LOCAL FEATURE BLAHAWESOME PROVIDES A HUG TO A CHILD. CREDIT: ADRIAN MICHAEL PROFILE PORTRAITS OF RHYTHM THE CLOWN & BLAHAWESOME POSE FOR A PICTURE WITH YONATHAN AND HIS DAUGHTER. CREDIT: ADRIAN MICHAEL According to a 2022 study published in the International Journal of Mental Health, about 53.5% of adults suffer from Coulrophobia, an extreme fear of clowns. 2 “We do get people who tell us they don’t like clowns, but as time goes on, they get closer to us,” said Michelle. “My cousin was afraid of clowns, and upon learning I was going to be a clown told me to make sure my energy is right. Clowns are spooky, and their energy isn’t always good. So, we listen to upbeat music when we’re getting ready. We get into our zone, dance, and have a good time just so our energy projects that we don’t want anyone to have a phobia of clowns.” Both Michelle and Mashika want people to know that they’re not evil people. “Don’t be afraid of me. I’m a person, and my clown attire is a persona,” said Mashika. Along with changing the narrative of evil clowns, there is also a stigma that there aren’t many female clowns. “There are only women in our [clown] unit,” said Michelle. “I never thought about it; there’s men when we go to our conventions, but within our unit, it’s just women. Growing up, I don’t think I knew of a woman clown, but now there are a lot of them.” According to the online recruitment service Zippia, 61.5% of clowns are women, 36% being women of color. However, only 10% of that makes up Black or African American women. 3 “There was a little Black girl that I saw today that told me she wants to be a clown. She was so adorable, and I told her I would love to have her learn to be a clown,” said Michelle. “It’s a great feeling knowing we could change the world with this. We’re changing the narrative and making clowns more positive for Black girls to see.” Mashika said, “At one point, it was frowned upon for people to be clowns, but when I tell people that I’m clowning today and they see it, they’ll say things such as ‘that’s cool’ or ‘I didn’t know that was you,’ and it’s a cool feeling.” For both Michelle and Mashika, clowning is a hobby, but they aspire to eventually do more with their craft. “It would be cool if we could set up an event at least once a month and have kids come. I really want to set up a stage for the kids to come in and be entertained,” said Michelle. As of right now, Michelle and Mashika are clowns that dance and tell jokes, but they’re looking to establish new skill sets. They’ve also been thinking about incorporating magic tricks and making balloon animals. “I’m trying to figure out what’s going to be entertaining and have thought about doing shows and skits,” Michelle said. “We get so many people asking us to appear at events, and I think the more we get out, the more people start knowing us and realize who we are. People see us and say ‘Oh, those are the clowns.’” The August backpack giveaway was highly successful for the community and brought smiles to kids and adults A LITTLE GIRL SHOWS BLAHAWESOME HER FINGERNAILS. CREDIT: ADRIAN MICHAEL BLAHAWESOME AND RHYTHM SMILE ATTENDEES OF THE AURORA DAY BACKPACK GIVEAWAY EVENT. CREDIT: ADRIAN MICHAEL alike. According to Michelle and Mashika, the moment BlahAwesome and Rhythm arrived, people swarmed them, and that atmosphere amongst the crowd was extremely positive. “I just want to make a difference wherever we can. If we can touch one person, then we’ve done something,” Michelle said. ■ 1 https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/ professional-clown-club-attacks-americane-740768/ 2 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/ PMC9931735/#:~:text=Although%20the%20 prevalence%20of%20coulrophobia,et%20al.%2C%202022). 3 https://www.zippia.com/clown-jobs/demographics/ September 2023 DENVER VOICE 7
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