Clown Couple From Water Mill Takes Home International Prize

The Water Mill home of clown 
couple Eric and Susan Wald is like a museum honoring the business of being funny.

Large colorful posters and circus-themed artwork line the walls of the spacious residence. On the second floor, where the shrieks of their pet cockatoo, Buddy, often accompanies their frequent gags, is a table covered in trophies and awards—evidence of the couple’s success in their industry.

Just this March, they added another award to the collection. Ms. Wald, whose professional name is “Tulip the Clown,” won second place for an elaborate 
makeup and costume design at a convention held in New York City by the World Clown Association, an international 
organization that works to promote clowning across the globe.

Even though the Walds have amassed nearly 20 awards for their professional work, Ms. Wald said the feeling of getting a new one never gets old.

“They’re all very meaningful to me,” she said during a recent interview at her home. “It’s a big deal to me.”

The couple, who practice their clowning craft at birthdays and events Long Island-wide, are also the publishers of The Waldo Tribune, a free child-focused paper circulated to schools on the East End. The paper has been in business for 20 years and has a circulation of 30,000, according to the Walds.

Mr. Wald, who goes by the name of “Waldo the Clown” professionally, says he is a clown at heart, often launching into comical skits with his wife. He used to write plays at Southampton College, but left that world to become a clown and make children laugh, he said, adding that he’s a clown because he enjoys the happiness his work brings an audience of young children and for “the joy on kids’ faces doing magic.”

“We have a good time making kids laugh,” Ms. Wald agreed, noting that their profession allows them to be different characters outside of themselves.

The award Ms. Wald won was in the “Comedy and Whiteface Division” of the makeup and costume competition, according to Ms. Wald, who said that applying makeup can take her up to an hour and a half. She and 10 other clowns were judged during the competition, she said, on a host of aesthetic criteria from “head to toe,” ranging from accessories and apparel—like a clown’s wig and whether it is neatly combed and trimmed, all the way down to whether the color of a clown’s socks and shoes match with the overall outfit. The competition also judged Ms. Wald and others on the makeup design, including whether the clown’s face is properly powdered, with a good symmetry and design that works.

More than 100 clowns from different parts of the world, including South America, Japan, California, India, Malaysia and Canada, turned out for the convention, held in Elmhurst, Queens.

The couple also participated in the skits competition this year, performing a comical routine for the judges. Both entertainers at heart, the two sifted through Mr. Wald’s “box of magic,” as he dubbed it—a trunk full of clown-oriented knickknacks and funny objects collected over the years, which he pulled out throughout the interview, often pausing to put on a show.

“Tulip has a problem,” said Mr. Wald, launching into his character, Waldo the Clown. He was holding a fake, stuffed hammer and a stuffed tooth. “She doesn’t brush her teeth.”

“Uh oh,” said Tulip the Clown in a small cartoon voice.

“What happens if you don’t brush your teeth?” he said theatrically. “They go away.”

The couple acted out a mock-painful tooth removal using the fake hammer.

“Oh my goodness Tulip!,” he exclaimed, holding up the large fake tooth produced at the end of the routine. “You got big teeth!”

Buddy, the cockatoo, chimed in and screeched in response to the performance.

The couple, married for 22 years, often joke around with each other, according to Ms. Wald, who added that their relationship, and their profession, allows them to remain young.

“We stay kids at heart,” she said.