EAST LOS ANGELES : Expert Jesters Court Youths for Clowning

To some children, clowns are riveting mirth-makers. To others, they are bulbous-nosed bogymen.

But to 40 youngsters gathered in a gym at the Eastside Boys & Girls Club of Los Angeles on July 13, clowns were simply teachers.

Four jesters with big-toed shoes and droopy pants taught the children what it takes to clown around in a two-day seminar that included makeup application, juggling and slapstick choreography.

In the last minutes before 10 a.m., children waited eagerly for the club’s doors to open. Then they hurried into the gym, with several mothers following, and got to work applying each other’s makeup.

“Just paint it all white and we’ll do the black and the red after,” Cruz Rubio, 13, said to Roshanie Taylor, 13, who was applying a coat of white to Cruz’s face with his forefinger. Roshanie rubbed the paint down over Cruz’s eyelashes as he had been taught.

Later, the children’s faces held the markings of true jokers: freckled cheeks, black tears and crescent smiles. Full-fledged clowns stood and entertained face-painted apprentices with pantomime and a broom-balancing trick.

Twelve of the children came from the Nueva Maravilla housing project in East Los Angeles, where the Eastside Boys & Girls Club also runs a recreational program four afternoons a week. The clown-training session offered a chance for them to do things they’re never allowed to do at home, like water-spitting.

On a back lawn, grown graduates of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College showed them sly ways to become human water pumps, tugging an ear and blowing water. Julio Torres, 8, had one word for it: “gross.”

Aside from wacky tricks, one boy from Maravilla said clowning can teach lessons about life. “It’s better to be a clown than to be a drug dealer,” said Israel Gallegos, 12, who has been approached by older youths in the Maravilla project. “Some kids asked me already if I wanted to smoke marijuana, and I told them no.”

Even the older youths said they had no concern about not being cool enough as clowns. Cruz said he enjoys the challenge of putting together a smooth routine in front of an audience.

“It’s not easy to be a clown,” Cruz said. “You can’t just go out there and try to be funny. You have to be funny.”

Before about 20 transfixed junior jesters, Cruz and Roshanie took cues from their teachers. They stood face to face, missed handshakes and stepped on each other’s toes in Three Stooges fashion.

The children are to perform in the ring before the circus Thursday in front of 300 employees and sponsors at the L.A. Sports Arena.

Cruz, who comes to the club four days a week, helps the staff there during the summer because he says he believes in the program. He has been a member since age 7.

“I come here for two reasons. One, it’s fun. Two, it’s safe,” said Cruz, who quit the Griffith Junior High School basketball team this year after two weeks because he witnessed a playground chase in which the assailant held a gun. Now Cruz plays in the Boys & Girls Club basketball league instead. Whether the activity is basketball or clowning, Cruz says children can feel more secure in the club.

“We come here, we play, we keep it safe,” Cruz said.