then the pandemic happened shortly after that. And this past five years, we've seen it again. You know, CERC went bankrupt.
00:10:22
Circuspreneur Podcast
um and went away. w Ringling has come back and struggled to rebrand, um you know, and figure out kind of what their new mission is in terms of moving forward as a modern circus. And so much of the industry has not recovered. Somebody was talking to me the other day and saying, oh, God, your industry is like really bounced back and things are going so great. And I said, I guess if you're on the outside looking in, you You know, not to complain, but, you know, for all intents and purposes, our industry has been through a lot.
00:10:48
Guilford
Yeah.
00:10:53
Circuspreneur Podcast
I mean, we had the crash in 08, which really affected all of us. Those of us that were based in LA have been based in l LA for years. Now I'm based in Las Vegas, going back and forth. But we when you're inside of that and you see these different pockets of what is on the outside, what's happening in the world.
00:11:09
Circuspreneur Podcast
That affects our industry so deeply and, you know, taking out two major companies or taking out three major companies. How does that affect like our work environment?
Challenges in the Circus Industry
00:11:18
Circuspreneur Podcast
I've loved like seeing your interviews, Gilford, of you discussing about the impacts of the industry, you know, how there's no pipeline to getting a degree for clowning or for circus arts.
00:11:28
Circuspreneur Podcast
um you know What do you do when you had a great job that offered you benefits um with most of us being independent contractors? you know Whether you're a clown or you're a different type of circus worker and maybe not having those employee benefits and how important that is when there you know are a few companies that are offering that with folks thinking, oh, there's just like work everywhere. It's like, well, what kind of work is there? Right. Like you have to understand what somebody is up against.
00:11:50
Circuspreneur Podcast
If they have a certain type of position, are they getting those same benefits and how quickly we kind of lose out when things are not really going well in the world. And then also to how you were talking about, about like society kind of taking over the narrative of clowning and, you know, kind of, you know, making horror, this really big aspect of clowning as well, which you know, I've thought that for years and discussing that within the environment of like, you know, do we have control over this medium anymore? And, um you know, how do we get control back over our medium, um you know, that I feel in some ways has kind of been, you know, outsourced or maybe co-opted, um you know, either commercially or, you know, corporatized, which that's not all bad because, you know, that means, again, you get health insurance and you get things of that nature. There's like good and bad with all of these things, you know, outside of the traditional, you know, w Ringling Brothers,
00:12:40
Circuspreneur Podcast
you know, you know, traveling around with the circus or, you know working with a circus that maybe can't offer you all those things, but it's like going to staunchly help you to have a really good and viable career. So what is your perspective, you know, on the current state of things now, Guilford, when you're having conversations about folks and their reflections on your documentary and how they are able to see more inside of the industry and more toward, you know, to the history of clowning and where it comes from. And also too, with folks kind of changing the narrative around that. And i feel like this is a really good documentary to get whole hold of our narrative. Again, you, you talk about so many different facets, especially facets we talk on the podcast. about circus workers' rights, about clowning rights, and the rights to, again, have access to your industry, to have some economic rights here, and then, again, dealing with the fluctuations of society, which, you know, can really negatively impact your career. Do you go down that road of honoring where the industry is going? Or do you stay true to the traditional aspects of a medium that you fell in love with? You know, what is evolution, I would say, because some people are traditionalists, some people are evolutionists, some people are modernists when it comes to circus and everyone kind of has their own perspective on it. But I know sometimes it feels like, you know, we we discuss how, you know, social media has really taken over circus.
00:14:00
Circuspreneur Podcast
um ah in a lot of ways where if you don't have this type of presence, all of a sudden, you know, are you going to be a working circus performer anymore? And there's folks that maybe have been around for 20, 30 years that, you know, either have gone and been able to capitalize on that or because they had such a great career prior to social media, it didn't hurt them in the exact same ways.
00:14:20
Circuspreneur Podcast
You know, do you see all of those different themes kind of encompassed in the American clown?
00:14:25
Guilford
Well, it's a lot to unpack. Yeah, I think there is, there's,
00:14:29
Circuspreneur Podcast
only got 30 minutes.
00:14:30
Guilford
I know, I know. I'll ahll try to attack one by one. ah You know, I do think that there there is a shift, right? There's a shift, like a lot of professions, that um ah we have moved from the corporate embrace of a lot of of this stuff, ah for better or worse, to kind of more gig economy type stuff.
00:14:52
Guilford
So I think there's there, and that's prevalent in a lot of industries. And i there's a clowning is no exception, as well as others.
00:14:59
Circuspreneur Podcast
and
00:15:00
Guilford
I
Clown Image and the Horror Genre
00:15:01
Guilford
think we definitely have ah that challenge. um i In maybe the days of that sort of corporate clown or the ability to get health benefits, I mean, Cirque will continue to do it, but you know maybe a lot of people can't. i mean, even back in the day, Ringling Brothers was not paying clowns like anything worth it.
00:15:19
Guilford
of of what they should be earning, much less benefits. um So that that will be, ah continue to be a challenge. um You know, as far as clowning and the word of it, yeah, things are changing, right? ah the a The sort of traditional painted clown, you know, it's it's being a little bit hijacked by a lot of horror genres and that sort of stuff. And so it's getting more difficult to kind of get our message across.
00:15:48
Guilford
um The biggest challenge, I think, personally, is the fact that I do, cloud I just did a clown party earlier today. It didn't happen today, but it often happens.
00:15:55
Circuspreneur Podcast
Oh,
00:15:57
Guilford
Kids will ask me, aren't all clowns scary? And, you know, and I usually I'll have a way of, you know, bridging out of that and say something like, oh, you're talking about my cousin Pennywise, you know, he's gone Hollywood or whatever.
00:16:09
Guilford
whatever, just to kind of move the conversation. And i also like us all being in the same family. i think that's kind of fun, you know, um because that's one of that's part of the lore of a clown, right? We don't eat, you know, we race sexual, you know, we don't have we're all related somehow, you know, it was like one big happy family.
00:16:27
Guilford
But I think there is a danger for a lot of these kids when they ask that question. And the danger for us is they don't have exposure to anyone else but the horror clowns.
00:16:36
Circuspreneur Podcast
Thank you.
00:16:38
Guilford
You know, that that's all they see. ah Ringling Brothers is back, ah but they don't have clowns in the same way that they did. They have it a little more Cirque style or sporty or they just kind of specialize.
00:16:52
Guilford
So I think what we have to do when the market is being dominated by a lot of ah horror type clowns. I mean, we live in a very cinematic culture, which is which I think assumes that everything is like that.
00:17:08
Guilford
We have to work extra hard to create some positive presentations. And I think that's what I'm trying to do with the American clown, ah David Arquette, who's in it as well. That's what he's trying to do with Bozo right now.
00:17:20
Guilford
um You know, I think people would argue.
00:17:21
Circuspreneur Podcast
Thank you.
00:17:22
Guilford
I think some traditionalists would say, hey, I don't love what David's doing with Bozo. I'm not sure. That's not what I'm saying. I've maybe just I've heard some chatter um I think he's that sometimes maybe it takes a unique individual and that has some recognition to kind of you know to help evolve the clown, to make it more palatable for today's generation.
00:17:43
Guilford
So I'm not saying that I think it's good or bad. I'm just saying it's different, and I recognize it as such. um you know We have a lot of work cut out for us, and we also have to understand that like this is –
00:17:50
Circuspreneur Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:17:55
Guilford
In the same way that stand-up comedians, you know, ah belabor being politically correct and doing all this, these are the unique challenges we have as society that continues to evolve, you know? And these are some other sort of like areas that we can say are, can be confusing and perplexing, but they're also challenges and challenges typically for a clown
Future of Clowning
00:18:19
Guilford
or opportunities. Yeah.
00:18:21
Guilford
So i'm I'm more sort of optimistic about where this could go in the future as opposed to being pessimistic. I think it's right for opportunities for people that are really passionate about doing it, that they can, um you know, they can continue to tell their stories.
00:18:37
Circuspreneur Podcast
Oh, that's wonderful. Yes. And I'm optimistic like you too, Gilbert, because, you know, again, like people, it can, you know, people get really upset or, you know, get triggered or things like that.
00:18:41
Guilford
right.
00:18:47
Circuspreneur Podcast
But I think it's, again, being part of the solution. And American Clown is, to me, a representation of what are the solutions, you know, to all of these things. And you have such a, I think, diverse representation of clowning as well within the documentary. i have not seen it. I'm very much looking forward to seeing it. But from everything I've looked up,
00:19:04
Circuspreneur Podcast
You know, you have such a great um perspective and getting so many different voices involved because there's so many unique voices involved in clowning and involved in the circus arts and so many folks that actually have really amazing solutions. I like seeing the collective get together and work together and support one another in trying to push for those ideas. And again, taking control of that narrative. It's so great that you have David in there. You also have Steve-O, which like every time I tell people that Steve-O went to clown college, they're like, get out.
00:19:34
Circuspreneur Podcast
No way. No way. You know, went to clown college and things like that, too. So it's always like bridging those gaps with, you know, even like the new generation. Sometimes like they just don't know. And when you remind them, they're like, wow, that totally makes me look at this medium very, very differently. I didn't know that you could have used that to harness to get to somewhere else.
00:19:54
Circuspreneur Podcast
which again, the diversification of our environment, of the performing arts, of the circus arts, of clowning is so magnificent. um And it can be a launching pad onto something else, just like it's launched you into so many different directions. You started out acting and then it took you into so many different spaces. I mean, you've had an amazing career for the last 20 years. And I think that important thing is showing folks that we are an industry. And I love that you were saying that in the space of all the industries that people normally think about, you have to put us in that class as well. Like we are not just this random community that, you know, doesn't really know how to coordinate with one another. We're very coordinated.
00:20:30
Circuspreneur Podcast
ah People are very intelligent, they're very decisive, they have these really rich backgrounds that inform the art that they're doing, and they have lives, they have families, they have children, you know, they have all these things that they're operating and doing just like any other industry. You know, we said that a lot at the White House last year when we were there, we asked them, you know, like can you stop calling all these things that don't work politically a circus because we work actually pretty exceptionally well. I hate it.
00:20:54
Circuspreneur Podcast
And I think you'll probably be able to see that in American Circus, in American Clown, I'm sorry, with, that could maybe be part two, because I love that you did American Clown.
00:21:01
Guilford
Yeah.
00:21:03
Circuspreneur Podcast
Maybe you can do American Circus and then you can include like, you know, all the other mediums too and and incorporate that because I think it's so important to have this platform. And to have folks see behind the curtain and behind the makeup, behind the mask, you know, to see the humanity of how we all exist here, you know, as employed people that are, all again, trying to navigate how things apply to us and how things are, you know, constantly evolving and shifting.
00:21:30
Circuspreneur Podcast
How important it was for you Guilford, to have that type of representation inside of the documentary? And again, what was your end game experience? with the documentary and leveraging it, um you know, and harnessing it, um you know, in the wider audience.
00:21:45
Circuspreneur Podcast
What I have said as well is that what we need in the circus is to get out of our community because we all function so well within our industry, in our community, but opening up the audience and the fans to be more involved in who we are, i think is really important in this day and age. I see that as like the evolution where like we've kind of all done what we can do.
00:22:06
Circuspreneur Podcast
And now it's like, who has that influence that can highlight and help us to harness these messages that we're trying to bring on home? For us, it's been getting, you know, very avo advocacy driven, you know, speaking a lot in DC and trying to bring these things to light in terms of like, maybe like ah and into potential policy um recognition and, you know, gaining some rights over that where you can say, okay, if that's happening within the circus arts, this particular space is not allowed to do that, right? Because we're going to try to protect it for the industry in the way that it exists now, or at least give the industry a right to say something, because it affects us so much. And we're not always involved in the conversation.
00:22:44
Circuspreneur Podcast
So I see your documentary as a way for folks to be a part of the conversation, which rightfully so, because you're the ones that are making it happen.
Documentary as a Conversation Starter
00:22:53
Circuspreneur Podcast
And the ones that are, you know, giving so much of your energy in your life to this art form. So I really see it as a great ah way to have a serious conversation reflected through a lot of, um I think, schools of thought with everyone that you have inside of it.
00:23:08
Guilford
Yeah, well, I appreciate that. i appreciate that. And I echo your c sentiment about going to to D.C. to talk about sort of like, hey, can we can we be careful with the language, please?
00:23:19
Guilford
you know um Because I feel that way about clowns a lot. you know like air Everyone's always, ah, look at this clown. was like, listen, I'm not... I'm not watching them juggle or do some awesome skill thing here. You know, I don't, I don't really need you to kind of use our word to, you know, on them. Like, this is not very entertaining for me, frankly.
00:23:38
Guilford
um You know, I, I understand what you're saying, isn't there like another word for it, you know? um So, yeah.
00:23:46
Circuspreneur Podcast
not us
00:23:48
Guilford
That's frustrating for me. And I want to take the word back. ah It almost feels to me like it's like, has clown base been so vacant that you can use this word willy nilly without anyone really saying anything?
00:24:00
Guilford
You know, that's, you know, part of the reason why we did this documentary at the beginning was, I don't know if you remember in Vegas, but it was happening. it was like in 2016, there was all these news reports of scary clowns are coming to Southern California.
00:24:16
Guilford
Yeah. And I remember seeing all this stuff and thinking like any any kid with like extra allowance would now go get this mask or whatever and be a scary clown at a park.
00:24:28
Guilford
And it made me really kind of angry that like news organizations would use this as kind of a cudgel to like to drum up sort of like irritation, whatever else.
00:24:28
Circuspreneur Podcast
Thank you.
00:24:40
Guilford
And it was like for kids that aren't clowns, they have a latex mask. And it just it felt very like... you know, like like we were disposable. And I guess, and that's kind of what started my sort of, the you know, the anger with like kind of getting into this, like, wait a second, wait a second.
00:24:56
Guilford
You know, and they would, these same news organizations, they would call me because that my name is easily Google or, you know, Los Angeles Clown Company. And they would say like, hey, would you come up and talk about this, how these these scary clowns are taking your jobs? And I remember at the time I was like, i okay, so you want me to come up in costume, right? they like Oh yeah, in costume for sure. Okay, in costume.
00:25:16
Guilford
and tell you everybody cried when you cry and then about how these things are taken after you've created this story that now affects my livelihood i just and the whole thing is not paid am i correct and you know that we can't pay he's like okay yeah no i'm gonna say no i'm gonna say no on that um i just i was so confused by it and then and just and one more finer point that that i thought and i didn't ah explain this to them but
00:25:30
Circuspreneur Podcast
Thank you.
00:25:43
Guilford
You using those words and using that vernacular and saying those are clowns, as it it it's just it really i understand that this is entertainment. This is not news. This is entertainment, you know, because if if this were flipped and they say like, hey, a cop is pulling people over in Glendale, you know, and then but it was actually a guy dressed like a cop.
00:26:03
Guilford
pulling people over in Glendale. You would say a guy dressed like a cop is pulling people over in Glendale. You wouldn't say a cop is pulling people over Glendale because that that gives a misrepresentation. People think like, oh, gee, cops are going wild.
00:26:16
Guilford
So I think words matter. Words matter. And we need to be accountable for those words, you know. And we live in a society right now where words don't have a lot of weight. You know, and people can say whatever they want.
00:26:28
Guilford
And I think that's dangerous. and I think and and not only can they say whatever they want, but they can continue to lie and lie. And we give them more of a platform. And we need to look at that. Like, why are we doing that? And we're trying to silence the truth tellers.
00:26:43
Guilford
We're trying to elevate the liars and silence the truth tellers. I just I think we should look at that.
00:26:52
Circuspreneur Podcast
Yes, I also think that we should look at that very, very deeply. And as much as it continues to get out of hand, I just love that you said that it would be, know, a man impersonating a cop, but it's never a man impersonating a clown or a woman impersonating clown.
00:27:07
Guilford
Right. Right. A clown. Yeah. it's Yeah.
00:27:13
Guilford
I just, I don't, I don't,
00:27:13
Circuspreneur Podcast
like Yeah.
00:27:15
Guilford
ah
00:27:15
Circuspreneur Podcast
I mean, you know, and and that's why we need the box. You know, that's why we're missing the box to check off um when it comes to important things like that.
Circus Careers: Hobby vs. Profession
00:27:25
Circuspreneur Podcast
And again, changing people's perception of the idea of running away with the circus, um that this is not just your hobby.
00:27:34
Circuspreneur Podcast
i mean, you know, I can't tell you how many times that comes up of people saying, hey, is this your main thing? Is this...
00:27:40
Guilford
Yeah. Yeah. yeah
00:27:41
Circuspreneur Podcast
Is this your main gig? I mean, you don't do something else on the side or you know you don't do something else to like project yourself in the world or you know to like really take care of yourself. And you know when you're speaking to people who are decades long, this has been their whole career and their whole life and how much energy and effort it takes to sustain this livelihood. And that's what we end up speaking to the new generation about.
00:28:02
Circuspreneur Podcast
which they can do so many more things than we even could when we started out. And, you know, and I'm still really young too, but it's like, there are so many more mediums to get you there, but how do they sustain you there? And that's one of the things that I've seen so much about the difference for this generation.
00:28:17
Circuspreneur Podcast
You can maybe get a lot of different platforms and things like that to elevate you, but the consistency of your career and do you know how to take care of yourself when there's a downswing, when there's a downshift, or when things are not necessarily on your side and not really going that well for you as an industry because it's also interconnected and interdependent.
00:28:37
Circuspreneur Podcast
I wanted to ask you, Gilbert, as closing for the last you know minute or so, What do you want audiences to take away from American
Educating and Bridging Tradition with Modern Clowning
00:28:45
Circuspreneur Podcast
Clown? Again, what does it mean for you to finish this film after eight years of working on it?
00:28:47
Guilford
Thank
00:28:53
Circuspreneur Podcast
I know that it was just a labor of love and having your community all just come together to produce this art, which makes so many important points.
00:29:04
Circuspreneur Podcast
And I think will bring people to so many different conclusions. about clowning and about how it exists within the circus arts. And again, bridging those gaps between the old and the new and kind of like where we see the future of clowning going.
00:29:17
Guilford
You know, I think a lot of people just don't know what it takes to be a clown. And so what I've done in my small way is just try to put my clown foot forward, you know, my clown shoe forward and try to have this discussion a little bit further.
00:29:31
Guilford
I'm sure there'll be people that will be like, oh, well, he doesn't speak for me and all that stuff. Listen, and I'm just trying to continue the conversation. I'm happy for other people to join in and to tell me what their feelings are about this.
00:29:43
Guilford
I think we all work together. better when we work together. And I think right now, and I will say this, I think sharks have better PR people than clowns, you know, um because clowns just can't seem to get it together. Like we're tripping over each other and we're talking about the devastation of our profession. And so we need to work together to try to like portray some positive sort of, you know, some, some positive clowns. i mean, that's basically it. You know, we have, we're not going to get rid of the horror clown.
00:30:13
Guilford
The horror clown is here to stay. He makes them money. We have to double our efforts to bring some positivity to clowning. You know, and that horror clown can stay. Who cares? But we deserve it seated a seat at the table as well.
00:30:27
Circuspreneur Podcast
Wonderful. And where can we find more information about American Clown that is premiering today, Guilford?
00:30:33
Guilford
Absolutely. So Dances with Films, it's online, American Clown Movie. You can also go to danceswithfilms.com. And American Clown is premiering tonight in five and a half hours at 7 p.m.
00:30:47
Guilford
in Hollywood. So please come out if you have the night free. It's a dark night for theater. So you know if you're a theater artist, come on out and support.
00:30:57
Circuspreneur Podcast
Fantastic. Thank you so much, Guilford, for taking the time to come on the podcast. You have such a big day today. I'm just so grateful for all the work that you did um in getting American Clown out there and for speaking for the circus arts community in a positive way and, you know, highlighting us and getting so many people involved, um you know, to support the industry as well.
00:31:19
Circuspreneur Podcast
um I can't wait to see it. And I can't wait for our industry and our community to see it and to support it and to uplift it as well. And I want to leave listeners with this Circuspreneur podcast is also available on stagelink.com. S-T-A-G-E-L-Y-N-C a g e l y n c dot c o m The groundbreaking new platform for live performing arts that provides unmatched access and connection to this vibrant world of shows and entertainment.
00:31:43
Circuspreneur Podcast
If you're a professional in the performing arts, visit stagelink.com slash pro. S-T-A-G-E-L-Y-N-C-P-R-O offers industry professionals higher visibility, networking opportunities, and tools to support and enhance their careers. Until next time, everyone, I'm your host, Shanae Stiletto. Thank you for tuning in Please look forward to the next Circuspreneur podcast. And thank you again to our special guest, Gilford Adams.
00:32:07
Guilford
Thank you, Sinead. I really appreciate it. Thanks for having me.