Prospective Macy's Parade Clowns Get A Lesson In The Craft At Lincoln Center
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Hundreds of Macy's employees and other volunteers gathered at Lincoln Center Saturday for a lesson in the art of clowning around.
As 1010 WINS' Roger Stern reported, the one-day training session -- ``Clown U.'' -- was held Saturday for people who want to be among the thousand or so clowns in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
"Remember, the stupider you look, the better you're doing it," one of the clown "professors" from the Big Apple Circus instructed the students.
Many of the 400 people who attended Clown U. were seasoned veterans of the parade, including Jane Ellen Smith of Port Jefferson Station.
"My daughter is a clown captain. My husband's in it. So it's a family affair," Smith said.
Among the guidelines for the clowns are the following: Don't smoke while you're in costume. Leave the celebrities alone. And conserve your confetti.
The volunteers will be divided into 28 groups – including Keystone Kops, billiard balls, wooden soldiers, and Vikings – who will roar.
Each group of clowns will be assigned to a different element of the parade. For example, clowns dressed as cupcakes will be with the Pillsbury Doughboy balloon, and will be captained by a Macy's vice president costumed as a cherry pie.
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