Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Profile Profile: John Dabney, party clown
Posted by Andisheh Nouraee on Tue, Oct 23, 2007 at 12:43 PM
(photo by Joeff Davis)
While studying marketing at Howard University in D.C., John Dabney opened a party-supply store that provided clowns for parties. After moving to Atlanta, business was so good, he started clowning himself to keep up with demand.
“There’s a tremendous market for African-American clowns. Overwhelming.â€
“I think African-Americans think the [African-American] clown might have a better connection with the children. The weird part is that it does not matter to children at all. Unfortunately, it is an adult issue.â€
His clown name is Bobo. “There was a clown who worked with us in D.C. named Bobo. He stopped clowning, so I stole his name.â€
“As a clown, you can educate. You can give them safety tips. They really enjoy it, because it’s not from a parent or teacher.â€
On kids who are afraid of clowns: “At 1, they are OK. At 2 and 3, they know what’s going on and when one child screams, it’s a domino effect.â€
On adults who are afraid of clowns: “It’s a fear they had when they were children. They’ve never dealt with it.â€
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