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the approval of his audience without the sound of laughter. It would take every light on Broadway and every star in the heavens to spell out his name with the glowing brilli- ance it deserves. He is my friend. He was my encourage- ment. He was my understanding. When there is a deafening silence to a clown's gestures, then comes the pain of anguish, the loneliness of a lover saying goodbye, a prelude to death, the phoniness of a written ad lib. When the warmth of an audience turns cold, the tears in a clown's eyes dry to a dull glisten. Every nerve in his body reaches out. There is no medication to relieve the pain, no understanding to wrap the wound in, but he stands there and bleeds until his very life's soul buries the spirit which is in him. A clown must be a clown...funny without assistance capable of communicating with his audience without props or scenery or words. It is the dream of every monologist to be capable of delivering with perfect timing a humorous way of reading the phone directory, but the clown can stand on the stage with a mere expression - a semblance of a man - and bring forth the warmth within each person staring at him The ability to communicate without saying a word - shout embarrassment, hate, love, fun - this is a gift! Each of us has a gift. Each of us have the right to use that gift in any way we care to. But how many have the strength and the power and the courage to withstand the pain and the hardships that eventually shout success? A clown, while performing, is required to accept death as a mere exit and continue to bring forth laughter from those that are bereaved. The world is filled with complexities, but none quite as complex as the clown. The wrong gesture, the wrong expression and what was intended to be a funny falls short. So rare are these gentlemen of the cap and bells that they number in the few. They are so envied that their slightest gesture, when not to the liking of a critic, destroys a spirit that could have brought to a sad world a big smile, a ray of gladness when sadness lurks about, a ray of sunshine when war clouds and depressions become victorious over man. He is the first called upon, but others may use his gestures and his words to alleviate attention, taking for themselves full credit, never admitting that they borrowed this gesture or these words from the clown. They step into his soul. They trample on his beliefs. They steal his creative glory and pass him by with a sneer.