For Pair of Jokers, Clowning Pays

For the past 10 years, Pat and Jack Frank have spent their lives clowning around together--and making a living at it.

“I worked as an accountant, and clowning was the furthest thing from my mind,” said Potsy, the name Pat uses during her performances at picnics, birthday parties, parades, trade shows, conventions and fairs.

An uncle pinned the name on her. “I didn’t like it when I was young, but I wanted it for my clown name,” she said.

She followed her husband of 12 years, who quit his job as a supervisor for an automobile parts maker to follow his hobby as a clown, which he began in 1979. Leaving a steady job also turned out to be the cure for a rash that ran from his wrists to his shoulders.

“When I left the job, the rash went away,” marveled Frank, who is better known as Blimpo, a name he acquired years ago as a cook in the Navy.

Both left good-paying jobs to become clowns, and both discovered how tough it can be to make a living at it.

“If anyone goes into this business to get rich, they have another think coming,” he said. “Only a few make it big.”

She is secretary-treasurer of Clowns of American International Assn. and he is director of the Western region of the group, which has 175 members. The Huntington Beach couple are also World Clown Assn. members.

But Frank said his role is rich and rewarding, regardless of the financial return.

“The biggest rewards are the smiles of the kids,” he said. “When you go to visit the kids and see the amount of pleasure you can cause them, it causes us to be happy.”

They are sharing their experiences with would-be clowns in classes sponsored by parks and recreation departments in Stanton and Garden Grove. They also teach clowning in churches and attend a clown camp in Wisconsin each year to keep up with new techniques.

“Church members take the class and use it in their ministry as a different way of coming through to other members of the congregation,” he noted. “We love to help all people, especially lonely older people.”

Spurred by her husband’s interest in clowning, Pat started her career by donning a costume and performing with him at hospitals and convalescent homes.

“Someone came up and asked us to do a picnic for money, and it went from there,” she said. “Now we are just happy doing what we are doing. We’re thinking about adding puppetry to our performances.”

The Franks say they play off each other when they work together.

“I’m more impromptu than Pat and sometimes I can get lost, so she kind of helps me out,” he said.

The Franks, parents of five grown children, agree that clowning around will continue to be their life’s work.

“Clowning has kept us young,” she said. “We don’t plan on growing old . . . at least in our minds.