Forty years ago, Angel Ocasio graduated from Clown College with painted face, big feet, red nose, colorful wig and certificate in hand. He officially became a clown. Need a clown, send him in.
Ocasio loves being a clown.
“It’s really how I connect with my audience, seeing them smile, and it brings out the child in me,” said Ocasio, who’s an entertainer with a year-round role as Clown Prince of the Portland Rose Festival. He’s the official clown of Portland’s party, and trains cohorts each year, welcoming his newest co-clowns Sunday, April 14.
“My wife always tells me that we have three kids, and I’m the biggest kid of them all,” he added. “I remember my first time in the (Rose Festival) parade as Clown Prince. I was looking at the crowd and how amazing they are and how I loved the feeling. I didn’t know what to do. I had the biggest grin.”
Clownin’ can be for everybody, if you desire to be a clown, he said.
Ocasio, who’s 67 and originally from New York City, grew up watching Abbott and Costello, “Little Rascals,” “Three Stooges” and Charlie Chaplin. “Little did I know that it was training for me,” he said.
It wasn’t until the 1984 Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College did Ocasio, then residing in Salem, realize that he had a clown living inside him. He called it “enlightening.”
The big circus started training clowns in the 1960s, knowing that its clowns had been aging out. The Clown College existed in Venice, Florida, for three decades.
Many Clown College alumni actually went on a cruise together earlier this year. There was about 100 people who play clowns who sailed on the cruise, Ocasio said, and it was a blast.
“None of my classmates were there, but I knew other clowns from meeting them,” he said.
So, Ocasio has quite a background that he brings to his role as Clown Prince, which comes with its own backstory. “The Legend of the Clown Prince” tells of the journey of ordinary boy Angel, who worked hard to be a great clown and represent a great festival. “In 1914, Rose Festival Queen Thelma sent Angel on a quest to travel the world and see the best festivals, the best rose gardens and the best clowns.”
(Disclaimer, yes Ocasio wears a lot of makeup on the job, but he’s not covering up 120-odd years of life. It’s a nice little tale, though.)
“After his long journey, Angel returned to Rosaria where he reported to the 2010 Rose Festival Queen Victoria Dinu that he could state ‘absolutely, categorically and ultra-definitely’ that the Rose Festival is the best festival in the world.” Queen Victoria gave him the title of Rose Festival Clown Prince for his service, and Clown Prince represents the Rose Festival and kicks off the famous Grand Floral Parade (while also gracing the populace with his presence in the Starlight Parade and Junior Parade, along with the 82nd Avenue of Roses Parade and St. Johns Bizarre parade).
Ocasio, who also serves as Rose Festival artistic director, had actually started clownin’ with the Rose Festival comedy program in 2007, and received the official title of Crown Prince in 2011.
“It was Marilyn’s idea,” Ocasio said, of longtime Rose Festival official Marilyn Clint. “She said, ‘Angel, we need our own clowns.’ I thought, ‘Hmm, if this goes well, I’m thinking job security.’ Now here we are in the 16th year. In 2011, we started the Clown Prince program, another Marilyn idea. ‘We need an official mascot, we should have a Clown Prince.’ I’ve become the silly face of the Rose Festival. And I talk with the media.”
He has trained clowns to be part of festival activities.
Training for 2024 clowns took place April 13-14 at Rose Villa in Southeast Portland.
“We focus on the look and make sure they have a good sense of clown makeup,” Ocasio said. “I provide them with clothing and a character. I talk to them about a character and how it all falls together, not just the face and costume.”
He calls Trudi Sang and Larry Klobertanz his friends and top assistants. They try to teach everyday people how to be clowns. There are about 40-50 people on the clown roster. And, no, they aren’t just clownin’ around.
“Most of them have not done anything like this before,” he said. “I get teachers, doctors, writers, people from all walks of life.
“I usually don’t get other clowns or circus-style entertainers, which makes it special, they have a clean slate, I get to teach them the ways of the clown, the tradition. I’m circus-trained. I want them to bring their ideas. We all have different ideas of what a clown is. My job is to let them embrace that, and show them what works and what doesn’t work.”
For Ocasio, who has done a lot of comedy through his own company, there isn’t much better fun out there than clownin’ in Portland and for the annual Rose Festival.
“Wow, what an amazing city,” he said. “I love Portland, I love the connection I’ve made with the city.”
As far as he and other people who now wear the painted face, big feet, red nose and wig:
“We are the clowns of the community. It’s important that we become approachable, and don’t go out of control.”
Indeed, we don’t want rogue clowns out there. We want ‘em all like Angel Ocasio.
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