THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 14, 1994 TAG: 9409140045
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TERESA ANNAS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
LAURIE MCCARTHY AND Brian Dwyer - a couple of clowns with Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. Circus - have a list of do's and don'ts they'd like to share.
``Number one: Do not step on a clown's feet,'' said Dwyer, a k a Baffles the Clown.
``We spend several hundred dollars on a pair of these custom shoes,'' stressed McCarthy, a k a Laffles the Clown. Clowns buy their own costumes, you know.
Rule No. 2: ``Do not punch the clown,'' Dwyer continued. ``I have actually heard parents tell their children, `Go ahead, punch the clown!' ''
``Oh, they think it's funny,'' McCarthy added. ``Like, we'll laugh even though we're in pain.''
No. 3: Hands off the nose. ``Ninety-eight percent of clowns' noses do not squeak,'' Dwyer said. ``Sorry! For some reason, everybody wants to squeeze your nose.
``And there is nothing better than having allergies and then someone squeezes your nose.''
No. 4: ``If your kid is screaming in fear, do not thrust the child in front of the clown,'' McCarthy suggested.
Geez, the trials of clowning.
``For some reason,'' Dwyer added, ``people have this idea that it's OK to do to clowns what it's not OK to do to anyone else.''
McCarthy, 27, and Dwyer, 22, aren't really grumpy clowns. They're actually happy-go-lucky newlyweds, married on July 2. They tied the knot in a tent near the Big Top while a show was going on. They planned the event to coincide with the circus' stop in Falmouth, Mass., McCarthy's hometown.
Baffles proposed to Laffles in center ring after the last show of the day in August 1993.
``He had the band plug in (a tape of Journey's) `Faithfully,' which is our song,'' recalled McCarthy.
Circus life under the Big Top world.
We all need the clowns to make us smile.
McCarthy sensed something was up.
``She turned around and I was on my knees - with champagne,'' Baffles said.
``I cried,'' Raffles said.
The two met in 1990, when they were cast in a community theater production in Boston. McCarthy was primarily a dancer, and Dwyer already was involved with clowning and stand-up comedy. Before long, he got McCarthy into clowning, too.
In 1991, Dwyer attended Ringling Bros.' clown college, then joined Beatty-Cole Circus the next year. McCarthy missed Dwyer while he toured, so she joined the circus in early 1993 as assistant to Khris Allen, tiger choreographer.
``I wasn't fearful,'' she said. ``I grew up around animals. I've always loved wild cats.''
When an opening came for a clown, McCarthy took her chance. ``I'm the first female clown they've had in 10 years,'' she boasted.
``She's a real cute clown. And she has really good movements,'' Dwyer said.
``Well, he's such a natural,'' McCarthy said of her new husband. ``When Brian's in clown as Baffles, you can see his goodness. He's naturally funny. And his eyes shine through. He's a warm clown.'' by CNB