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Show " m lowning' around 7ec7 sergeant puts on a happy face to entertain children Steven R. Ford Hilltop Times staff by I . ' When TSgt. Jim Cruz ends his workday for the 649th Combat Logistics Support Squadron, it's time to clown around really. In his spare time, Cruz pursues his hobby as UffDa the Clown, entertaining groups around the state of tj " J ., -- ? 1 1 1 "Li - I . - aJ - iI -j 1 ! if i I i - f 4 I r Utah. When Cruz arrived at Hill AFB, he wanted to do something in the local area with the youth. He went to Fun Daze, a party store in Layton, and noticed a flier that said "Come learn how to be a clown," so he did. "They taught me everything I know," Cruz said. "Just making the animal balloons and seeing the kids faces it spoke volumes. The greatest thing is to see a kid smile from ear to ear. Once I saw that, I was hooked." Cruz remembers that he was very nervous for his first show. He had no experience to draw from, and he had a slight costuming problem. "My nose fell off because I was perspiring so much," Cruz said. "The kids loved it. They thought it ;- '( 4ji - lift wit u ' - . fi r TiS-- was part of the act, so I just rolled with it. Once the kids start smiling, everything just flows.". Cruz said that to become a clown isn't as easy as ' .1"'..'. r& ( ' ' : & ' '.-- '.' t,v,i!V-'''- '"l v being the "class clown" in school. Beginners start by getting their costume and face together. Each face is unique, and no one wants to copy someone else's. Then the beginner learns to create their act. learn the balloons or you can expand into puppetry or magic," Cruz said. "It can be as big as you want it or as little as you want. That's the great part about it being a hobby." One of Cruz's strengths is making balloon cre"You ations. During his act, he tells his audience that he can make 782 different animals and they all look like a dog. But seriously, folks, Cruz estimates that he knows over 200 varieties, four types of dogs, three different birds, etc, but he is always being challenged by his audience. He says it's a game called it "stump the clown." "The mouse on the back of the eagle that I did the other day was a real challenge," Cruz noted. "The kid requested it, so I came up with it. I do almost anything. Lots of dogs, lots of cats, teddy bears, flowers things like that." "I love balloon hats because they make a big statement. It's a great advertisement. The bigger, the better, and everyone wants theirs bigger than the last person's." Cruz obviously keeps up with his audience and the trends that are hot. What balloons is he working to master? Naturally the hot items are poke-mo- n balloons. "I'm working on a pikachu," Cruz said. "It's hard because a long, thin balloon doesn't lend itself well to making a bulbasor with a tree growing out of its back." The act is always evolving, Cruz noted, and he is learning new things from other clowns and anyone else who will teach him. He does a little magic and is learning a new trick with a color changing crayon. His best trick is a disappearing dice trick which he likes to perform at birthday parties. Cruz admits he likes fooling friends and when he's in his clown makeup. He'll say hello, smile and go back to his act, waiting to see if the person can see through the makeup. No one has yet. Cruz says that most people who figure out who he is do so by listening to his voice. "No one knows who I am until I say something," Cruz says. "Once they hear my voice, they might recognize me in a matter of seconds. If you just look at me and try to take away the layers of makeup, you might never guess who I am." After five years of doing his act, Cruz now belongs to a clown organization, the Northern UtahHatu Clown Alley, and he and his cohorts perform a lot of the parties and bigger events from Brigham City to Salt Lake. Cruz has performed at the Ogden Street Festival for the last three years, the Ogden co-work- TSgt. James Cruz, as Photos by Steven R. Ford the clown, entertains Renee Spencer, left, her sister Crystal and father SSgt. Larry Spencer. Below, UffDa begins shaping a balloon animal for a Burger King customer. UffDa '400: 4 i m ' its! he's in uniform, works for the 649th Combat Logistics Support Squadron in their systems element. Cruz, when First Night (New Year's Eve) celebration, also for the last three years, the Ogden Christmas Parade and helped with the opening ceremonies of the base's Burger King. He notes that he went through over 1,000 balloons for the last Street Festival. Every Thursday 6:30 p.m. until close of business, Cruz and his group can be seen working at Home Town Buffet. On Dec. 3, Burger King came calling again, and Cruz entertained children at the restaurant, making balloon creations, cracking jokes from his act and performing various feats of magic. Even the older kids were enthralled. "It's just fun," Cruz said. "I wouldn't get out of the military to do this. It's just a great hobby." It seems that every child, and some adults, still love clowns. Changing times haven't affected the kid in all of us. "I've gotten a lot of satisfaction out of it," Cruz said. "I enjoy all the kids. I love to see them smile." A 1 |