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iftarkttittn ttfcafing ah conditioning systems l91efcaoaelhi ifcrtfan 4711748 raitsiiuiisliip mir til ll li iii ii tribune community sports leisure entertainment serving whitchurchstouffville uxbridge and area a metroland community newspaper wednesday september 28 1988 smiles are reward for clown rainbow by bruce stafley when it conies to clowning around bob shaw is dead serious the 37yearold career clown- magician could be seen on satur day in front of the clock tower portraying rainbow the clown complete with his box of magic tricks making poodle balloons for the kids waving at passersby and turning five dollar bills into ones were some of his ploys to gain attention and while stouffville residents and visitors were being treated to a oneday extravaganza of street magic and entertainment it was just another working day for shaw 1 shaw who lives in oshawa with his wife and three daughters learned his craft 15 years ago while living in van couver the son of parents who were both carnival types he started out his own career as a clown the magic came later someone came up to me and told me i had a good show but that i should add a little magic to it he recalls since then he has incorporated magic tricks into rainbows act and has mastered closeup magic stage magic and quiet magic or magic to music as he explains it he performs at birth day parties stage shows for com panies promotions hospitals and senior citizens buildings he feels it is necessary to be constantly updating his knowledge and technique and regularly attends seminars on both clowning and magic he says its a busy lifestyle theres so much you have to do its a lifestyle you have to be working on all the time theres working on the act rehearsals setting up props adding to the shows going to lectures and the neverending researching to keep current and it can be hectic he says you can be putting on five or six shows a day on weekends theres lots of travelling and liv ing out of hotel rooms and vans but its a career he claims to thoroughly enjoy it beats work ing in a factory or driving a truck for me anyway you meet lots of friends he admits there are times when he doesnt feel up to scratch but says they dont detract from his work i get rainbow the clown alias bob shaw performs close- up magic on a willing participant at the stouffville pnyosi bruce staple magic festival shaw has been a clownmagician for 15 years rainbow the clown entertains lindsay hutchison 5 and maryann bent 6 of church st n the clownmagician entertained stoufivilles magic festival the crowds at those days but 1 cant really say theres ever been a morning ive woke up and said i dont feel like performing shaw points out that through time hes built his reputation and clientele it takes years to get to where you are working all the time it was just trickling in at first but now i get call backs referrals and the like the secret is he maintains to get maximum exposure by doing charities and free shows and you must be constantly upgrading your act you have to look to the future to see what the public wants and you have to be versatile shaws clown character is basically a happy clown soft spoken and appealing to kids who can sometimes find themselves overwhelmed by such performers he enjoys the oneononc aspect of the closeup magic that he was performing at the magic festival even though he says it requires flawless execution it takes a lot more study to do closeup magic youre right in front of the person youre perfor ming for but he is equally comfortable up on a stage performing in front of an audience his stage act in cludes juggling silks illusions and a little mind reading as for some peoples nervousness at the prospect of a magician indulging in mind reading shaw insists it is a harmless form of entertainment its an illusion of magic he claims its a fun part of magic that has nothing to do with evil or the occult its simply showing the art of an entertainer shaw belongs to the world wide clown association the in ternational brethren of magi cians and actra the canadian actors guild he has performed some memorable stunts such as the time in victoria bc when he went up in a helium balloon at a hospital function he made a big puff of smoke come up out of the balloon and then pulled a sixfoot rabbit out of a hat he once blew up balloon animals for kids for 22 hours non stop for timtnys telethon a part of the jerry lewis labor day telethon and he put on a solo perfor mance for a child who had just had an operation at a bc hospital which required that shaw don a white gown over his costume my face was the only part of me that was not covered he recalls one of his fondest mementoes is a trophy he won in bc for be ing the mostloved clown that was a great honor he says but the only momento that real ly counts is the smiles on peoples faces it really makes you happy when people appreciate your talents he enjoys the fact that as a clown you are always so well received by people who might not give you the time of day other wise as a clown i can wave to people on the street and they wave back if i werent in a clown suit they wouldnt wave back this was shaws first ap pearance as a performer at the stouffville magic festival he hopes to return i think its great id like to see it get bigger and keep on going