After your last podcast I had to go searching for the Giggle Gang. When I heard about Storybook Circus opening for the first time, I wasn’t to happy because I was never crazy about circuses when I was younger. I thought that was going to be the worst part of the New Fantasyland expansion. I definitely was wrong about that because it is a well themed section. As far as the Giggle Gang, I can understand people having a fear of clowns. Stephen King’s It probably did the most damage to the image of clowns but the Joker in Batman never helped matters either. I don’t know how good I am to judge because I have never had a fear of clowns. I’m glad to report that none of these clown look at all like Tim Curry. They were not creepy at all. They have two different shows that change intermittently. The first show I saw was of a solo clown spinning plates. He did not have that much make up and that definitely helped him being more likeable. His show was all about spinning as many plates as possible and he chose someone from the audience to help him. He did not speak at all and as far as his act goes it was very good. People were very impressed. The second show that I saw had three clowns that had more makeup on and they did speak. They had help from several children in the audience and the children seemed to be enjoying themselves very much. Again, they were not creepy at all. The children had no fear of them and at the end of the show the children received red noses and became honorary clowns. This is very similar to the streetmosphere that is in Hollywood Studios and they try to encourage audience participation. From what I witnessed everyone seemed to enjoy it and there were allot of ahhhh’s when the kids emerged with their read noses at the end.
I think what helps is that the performance is outside and they are limited to their own space. They don’t go around sneaking up on guests. They just perform and then leave. I think it also helps that it is outside. I remember when I was a kid the clowns in the circus performed indoors in a circus tent and it was dark accept for the spotlight around them and that can be a bit scary for children. And the makeup that the Giggle Gang used was not over the top. If they covered their faces with white makeup, I think that would be more intimidating. I’m sure Disney took allot of this into consideration before they introduced them to the park. They wouldn’t put something out there that would scare their guests. I thought it was very well done and would go see it again.
Joe
