Arizona Daily Wildcat

Issue date: 2/15/07 Section: Wild Life

Media Credit: Taylor House Kenaram plays a blow keyboard at Puppetworks, 44 W. Sixth St.

Media Credit: Taylor House

Media Credit: Taylor House Raina Johnson puts the last finishing touches on her clown makeup. Right: Gingervitis dances around and thrills like a clown while out and about during the rampage.

Corrections
In Thursday's "Clowntown takeover: clowns go on rampage," there were several errors. The clowns gathered at Ismist Memeworks, which is across the hallway from
Puppetworks Studio. The "Peter Totter"
mentioned in the story is actually 15 feet long and not 20. The Totter was created by Ismist the clown for the Burning Man festival in the Black Rock desert in Nevada and was not acquired. The Wildcat regrets the errors.

If you happened to be downtown Saturday around 11 p.m., you probably witnessed the attack of the clowns. Thirty-six clowns of all shapes and sizes met for the third-annual Clown Rampage and went for a night on the town.

The fun began earlier in the evening as the clowns gathered at Puppetworks, 44 W. Sixth St.

Looking around the building, you will find many props. A20-foot penis with a sign that says "Peter Totter" lies in the corner. The seesaw was acquired for the Burning Man festival in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada. After practicing and applying makeup, the clowns were ready. Chad Bush, aka "Windpipe the Clown," the organizer of the event, got the ball rolling with his infectious laugh and his dominating bullhorn, and the clowns took to the streets.

In case you've ever wondered how many clowns will fit into a shopping cart, fret no longer: These fit eight. Those are the sorts of questions that, thanks to our friendly Tucson clown squad, we now have answers for. Most of the night was unplanned, so the humor and excitement came from the spontaneity.

A memorial, however, was planned for the death of former clown "Dr. Fuckoffski," Jeff Thomas, who died last year in a bike accident, according to Windpipe. The clowns gathered around the corner of North Fourth Avenue and East Congress Street, where they spelled Dr. Fuckoffski's name in cardboard letters on the wall and then sacrificed a rubber chicken. (It's a clown thing.)

A few places, including Hotel Congress, did not allow the clowns to stay, to which the group shouted "Clownist!" upon leaving.

Also, in remembrance of Dr. Fuckoffski, they planned to stand in front of Grill holding the letters for the words "cheese fries" in the window as an act of protest to the restaurant's famous "No cheese fries so stop asking us" policy. Dr. Fuckoffski hated the rule so much that his final prank consisted of handing out fliers to people advertising "cheese fries at the Grill," even though the policy is on the back of the menu. The clowns cut the night short after having a few drinks at the District Tavern, 260 E. Congress Ave., and dispersing.

The idea for the rampage was loosely based on a concept where anyone can dress up and be a clown for the night. The concept has been popular on the West Coast, and Windpipe brought it to Tucson three years ago.

The clowns have also formed a local performance group called Clown Band that plays circus-inspired music. It did not perform Saturday night.

If you were one of the spectators who happened to see the caravan of clowns coming through, you may have given them strange looks. But as a traditional clown might have put it, "Who really wants to be normal?" That has made all the difference for them.

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