In December, 1999, a small group of Christians met to discuss the possibility of forming a clown ministry dedicated to presenting the message of God's love and grace in a way that could be easily understood and thoroughly enjoyed. In June, 2000, at the Lutheran Church of the Galilean in LaPlace, LA, and by the grace and courage of it's forward-thinking pastor, Ron Unger, the Holy Madness Clown Troupe presented it's first ever silent clown service, complete from opening hymn to benediction. It was a rousing success!
During the 6 months between those two events, there was a frenzy of activity. There was recruiting to be done, learning of clown ethics and etiquette, faces to be designed, costumes to be put together, clown names to be chosen, skits to write, music to be selected and props to create. Whew!!! It was certainly a lot to do, but we were laboring for the glory of God and we had a ball doing it!
Originally, we were six performing clowns and one music coordinator. The founders of the troupe were Bob and Joyce Irvin (Bobo & Stained-Glass Joy). They had learned of Christian clowning during Bob's military assignment in Germany. When they returned to the USA and Bob was assigned in Maryland, they formed a clown ministry there. Then when Bob was transferred to the New Orleans area, they went looking for new recruits in their new home. They found Cyndy Gab (Sunshine Sylly), Janice Church (Boo-Hoo), Carl Hilt (music coordinator and Mr. Whiskers), John & Toni Dufrene (Dusty & Rickity-Rack). Over time, we have doubled in size and added Sharon Hilt (Dee Jay – she has taken over the duties of music coordinator), Linda & Charles Johnson (Starlite & Sisal Bee Duh-Mill, our director), Chuck Westfall & Cindy Westfall (Tree Tops & Cindy Lu). Through this experience, we have all grown as clowns, friends and, most importantly, Christians, being constantly aware that what we do may lead someone to Christ. We have been assured from testimony that it has.
We believe our program to be unique. The Holy Madness Clown Troupe presents an entire worship service silently. We don't speak because we believe that no words are greater than the Lord's and that we should not add to or take away from them. Our message is presented through mime, music and congregational participation. We don't speak, but we certainly encourage every one else to! It's important! We are presenting a celebration and we want all to join in. Holy Madness promotes hugs, laughter, balloon batting and jubilation in the aisles. The messages the clowns present are serious, but the delivery is easily understood and enjoyed by both young and young at heart.
Holy Madness works hard to keep the presentation fresh. Every year, beginning in January, the clowns hold planning meetings to work up a new service for the year. It involves a lot of creativity, manual labor, artistic endeavor, physical strain and just plain sweating, but we all love it. By June, we have a program that we are proud of because we believe it to be inspired by God.
The Holy Madness Clown Troupe would be thrilled to present the Lord's Word at your church. We are willing to travel, and to date, we have presented our service all over southeast LA and even in Texas. We have served several different denominations including Presbyterian, Lutheran, Episcopal and Baptist.
Thank you for visiting our web site and may God bless you!