Clown camp aims to lift frowns
"You can't just pull on a wig and slap a watermelon smile on and — 'Poof!' — you're a clown," says Julie Varholdt, the veteran clown named "Lovely Buttons."
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Clown camp
Laura Sicklesteel, or "Molly the Clown" puts on makeup while getting into character at the third annual Clown Campin' in Ontario, Calif.
California Clown Campin' started three years ago after a long-running camp in Wisconsin went kaput. Instructors from the U.S. and Canada led sessions on marketing and character development sprinkled among staples of slapstick and sleight of hand.
Credit: AP Photo/Grant Hindsley
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