| We had some wonderful meetings during which we
reminisced and heard stories about some of the greats who are no longer
with us. We also set up the beginnings of an Alumni Association and
ensured the promise of reunions to come.
Many of the graduates are full-time entertainers and they brought their
costumes and props with them. Monday and Tuesday evenings were taken
up by incredible displays of juggling, outrageous humor, feats of
gymnastics and balancing, and some unusual bits of comic desperation.
It was a wacky and wonderful experience,
especially being a guy with Tourette's Syndrome in
a room full of circus clowns. Never have I been so
invisible in a crowded room before! Every person in attendance was
certifiably (by clown college diploma) a comic genius of some kind, and
each was trying to be the funniest one in the room at least for a moment
or two. With my neurological disorder, I have a variety of words
that I suddenly shout, especially in the dead spots. Amongst this
group of people, when I suddenly shouted "BOING!" in my operatic
voice nothing happened. People glanced at me and guessed it might have
been a joke gone astray..
For the first time in years I wasn't
the "funniest" one in the room! For once the people around
me were barking, flailing, and shouting out weirder things than myself.
Heck, they made me look normal -
even boring! Is that all you got? Boing? What's so funny about
boing?
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